Hope you guys all had a wonderful weekend! I definitely enjoyed some cooler weather and some GREAT family time.
As I mentioned, I am starting Kindergarten with Channing this year (we actually started today). He misses the cut off here in the USA for Kindergarten this year but would start in Australia in January 2013. Since our baby is due at the beginning of December and will be a c-section, there is no way we will make it in time for him to start school. I’m guessing that he’ll miss the whole first term!
I did ask at his preschool if he could be moved to the pre K class rather than the 4 year old class just so he’s more prepared but the answer was no. We LOVE our preschool and will keep sending Channing (it’s only 3 mornings a week for 2 and a bit hours) for the social factors but I plan on “catching him up” on all the Kinder “knows” so he won’t be behind before he even starts in Australia.
We’ll have to see how it all goes……the baby will be born on December 3rd and I think it’ll take me a few weeks to feel well enough after the c-section and THEN, we found out last week that our school will be moving us out of our student home over Christmas (and into some kind of apartment until the end of January when we’ll lose our job). That means when we move out, ALL of our things (apart from 3 suitcases) will be shipped to Australia. We’ll basically be living out of those little suitcases for possibly 3 months. I’m not sure HOW we’re going to continue with school during all this but I will do whatever I have to so that Channing just needs to worry about making friends and getting used to a new country.
I spent MANY hours looking at what was out there and while I could have come up with my own, I decided to save myself lots of extra hours (that I don’t have) and the MAIN curriculum we’ll be using is……….
My Father’s World By Marie Hazell. I love it for a few reasons:
A. I LOVE that each week the focus is not only on a letter but on a Biblical truth…..unlike some of the other curriculums out there, that truth is taught throughout almost every lesson and not just in the devotion.
B. I love that it incorporates many different subject areas and is flexible.
C. It lends itself to me being able to create things for Channing to do that go along with it :-)
While MFW claims that it is a complete curriculum, I do believe that it is geared more for preschool or a younger Kinder child. For a child going to regular school (possibly in the middle of the program) it would not cover everything. Soooooo, MFW will be our main curriculum but we’ll also be adding:
All About Reading (Level 1) by Marie Rippel
Rising Readers Leveled Books by Newmark Learning
Explode the Code (Books A-C and probably beyond)
Extra things made my me such as:
I Know Numbers (1-10 to start)
My Sentence Book (available soon)
My Little Word Book (available soon)
My Journal (available soon)
My Stories (available soon)
I am also using these things created by Aussie teacher Rhonda Baldacchino (check out her blog “ Classroom Fun”)
Sight Word Activities for Kindergarten
Sight Word Activities for Kindergarten Book 2
Sight Word Flip Books and Writing Activities
I think her packets are FANTASTIC and I LOVE peeking into her classroom :-)
Tomorrow I’ll be sharing how I’m going to pull all these things together and make it work for us.
It all sounds perfect! So glad you are blogging again. I missed all of your fun creations.
ReplyDeleteWe used MFW for kinder, kind of sort of, and I'd agree with your assessment, it's good, but didn't end up fitting for us after Kinder, but I love the idea of it.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing what you do with it.
Did you ever finish up your treeking across the states?
Hi Ticia,
ReplyDeleteYeah, since the curriculum after kinder is very heavily USA history based, I can't see us using it in the future. It;s great for families that live here but homeschooling is not big in Australia at all....and there are quite a few hoops to jump through so we'll be doing regular school.
nope, we didn't get to finish the states....but it's something I definitely want to do!!!!!
Am so excited to know that you are coming to Oz soon and we can't wait to meet your family and have you meet ours. There are a heap of really good Australian websites that have some good current kinder type resources...would you like the links. Except for the odd spelling issue they would be good for your American friends :-)
ReplyDeleteLove lots!
Hey there,
ReplyDeleteYep, can't wait to hang out with you guys and meet your gorgeous baby :-) Yes please, can you email me the links?
Does this mean you are back to blogging, too?? :)
ReplyDeleteI'm especially interested in your journal.
Living and homeschooling out of suitcases does not sound like fun. Might some friends be able to loan you certain things to help you get by? Our library has some learning toys that are able to be checked out...not nearly enough for homeschooling, but I'd think every little bit could help.
Hi Annette,
ReplyDeleteYes, back to blogging for now - we'll see how busy we get and if I can keep up with it all.
I'm hoping to borrow all that I can from friends during those few months :-) Our library is not that great and doesn't have any learning toys.....not sure I'd be able to borrow them anyway due to Sully's peanut allergy - you just never know who's eaten peanut butter and touched stuff.
I've been keeping up with your blog even though I haven't been writing on my own - your kiddos are getting sooooooo big!!!!
Is he reading at all? I have a 5 year old that we are homeschooling. I am loving teaching everything except reading. It confuses me and I am not sure the best way to help her make it click. Reading seems to be one of those things that I LOVE but can't teach very well.
ReplyDeleteHi Nicole,
ReplyDeleteHe has been begging me for GES to teach him but no, I haven't pushed him at all. He is doing well this week....what are you using?
I checked out yur blog by the way and LOVE your story - your kiddos are ADORABLE!!!!! Praise God for His faithfulness!! Explode the Code is great for learning single sounds (and we're doing it as we started it a few months ago and Channing loves it) but I think to actually "teach" reading you need more of a "putting it all together" approach.....that's what I love about All About Reading. I'm also doing blend ladders with Channing.......hope that helps. Maybe if you email me I can send you some things..... :-)
It will definitely be interesting trying to have a new baby, live out of a few suitcases, and have everything you need to homeschool!
ReplyDeleteI'm very interested to see how MFW K and All About Reading work together. I was quite torn about MFW K having its own phonics program, as I really like the concepts behind AAR.
I have heard great things about MFW. Happy Schooling!
ReplyDeleteKelly
Believingin1.blgospot.com