Sometimes, it takes awhile...

Funny story, funny to me anyway, it dawned on me just today as I was writing up assignment sheets for my son that I should add the days' events at the top and upcoming events on the bottom!  He has always wanted to know what we are doing tomorrow, where we are going tomorrow etc. He has been asking me those questions since he was old enough to talk! LOL He loves having his own calendar too.

I took a cue from the workbox lady a while back to write out a daily list for him with detailed instructions rather than a weekly chart on one page.  Although I prefer charts.  I love charts! But we have great success when I make the daily pages for my son.  The problem is it is time consuming and I have to use my brain A LOT!! LOL So that's why I slip and don't do it.  

But I really, really need to do it! It helps him so much.  I can't wait to see how he likes the "upcoming events" on his pages.  I'll let you know what he thought, although I can't let him know that I want to know what he thought because he's 14 and 14 year old boys don't like to let their mom know they like something about school. ;)

Week 3 7th grade

Three good weeks in a row!  It wasn't without it's bumps in the road, but all in all a good week.
We are sort of reviewing a time period in history - WWII - that we studied a little over a year ago, but I didn't want to skip it.  DS remembers A LOT of course he loves war, history, bad guys and guns. ;)

We are also getting a lot out of our science right now, ds also loves rockets, and outer space.

These topics might be the reason we are having such an easy time.  I can't wait to start over in our history next term and begin our study of the Ancients!  I know it will be interesting for him too!

This week we did:
Daily Bible reading
4 lessons in math (including all kinds of fractions! He caught on pretty quick thanks to the MUS fraction overlays. I am going to post about these soon. I know I said that last week.)
Spelling
Poetry of Robert Frost
Art Study
Composer Study
Nature Study
Timeline Book (I may show this someday soon too.)
Science, Natural History, Albert Einstein bio
History - Stock Market Crash, Depression, Hitler, Spain
Geography - North America
Writing - how to write a paragraph
Shakespeare - Finished Hamlet
Greek Myths
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
The Hobbit
Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

Another one down!

We completed our second week of 7th grade.  Don't worry, I won't report every single week (maybe).  But things are going so well I just can't help but share!

We focused a little this week on the Space Race since ds loves rocketry and things of that nature.  We are reading about it in science.  I realized there were a couple of our favorite movies that would go well with this unit and that ds was really too young when we watched them last to get much out of them.  So we watched them both today!

October Sky is one of my favorite movies of all time.  I always get a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye a couple of times in this movie.  We laugh a lot through it too.  If you have never seen it, SEE IT!

Apollo 13 is another one that gives an insight to what astronauts go through.









I can't believe we got so much done in our 4-day week!

We did daily:
Bible
Drills
Math
Spelling
Poetry
History (backed up a little and read more about WW1)
Science (Exploring Space)
Writing assignment (Eye-witness report)
Geography

We did weekly:
Art study
Music study
Nature study
Timeline notebook
Science biography
Natural History
Shakespeare (Hamlet)
Greek Myths
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Story of My Life by Helen Keller

We had some fun in math today too.  I'll post about that later!

First Week of 7th Grade!

Whew!  We made it through our first week of seventh grade.  We did have a bumpy ride but all in all it went well and ds has grown so much academically and physically.  He's getting tall, his hair is dark and his voice is starting to change!  I don't know if I can take it.

Most of our books & schedule comes from Ambleside Online Year 6 (the years aren't necessarily grades)

Here's what we are doing right now:

