Our 2015-2016 homeschool year is now officially complete!
What a blessed, busy, and productive school year we have had!
Having quite successfully completed our 5th year of homeschooling, I thought it would be neat to do a series of posts looking back over our year!
We are taking a look at each subject one at a time to see what worked for us...and what did not!
This post is Part 2 in that series!
Don't miss Part 1!
Today let's look back at:
English
We used Rod & Staff 3rd grade English this year.
R&S has a very good English curriculum, and Big Brother has learned so much about nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs this year. He has actually enjoyed learning how to diagram sentences, too!
Something we did in order to accomodate his unique learning style was to do as many of the lessons as possible out loud and/or using the dry erase board. We used the worksheets that came with the curriculum as well. Most of the time I would only mark a certain number of questions/sentences from each lesson for him to complete so as not to overwhelm him.
I was so excited this year to see Big Brother successfully compose and write his first short poem! This was something he seriously struggled with last year. Rhyming has always been a challenge to him for some reason. But when we came to the section on poetry this year, he was ready to write a cute little poem for me about one of his all-time favorite topics:
Cowboys
(by Big Brother)
As the cowboys ride the range,
Sitting in the saddle,
They gently sing a lullaby,
As they herd the cattle.
Short and sweet! :)
As a part of our morning homeschool routine, we also used ABeka's Oral Language Exercises
These daily exercises could not be easier to implement! Each week we focus on a certain grammar rule or trouble spot (such as knowing when to use lie or lay, good or well, etc.), and each day has 10 practice sentences which demonstrate the correct language. I simply read the sentences one at a time, and Big Brother repeats them. The purpose is to gently help correct grammar and proper speech patterns become familiar and natural to the student. This one booklet may be used year after year and with all grade levels. We did not make it through the whole book this year, but this is something we plan to continue using again and again. I highly recommend this simple resource!
As another activity to practice his writing skills and to provide some personal enrichment, Big Brother has also been corresponding with a pen-pal through Love for the Elderly's Senior Buddy program. This neat program connected him with an older lady in another state who lives in an assisted living facility. He has really enjoyed sending and receiving cards, letters, and pictures with his new friend!
Stay tuned to this blog as I continue sharing a look back at our 2015-2016 homeschool year each day!
This post contains affiliate links. Thanks!
What a blessed, busy, and productive school year we have had!
Having quite successfully completed our 5th year of homeschooling, I thought it would be neat to do a series of posts looking back over our year!
We are taking a look at each subject one at a time to see what worked for us...and what did not!
This post is Part 2 in that series!
Don't miss Part 1!
Today let's look back at:
English
We used Rod & Staff 3rd grade English this year.
R&S has a very good English curriculum, and Big Brother has learned so much about nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs this year. He has actually enjoyed learning how to diagram sentences, too!
Something we did in order to accomodate his unique learning style was to do as many of the lessons as possible out loud and/or using the dry erase board. We used the worksheets that came with the curriculum as well. Most of the time I would only mark a certain number of questions/sentences from each lesson for him to complete so as not to overwhelm him.
I was so excited this year to see Big Brother successfully compose and write his first short poem! This was something he seriously struggled with last year. Rhyming has always been a challenge to him for some reason. But when we came to the section on poetry this year, he was ready to write a cute little poem for me about one of his all-time favorite topics:
Cowboys
(by Big Brother)
As the cowboys ride the range,
Sitting in the saddle,
They gently sing a lullaby,
As they herd the cattle.
Short and sweet! :)
As a part of our morning homeschool routine, we also used ABeka's Oral Language Exercises
These daily exercises could not be easier to implement! Each week we focus on a certain grammar rule or trouble spot (such as knowing when to use lie or lay, good or well, etc.), and each day has 10 practice sentences which demonstrate the correct language. I simply read the sentences one at a time, and Big Brother repeats them. The purpose is to gently help correct grammar and proper speech patterns become familiar and natural to the student. This one booklet may be used year after year and with all grade levels. We did not make it through the whole book this year, but this is something we plan to continue using again and again. I highly recommend this simple resource!
As another activity to practice his writing skills and to provide some personal enrichment, Big Brother has also been corresponding with a pen-pal through Love for the Elderly's Senior Buddy program. This neat program connected him with an older lady in another state who lives in an assisted living facility. He has really enjoyed sending and receiving cards, letters, and pictures with his new friend!
Stay tuned to this blog as I continue sharing a look back at our 2015-2016 homeschool year each day!
This post contains affiliate links. Thanks!
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