Something New

This week's topic at Homeschool Memoirs is "Something New": "This week I hope you’ll share something new you’re using, why you’ve decided to use it, and if you have used it how you like it. Make sure to include the publishing information and where you got it from so others can look into if they like."

We always do something new, but in that sense, it's not new to try something new, because it's the thing we always do- trying something new.

The biggest change this year is that my boys actually requested to try some curriculum. This is our 8th yr homeschooling as we have never really used a curriculum. We have take a part of 2 from a curriculum and made it work for us, but have never just used a curriculum. "Here's the workbook, read and do it daily like it says"

My youngest asked to use a 'curriculum' (something we buy that is all planned out with each page and we just do it like it's written and says). He said he wanted to actually work through the same thing until we get all the way through to the end. I guess he's not as "ADD" as my brain is- always hopping from 1 thing to another in search of that PERFECT lesson.

I decide the best (easiest & cheapest) way to try out a curriculum for a subject would be to just get some ACE workbooks for Social Studies. (I don't want to mess up math and science and Language Arts with a boring curriculum, LOL. I like to mix those up and do different things. I am not good at, nor do I like, patching my own Social Studies together). And a Bible Elective.

So I gave them a list of what was available and let them choose.

Ki choose Missions (a missionary study with is just reading biographies and a lot of boring questions that I decided we can just do orally) and a General Social Studies.

Connor chose Civics and Life of Christ. But I messed up my order and forgot the Life of Christ- Oh well.

Gavin choose Economics and Early Church History.

Also, new this year, is we decided to go with Apologia for the Science that Ki (zoology) and Gavin (physics) chose. Ki with a Textbook and Gavin wanted the CD-ROM course.

So we are going through those and doing them like the book/CD-ROM says. the notebooking, the tests, the questions, the experiments. i also bought the Experiment Kits for them, so they can look in their book, read what they need for the next experiment, go to their kit, and get out their supplies.

Last Spring we found http://www.aleks.com/ for math. Brian really likes it (I do too, but I am happy with our 'uinschooling math') and Brian actually said he wanted the boys to use it. So we use that for math. They can choose their levels and choose which areas they do and what to do first and they can keep track of the progress and play a few games. So it's nice.It's thorough and yet not strictly scheduled. (it's not a 'do this today and that tomorrow'). Ki just used the Multiplication Drill on it and he chooses other things to do for math. So he does the http://www.aleks.com/ quicktables (multiplication drill) M/W/F and I have him work on the regular Aleks stuff for his Monday math. He's perfectly fine doing it like that because he knows his dad likes him to use the ALEKS. And he gets a Chocolate Covered raisin each time he does a problem.

**** ANOTHER NEW THING THIS YEAR: THROWING WAFFLES!!!

Our waffle iron makes round waffles. Today while I was making waffles, Connor called the next waffle. when it was done he told me to throw it to him. So I did. I flung it like a Frisbee. So the other 2 asked their waffles to be thrown, too.

Today was Waffle Throwing Wednesday.

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