• He's reading the Bible (NLT) on his own and writing  (Yes WRITING!) something (short and sweet) in a small notebook.
• We do some reading drills, math drills and Digit Span cards.  (He's moved up a digit this year!)
• Math - so far so good.  It was taking waaaayyy tooooo long, so I cut the lessons in half.  No problems now.
• All About Spelling - ds has dyslexia (in fact he hasn't been tested but if he were to be, this would be at least one of the diagnoses) We have started at the beginning and it's going very quickly, we will probably do 2 or 3 levels this year.
• Poetry - Robert Frost, and writing some simple poems of our own.  (Yes WRITING!) 
• Music Appreciation - Beethoven
• Art Appreciation - Albrecht Durer.  DS is making a PowerPoint about Albrecht Durer and his works.  (This covers art and PowerPoint in one lesson)
• Nature Study - trees
• Timeline - we add things into our timeline notebook every week.  
• Science - Finishing up "Observing God's World" by A Beka. We chose this text because it's interesting and short!  Only 2 days a week needed to get through it. It's also inexpensive used.;) We will continue with "Order and Reality" in a few weeks.We don't do all the tests, quizzes, worksheets etc.  We narrate and sometimes make lapbooks or notebook pages, or drawings.  DS is reading an Albert Einstein Biography a friend got for me.  It's a "reader" type book, not really a "living" book but he's able to read it on his own. Also reading School of the Woods.
• History - SOTW 4 and The Story of My Life: Helen Keller
• Geography - Trail Guide to World Geography
• Writing/Grammar - Writing Strands (Yes WRITING!) 
• Literature - Shakespeare Tales - Hamlet, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, The Hobbit, D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths

Wow, is that everything?

Here's how it looks in a week.

Day 1
Bible reading & Journal
Drills
Math lesson
Spelling lesson
Poem
Artist Study
Science - Observing God's Creation
History -SOTW
Trail Guide
Writing Strands
Shakespeare

Day 2

Bible reading & Journal

Drills

Math lesson

Spelling lesson

Poem

Composer Study

Science - Observing God's Creation

History -SOTW

Trail Guide

Writing Strands

Greek Myths

Day 3

Bible reading & Journal

Drills

Math lesson

Spelling lesson

Poem

Nature Study

Science - School of the Woods

History -SOTW

Trail Guide

Writing Strands

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Day 4

Bible reading & Journal
Drills
Math lesson
Spelling lesson
Writing Poetry
Timeline
Science - Biography: Albert Einstein
History -SOTW
Trail Guide
Writing Strands
The Hobbit
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

We are going to try this 4-day schedule this year.  We need a day to shop and do errands. We also take my Mom shopping and to the doctor, things like that.  Every week we have somewhere to go, so I thought why not just make a day for that?  It might mean we move a little slower through the math, but that's really the only thing.  And that may not be a bad thing for us.  I have also scheduled one week off every 6-weeks to catch up or work on other things besides academics. I'm already looking forward to the break! :-D

I hope to post in one month and say how it is going for us.  We've had such a rough time with school these past few years for various reasons, this one looks to be the best yet!

Week 2 Report

Did I say week 1 was a success? Week 2 ...ummm... another story altogether! It was dd's back to college week, and she started a new job, we had doctor appointments, a friend's play, dh went to graveyard shift... need I say more? But we pressed through and got *almost* everything done. It was a hard week. I need a plan A and a plan B for weeks like this. I've read that other families just do the readings and forget everything else on days like that. I think I will follow this advice from now on.

Week 1 Report

I'd say the week was a success. We had many interuptions and outings this week and still got through with the scheduled work. YAY!

There's something about accomplishing everything on your list that makes you feel so satisfied.
~*~*~*~
I found that if we get started promptly it still only takes about 3-3 1/2 hours to get everything done. Not as bad as I expected. It also depends on how well ds is paying attention. Getting started early in the day is better for him. As the day goes on, he gets sloppier and less attentive.
~*~*~*~
As I was looking through my files for Year 5 I found some notebooking pages for Fairy Land of Science. Here's where I got them! You must be a member to view. I love the sharing that goes on between homeschoolers. It saves a lot of time! I printed these out, ds made a cover that I laminated and I comb bound them. At the end of the term he'll have his own book.

~*~*~*~
Also this week ds wrote two different short narrations from his readings this week and I thought they were very nice. He's come a long way.
~*~*~*~
The math switch-over has been challenging. One day he asked to do math first, one day he said, "I want my old math back!". We are sticking with MEP for now. MUS is always there if we need it.
~*~*~*~
We also went on a nature hike this week. It was wonderful! The kids walked 5 miles, my friend and I walked 2. We made a nature notebook page from something we observed while on the walk. I really needed the break. The fresh air was great. It was a bit cold but not too bad on the trail, just in the open wind.

Here are a few pics my dd took (click to enlarge):





~*~*~*~

Getting Back on Track

I'm just now getting around to tweaking this semester's schedule. We started back to school on the 5th but we have just been finishing up a few loose ends. My mom has been in the hospital so we've had to make adjustments here and there. Hopefully she'll come home tomorrow! Pray!

