Comments about our homeschool week...

Brother Brass is doing BJU English 8 with the online video teacher, Mrs. Vick.  It was going well until we hit the verb unit.  She was getting into all of the perfect tenses, and Brother Brass was getting lost.  I think BJU assumes some previous knowledge about the basics of verb tenses and jumps right into the breakdown of the perfect forms, which admittedly can become quite confusing, even for one who enjoys English like myself. We decided to pause the BJU program temporarily in order to backtrack with some basic verb instruction.  Guess what I pulled out again?  Our trusted English PACES.  2 of those 7th grade PACES cover this SO VERY well, in a way that is quite easy to grasp...almost as though they anticipate that the kids will struggle through understanding the lingo associated with verb tenses.  They break it down into bite-sized chunks, giving him time to digest each new level of teaching.  SO, we put BJU on the shelf for the next few weeks in order to wade through these 2 PACES, and then we'll see how he does with the BJU again.  We have access to the BJU online teacher through December of this year, so there's really no rush in getting it done by June.  We can just pick up where we left off come Sept. if we wish, inserting more PACE instruction if necessary along the way.  (BJU Grammar/Writing is only a one-semester course). I figure the combo of these two should give him a nice foundation in the grammar dept.  He's still convinced that Mrs. Vick is the best teacher on the planet!

I'm also not incredibly fond of some of the BJU writing assignments, so we may be choosy about those. They come at the end of each grammar unit. They don't really teach him HOW to write well (IMO), but just give him creative ideas of WHAT to write about and perhaps how to organize it. With that said, though, the grammar teaching portion does do a fairly good job of getting him to apply concepts within his general writing.  I decided to add in Writing Strands for a while, and I'm looking into possibly doing IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) for him next year, but I'm not sure yet.  We intend to emphasize more composition and literature in high school.  I figure the only way he'll will learn to write is if I have him writing more consistently, applying what he is learning.  We'll insert grammar as needed.  ...At least that's the plan for now...

Another thing for Brother Brass is that we started reading George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster this week as a read aloud (just him and me).  I thought he might balk at the idea, but it turns out that he's actually enjoying the stories, and so am I.  This is a nice complement to his American History/Geography textbook studies. 

Sister Strings...Well, she's back to reading the BJU World History book, BUT this time it's with mom.  Yes, we are reading through it together and discussing the content rather than getting caught up in the tests and quizzes and memorization of details.  (I like how BJU adresses the world religions aspect of history).  She's still continuing with the MOH vol. 2 readings as well (she likes this) along with other extra reading to enhance her history studies.  Currently we are also listening to G.A. Henty's Beric the Briton on audio CD when in the car.  This is historical fiction set in the time of the Roman Empire.  I've decided that I want for her to spend her history time more wisely each day, with an opportunity to digest a variety of history materials thoughtfully instead of being forced to use that time for memorizing facts for tests that she'll probably forget later.  Oh, and she'll continue to do map work as well along with the Audio Memory Geography Songs CD, which is working out well. 

Normally Sister Strings is a very independent learner and quite responsible, however, I think she's in need of some more "face time" with mom, so some of these changes are an effort to accomodate that and keep those lines of communication wide open.  It's so easy to find yourself neglecting the needs of your first born when she's so naturally responsible and reliable, KWIM?  I was reminded of the Lord this week just how crucial this time period is in her life in order to coach her along on the path of maturity.  She is such a blessing to me, and I cannot take her for granted.  She's acutually happy to have me reading aloud to her once in a while again...especially when it comes to the tough vocabulary that you find in BJU World History.

Miss Melody... is STILL loving her A Beka Academy online streaming teacher!  STILL wants to continue with this for next year.  She aced her math test #6, which is amazing to me, because I think A Beka math is quite tough for this level.  However, I truly think the "magic" is in the teaching.  This teacher is amazing!  Really.  Miss Melody also completed her unit on verbs in her Language A book and did "OK" on the test.  Guess who's teaching that subject?  (Me).  OK, verbs are tough, that's all there is to it! LOL!  She will also be starting Writing strands next week. 

Spelling Power is going really well for both Miss Melody and Brother Brass. 

Baby Bach...  is convinced he's in 1st grade because he got Jump Start 1st grade (computer game) for Christmas.  LOL!  Actually, he really is sort of there skill-wise, but don't tell him that.  I'm not officially calling him a 1st grader until next September (He only just turned 6 late Nov).  He's already to the Orange Chart in A Beka Phonics, though, in which he's already in the know of some of those sounds due to his SSRW music CD's/games.  We spend about 30 minutes on formal schooling per week.  He's not too much into the girly crafting thing though, and doesn't really like to color too much, although his handwriting is pretty good when he tries, both upper and lower-case.  He likes action like his daddy and big bro. I read recently how girls are "nouns" and boys are "verbs" when it come to writing, and I think this is true for my boys...all of them. LOL!

...SUCH IS HOMESCHOOLING...