The Ozmerican Life

The question commonly comes when I admit that I home school my kids, "What books do you use?" "Do you use that online school thing?"



So to answer those questions, I'll go subject by subject.



Math



Math was my favorite subject in school. I like it because there is only one answer. It's either right or wrong. So I thought teaching math would be my favorite...Not so much. Last year I used Horizon math. Not a big fan. Too much of the same thing over and over which was easy for Quaid and then the areas he struggled there were 2 problems every 10 pages! So this year I went with Math-U-See. It uses blocks and a short lesson taught via DVD. It's going pretty good so far...It's a little confusing for Quaid to relearn a few things with the blocks...but he's going pretty well. Ava is learning everything for the first time so she's picking it up just fine. As for Jentzen and Keira, Jentzen plays legos with the blocks and Keira just wants to eat them!



Reading/Phonics



Last year I used Abeka Letters and Sounds. I really like it. It goes through each letter's sound and then combinations one per day. I'm using the same this year. Actually Quaid is finishing up his book from last year cause we didn't finish, cause it was May and nice weather and we didn't want to. I'm the teacher, and I can do anything I want...that's why I home school!



Bible



I didn't do a Bible last year but thought I maybe should this year...Quaid being in First Grade and all, I should probably be a little more official. I searched and searched....I found Positive Action for Christ. I really liked this one because it not only teaches stories and verses but pulls character traits out of each verse and lesson. For instance the first lesson taught about Orderliness, God is a God of order. And God created us to be an individual so we need to find our purpose for God that can be different from everyone else's and that's just fine. This was an awesome one becuase with the three kids they tend to get a little upset if they can't do things as well as the next oldest and the really soaked it up that what each one did was great no matter how it compared to the others. I read once that your kids will outgrow behavior things. They won't always throw their food, they won't always climb all over the countertops, the won't always color with markers all over their legs...but their character that you build at an early stage will always be with them. Even if they don't memorize the verse word for word, or know exactly where to find it...hopefully they will remember what the learned of God's character and that will always be with them.



More to come!