We're using AO Year 5. (mostly)

Here's how the next few months should line up for ds/5th grade-

Mon-
1 Bible
2 Math (currently we are using this)
3 Wild Animals I Have Known
4 Copywork
4 Grammar
5 Poetry of Rudyard Kipling
6 Dictation/Spelling
7 This Country of Ours 1 chapter per week
8 Phonics Lesson (still working on reading, progressing wonderfully! yay!)
9 Fairy-land of Science
10 Folk Song- Drinking Gourd(Jan) ~ The Cruel War (Feb/March)
11 Abraham Lincoln’s World
12 Typing
13 Drawing
14 Music

Tue-
1 Bible
2 Math
3 Wild Animals I Have Known
4 Writing
4 Current Events
5 Poetry of Rudyard Kipling
6 Dictation
7 Boys Life of Mark Twain
8 Phonics Lesson
9 CLP Nature Reader 5
10 Artist Botticelli (Jan) ~ Van Gogh(Feb, March)
11 Abraham Lincoln’s World
12 Typing
13 Drawing
14 Music

Wed-
1 Bible
2 Math
3 The Story of King Arthur and His Knights
4 Copywork
4 Grammar
5 Poetry of Rudyard Kipling
6 Dictation
7 Age of Fable
8 Phonics Lesson
9 Isaac Newton Bio
10 Hymn – All the Way My Savior Leads Me (Jan), When We All Get To Heaven (Feb)
11 Abraham Lincoln’s World
12 Typing
13 Drawing
14 Music

Thu -
1 Bible
2 Math
3 The Story of King Arthur and His Knights
4 Writing
4 Shakespeare: King Lear ~
5 Poetry of Rudyard Kipling
6 Dictation
7 Book of Marvels (begin week 6)
8 Phonics Lesson
9 Physics Lab in a Houseware Store
10 Composer - Bach Jan), Beethoven
11 Abraham Lincoln’s World
12 Typing
13 Drawing
14 Music

Fri -
1 Bible
6 Dictation
9 Albert Einstein (carryover from last year)
10 Timeline
11 Abraham Lincoln’s World
12 Typing
13 Drawing
14 Music

The numbers out to the left are the "order" numbers I use for inputting into HSTracker. I know, I know there are two 4's!

The main change for us is going to be #7. Right now we aren't reading anything in this slot, so adding in that reading and some sort of narration is going to extend our school day about 30 min. I hope that we can add that in without too much fuss!
Fridays are "light" so that if we need a day off during the week we can double just a couple of subjects on Friday without too much pressure. We always have Saturday if we just can't get it done and if we can't even do that well, then we just keep going "doing the next thing"! LOL

I must add that dictation is doing wonders for DS's reading and spelling ability. Occasionally I think we should be doing a spelling book or some such program only to realize that this simple method really is best for him, along with a little phonogram study and some sight words. He's reading more and more by himself! PTL!

I'm really excited to get started!

Term 1 2008

I decided to hold off on beginning AOyear 5 for ds. We will probably begin that after Thanksgiving or so. I have it all just about ready, so it's there when we need it. ;)
DS really needs to concentrate on reading fluently so our focus will be the 3 R's but I don't want to completely sacrifice the literary quality of his education. Children need ideas to feed on, so I worked up a "lite" schedule for him for the next 6-12 weeks, using some books that we never got around to. I really don't know how long he will need it so I'm trying to be flexible here. This is what we are going to do:

Daily:
Bible
Copywork
Dictation/Reading lesson
Math
Latin (oral only, but this will help stimulate the language part of the brain and help with grammar)
Poetry of Emily Dickinson

Weekly:
Music - Folk Song, Hymn
Artist -
Composer-
Art (drawing)
Nature Study
Timeline
Crafts

Other:
Biography- Abigail Adams
Natural History- It Couldn't Just Happen (I think this is a very important book and we haven't done it yet, so I really want him to read it)
Geography- Finish Minn of the Mississippi, then Ambleside Geography Book
History- Various (working on a Lapbook of Lewis and Clark)
Literature- American Tall Tales, then begin Age of Fable
Literature- The Princess and the Goblin, then Robinson Crusoe
Shakespeare Tales- As You Like It; King Lear; The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Macbeth

