Homeschool Books and Experiments

We visit the library once a week. By the time we check out we usually have two big bags of books. We take them home, spread them on the living room floor and read. After the kids have perused most of them, I stick them in Asher's school desk. Everyday I grab a pile for Asher and another for Joshua. Asher and I read through his pile (him helping me on the easier books). Joshua takes his pile up to his bed for reading time. Here is a picture of our living room floor after a recent library trip... For some reason Ellliana loves to walk on all the books...Joshua has been studying electricity in science. Today he did a cool experiment with batteries, wire, and light bulbs. I actually did this same experiment with my 9th graders years ago when I taught high school. It was neat to share this experiment with my son :)

We have been working through an awesome book on poems. Each section has poems related to a given topic (dogs, food, birthdays). After reading those poems there is a section that talks about writing that particular type of poem. The reader is then given a prompt to help him write his very own poem. It is neat to see Joshua writing a poem each day. It is a lot of fun to have a peak at what is going on inside that head of his :)

I plan for two weeks of school at a time, which normally takes me about three hours. I was starting my school planning this afternoon and I realized that there are many books that I use that I think are just awesome. So I thought I would share them :)

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For Joshua:
We use Sonlight for his core curriculum But I supplement with the following books.

Daily Paragraph Editing- I LOVE this curriculum. Joshua is given a paragraph with assorted mistakes and he must fix them.

Language Fundamentals- A great addition to our curriculum. I love focusing on different parts of writing and language in general (nouns, adverbs, adjectives, punctuation, usage).

Wordly Wise- This workbook enhances vocabulary.

Daily Math Warm Ups- Each warm up consist of two math problems that do not relate to our main math curriculum. I love that! Sometimes these problems are review other times they cover new material. Saxon-Our main math curriculum. It is a great fit for our family.

Sequential Spelling- Everyday I read a list of words and Joshua attempts to spell them. I check each word as he writes it and we make any needed changes. It has been a great program. Joshua is amazed that he can spell long words.

Spanish Workbooks- These two books are packed full of Spanish worksheets and activities on a large number of topics.

For Asher:

We use My Fathers World for his core curriculum But I supplement with the following books.

Explode the Code- We start with the primer books and over about two years we work through books 1-4.

Right Into Reading- A great supplement to our reading program.