Week 4: Goldbach Academy

This is our first year doing Sonlight! So far, we are doing really well - getting used to more reading each day, and Dylan is getting up early every day and knocking out his Bible reading and history readers.
We started out learning by weeks, but then we had a field trip last Monday and realized we were off by one day. So, instead of cramming 2 days worth of information into the next day, I decided it would be better to go by days and take our time. There is so much to learn!

Sealife Aquarium 

The kids favorite subject is science. They are voracious note takers as I read Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. It's amazing to me, as science was not my favorite subject... but I am loving it too and learning so much along with them! 

Experiments are the most fun, of course... Today we were seeing if hot water or cold water is heavier. They are learning about what causes currents in oceans and fresh water.

We are also growing accustomed to Dylan having karate 3 days a week. Mondays are quite a hustle! After karate, Dylan has a drum lesson and I teach piano and voice students at the Music School. I love it and I love my students! It's so much fun.

Little math whiz...

Another thing we are getting really good at is daily chores! This is tough for mommy... I'm not particularly good at doing chores, but we've been using a list for a few months that has been working so well. The kids are so much happier when they have responsibilities - it helps them understand that they are a vital part of our family, I guess. Of course there are some complaints, but generally speaking they know what is expected of them. They do get allowance on Fridays for certain chores, but other chores like dishes, sweeping, setting and clearing the table - those are just expected of them as members of the family. It's a system that really seems to be working! It also allows me more time to do things like mop, clean my own room and bathroom, etc...

Schedule, daily jobs, etc...

September will bring a few more activities, like an 8 week Basic Anatomy class led by my friend Kim, and some outreach activities with our church family. It's hard to be believe we are already in Week 4 of this school year! Since last winter was so hard, I'm not particularly looking forward to fall yet. Plus it's still 90 degrees around here! The guinea pigs are also really enjoying the summer still, grazing in the front yard. They are so cute - they don't even go very far. They really prefer to be close to us or hiding under something.

Evening grazing (can you spot Rocket? He's the solid black dark spot near the bushes!)

Sweet girls... 

Week 1

What we're reading this week:

Mommy:
Parenting by Paul David Tripp
The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield
The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers by Amy Hollingsworth

Dylan:
The Corn Grows Ripe by Dorothy Rhoads
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down by Jeff Kinney
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney
Big Nate: In the Zone by Lincoln Peirce

Jocelyn:
A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Dry
Annie and Snowball and the Pink Surprise by Cynthia Rylant
Fancy Nancy: Peanut Butter and Jellyfish by Jane O'Connor

Together:
Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser
Pedro's Journal by Pam Conrad


What we're listening to this week:
I Am by David Crowder
Psalm 8:1 by The Rizers
God is Creator (Genesis 1:1-3) by Seeds Family Worship
I Just Need You by TobyMac

New Beginnings

It's a new school year at Goldbach Academy! This year I feel more prepared than I ever have and it feels so good. It's like we've really hit our stride.

We're trying a new curriculum this year - Sonlight for Bible, History and Literature, as well as Language Arts for Dylan. Jocelyn joins us on all but the LA - she has her own new curriculum that we love so far called Learning Language Arts through Literature.

Since Sonlight can be on the more pricey side, I took the time to piece it together buying many books used and also taking advantage of our local library. So far, two days in, it's a lot more reading that we are used to but we've been able to keep up! I especially love that Dylan has his own readers that are linked to the history lessons.

I also went ahead and got the extras, such as a History timeline book and a Lapbook kit for American History. We're starting that tomorrow. They love to be hands on when learning so I think it will go over pretty well!

Their favorite subject by far is science. We are doing Apologia again this year; last year we focused on Flying Creatures of the 5th Day (of Creation) and this year we are doing the next Zoology book: Swimming Creatures. They devour the subject material, ask a million questions while I'm reading, and Jocelyn even wants to take notes, draw pictures, and spell out the scientific terms she is learning like zooplankton and phytoplankton! It always surprises me how much they love learning about this stuff... but that's probably because science was so boring to me in school!

We're sticking with our same MCP Mathematics books that have served us well over the last few years. Jocelyn is reusing Dylan's 2nd grade book that he barely marked up. I'm also teaching her off the page counting by 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's to prepare for multiplication. She really has a knack for math so it comes pretty easily for her. Now if she'd just write her numbers the correct way! I'm sure that will come with time and practice.

The best things about this school year so far are...
#1. It's super organized and done for me, with the instructor's guide... no more piecing things together myself so much less stress! And Dylan is THRIVING because he LOVES knowing what's next and exactly what is expected of him. Jocelyn doesn't care too much about checking off a list, but having one certainly helps me keep her on track so we are practicing what we need to daily.
#2. My attitude is much more relaxed and I feel so prepared to handle the emotions of the day. This is due to preparation and prayer. I've been reading this awesome book called Parenting by Paul David Tripp - the concepts in the book are helping me practically handle attitudes that come from children who are learning at home! Being their teacher/mom isn't an easy task but I feel pretty good about my own responsibility which is to remain calm and recognize they are just sinners like me trying to do their best! Giving lots of structure, follow through, and grace has helped this year start off tremendously well.

I don't know what the Lord has in store for us this year. I do know this: My children may be the students of Goldbach Academy to the state of North Carolina, but I am forever their students -  learning what makes them tick, what inspires them, discovering more deeply who God created them to be and it's the biggest privilege of my life to be the one who guides them as they learn more about His amazing world and their place in it!