Some Science-y photos

So I just realized that I have posted nothing here in months.  *shrug*  We've been busy - done tons of stuff!  Honest!
Here are some photos of various science labs the kids have done - pardon the blurry shots or weird angles.  They take their own photos most of the time, or take them of one another.

And We Begin Again

Granite Bridge Academy year 2011-2012 has started!
We officially began our 10th year of schooling here at home a few weeks ago.  Wow!  How did that happen?  10th year?  Seriously?  Yes!
Jess is in the 9th grade, so if you count Kindergarten - that makes 10.  See...even the non-home-schooled Mom can do some math. :-)
We are embarking on high school and boy has that been an interesting beginning.  We have opted to work a more traditional textbook approach for our first year and plan to allow more flexibility in the coming years to give Jess room to pursue her own interests and passions as God leads and allows.  Jess is being really diligent and doing well so far.

My kitchen table this morning... we look busy huh?

Where do you do Algebra?

Ben is a 7th grader this year and as he is pushing into tougher material, I expect this year to be a bit more challenging for him.  He is bright and as he has absorbed so much from being around Jess all these years and doing so many subjects jointly with her, this is his first year of really swimming solo with all his subject material.  I expect he will rise to the challenges and do marvelously.  He has been fairly serious about his studies and is also really committed to praying for tests and such for both himself and Jess, which touches my heart.

A pencil tapping your head apparently helps with History.

They are both playing instruments again this year, Jess continues with piano and Ben is breaking into new territory with learning electric guitar.  I am anticipating there will be much music here in the coming months - which is just perfect for this mama!
Lord willing we will enjoy a successful year - and by that I mean that we will be open to His leading and working with whatever opportunities He places in our paths to serve others while we also work through the standard academics.  In the past few months God has been impressing on me the vital importance of really LIVING this life He has blessed us with each day.
To me that means sometimes (probably a lot of days!) we check off all our boxes on the schedule but that sometimes we take an afternoon off to bring dinner to a family in need, or play with some little ones so another Mom can attend to some urgent thing, or maybe even just take a day to go to the fair with family & friends and enjoy a fun & gorgeous day together - a simple gift.  Jesus took each day as the Father gave it...just obedient, prayerful, loving others, meeting needs and sharing truth.  That is what I want for our year... prayer... studying God's words together... reaching out to others to really LIVE and SHARE and LOVE.
God is so good and I don't want us to miss anything He has for us. 

May you be blessed as you begin this school year.

Anticipation

Wow... time flies when you are playing summer vacation.
We're having a good summer and enjoying one of the only times I can remember of extended rest & play.  The kids are doing plenty of reading, they've gone to camp and enjoyed those weeks immensely!

We've had days that Steve stayed home from work and done fun things as a family.

There have also been projects around the house including a new hard-wood floor and massive over-hauls of bedrooms.  It has been a very good summer indeed.
As part of my summer projects, I turned this:

And these:

 

Into this:

Which while still looking like chaos, is in actually quite organized and neatly arranged in preparation for starting our 2011-2012 school year.

We are beginning a new phase of schooling this year - we are entering high school!  OK... actually it's just J that is going to be doing high school, but it does impact the rest of us.  The planning alone for this year is mammoth compared to years past and I'm trying to be diligent and chip away at the list.  I'm making progress and hope to have all my plans entered into my software program for scheduling before B's birthday... well, at least all the stuff I need for the 1st semester anyway.

All in all, I think we are enjoying our time off, but are beginning to anticipate all the new subjects and excitement of a new year.  I love the fall, the leaves, the new school supplies and the seemingly endless opportunities to learn that God allows each year.  We are so very blessed!

 

Almost there

We're almost finished with our 2010-2011 school year.

It's been a good year.  We've covered a lot of ground and are now striving to "finish well".
The evaluations have been done and mailed into the town office along with our letter of intent for next year.  I'm one of 'those' people who likes to get everything done with the official paperwork all in one fell swoop. 

