Our homeschool curriculum for next year.

There are a lot of great canned curriculums out there but I want my own based on what I know about Andrew. It's hard to pinpoint a grade level with him he definitely doesn't need 2nd grade so we are kind of working in a 3rd-5th grade range depending on his abilities.
Many are curious what we are using. It seems like a lot but some of these items are short books, a box of experiments, etc so don't think I'm overwhelming him. Even when I was in the classroom, I didn't restrict myself to the textbooks. There is SO much more out there!!!
So, I will be using the following:

Student Planner - Christian Homeschool Student Planner

English - Shurley
I taught this one for two years and wish I had it when I was young. Grammar finally made sense!!!

Writing - Writing Strands
We'll use this for our daily journal.

Spelling - Building Spelling Skills

Reading - Pathway

Handwriting - A Reason for Writing
We will use the transition from print to cursive level for this one. He hasn't been taught cursive but most of his curriculum is assuming he's learned cursive. I think we'll also use the first level of cursive before the year is over.

Math - Saxon
Hands down this is the best Math program in my opinion.

Social Studies - Early American History - A Literature Approach, USA Placemat, State by State Atlas
As you can see, we'll focus on the United States. Seeing that he's spent less than 2.5 years IN the United States, we figured this would be a good place to start! :)

Science - God's Wonderful Works, Hands On Science Fun, Super Science Crosswords, Easy Science Activity Journals
God's WOnderful Works is the primary text. Hands on Science Fun is a kit with various experiments (such as one on magnetism) and the other two books are supplements.

Health - Human Body: Easy Make & Learn Projects
This will actually be a suplement to the primary Science curriculum as well.

French - Rosetta Stone
Rosetta stone is an excellent computer program for learning languages. I honestly think they have every language available!!! We picked French since that will probably be the most useful when we return to Africa with Dad's job.

Typing - Typing Instructor
This is another computer program that he'll use once or twice a week at a minimum

Art - Art Classes in town, Scribble Art
He's currently taking water color classes and I've talked with the instructor about continuing classes for our homeschool group next year. Scribble Art is a book that, despite my horrible artistic abilities, I think I can use with him. :)

Music - Piano lessons

Gospel Teaching - I haven't decided 100% yet but I think we'll do the Life of Christ.

I know it seems like a lot but not everything will be done every single day and many things are supplemental to te basics. I'm looking forward to doing this again. We had a great time when we did it in California and he was begging me to do it again!

We are alive but sooooooooooooooooooooooo HOT!!!

The heat index this week had been up to 109 degrees with 100% humidity! It is so hot here! I hate even walking from my house to my van I sweat so much!!!
This week was a crazy, but good one. My sister's 3 children (ages 9,8 and 6) needed to come visit at the last minute. Their uncle (on the other side of their family) was in an accident so their dad had to go be with him. Their mother is teaching summer school and my parents (who live next door to her) were out of town! So, I loaded up the kids and my 18 year old neice and we got to FL just before Midnight Monday night and headed back home on Tuesday with 6 kids in the backseat! Thank goodness my van holds 8! I took a picture with my iPhone so I'll see if I can get that loaded up. :)
Meanwhile my poor sister (who lives across the street) has a broken A/C so we joined forces and took care of the kids and made meals together. I told her and her husband that the frequent adult conversation has been nice! :)
So it was a crazy week but fun. My sister took them back today and they'll get to come in a few weeks. I think it will be more fun because we'll have time to plan activities, meals, etc so we can wear them out each day! :)
So today I spent the day catching up on some sleep and finalizing my curriculum choices for Andrew next year.
Yes, I'm homeschooling Andrew again! He begged me and I found a way to make it work. I found a GREAT preschool program for the girls so they'll be gone 3 mornings a week for 4 hours each day. This will give me time to focus on Andrew's instruction, etc. I'm also going to lead a PE group for local homeschoolers each week. I'll talk about what all I've selected for next year. The key with Andrew is variety and opportunities to explore deeper.
Now I have a delicious Caramel Apple Pie cooking in the oven. It's my treat for me, my sister and her husband since we survived the crazy week. I need to post the recipe to that soon as well!
Here is a picture of all 6 kids in the back of my van on their way back from Florida:

Water pictures

Yesterday the girls played in the water. Leah usually likes the water that sprays but she was in a mood. Leila enjoyed it though. So, we got the pool out for Leah and Leila enjoyed grabbing the hose and shaking it!!! Our neighbor girl and my neice were victims of Leila's water throwing as well!

