2012-2013 School Year (part 2)

First, God has really put on my heart this year that it is not about academics, but relationship.  It is not about how much we accomplish academically, but how much we glorify Him.  This is a huge revelation for me (not really, but I was stubborn on the academic part), which in turn has caused me to relax, enjoy, and follow God's lead more than I have in the past.  We homeschool because this is what God has called us to do, but sometimes our focus gets misdirected.  We are all learning to follow God and His direction.  We all fail, ask for forgiveness and try again.

With that said, my kids love to learn, love to read, love to write, and love to use their imaginations.  Does that mean we haven't hit bumps in our school days....oh, no we have.  We have the same challenges all families do.  We have attitudes at times, lack of motivation at others, we have behavior and heart issues that need to be dealt with immediately.  Some days, we snuggled and learned to love each other more and others we headed out with friends to hone our relationships with others.  Some days we had to tough through erupted laziness and crazy attitudes just to prove that we could do it.  Overall all, though, we had a GREAT 3rd grade year.  It was a huge success and we are looking forward to starting 4th grade.  This two kiddos have matured so much through this year - their personalities are maturing, their facial features are maturing, their minds are maturing, their hearts are maturing and their thinking ability is maturing.  All signs of a great school year and many good years to follow.

We started this year with a curriculum that didn't fit our family, which sent me down a path of finding what fits and works for our family two months into our school year, but after 4 years of homeschooling, I can say I think we have found our groove.  Will it carry over into next year?  I hope so.

Here's our year in review (even though it wasn't our primary focus:)):

Math:  500+ pages of Horizons math.  We started with the 2nd grade book 2 because they had a lot of different concepts and I didn't want them to miss anything.  In hindsight, this was a BAD idea.

Language Arts:  Bob Jones Grammar and Writing 3rd grade plus some of Critical Thinking Grammar Smarts

Reading Comprehension:  Abeka's Read and Think 4th Grade

Vocabulary:  Worldly Wise 3000. I wasn't sure we would finish it because it is not my favorite, but I am having my two finish it.

Writing:  Handwriting without Tears, cursive

Science:  Abeka's Exploring God's World Science and Health, Safety, and Manners for 3rd grade.  We just started Apologia's Botany.  We will probably pick it up mid summer.  I was skeptical about Apologia, but we LOVE it.

History:  Abeka's Our American Heritage 3rd grade.  Story of the World book 1.  My kids love Story of the Word in spite of me slaughtering so many names in the book.

Reading (this is where we spend a lot of time!  We all love it):   

C/C Read Aloud:

Paths to Adventure

Secret in the Maple Tree

Footprints

Worlds of Wonder

Better Bridges

C/C Read Silently:

Clara and the Book Wagon

Keep the Light Burning Abbie

The Littles

The Chalkbox Kid

The Paintbrush Kid

Riding the Pony Express

The Long Way to a New Land

The Long Way Westward

Prairie School

The Secret Valley

Third Grade Detective 1

Third Grade Detective 2

Viking Adventures 

Tippy Lemmey

Third Grade Detective 10

Third Grade Detective 4

A Question of Yams

Tornado

The Last Little Cat

Jake Drake Bully Buster

Pilgrim's Progress

Mommy Read Aloud:

George Mueller

The School Story

Little Pear

Red Sails of Capri

21 Balloons

Tales of Robin Hood

Cricket in Time Square

Detectives in Togas

The Little Riders

The Door the Wall

Marie Curie's Search for Radium

Walk Two Moons

We have read over 5,500 pages this year - From school books to reading aloud to books read silently.  Reading opens our world, engages our imagination, allows us to explore place we can only dream of and we love it. 

Here's to a great summer!!!