August 16th, 2010
We decided to continue to home school this year since we had done so without too many bumps last year. In addition, placing both the boys in a Christian school would be more than a house payment, so we opted to home school 4 days a week and register them for the coolest enrichment classes for homeschoolers on Tuesdays called Timothy Ministries. Matt got to sit through hours of “Black Friday-like” lines in order to register them last Spring since I had been working night shift and we are so thankful he did because the program offered @ First Baptist of Woodstock is unparalleled. The boys LOVE it. Because they were “new” students, we got all of the leftover class spaces and were delighted with the end results.
This fall, Ryan’s schedule looks like this 1 day a week:
Science: Exploring the Solar System (don’t all boys love space?)
God Made Music: they will actually be studying the classic composers, instruments, and learn the basic notes on the staff.
Snips and Snails: an all boys class teaching “boy stuff” like how to introduce yourself properly.
Geography: Around the World: Ryan’s favorite because he’s not only a math genius, but a geography genius also. He amazes me everyday with what he knows and has learned on his own. He wants to learn more everyday and we are so proud of his maturity at a young age. He grasps the Word sometimes better than Matt and I. We love him so much!
The boys both had the same geography class at the end of the day and were very excited to “travel” to a different country each week.
Andrew’s schedule was the same day and he was to walk to each of his classes, which made Matt and I a nervous set of parents. By the second week, he had his routes through the Kindergarten hall memorized. His classes were:
Handwriting without tears: manuscript with mat man.
Adventures in Children’s Literature, AKA Mrs. Nickel’s class: reading with lots of fun activities and art projects.
Jumpstart Reading: I am afraid he may be too advanced for this one since he’s reading on a advanced 1st grade level, but we’ll see. That’s one of the many wonderful things about our 2nd little blessing, Andrew enjoys anything, even if it’s too easy, uninteresting, or over his head. He enjoys the atmosphere and being treated as a big kid. We can’t help but love him with all we have.
God again has given us so much in their short lives to be thankful for, I can’t wait for what is to come. We marvel at the endless fountain of grace that has been poured on us, thank you again Lord!
Getting all the pencils sharpened…
The first day of school, we just did some placement testing for math and some reading. I was so proud that Andrew tested into 1st grade math and Ryan tested into 3rd grade math. Considering Andrew technically would be going into kindergarten and Ryan should be starting 1st grade. We were afraid Ryan might miss some important foundation math knowledge so we decided to start him on Alpha Omega Publications Horizons Math in 2nd grade. Andrew for now is learning his addition problems in numerical order. They are both a year ahead in reading and social studies. Wow…I hope this post doesn’t sound prideful, we are just so blessed to have two easily taught homeschoolers – that is of course if they are in the mood. Some days take much longer to get little done, but I am sure teachers experience the same challenges.
First day of Timothy Ministries
And fun was had by all!
