The Beauty of Being in the Drivers Seat

This past week, I have been reviewing some of the curriculum I have recieved. I cannot believe how interesting a text book can be! I don't remember ever reading a textbook and actually ENJOYING it. :) It's been fun and most certainly educational, reading the kids books. So far, I am really enjoying the "The Rainbow" curriculum by "Begnnings Publishing". My kids will be using "The Rainbow" as their science curriculum. I love how simple and fun they make science. "The Rainbow" is a hands on science course and I feel it will be a prefect fit for both of my children. They will be taking a class through the homeschool group, but I am looking forward to learning right along with them!

http://beginningspublishing.com/version2/rainbow.htm

While at the thrift store last week, I came accross a health textbook and bought it(I couldn't resist 2.99!). It is a Discovery Health book and I think it was written for high school students. It was published in 2007, so it has current topics and relevent information in the book. I plan to use this book to help me teach the kids health. The beauty of me being their teacher, is that I can pick and choose what I want to teach them. I find this textbook to be very informative and helpful, but since it is geared more towards high school aged kids, I will modify some lessons to be age appropriate for my 12 year old. I love that I can pick and choose topics I feel are important for my childen to learn. I will likely use this book as a guide. It will help to give me ideas of what type of topics to teach for health.

Math has never been a topic I have enjoyed. That is, except for my 9th grade year of school. I had a GREAT teacher that year and I thrived in math. For the 1st time, I actually ENJOYED and did well in math. After a year of A's and B's, I moved into 10th grade excited and ready to learn more! Then it happened...I got a horrible teacher who did not want to help me and actually told me: "We'll cover it at the END of the year." Nice. The problem with math is that EVERYTHING ties in together! You miss ONE step and suddenly you are off track! That is what I believe happened to me. I am not dumb... I just got lost in translation, so to speak! So, to avoid this same thing happening to my kids, I am back tracking a bit with each of them. My oldest son(almost 15) will be taking math through the online charter school. The math course will "test" the student and assess their level. After that, the course will cater to their level and gradually become harder as they improve. I also plan to supplement this program with my own curriculum.

Math for my daughter will begin with some text books I found at the thrift store until I recieve the math program I have chosen to use for her. The program I want to use with her this year is called. "Math U See".

http://www.mathusee.com/homeschool.php

Again, this is a hands on program that uses manipulatives to teach math. I am back tracking a bit with her as well. Multiplication has been hard for her. Because of that, division is harder for her. She understands HOW to do it but because her math facts aren't as solid as they should be, she struggles with being able to do them quickly and with confidence. So, we will work on a variety of math this school year. I feel by backing up a bit, she will end up being a more confident math student. I also feel without the pressures of being in the traditional classroom, she will learn that math can be fun and might possibly ENJOY it this year! By the end of the year, she will be where she needs to be. :)

My son's history class will cover the Civil War the first semester. One of the books of required reading is "Uncle Tom's Cabin". I bought it the other day and look forward to seeing what he thinks of the book. Hopefully it will spark some interesting discussions around our home. I am hoping he will enjoy the book and that it won't be too "painful" getting him to read it. He is starting the book now since he needs to be prepared to discuss the book when his class starts in a few weeks. :)

This is an exciting(but sometimes scary!) journey. I love being in the drivers seat and being able to be more directly involved in their education. I like being able to cater more towards their interests. I am also looking forward to dusting the cob webs of my own mind and learning new stuff too! I think homeschool will not only be good for my children, but for their parents as well.