Homeschool Wrap up and Prep for next year!! :)

We mainly finished up our first year of homeschooling at the end of April, except for Math, which Jade finished up about a week ago! For May to August, we are doing some light work - Grammar worksheets, Math workbooks, an English workbook, and a Science workbook.

All in all, I think our first year of homeschooling was a success. Everything didn't always go as planned, but I got my feet wet, I feel more confident, and I have decided on some changes for next year!

For grade 3, and our first year of homeschooling, I wanted to keep things low key, and not make too much work for myself or Jade. For grade 3 we did:

-Horizon Math 3

-A Reason for Spelling C
-A Reason for Cursive Writing C
-Read all the books in the Little House series and did
comprehension questions
-Lapbooks (Giraffes, Deer, Mexico, World Geography) for Social Studies and Science
-Swimming lessons, Curling, and Baseball for Gym
-Piano lessons for music
-Art class for Art

I was quite happy with our Math program, but the spelling and cursive writing seemed like a bit of a waste of time. Jade picked up on the cursive right away, and really didn't need to practise it every day. Same with the spelling. Most weeks she got all or almost all of the words right on her pre-test, and didn't need to do all of the practise activities everyday until the test. I had her do it all anyways, but we will not be continuing on with those programs next year. I don't feel like she did enough writing or grammar. We are doing grammar worksheets over the summer, and I have picked a more complete Language Arts curriculum for the fall. I also feel like we didn't do as much Social Studies and Science as I had originally planned. So I have more planned for next year!

I had originally planned to do Preschool with the triplets. I didn't end up doing nearly as much as I wanted to, but I figure they were only 3, so it really doesn't matter. In September, I am going to start more of a daily routine of preschool learning activities with them. :)

I bought most of Jade's Grade 4 curriculum a couple of months ago. Seeing as it is now half way through June, I figured I better start getting stuff prepped for September! She is going to have a bit more work this year, but she is a very independent learner, and I don't think she will have any problem with it! For Grade 4 we are doing:

-Horizon Math 4
-Learning Language Arts Through Literature (Orange Book)
-Daily Science 4
-Dear Canada books (from the 1900's) for Social Studies
-Canadian Character Education 3-4 for Health
-Artistic Pursuits and possibly a ceramics class
-Swimming lessons, Curling, and possibly another sport
-Piano Lessons

I am quite excited, and a little nervous for next year! Like I said, Jade is going to have more work to do, and I am determined to work with the triplets each day - so things are going to be busy!