Our Second Year: An Update

Oh my goodness, it's been almost a YEAR since I updated this blog!  Well, it wasn't for lack of material- just a difficulty nailing down uninterrupted quiet time to string all of my thoughts together and record them.  Moms, you know how it is.

I am actually finishing the end of my second year of homeschooling (woohoo!), which I can confidently say has gone a lot smoother than last year.  However, while Bella is slowly becoming a more independent learner in third grade, I have attempted to also include Brody, my four-year-old, on the two days he isn't enrolled in a part-time private preschool.  In addition to juggling two very different stages of learning, I have my little toddler, Boone, providing background noises and many reasons to divert our attention from schoolwork.

It's a good thing women are generally good multi-taskers.  Really.  Or maybe I've acquired that skill out of necessity.

We have to choose our subjects on a day-to-day basis, depending on how happy the baby is, or when the preschooler is not sharing his repertoire of sound effects.  We have at least two read-alouds assigned every day, but we rarely get to both.  Thankfully, I believe that Bella is getting so much more detailed history with our curriculum (Sonlight) than she would be getting at public school anyway.  So even though, we're behind on the given schedule in those, I don't feel very guilty.  Plus, it gives us plenty of summer reading to do!

Since we have about 30 days left of the school year, and I am suffering from a major case of spring fever, I have set strict goals for us to complete each week.  I want us to finish WELL.

As we enter the homestretch, I'm encouraged to see what we have accomplished this year- starting with the books we've read (and we're not finished yet!):

A Lion to Guard Us
Pedro's Journal
Walk the World's Rim
North American Indians
Pocahontas and the Strangers
The Sign of the Beaver
Incans, Aztecs, & Mayans
Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
The Thanksgiving Story
The Courage of Sarah Noble
The Matchlock Gun
The Skippack School
Meet George Washington
Phoebe the Spy
The Cabin Faced West
Om-kas-toe

Obviously, our history lessons and readers are all inter-connected, so Bella is getting well-rounded idea of the time periods and subjects.  She loves to read!  And I learn while we discuss these books, as well.

Now, happy reading, ya'll.  Only six more weeks until summer (We got this)!