I started to explain to a friend my lack of posting and she summed it up nicely with one sentence. "So, it is Spring in a Homeschooling family." Yep, I've been trying to swing group events, friendships, housework, and most of all FINISHING UP THE SCHOOL YEAR. So, far here's Brandon's school year is wrapping up like this:

Math: Completed Saxon 65 math, have been doing 76 math drills to stay sharp, thinking of starting the actual book and just doing odd numbered problems through all the easy part of the book as long as he keeps a B average for about 3 days a week through out the summer. If his grades drop then we'll slow down and make him do all the problems.

Reading: Just Finished The Pilgrim's Progress Curriculum. I was worried when I first got this that it was too complicated for him but he says he really enjoyed it. He even said he'd like to go back and read it with out having to stop after each chapter and do a worksheet. LOL I think this one grew him up a bit.

Science: Just Finished Apologia's Zoology 1- Flying Creatures. He is dying to start Zoology 2 - Swimming Creatures. However, right now I'm holding him off to get through the other subjects for this actual "school" year before we start getting into Next year's curriculum. However, asap I'll let him start it and do it through the summer if it is his wish. Who am I to stop a child from learning? I also just bought him Zoology 3- Land Creatures which he is really pumped about.

Spelling: We have been hit and miss in actually doing spelling this year. And although he has improved he is still not a great speller. I have noticed that if he misspells a word in a paper that if I ask him how the word is spelled, he can spell it correctly. He just doesn't seem to bother to think about the correct spelling when writing. Then again he still has handwriting that is nearly unreadable so I guess he has bigger issues with expressing himself on paper than he does any other problem. Any way back on topic we've been cramming in about 4 to 6 lessons a day when we do work on spelling only stopping and slowing down on lists he has problems with. Right now he has about 20 more lessons in Sequential Spelling 2 and then we'll do crash courses all the way through Sequential Spelling 3 through out the summer. If he still needs helps I'll order the next two Sequential Spellings.

History: This year's history curriculum (Ancient History and the Bible) expected a lot out of us. It was researched based. We have a small local library, and a small budget. So, finding and buying books were just not an option. OK, I confess I'm also too lazy to hunt extra books. I highly recommend it to anyone with more time, money and energy than me. However none of those previous qualities allude to me. So, we have done this very slowly with a lot of online research. It really has required me to be hands on. Which I like but also put off on busy days. So, starting with Creation we have only made it to the Ancient Greeks. We are wrapping them up. This curriculum goes all the way through to the Resurrection of Christ. Then we we'll be through with it. For next year I bought The Mystery of History. This works because it does pick up where this last one left off. More of the meat you need is there so there is no hunting for more resources, it has actual quizzes and tests and it has the hands on stuff I like to do when we have time.

We ditched grammar again this year. I just don't get it. He reads good literature on a regular basis and writes in a journal. There are just more important things to learn than diagramming sentences. I think I'll ignore it until right before his SAT's and teach him to the test. Is that awful?

OK, I've already mentioned most of his curriculum line up for next year let's see it will be journaling daily, Saxon 76, Sequential Spelling 3, Apologia Zoology, The Mystery of History, and I've ordered a Lifepac for British Literature. The Lifepacs are a new step for me. I hope they work out. If so after British Lit. we'll do American Lit. in them.

How is Emily's school year wrapping up? It is not. She will school all through the summer. She will still use Explode the Code (which I've come to realize I haven't really been making the most of), Saxon Math 1 and other various workbooks for other skills. A friend loaned me BJU First Grade Heritage Studies and a couple of other books for history. I always read her all kinds of little books that have science. We have a plethora of animal books and stuff like that for her. She is progressing but needs more one on one time with me to really excel. Hopefully the school through the summer program will give her that.