In chart form it looks like this:

























Another reason that I decided to start out "lite" this year is that my older DD is beginning dual enrollment courses at community college. So we will be going twice a week to the "city" 45 minutes away and I'm not sure how committed we will be to a full academic schedule. We are usually pretty much wiped out by the time we get home and don't get much else done. DS and I will be able to use the campus library and lunch hall while waiting for DD so we will be able to get some table work done. I also plan to do some nature study on those days at the nearby parks. We will not have a problem finding something to do, and pretty soon she'll be driving herself and we won't have to go every time. All of this is new to me so I'll really just have to see how it goes. I hate that! LOL I'd like to have everything planned out ahead of time, but one thing 10 years of hs-ing has taught me is that there is no such thing! LOL
Seriously another thing 10 years has taught me is that the little things really don't matter, as in which book is read, or not, or when, switching from this curricula to that. What matters is that you just keep moving forward, day by day. Doing the best that you can. It all comes out in the wash. Oh yeah, and LOTS of prayer!!!

That's my official statement of the day. ;-)

Getting Ready for School 2008-09

Yes, I'm working on next year's stuff! We haven't finished THIS year's stuff, well so it goes with an organizaholic. I'm addicted. Ask anyone who knows me. ;o)

Anyway, last year I used this simple system. But when I quit work, I quit using the file folders and started using a notebook (surprised?). Well ds mentioned more than once that he liked the folders, and wanted to use them again. (He hates change, maybe God gave him the wrong momma??? jk) So I think I will use this system again. It really was simple so why not?

Here's the weekly outline for the first term:


The numbers down the left are the numbers I use in Homeschool Tracker as "order" numbers. This puts the assignments in a certain order on the daily assignment sheets.

I label "group" with Week 01, Week 02 etc. and I use the "sequence" to identify the day as in 1,2,3,4,5. So when I go to my lesson plans I see assignments like this:


The first "chunk" of assignments are for Week 1, Day 1. Of course this is the lesson plan sheet and not the assignment sheet. When I get ready to do the assignment, I can move them around no matter what day it is. This is the helpful feature of HST, rescheduling and not feeling like we're behind.

"Lite" Summer Schedule

We are continuing some school work through the summer. It is just so hot that there's not much to do anyway. Also ds needs to keep reading! Here are the basics of what we're doing:

For 10 yo DS

• Bible


• Mathematics


• Poetry


• Dictation


• Reading to Mom


• Copywork


• Mom reads one chapter of one book of History, Biography, Geography, Natural History, Science, or Literature (Correspond readings with timeline book and map)


• Art & Handicrafts (these happen incidentally)

For 17 yo DD (who actually has enough credits to graduate but we're waiting so she can take dual credit classes this fall)

• Bible


• Literature / written narration


• History / written summary


• Math (finishing Alg. II)

DD's looks shorter than DS's but in reality he finishes first! Each of his lessons only takes about 15 min or less depending on the lesson. DD has to read whole chapters and write narrations so this takes a while.

All in all we are done by lunch if we start early enough, and we are keeping up some good habits and not forgetting everything we learned before the next school term.

Checklist for Homeschool Tracker

We've been using Homeschool Tracker for our assignment sheets and record keeping. But there are so many things to remember to add to my children's assignment sheet each day I had to make myself a checklist. Here's what it looks like:(I've blacked out my dc's names)




The green one on the left is ds 4th grade, and the pink one on the right is dd 11th grade.
I guess this is sort of our schedule, but we don't necessarily follow this order. I just need to order the assignments so I won't forget anything!

Week of Feb 17-23rd

This week has been the longest week! I don't know why but it just seemed to crawl by.
We were pretty consistent in our school work, even getting done early some days. YAY! DS is doing so well with his reading, just moving forward in leaps and bounds. He is actually asking to read to me every night! How can I say no? I can't!

It was our turn to clean the church this week, we got done in record time! It's a great ministry to teach my children to serve, not just teaching and singing, but cleaning toilets. Yes somebody's got to clean the toilets for Jesus right? ;o)

DD started a new essay/speech class this week. I'm so glad she will be able to perform a speech for someone other than us. I'm looking forward to see what topic she chooses.