I'm almost finished with accumulating our curriculum supplies for next year.  Most of the big things are settled, just one more order from CBD and I think we'll be set.  Of course everything we choose is subject to change if a need should arise.  That is one of the absolute beauties of home education.  You choose something with high hopes...but if you find after a month or so that it isn't working, you are free to ditch it and find something else to accomplish your goals.

Next year will be the first year with absolutely no subjects shared between J & B.  This past year they only shared History, Art & Piano.  Next year though... everything is completely individualized for each of them.  This is fine, of course, they are getting older and more independent.  Their learning styles are similar but not exactly the same.  I love watching them learn and even learning alongside them in some instances. 

I live a blessed life and I am very thankful.

Evaluations!

Today our evaluator comes to look over our materials and what we've accomplished this year.  It's been a good year.

Our Current Year

For this current school year, J is working on the 8th grade and B is working on the 6th grade.  We are in our 9th year of home education and still love it.  When we began this journey, I didn't know how long it would last, but God has blessed beyond our wildest dreams and we are anticipating that both of them will continue at home until graduation.
Our curriculum choices for this year are probably considered a bit eclectic, but we use what works and are not afraid to make changes as we work through the year and find things that need tweaking.

Both kids are using the 3rd volume from Mystery of History. We've gone through all the books in the series and think they are great!  The first two volumes we also used the timeline figures and created spiral bound time-line books.  This year the kids voted not to color/cut/paste and we skipped that part.  They are doing much more of the mapping activities this year and it's added a nice geography boost to their studies.
This newest volume is a beautiful hard-cover reader and the kids work through each lesson doing the reading, taking notes and discussing the bits they find most interesting.  Generally they enjoy history and we've had a thorough grounding with this series.  We also do a lot of supplemental reading and use the Story of the World series for that as well as plenty of books from the library.
For Math they are using materials from BJU. J is working through pre-Algebra and B is doing Math 6.  J will also begin a free trial of Alek's math shortly to see if that will be a good fit for her to use for high school level math.  I know that I am capable of teaching some of it, but really prefer to have her work with something that will seriously challenge her and stretch her abilities.
Science is from Apologia.

J is working through their General Science and B has just finished up their elementary level Astronomy and will be starting their elementary level Anatomy & Physiology book shortly.  They both are learning a great deal and enjoy their science studies.  Apologia's materials are VERY thorough, provide a biblically based science that doesn't shy away from exploring the secular theories as well.  They have done experiments and projects and I'm very pleased with how much they are learning.

English is a mix of different publishers and products.  They both use Rod & Staff for the grammar work (J is 8th grade and B is 6th), they have spelling workbooks from Christian Liberty Press and are using Vocabulary from the Classical Roots.  J uses Lightning Literature from Hewitt and B is using a book from Pathway Readers.  They also have outside tutoring for their writing with WriteGuide and we LOVE that service!

They have dabbled in Latin using Latina Christiana and have finished level 1.  There is also an outside art class with a group of fellow home schooled students once a week that they have enjoyed this year.

Both of them play piano and we have a new teacher this year and longer lesson times, more practice time and have seen great leaps in improvement in their abilities - which obviously thrills me and pleases them to see their hard work paying off. 

Boy... condensing our year's worth of curriculum choices like that is HARD. :-)  I love to look at curriculum!  There are always so many options and such a wealth of resources available that it's exciting to see what they will have the opportunity to learn.  I love the freedom we have been blessed with in this educational journey.  They are not trapped by anything set in stone and have the freedom to explore a side-interest in addition to their regular studies.  We can slow down if things are difficult or move ahead more quickly if things are clicking easily.  We march to our own drummer and I'm thrilled with how well they both are thriving in this environment.

I love home schooling! 

Welcome 2011

We cheered for Steve at his first 2011 road race in Temple, NH.  He was 6th overall and 1st in his age division.

Our new school semester has begun and we are making some changes... nothing huge and dramatic, just some tweaking.  I will try to figure out how to cross post from my regular blog to bring our school info up to date here.  I'd like to remember to post semi-regular updates here to use for portfolio purposes, but we'll see how that goes.
I also hope to be able to post reviews of curriculum or programs we use.

Blessings on the home school journey everyone!  Praying that 2011 is a year that God reveals himself and that we are paying attention to see it happen!