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Welcome to The Learning Link!
Your weekly dose of homeschooling tips, tools, and inspiration to make teaching easier and more joyful. If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up for your own copy here.
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Enjoy 1,036 words of homeschool inspiration below. β¬
We are two weeks into the start of school as of today. And overall it has gone pretty well. We've had interruptions that have made it harder to be consistent (like having to leave the house while our A/C was off and being worked on) but we've also had fun swimming with friends a few afternoons to give us something fun to look forward to. We haven't made the perfect progress in each subject that I always hope for - but we have certainly made some progress. Here are some of the curricula we've started and how it's going... (This newsletter is a bit different because I'm focusing on a quick review of all our current curriculum.)
π Fresh Picks
Check out my Free Printable Pages (with the code at the bottom of this email).
- Checklist for the Language Smarts B* book I'm using with my first grader. (It continues to be a hit!)
- Checklists for Story of the World Volumes 1-2 (I'm about to upload vol. 3)
- Canva Templates for chores and quiet time
- and more...
π§° Teaching Tools
Morning Work & History:
βClaritas (Christian) - We're using cycle 3 for our memory work and Cross Seven to watch the videos and sing the songs. We keep it brief, just watching each video 1-2 times, but it's an enjoyable way to start the day.
βStory of the World (neutral/secular)- Volume 3 goes along with Claritas Cycle 3, and we've been listening to the audiobook, just 1-2 chapters per week and then sometimes doing the map work that coordinates with it.
βLogic of Handwriting Cursive* (neutral) - Two weeks in, this is working well for the span of ages, 6-10. I love that they include four sizes of handwriting lines so the kids can pick whichever they prefer - or try them all! We keep the lessons super brief.
Poetry or Read-Aloud - (neutral) This hasn't been every single day, but I've loved interspersing reading a page from this poetry book* or a story from this animal treasury* several days each week. (I will have to find another storybook soon, as we don't have many stories left!)
βDaily Grams (neutral)- This is working well for my third grader so far. Overall, I think they are fantastic, but I decided to switch my fifth grader to the actual "curriculum" - Easy Grammar - because the Daily Grams are intended for review. I felt like we needed to back up and learn some of the concepts a little more methodically at the higher level.
βLanguage Smarts B* (neutral/secular) for my first grader has been fun. We just do a couple pages each day and skip around.
βFirst Language Lessons Level 1 (neutral) - I've used this for all three of my kids in early elementary, and I love the simple, conversational style and that it only takes about 5 minutes to do grammar. They also memorize several poems throughout the book!
Math:
All three of my kids use Math with Confidence (neutral). It's our fourth year with this program, and I find it works well for teaching multiple kids at different levels because the teacher part is fairly short, depending on the grade, and the concepts are taught from the concrete to the abstract. So far first, third, and fifth are going pretty well. (BTW if you want a little preschool math book of games and activities to do with a kid who wants to be like their big siblings, Kate Snow's Preschool Math at Home is wonderful! BUT you DO NOT need to do math with your preschooler!!!!!!)
Phonics, etc.:
βSpelling Plus (Christian) is going fine. The verdict is still out on this one, but I'll keep you posted. I feel like my fifth grader (yes, I backed up a grade in the curriculum) needs more practice with the words than just writing them once each day on a worksheet, but we shall see...
βLogic of English Essentials* (neutral)- I'll keep you posted once I feel like I have a clue what I'm doing with this curriculum. One thing I've noticed is that the teacher's guide is not quite as overwhelming to use as it looks like it would be.
βAll About Reading Level 2* (neutral) - My first grader and I are flying through a couple lessons a day, just as a way to make sure she covers the concepts. It's going great! If we want to play the games we do, and if not we move on. She loves reading the stories to me, and I appreciate the thorough but fun way to cover phonics for a young reader. (NOTE - her reading level is higher than level 2, otherwise we'd be taking it slower.)
βMosdos Press Literature (neutral) - My fifth grader and I have read one story from this so far, and it was wonderful. My younger kids enjoyed listening as well. And we briefly discussed some of the literature concepts that the story was covering. I don't need the teacher's guides I bought, and I am not sure yet if we'll use the workbook. But the literature selections seem good and I love having a systematic way to cover the language of literature with him.
Structure & Style for Students - My fifth grader is enjoying this video-based class. Mr. Pudewa is funny and entertaining. Sometimes I think he feels like the videos are a bit long. But, we will just slow down if we need to. (I couldn't link this one because the iew.com website wasn't working when I typed this out.)
Science:
We have done one partial lesson from R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey curriculum I purchased, as well as looked through some of the books I bought. I think the curriculum is really neat, and I love some of the books (and my kids seem to as well). But I'll have to keep you posted as we attempt to move forward in our study of Chemistry this year. ;-)
I'm sure I forgot something, but I think this email is long enough for today!!
π° Deals and Steals
βAll About Learning Press* - monthly GIVEAWAY signup
Happy Homeschooling!
Emily
βTeacherTutorMom.comβ
P.S. Donβt miss my latest posts on TeacherTutorMom.com for encouragement, strategies, reviews, and more.
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