Homestretch

At week 30  out of 34-36, we're at homestretch.  Just a slight back-log h our reading practice, otherwise, everything else is right on schedule, hence, will be able to finish our books for the school year. 

With a toddler in tow, we were core subjects-heavy for the year, almost side-stepping the electives, but enrichments--humanities, arts and music are important in their holistic development, so lately I've been incorporating and tried catching up with picture study, and also a weekly plan and determination to finish our ArtAchieve.com Level 1 before the year ends.  Also started the boys with  learning the recorder with Yamaha Advantage.  (Now I know that music class in high school was not for nothing). 

Just read a review of the movie Captain Fantastic, which I already watched 2 months ago.  It mentioned "nature schooling".  Google "nature pedagogy".  Nature schools or forest schools have cropped up in Europe, and the movement has started in Australia. Here in our city, everyone's kid is in Kumon.  Nature schools would have been a better alternative, in my humble opinion.  Anyways, so I searched on the topic, looking for how to's, and curricula, only to realize that we have it all along.  Nature study, nature walks.  We're just a little behind.  Should commit to weekly nature field trips once the baby is out and we can be out and about nature trekking.  And there are quite some places we can explore (ah, the advantage of living in the province). 

So, I've bought our books for the incoming school year, (though we homeschool year-round).  They're on their way.  Everything has been delivered to my sister in the US, which my parents w ill bring home with them.  Excited.  How can I not be?  Went SOOO over the budget.  Excited for the things we'll learn.  Praying with the coming year, learning will be more interesting for the kids.  Still more textbook-based, especially with the language arts program, but with how I have splurged on the materials, investing on non-curriculum materials, I'll take it as a lesson to learn to part with textbooks and have the courage to go for the more interesting, living books than be stuck with the drier textbooks, in the future.

As for record-keeping, a typical course of study, and achievement records (which includes materials used, date of completion, and credit) for first, and second grade levels, for the 2 boys have been filed, and will do for now.