A Familiar Path

After reading Little House on the Prairie with the girls for their literature, I gave a lot of thought to what we would read next. I didn’t want something in the same time period. I hated to do something we’d already listened to on audio, I had read aloud or C had read. This eliminated quite a few good options.

I wanted a book that would interest both girls as well as myself. One that had timeless themes and interesting characters.

It was a hard decision.

Though I had a lot of good ones on my shelf, I actually ended up ordering one.

Actually two. One for each girl. The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright. We had read Thimble Summer aloud last year and C and I both read The Saturdays. We loved those and I wanted us to read one more together. As usual, my ulterior motive is to spark an interest in this author or series and encourage them to read all her books.

So far, we are on chapter six and we are all enjoying it.

Students:

Clementine 7th

Emeline 5th

Milo K-1st

Math-U-See  (All)

After some thought, research and much discussion about switching to Teaching Textbooks, I decided to stay with Math-U-See. It has worked so far with all my kids, so sticking with it is easier than changing.

Institute for Excellence in Writing (C and E)

We’ve just started this and so far, I like it. It’s easy to follow and to implement. It requires very little prep time, which is high on my list of good curriculum qualities.

Shurley English (E)

I am currently only using this with Emeline. Clementine has completed book 6 and I am still in the process of deciding what I want her to do for 7th grade.

History (All)

We have used Veritas Press and then The Mystery of History in an effort to teach history chronologically and Christian based. However, when we complete Volume III (which we will do in the next few weeks), there will not be a volume IV yet to purchase.

So, I am researching history curriculum. I am considering the Story of the World, or just getting books from the library and doing a Charlotte Mason approach. Since we are going to be in Early Modern Times and U.S. history, I think I might could pull that off.

Science (All)

We have had great success and enjoyment using Apologia’s Exploring Creation With… series. This year we are going to use Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy.

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (C and E)

Literature (C and E)

Novels I choose and they read, including quizzes, literary devices, vocabulary and dictation.

Just Milo:

Phonics Pathways and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

Explode the Code and (maybe) add Drops in the Bucket

Italic Handwriting Series (because I already have the books)

Extracurricular:

Violin (E)

Piano (All)

Ballet (C and E)