Our school year...continued

I suppose that I should have titled yesterday's post "Homeschool in Years Past" because it was really the story of how we got started and what we did in the past.

This year is a very different year for me, not just because I have one student -- one young student (which means the material is not challenging for me and really not terribly challenging for her because even when the boys were in school-school I found fourth grade to be a plateau year, meaning they practice what they have learned but there is not a lot of new material) -- but also because I have really come as close to creating my own curricula than I ever have before.

I told you that in years past we used Seton, almost exactly as the lesson plans were written. One year I disliked the history for both boys and created my own world geography plan. That was fun, because I love geography. But mostly I did what someone else planned out for me. I was a beginner, and not at all comfortable stepping out of the box. That's just  my personality -- firstborn, safe, perfectionist.

I also told you that when Faith finished second grade I knew that she could not do Seton again, for a while any way. Maybe I was burned out, but I think Faith just needed something "kinder and gentler" to steal a phrase from a former president. And that is what I have found in CHC. I used the term "sweet" once to describe CHC's curricula to a friend and she looked at me crossways as though "sweet" was not a term that should describe school. But it is old-fashioned, as well as innocent, and appropriately young, which all say "sweet" to me. Does that make sense? So much of what children get today is pushing, pushing them beyond their age and innocence. CHC, as do many homeschool programs, allows them to stay innocent and sweet and while I do find the work to be grade-appropriate, it is not hard. Some children need challenge, but Faith is not that child. She is not challenged by difficult, she is frustrated. She likes to master material without a lot of work. Maybe she won't be the brightest bulb on the tree, but she is who she is. I don't believe that pushing her will make her smarter.

So, that said, what we are doing this year is:


Teaching Textbooks for math. In the past, we have used MCP, Saxon and last year, as I mentioned, mishmash, for math. Saxon is great for some kids. In fact, I find that Teaching Textbooks is very similar to Saxon, but waaayy more fun. Here is what I like about Saxon -- you learn a new concept and you practice all the previously-learned concepts every single day. Some kids hate that -- they want new and challenging. My kids, especially Joshua, who came home from Catholic school after fourth grade and was seriously behind in math, needs the constant reinforcement of practicing every concept he has already learned. In school the program taught a new concept and practiced only that concept for about a week. Then they left that concept completely and went on to something entirely different. Poor Joshua was just about "getting it" on the last day and then his head was spinning when they moved on. Saxon was perfect for him. But Saxon was just a little bit too dry for Faith. I told you she is a creative little spirit and pages of math problems was pure torture. I don't believe that school should always be fun, but I also don't think it does anyone any good to be tortured and cry over school every day. There's no learning in that. Teaching Textbooks teaches a new concept (or the next step in yesterday's concept) and then practices all the old concepts. But the really fun part is immediate feedback (and for me the fact that someone else is teaching besides mom). The teacher says things like "That's exactly right" or "good job" when you get the right answer, and "Well, that not exactly right" when you are wrong. The feedback varies from problem to problem. It's a computer-based program, but I'm pretty sure you need to be connected to the internet. You can go to the website at the above link and watch a couple sample lessons from each grade. Actually they are real lessons, but you can only see a few from each grade.

English: Language of God. This is a CHC published book. I like it and so does Faith. We used the third grade Language of God last year. This book is a cross between a secular English book and Seton's religion books. Most of the time I liked Seton's religion books, but I often found them difficult in a way that was completely unnecessary. Because Seton was so very Catholic, sometimes the language was over my kids' heads. Lessons included information about foreign saints and Catholic vocabulary that they didn't know. If you are not familiar with all the words in a sentence, how can you determine if the words are verbs, nouns, whatever? Language of God is simple, straightforward and easy to understand. Next year I'll probably use some Voyages in English as well Language of God, because I like those books and they are already on our shelves.

Spelling: My Catholic Speller. Another CHC book, this speller is much like the English book, simple and straightforward. Faith is a good speller so she doesn't need a lot of practice. This speller offers a variety of exercises -- different each week, but only two pages so it's not too much. On the other two days of the week she takes an oral quiz and writes 3x the words she misses, and then a written quiz. It takes her less than 15 minutes a day to do spelling and because she's a good speller that's the way I think it should be. Faith could probably just do the quizzes until she gets to a level that is difficult for her, but right now I'm fine with spelling being easy.

Phonics: MCP Phonics. Surprisingly CHC does not include phonics in its curricula, but I feel strongly about a phonics-based language arts program. My kids all enjoyed the MCP Phonics books, Faith included. It's a secular book, but simple and straightforward, and almost fun. Faith can usually do this all by herself. It's a workbook, but not just busy work.

Reading: Last year I found that CHC's reading was too hard for Faith. She is not a reader by nature. She's much rather be doing something active. Just the other day she was doing her reading while she walked on the treadmill. I'd much rather curl up on the sofa with a cup of tea, but she is who she is. This year I am using the Faith and Family readers for fourth grade, the Seton Reading 4 Thinking Skills, The Father Brown Reader, as well as a slew of library books, and the Little House Series on our own shelves.

Science: Behold and See. I hate to keep comparing CHC to Seton, but really that's all I know. I was never happy with Seton's science. It always seemed subpar, like there was nothing better to use, so that's what they used. CHC's science is beautiful. You may think that's a strong word for a science book, but it is. It is complete, and challenging (almost too much for Faith), and completely Catholic. Yeah! I didn't like it quite as much last year -- there were a lot of experiments and we just didn't do a whole lot, but this year the book is about the human body and I love it. I already bought a human body model, which Faith loves, and yesterday she made a lung model that really works and is a great visual aid (and was very easy to make).

Social Studies: CHC's lesson plans for fourth grade are for a state study using the Catholic Geography Bee. The plans are perfectly fine for state study, but I think it's time to start doing a little history too, so I added Pioneers and Patriots to our plans. Mostly I just read it out loud to her and she answers the questions at the end of the chapter. It's a nice history book, written in an easy-to read manner. I'm not a huge history buff, but I find it interesting. I became a fan of the Father Furlong history books through Seton and will definitely use them again through the years.

Latin: Prima Latina. I approached my sons' French and German teacher (she taught two of the boys, one French and German, and the other French) about teaching Faith in the future. She told me that Faith needs to learn Latin first -- "it's the necessary evil" is actually what she said. All the other languages are based on Latin, and German is very much like Latin in the sentence structure, so we will learn Latin. Prima Latina is probably young for most fourth graders, but Latina Christiana is probably too advanced for Faith. Like spelling, I'm ok with it being easy. I did Latina Christiana with the boys, so I will eventually get there with Faith.

I don't do a formal art program, but I we use the Art Pac books -- I have three and four -- which are nice if you feel you need a formal lesson.

I also don't do a formal music program, but Faith will probably start piano and/or voice lessons this year to cover that.