To date, Sam hasn�t done any composition of his own. His only writing has been copy work. Sarah, on the other hand, writes almost every day. She writes stories, letters, poems. I have noticed that the more she reads, the better her spelling. I would like to teach Sarah more about punctuation, little by little.
This year, I want to encourage Sam to write compositions. I will let him choose his own topics. I have found that the subject matter for reading, copying, and narrating is of the utmost importance to my children. For a child who doesn�t like writing, it is far more encouraging for him to write about what he loves to start with. In time, perhaps he will be able to write on whatever we choose for him.
HANDWRITING AND COPY WORK:
We spend very little time on copying handwriting. My children find this very boring and prefer, if they HAVE to write, to copy something they enjoy. Once they have mastered the strokes, they will not be required to copy any more pages of cursive writing! I like to keep their copy work varied. This way, unbeknownst to them, they are experiencing all types of writing styles too!
SPELLING:
Apart from learning spelling from regular reading of books, we have used Charlotte�s recommendation for spelling:
Write words on board
Children look at words
Children shut eyes to see if they can still �see� word
Repeat 2 and 3 above
Erase word
Children write word
If error - children erase/white out word
Write word again
Dictation only with spelling preparation. This is one of the few �structured� lessons we do.
DICTATION:
We haven�t done much dictation with the children, but hope to this year, as we feel that this is instrumental in determining where they are having trouble. I like Charlotte�s views on errors. Rub them out! As a child, I would be so discouraged having a neat page of writing with corrections repeated all over my hard work!
FOREIGN LANGUAGE:
This will be quite a challenge for us! Emma has a course on the German language, which she has been working through, but I shudder to think of how/when we will be able to teach Sarah and Sam, although they are not lacking in interest. I think Sam may fare well with another language, as he is very impressive with accents. Furthermore, he picked up Afrikaans very quickly when our South African family were still living with us.
GRAMMAR
We have used a variety of books on grammar - too many in fact. We hope to stick with Simply Grammar by Karen Andreola and continue with the Emma Serl lessons. Our choice for Sam would be to go over English for the Thoughtful child, moving as quickly as possible, as a kickstart to his new �grammar year�.
SCIENCE:
Hmmmm�� there�s so much here! The children learn a lot just by living in the country. They�ve showed and told, brought home many local samples of �life� - dead and alive, laid and considered the constellations, observed and become quite indignant with some of the hungry, fruit and dog food-stealing birds. They�ve helped nurse sick and injured animals and they know a lot about chickens - delighting and laughing at the time I had to �milk� a chicken�s hard crop, so that she could have room for fresh grains! We have learned a lot about the human body, and micro organisms. The effects of bacteria is impressed upon them, as they now mechanically wash their hands whenever �food� is mentioned, either in the preparation or consumption thereof.
This year, we hope to cover weather and natural disasters.
MATHS:
Sarah and Sam started off by using Horizons maths, and have now progressed on to Saxons maths. Another year and I will be seeking help with maths - especially for Sam.
ART & MUSIC:
We have not, as yet, studied any of the masters or their work, as we don�t intend spending much time on the lives of the artists - moreso on the recognition and enjoyment of their work. However, if any of the children show an interest to learn more, we will gladly encourage them. The children started off last year by attending art lessons, specifically for homeschooled children. Emma and Sarah outgrew the lessons, while Sam was more interested in going to the library below the art classroom! They still enjoy their music lessons in Canberra, though!