Thursday, June 17, 2010

Convention JOY

I found lots of goodies I needed for Alex at the used curriculum sale and then at the last minute .....guess what I did......big shock for those who know me.....I changed my mind!!! I had fully decided to use Sonlight Core 200 History of God's Kingdom for his 10th grade year - until I got my hands on the Teacher's Manual! It is HUGE and it overwhelmed me from the first time I picked it up! I bought it because I needed it for my plan but after I spent soem time looking it over I canned it! We are a Charlotte Mason family and I am not ready to give up that philosophy just because he is older!! So - back to the drawing board! I did find a Literature program I am pretty excited about. I am starting with the first one in her series because he hasn't had a good intro to lit so I want him to get the info and skills from this book as well as all the rest! I am hoping to do Book 1 & 2 in one year - a bit ambitous I know! I got to spend some time talking to Janice and it was so worth it for me! She had some really good insights and info to share!
He is doing Algebra 2 with Teaching Textbooks and Biology from Apologia. He wants to finish World History so I will be looking for something CM style to go from 1500(where he left off this year) on. We will also do Language Lessons from Queen Homeschool - I think. I spent some time looking at it at convention and I love that it has some elements that he has yet to be introduced to - picture study, narration, copywork, dictation - and these are things I want him to get so....I just need to decide which level to buy for him. I have also found a Bible Study for him thru Simply Charlotte Mason. I like the way it is set up with lots of repitition!

The younger boys didn't really get much that was new except for a new guide for mommy from Simply Charlotte Mason. I bought 2 actually - Genesis thru Dueteronomy and Joshua thru Malachai and Ancient Greece then got home and realized we were much farther along in Dueteronomy than I thought. I also got a science study from them that I am super excited about. I also got to spend some time talking to Sonya Shafer at their booth and she was fantastic!

Being able to talk to these people at their booths is a new discovery for me this year and boy does it help to make decisions and to just get info! I am such a people pleaser I didn't want to 'bother them' in past years but this year I felt more comfortable reaching out and it was so worth it!

Boy do I love convention! Getting ready for next year is gonna be FUN!
The little ones and I are still doing school and will all summer. I like that it gives us focus and the ability to not be so strict(ha!ha! as if) during the school year - it is all the school year! Will write more on that later......

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Going to Convention

Oh...How I LOVE convention!!! All those books at the used sale - I go through there at least 3 times(probably lots more) and always find treasures!! Then there is the exhibit hall - full of new, old, fun school things I never knew I needed! I could and do spend hours wandering thru there looking, touching, reading, looking some more and sometimes even buying! It is completely overwhelming in every sense but I LOVE IT!!!

We have been so crazy busy these past few months and I miss blogging but I have really been trying to be more purposeful in how I spend my time and trying to actually go to bed at night!!!