The First Week of Homeschool

Last week was our first week of homeschool. It was fabulous and we all loved it SO much better than any other school.
We learned a lot of great information together.

Brady and Logan finished up with their math review books, and they'll begin learning new information today. They had some quizzes in Reading and Language Arts on Friday, which they did wonderful on, as expected, and we even did a few science experiments in our first week.
Brady and Logan are working through the Bible class fairly independently, and we all gather for Social Studies together.

Marshall reviewed his capital letters, worked on improving his cutting/pasting skills, puzzles, and so much more.

Here are some of the pictures I managed to take while we were working.

Oh, and our favorite part so far is that we are always done with school before lunch. Our typical day has been running from 9-12/12:15, which is working out great!!

Playing basketball for Phy. Ed. on Tuesday



Brady was taking a little break between classes.

Helping Mommy get dinner made up ahead of time.

Playing soccer in the backyard for Phy. Ed. on Thursday.

Practicing kicking the ball around the cones

Working hard

Brady was reading The Brick Bible for his free reading time on Friday.

Working on our science experiment. Seeing what passes through paper.

Proof of a great start :).

My Smart Boys

Marshall and I are continuing to work on his "school" sessions each day.
Since September, he has learned to recognize and write all of the letters in upper case and lower case.
Now we have moved on to letter sounds and math.
Letter sounds have definitely proven to be more tricky, but with lots of review, we have made it to letter H today.
Marshall is also learning some simple addition, letter writing, and patterns.

I am SO proud of him and all of his hard work, so I wanted to share what he wrote today.

 

 

You might say "he's not even 4 yet, so what is the rush?" or "he shouldn't have to learn this stuff yet, just let him play."

Well, both of those things are true, but public schools are teaching our kids to read earlier and earlier, and while I don't totally agree with the rush, I sure don't want my kids falling behind either.

 

Also, for as much as Marshall has learned in the past 6 months, we only spend about 15 minutes a day doing "school", so it's not like he isn't getting time for free play.

 

We have also greatly increased the amount of time we spend reading each day, since it'll be a combination of learning the letter sounds and being read to often that will help Marshall to become a great reader like his big brothers.

It was just 3 month after turning 5 years old that both Brady and Logan started kindergarten and were able to read books all by themselves, and I am so anxious for Marshall to gain those same skills.

 

Speaking of those 2...

We were at the big boys' conferences last night--how fun!!

 

We learned that Brady is currently reading at the end of the 5th grade level (he's only in 3rd grade)and his math scores are completely off the charts. I am SO proud of him and all of his hard work!

We also learned that Logan is reading above average for his grade (which is especially wonderful, since he has had a slightly harder time, due to his younger age/summer birthday).

Logan is also scoring way above average in math, and his writing skills are coming along better as well.

 

I am so thankful for our public schools in Farmington and for the wonderful teachers who teach my children each day. My boys love going to school, being with their friends, and learning new things. And, despite all of the rumors of public schools teaching things that are in contrast with our beliefs, well, let me just say that it isn't happening at our school, and for that I am very thankful!

 

Hooray for great education at a great price :).

 

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school (as if you didn't already know).
We started the morning as usual, with cinnamon and carmel rolls for breakfast.
The boys headed outside for pictures and to the bus stop with their new lunchboxes and backpacks. They were also dressed in the clothes of their choice, with the lunch and snack of their choice as well.

As I type this post, I am waiting for them to return so I can hear all about how the first day went! They should be here at 4pm, which is in just under an hour. I am so excited!