I'm really getting into my Homeschool Tracker Program. At first I really struggled with setting it up, but now it makes our days go so smoothly. I wish I'd done it years ago!

Week of...

I haven't posted a weekly summary in about a month! I'll do my best to catch up.

Dd got her learner's permit for driving! Woo Hoo! Just what I wanted, another teenage driver! LOL

A boy I used to babysit's father passed away and I attended his funeral.

At church we had a VBS kick off luncheon to brainstorm for this coming year. The Lord led us out on our own to do a VBS no one else is doing. We're writing it ourselves! I'm excited about what He is going to do and already IS doing. I'll post about that later.

Youth had True Love Waits banquet Wed the 13th.

We had a quiet Valentine's day at home, DH brought home pizza and I didn't have to cook. Yay!

Went to a friend's baby shower, the baby was already here and he was so precious. :)

At church I got to hold a newborn that wasn't even 5lbs yet. She was soooo tiny, she looked like a doll!

DD and I are reading "The Grapes of Wrath" and she noted that "they cuss a lot in this book". Normally we avoid very worldly books, and I've never read this book in order to make a pre-judgment and am reading it along with her now, but the themes in the book bring good discussions for us. We always try to look with a biblical worldview at things like this. Sometimes we need to see from the safety of our own home how people live without the Lord in their life. I'm not sure how the book turns out but for now I see such false worship through the characters in the book. If you've read the book I'd like to know your comments on it.

I can't think of anything else noteworthy at the moment. When I do I'll write another post.

Who knew???

If I had known waaaay back at the beginning of homeschooling that my children would be more independent and get more accomplished by this simple little change in the way I plan I would have saved tons of money and time along the way! I thought that the way *I* work and loved to make forms would mean that *they* would love it too. Not so. One simple little change has made the world of difference in our homeschool this year. So simple, it makes me want to do the "I could've had a V-8" sound on my forehead. Wanna know what it is? Daily lists. Yup. That's it. I fought it all the way. I thought, "It'll waste too much paper, it would make more work for me.. etc. etc." But in reality my older dd likes to see what to do all laid out and she likes to cross off lists! Who knew? I thought she should like charts with all their squares side by side, you know the way most school planners are laid out. I've tried every visual version of charts there is, weekly vertical, weekly horizontal, 12 week charts, you name it. Now we have a daily list and I just fill in the page/lesson numbers and they do the rest. Actually 17yo dd already knows what to do and I fill in 9yo ds' list.

It's not overwhelming seeing all the things you haven't done, and for me the charts with "holes" would make me crazy thinking we weren't doing enough.

I give the credit for this discovery to Homeschool Tracker Plus (even though at the time of this writing I am not using this program, but may pick it back up after the holidays).

We are getting much more accomplished on a daily basis now, which is VERY important since I'm working part-time. I need all the help I can get!

Week of Nov. 5

Each week is different in our home as far as a schedule goes. Things we had to work around this week:

• dental appt for ds 9 - two fillings, one extraction (appt #1 of 3) :(
• trading cars with oldest dd and having dgs for 3 days (funeral on her in-laws side of the family)
• mom working 3 days from 6am-3pm

Considering all that, we still got some school work done and believe it or not, even a load of laundry or two!

Getting geared up for the new school year

Most folks have already begun their school work, and we have been doing the basics but we will actually begin our "official" school year next week.

I am working outside the home part time now and of course just found out that I have three full days of work scheduled next week and one of the days off is the day my mom gets her monthly check and has a doctor's appointment. So it should be interesting to say the least. The LAST thing I feel like doing when I get home from work is reading aloud. But ds still needs some things read aloud to him.

I'm hoping to get the week organized and scheduled so that we accomplish much.

I have entered all of our assignments into homeschool tracker and printed out each day's list. I also printed any handwriting worksheets, copywork and drill sheets for ds and put them into folders labeled with the day of the week. Then I will stack the books needed underneath with the folder on top and the assignment sheet papercliped to the outside of the folder.

I made ds a "bookstack" box to put these in for him to work out of and purchased a black dishpan for him to move them to as he finishes. Then when I come home I'll look through the pan and check his work.

Tips on HS Tracker

These are the things I learned that made it easier for me to begin planning.
First choose your subjects. I chose:
Bible
Mathematics
English Language Arts
Science
History
Physical Education
Fine Arts
Foreign Language
and a few more electives for my 11th grade dd.