Sunday pictures

Josh has been strongly hinting for more pictures so here are some from Sunday morning. :)

Pictures of Andrew's creations from camp

Here are a few pictures of Andrew from his last day at camp. It may look like a bunch of stuff taped together to you, so I'll do my best to explain the creations:
The first one is a superhero. They created their superhero and created a comic book about their superhero.

Next they learned about the Vikings (did you know that Viking helmets didn't actually have horns on the side?). They had to make a boat that would float from one side of the pool to the other. Andrew's made it. Here is his boat:
Finally, he made a robot. It had a forward, reverse, and a few other buttons (but I forgot what they were!) :) It's a flat robot. :)
He had a great time at camp and today he told me his missed his camp friends. Tomorrow he starts Art classes!

Trying to change my aggressive ways

Before we moved to Morocco I had never been in an accident, and would go maybe 5 miles over the speed limit.

Then we moved to Morocco and my driving had to change. It could be downright crazy at times. I had 3 accidents in 8 months. I have pictures of the Mercedes I totaled on New Year's Eve 2007 on here. The other two didn't total the car, thankfully.

My sister pointed out one time that I drive quite aggresively and I made her nervous. I also noticed that I was speeding MUCH more.

So, I'm working on that. When I went to Florida last week, made sure I didn't go too fast, etc.

A friend of mine took this video. This is a completely typical day.

Playing catch up!

What a summer so far! I thought it would be a simple summer since we aren't doing any major vacations. Boy was I wrong!
In the past week:
We discovered that the girls are allergic to mosquitos. NOT a good thing in the South!!! So they were on Benedryl and slept a LOT last week. They have some nasty marks left over from last week's bites but they seem to feel a LOT better.
Last Friday I had to drive Josh's car to Florida to take car of the tag. I couldn't take the children because they wouldn't all fit! This is why it was so crucial to buy a mini van when we arrived here from Morocco. So, I drove to Florida and back in ONE day just to deal with the car tag. It was a long day, but it was VERY nice to be alone for a bit. I got to blast my iPod as long as I wanted and got to listen to what I wanted (no cartoons or annoying songs for me!!!). My neice made a killing for babysitting that long! :)
Saturday was our 11th anniversary. Josh got to call me and it was nice to hear his voice. I then got to spend the rest of the day in the heat in the ballpark while Andrew's baseball team played in the tournament. I have to admit that I was praying they would lose so I didn't have to that for 8 more days. My prayers were answered! So Andrew, when you are reading this years from now, please understand that I love you and usually enjoy watching you play sports but it was over 90 degrees with high humdity and your cousin was making a LOT of money watching your sisters at home. :)
Monday I got a filling. It was exciting. really. I could barely contain my excitement as I sat in that dentist's chair. OK, enough sarcasm . . .
Tuesday Andrew was VERY brave. We started meeting with an orthodontist and we have a big future in orthodontics for this little guy! The first thing he wanted was for Andrew to have 6 baby teeth removed so room could be made (with the orthodontist's assistance) for permanent teeth. The dentist and I decided 2 at a time would be the maximum without traumatizing him. We also agreed that Andrew needed gas. I honestly thought I did too because I hate needles and teeth!
We got in there and he did so well that she pulled 3! He was showered with stickers, prizes, etc. I was quite proud of him. I held his hand and looked the other way the whole time. :) I honestly got weak a few times. They'll do the other3 in two weeks.
Today we went to the library to sign Andrew up for the summer reading program. He got to make a craft while Leah and Leila played in a little play area.
The rest of the summer will be busy. Andrew is going to Camp Invention for a week. I'm looking forward to the opportunities he'll get there. This camp is all over the US. You can check it out here: http://www.invent.org/camp/default.aspx
I also found swim lessons and possibly art classes. I'm especially interested in getting him in the art class because I stink at art!!! He had a teacher who was really gifted artistically and would teach the kids about Monet and Van Gogh and he would create projects using pointillism and abstract styles. He seems to be drawn (no pun intended) to art but I'm simply not able to teach him much in this area. So, hopefully it will work out!
The girls are well. I can't believe they turn two in August!!! They seem to be trying to ACT two! Leah tries desperately to throw a temper tantrum and they fight a LOT! They don't have two of every toy, but they even fight when there ARE two of the same toy! I have a feeling it's going to be a long year! :)
Now for the pictures! I took several of Andrew at his baseball game. I edited identifying information (team name, numbers, etc) so that is why it's blurry. I also took some of the girls today at the library. Leah has shoes on and Leila doesn't because sometime between taking her from the house to the van or from the van to the library a mosquito bit her foot and the shoe was irritating it! Poor thing!!!










Hope you enjoyed the pictures! :)