Homeschool Update

It's been a while since I posted about homeschool, so I thought I would post an update.  We have pretty much always had year-round school, but we just switched to six weeks on/two weeks off.  We had been doing 9/3 but the kids were bored on week 3 and making lots of mistakes on their math the first week back, so I decided to change things up some.  I'll post by child in age order from oldest to youngest, just to try and keep things organized.

GW:  14yo - home from China 3 months- unofficially in 8th Grade

• GW starts his day off with reading 1 chapter in his Mandarin/English Bible.  I'm pretty sure he is reading the Mandarin version :-)
• Next, he copies 10 verses in Mandarin and the same 10 verses in English.  The purpose of this is to keep him fresh with writing in Mandarin while also helping him to learn how to write well in English.  I didn't specify how to do this, but I thought it was interesting that he choose to write one verse in English and then in Mandarin.  That should really help him with his English comprehension as well as the grammar structure!
• Sterling Math Facts  and one page of Math from here.  We are still trying to figure out exactly what he does/doesn't know in math, so he is helping us by telling us what he can work on.
• 45 minutes of computer time.  He chooses from http://www.livemocha.com/, http://www.mingoville.com/en.html, http://usalearns.org/, or Sight_Words_Sentence_Builder
• Work with Dad - for this we have three different ESL reading books for him to choose from each day that we got from our school district.  (I'll post pictures later) These focus on reading/comprehension.  One thing CP has picked up on already is that GW doesn't understand the function of a silent "e" at the end of a word.  That we'll have to work on :-)
• Read to SG for 20 minutes - For this, GW is reading McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader.  What I really like about the McGuffey's Readers (especially for our older adopted kids) is that the topics aren't baby-ish.  They are good reading with good morals.  And I don't worry about him thinking the subject is beneath him.  The purpose of him reading out loud to SG is that he gets to practice his pronunciation and SG can help correct him if need be.  I should probably have HJ join in just to listen!
• Read anything for 45 minutes - For this he chooses anything, but it is usually one of the many Mandarin books we brought home for him.  I don't particularly care what he reads, as long as he is reading. 

JA:  12yo - bio - unofficially in 7th Grade

• JA starts off his day with God time.  I have him working through the Bible this year based on a plan found here.  I have given him questions to answer and thoughts to ponder as he begins to take ownership of his faith this year.
• Then he has Math starting with his math facts and then he will shortly be moving into Saxon 8/7.  He used to do the math facts on the computer, but for some reason this just stresses him out.  As a result, he has transitioned to working with Grandpa with old-fashioned flash cards.
• Reading for 1.5 hours - his reading list is the one from the Robinson Curriculum Booklist Right now, he is trying to finish up the Fifth Grade books.  This isn't as bad as it looks as he has already read many 6th,7th and even a 9th grade book.  I'm just trying to get him to finish up the ones he didn't want to read earlier
• Vocabulary - He uses Quizlet to study the Robinson Curriculum vocabulary and takes the quiz when he thinks he is ready. 
• Writing - He writes one page a day about anything his heart desires.  For him, that's usually creative writing.  He even self-published a story that he wrote as a part of NaNoWriMo last year.
• Chinese - He uses a variety of things to learn Chinese, but mainly right now he is using the "immersion" method of learning from his brothers!
• Guitar - He practices his guitar for 30 min each day. 

AT - 11yo - bio - unofficially in 6th Grade
AT's schedule is nearly identical to JA's with a few minor changes.  He uses the Sterling Math Facts program for his math facts and he practices piano rather than guitar.  For his writing, he prefers non-fiction or writing about something he has read.  One other difference is his God time. For right now, he is using the devotions in his Bible to guide his reading.  I will probably have him transition to this study soon.

TJ - 10yo - home from China 3 months - unofficially in 5th Grade
TJ's schedule is very similar to GW's with a few changes.  He only copies 5 verses each day from his Bible and does two pages of math from here .  When TJ works with Dad, they are exclusively using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  This is working very well for TJ and they are blazing through the book.  TJ doesn't have the additional 20 min of reading to SG because he just isn't ready for it yet.

SG - 8yo - bio - unofficially in 3rd Grade
SG has a schedule similar to JA and AT, with a few tweaks.  For her God time, she uses Keys for Kids and reads the lesson to HJ.  She also works with Grandpa for her math facts because the computer version stresses her out also :-/ She is also working in Saxon 54.  She is reading for 45 min from the RC booklist and is reading level 3 books.  She has also started working on vocabulary recently.  For her writing, I have her working in a Print Manuscript book because she needed work on her handwriting.  She also practices piano.

HJ - 7yo - home from China 5 years - unofficially in 2nd Grade
HJ has a schedule all her own :-) 

• God Time with SG
• Then she has two things to do with Daddy. 
• She is slowly working through 100 Easy Lessons and
• Either 
• Phonograms based on the Spalding Method or
• Literacy Leaders She needs both of these to work on her Phonological Awareness skills
• Sterling Math Facts and some pages out of a math workbook
• More Phonics with Explode the Code or another phonics workbook
• Writing - she is also using a print writing book to work on her copy work skills - her handwriting is better than SG's!
• Screen Time - she chooses between an educational computer game or an educational video
• Fun Time - This is play doh, wiki stix, or something else fun.  Though I'm probably going to replace this soon with some more cognitive skills exercises using Audiblox with Grandpa

I am SO thankful for the Robinson Curriculum and the self-teaching method.  CP has his hands full teaching HJ and TJ to read English; helping GW with his English comprehension; and answering questions for the others as things come up.  I'm glad that JA and AT and SG can move at their pace without being held up waiting for someone to come teach them something they can read on their own.

We have been using RC for about 2 yrs now and I am VERY pleased with it.  I recently had JA take the California Achievement Test for 6th grade just to see what he knows and for a sanity check on RC.  He scored VERY well - better than even I expected.  It will be interesting to see just what happens when he takes the SAT for college :-)

P.S.  Don't miss all of the different Homeschool Resources I have compiled over on my Homeschool Page