After deciding on your basic subjects, then add courses like:
Subject - Course
Bible - Study
Bible - Memory Work
Mathematics - Geometry
Mathematics - Algebra II
Mathematics - Gamma
History - Sonlight Core 3
History - U.S. History
Science - 4th Grade Science
Science - Chemistry

and so on...

After adding subjects and courses then I added the resource for example:
Subject - Course - Resource
History - Sonlight Core 3 - North American Indians
English Language Arts - Read Alouds - Walk the World's Rim
etc.


So now all I have to do is go into assignments, choose 9yo ds's name, then choose "History" "Sonlight" "North American Indains" and add the page numbers to be read that day. It's a snap!

It took some time to set up and there is a lot more info that you can add, like call numbers for the library, purchase date and cost etc. And it can be saved in lesson plans for a future student if desired. I recommend it to anyone who homeschools and likes detailed records.

Once I got past my initial frustration, I think I will love this program!

Homeschool Tracker

I just purchased the plus version of Homeschool Tracker and at first I was VERY frustrated. It took some time to figure out the best way to use it for *me*. Now that I finally have I think it will be very helpful with flexible scheduling. On the days I work outside the home it will be easy to give my 9yo assignments he can do on his own (he's still an emerging reader). I also set up folders, one for each day of the week to put any copywork, math drill sheets etc., things that are not fastened to a book. Then I will paper clip the day's assignment list on the folder and stack it on top of the books needed for that day. The wonderful thing about HS Tracker is the ability to move things around if we don't get them done in the time originally planned. I'll let you know how it goes in a few weeks after we've been in full swing with our curriculum.

Course of Study Plan for my 11th Grader

I've been working on lining out next year's schoolwork. I always do this (and change it many times over the course of the year ;o)) but this time I really need to get some things firmed up because I may have to go to work part time. I would like to have as many things routine as possible by then, so I'm listing my ideas and will update as I go. If you'd like to see our daily plan in progress go here.

Bible -
Luke, Acts, Judges, Ruth

Devotional -
Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
Fox's Book of Martyrs

English-
SAT Vocabulary Online
Easy Grammar Plus
How to Read a Book by Adler
Continue making a Quote Book including Bible, Literature, Shakespeare etc.
Written Narrations in various forms, as well as study guides for literature

Literature-
Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, The Winter's Tale, Comedy of Errors
The Great Gatsby
All Quiet on the Western Front
Frankenstein
Farhenheit 451
The Chosen
Bridehead Revisited
To Kill a Mockingbird
Short Stories: too many to list
Finish Les Miserables (very long!)

Math-
Algebra 2 by Math U See

Science-
Chemistry by Apologia
Update 7/3/07 Joined VHSG Chemistry Course

History/Geography/Social Studies-

Streams of Civilization Volume 2
America's Century by DK
Diary of Anne Frank
When Hell was in Session by Denton
Witness by Chambers

Government-
The US Constitution
Richard Maybury books
Speeches/Source Documents

Fine Arts -
Art History by Van Loon
Picture Study - Matisse; Titian (1485-1576) Italian High Renaissance; other?
Composer Study: Johann Strauss, Jr.; Wagner and Offenbach, German Romantic; other?

Music-
Piano


That's all I have for now, I'll update any changes forthcoming.

Getting ready for next year

For 9yo ds we are trying Sonlight this coming year. I've always been intrigued but it seemed confusing and wayyy too expensive. But I met a friend who has used Sonlight for years and she walked me through it step by step. I came home really wanting to try it, but still it seemed out of our budget. But then another friend announced to me that she was switching to Sonlight and how she had bought things used and was collecting the needed materials here and there. Mostly on e-bay.

So here we are, giving it a go. We're doing Sonlight 3 4-day. I just received my IG (Instructor's Guide) today and am looking it over and am really getting excited! We enjoyed the change of pace this past year with Christian Cottage and I'm not convinced we are saying good-bye to them just yet.

We'll see. I just want to make things simple for me and my dc. Since reading and math take so much time, I needed something we can just pick up and do, but with a little more structure than Ambleside which we've always used in some form or fashion.

I'd like to post on how I'm organizing the year. I'll do that another day.