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Our Homeschool
Understanding that we have been given the responsibility for
our children's spiritual training and their education as well,
we have felt led of the Lord to homeschool our children. In Deuteronomy
6:6-7 the Lord commanded the children of Israel saying: "These
words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of
them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way
and when you lie down and when you rise up." (NASB) We desire
for our children's education to be Christ-centered and for them
to realize that faith permeates all areas of life and cannot
be compartmentalized. So although we have "formal"
school, we are about the business of teaching our children throughout
the day, the week, and the year.
While still in our planning stages, Jerry's parents gave us
a book called Beyond Survival written by Diana Waring.
Through that book we were introduced to Five
In A Row, a wonderful unit-study approach to early education
based on outstanding children's literature. Five
In A Row (FIAR)
integrates lessons in Christian Character from the Bible with
lessons in Social Studies, Language Arts, Applied Mathematics,
Fine Arts, and Science.
We complement our FIAR
studies with Making
Math Meaningful (which emphasizes the development of
reasoning skills in mathematics) and language arts. For Claire's
kindergarten year we used Sing,
Spell, Read, & Write (which systematically presents
basic language arts and handwriting in an enjoyable way, utilizing
music and games to teach and reinforce concepts). If you'd like
to read more about our experiences
with SSRW check this link. Justin will continue with SSRW
in modified form and Claire will be using English for the
Thoughtful child, complemented with Spelling Power
and Daily Guided Teaching and Review (the first book in
the Daily Grams series). This fall we will also
be beginning the Greenleaf
Guide to Old Testament History to help establish the foundation
that God's Hand is seen throughout history -- from the Beginning.
We see all of these curricula as tools for teaching and adapt
them freely to suit the needs of our children. Check out this
page for suggestions on choosing
curricula.
If you'd like to know more about my planning and record-keeping
system (both for FIAR and for school in general), check out my
Planning & Record
Keeping Page. It has links for my
FIAR planning sheet (organized by subject rather than by
day of the week) and my weekly planning/record keeping log.
You can check out my geography
envelope system here.
Here are some highlights from our studies: Click on any link
to see more about what we learned with that book or activity.
- In the Spring of 1999 we did a
unit on Creation from Genesis 1 & 2.
- We set the tone for our school year with Amber
on the Mountain.
- We learned about using the unique talents that God has given
us with Lentil and
Grandpa Brauer played his harmonica for us.
- We took a field trip with our church's homeschool group to
the Blue Bell Creamery and a miniature horse farm. Here
are some pictures.
- Grandma Brauer helped Claire make a quilted wall hanging
as we studied The Rag
Coat.
- We made our own matrioshka dolls while studying Another
Celebrated Dancing Bear.
- We sponge-painted our own version of the Yangtze River and
counted ducks for The
Story about Ping.
- Grandpa Lathem helped us make our family tree to go along
with They
Were Strong and Good.
- We participated in the Colonial Day event with our church's
homeschool group, dressed as a pilgrim girl and an Indian boy.
Here are some pictures.
- We baked cranberry bread and dyed some lace to accompany
our study of Cranberry
Thanksgiving.
- We chose to use an adaptation of The
Jesse Tree as the basis for a unit study during the Advent
season
- Warm as Wool
was a perfect follow-up to the kids' performance as lambs in
the children's Christmas program at church and our holiday visit
from Uncle Don and Aunt Amy.
- A New Coat For
Anna provided a great backdrop for the purchase of a
new coat for Justin.
- Visiting Madeline
in Paris opened up new vistas of exploration in many areas.
- Goodnight
Moon was a great introduction to our field trip to Houston
to visit the Space Center and some other sites.
- Truman's Aunt
Farm reminded us of Aunt Donna and was also a very special
tie-in for Claire's birthday.
- Mrs. Katz and
Tush was an excellent lead-in for our pre-Easter study
of The Exodus,
Passover, and Holy Week.
- Miss Rumphius
was a special spring opportunity to study seeds and planting
with a special Texas connection that our state flower, bluebonnets,
are a variety of lupine.
- With The
Giraffe That Walked To Paris we revisited Egypt and France
and learned about being ambassadors for Christ.
- We made cheese and learned some basics about nutrition with
Little Nino's
Pizzeria.
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