Start of the School Year

We have had a good school year so far. We started back to school the first Monday in August. I am hoping to be able to do a lot more field trips this year. The boys are going to have a week off every six weeks. Since I pretty much school Maggie year round every three weeks I have been taking a week off. This has really worked well. I do not feel so overwhelmed. So I am a much happier person to be around. We started a home school Science class and p.e. at our church this afternoon. That was a lot of fun. I think Brendan was a little bored because he is so much older than everyone else. He never complains though. I am teaching Brendan and Maggie history, science, and art together. I think that is why Brendan does not mind so much. I am using Abeka phonics and reading ,math u see, and Happy Scribe copy books for Maggie. I am hoping Maggie will enjoy Math U See. She has had such a hard time with her addition and subtraction facts. I not only want Maggie to memorize her math facts but also understand why they are what they are. Maggie watched a snippet of the Alpha video and begged to do that math. Brendan is still doing Easy grammer but I have added on daily grams. He is also doing Teaching textbooks for math. Brendan really likes it a lot. I think it makes him feel more mature that he can grade his own paper. I had a little trouble with him at first because he was trying to do everything in his head. I said you are nuts if you think that is going to work. I do not know why all of my boys have tried this. Brendan is also doing Vocabulary Cartoons which he loves, loves, loves. These are right down his alley. Of course we are sticking with Abeka Literature. I really think that Abeka Literature is the way to go. They have the most fantastic stories. Jacob is having a light year this year. This is a good thing because he goes to work every day between 1:00 and 3:00. Jacob is doing Abeka English and Literature, Daily Grams, Teaching Textbooks Geometry, Accent on Composers and Music Theory, Rosetta Stone Spanish 2, Marine Biology, and Confessions of a Banker for Economics. I really do not have to teach him anything. I just make sure Jacob has his work done right. I think next year I am going to have Jacob do dual enrollment. I wish I had done this with Micah. Speaking of Micah, Micah is doing well at college. I have been very impressed that he is taking college serious. Micah is taking 12 hours plus working full time. He is even getting up by himself on time. I was shocked about this because I always had to threaten him to get out of bed. Needless to say we are having a very full year this year.