This little Mary went to 2nd grade...

She is such a sweet little girl and its incredible to watch her grow and learn!

M1 is my artistic one...loves reading, music, painting, story writing, history, nature.
Does not love memorizing math facts.

This year for her individual learning time we use the following...

Math
Math Copywork
Handwriting
Language Lessons
Spelling Power
Wordly Wise
Writing Strands/Free Write
Piano
Daily Reading
Some Extras....



Math- We have been using the Horizons curriculum since M1 was in Kindergarten. Overall I like it. like. not love. It follows a spiral approach to teaching math so there is constant review. At a K level this was too much for her. We switched briefly to Singapore, but found it wasn't the best fit for her long term. Even as I write this I've been considering switching to Math-U-See, but feel at the root of this is my longing to find the perfect curriculum.


It doesn't exist. I have to remind myself that the curriculum isn't teaching my child. I am. The curriculum is merely the tool. I can be a slave to schedule so I'm having to slow down sometimes and camp out on certain topics, which for me can be challenging!



Daily M1 receives a math lesson if its all new material, completes a worksheet, practices flashcards and works in her math fact copywork page. I love copywork. I have found great resources from Queen Homeschool Supplies in all sorts of subjects.

Handwriting- We are starting the year in manuscript and ending in cursive. I really do like A Reason for Handwriting because of the 5 day approach and the focus on Scripture. She breezes through these each day and focuses daily on just a few words, repetition. Then ends the week with a Scripture page ready to share.

Language Lessons - I have loved this series. It has been a gentle approach to grammar. I've tried a different curriculum eariler this year but returned to Language Lessons because it fit our family better. Most of these M1 can complete solo but sometimes I work with her a bit. They are easy to complete in just 5 to 10 minutes or so and not stressful. There is not routine memorization which I prefer since she is already memorizing a great deal at CC.

Spelling Power- I am convinced good spellers are born. I happen to be one. M1 though is not a natural speller. "Uv" looks correct to her. Enter Spelling Power and we are working through this area and still thankful that spellcheck does indeed exist. This takes just 15 minutes a day. 5 minutes to test words, learn new words, study words and write sentences. She tends to get discouraged at her poor spelling so I only let her miss 5 before we pause. The thought is that she can focus on a few to master instead of a giant list to overwhelm her. So far we are seeing great improvement! The good thing is that this is a program that all the Marys can use this one masterbook, with their own student books as the time comes.


Vocabulary- We have settled on the Wordly Wise program. I used it in school growing up. It is a fun, easy to use program that M1 enjoys. Each lesson introduces a new set of words and has exercises that draws out the meanings and reinforces them. There 5 exercises for each lesson and at the end of the week I test her on the words. It takes anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes depending on the exercise. The spelling of the words is difficult for her so I provide a word bank sometimes if necessary.

Writing/Composition- We began the year using Writing Strands. It is to be used every other week but we probably use it less often. My hope is for the Marys to be great writers and to also enjoy the task of writing. I provide freewrites for M1 most days. Sometimes I help her start her stories and sometimes I let her choose. On true freewrite days, I set the timer for about 15 minutes and ask her to continue to write. We work on editing sometimes but currently I'm hoping to have her just enjoy getting her thoughts out on paper....not worrying about spelling, but worrying about content.

Piano- I have a dear friend who teaches M1 piano on Monday afternoons. She comes to our house and works with her for about 30 minutes. We aim to practice daily but honestly that doesn't happen. When walking by the piano she's bound to bang out something on the keys but not always with her primer book opened. She loves music so this continues to be an enjoyable part of her learning.

Musical Theater- She has been asking about acting classes, so we are enrolling her in Musical Theater I at our local YMCA this January. She will practice once a week on Tuesdays and I can't wait to see the final production in May. I really have no idea what to expect here but she is ecstatic!

Looking back at M1's coursework its easy to imagine that we always have fall things into place beautifully. Truth: we don't. We work hard but life is life, and we take breaks when we needed.

Hoping to have Middle Marys couseload tomorrow....