What worked last year?

Read Alouds...

We read some fabulous books together.  Early American history is full of engaging literature, uniting engrossing stories with historical education.  My favorite book from the year was "Amos Fortune, Free Man" by Elizabeth Yates.   What a powerful story of the fight for good, even when the good is incredibly difficult.  To imagine the hard life that some have led, yet remained virtuous, is humbling and inspiring.  Amos Fortune would let no one hinder him from living as a free man of God.  I cried during this book, finding it difficult to get the words out.  Of course, I think I cried at some point of every read aloud book this past year.  Yes, I even cried when Matthew died in "Anne of Green Gables."  It gets me every time.  I'm not sure my girls entirely know what to do with me when this happens.  

"Window on the World"...
We read through a good portion of this book during our table time this year.  Each two page spread would give a description and short story about a place or people group that has severe poverty, persecution, or very little Christian influence.  It was an eye opening experience for all of us to learn and love people around the world.  I was surprised how much the girls enjoyed the book and would not let me forget to read it.

Lydia learned to read...

What an exciting accomplishment this is.  She followed a very similar path to Madeline in her development of reading.  The fall was laborious, slowly sounding out words, struggling for the ideas to click.  Then in January, boom!  Something in her head clicked and she was off.  Once she got it, she loved it.  She has been devouring books like crazy.  She's been reading all the "A to Z Mysteries," "Magic Tree House" books, and American Girl books.  

Classical Conversations...

What can I say?  We love CC!  It makes our homeschooling fun, full, and complete.  Anna went through her first year of CC.  Initially I was hesitant as to whether she was ready or not, but she did great.  We had a wonderful year with like minded families.

Essentials...

The afternoon class for 3rd/4th graders through 6th graders in Classical Conversations is titled Essentials of the English language.  They learn english grammar, work through the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), and play math drill games.  Grammar is the first subject I've encountered that has completely stumped me.  I don't know if I never learned how to diagram sentence or I have blocked it from my memory, but I was struggling.  I am so thankful for Essentials presenting the material in a manageable way for me (oh, and for Madeline too).  It was amazing to see what all the kids learned throughout the year.  At the beginning of the year, Madeline said she didn't like writing.  By the end, it was one of her favorite subjects.  

Tutoring...

I was the tutor for the CC Masters class.  It was not as much work as I thought it would be, and was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.  Because I was forced to really learn the material for class, I think I was more effective at reviewing the material at home with the girls.  

A Schedule...

I know that following a schedule gives me more time.  I know that we only have so much time in a day, which we need to budget.  I know that following a schedule is actually freeing rather than suffocating.  Yet, I struggle on a day to day basis to follow a schedule.  When we do follow our schedule, we get everything done that we need and want to.  If only I had the discipline to do this, we'd be rolling.