So far, so good (curriculum reviews)

We've been back to school for 3 1/2 weeks. I can hardly believe it! Anyway, I wanted to take some time to review our various subjects/curriculum and how they are going.

• Bible devotions: We do this first in the mornings and I'm trying not to consider it as part of school. We are studying various Proverbs using a curriculum from our church.
• Bible Study: We are using Rod & Staff for Grade 3, God Leads His People, and this is going very well. Currently, we are studying David's life. I love that the workbooks include mapwork and lots of questions to help you remember the story, because these are pretty complicated stories. I've been drawing stick people to help us remember the key people. I plan on us doing this for every lesson to make a book.
• Math: We used Singapore for the 1st two weeks, but then Alexandra got her own laptop and really wanted to use it. So, we are using Teaching Textbooks Math 5, something we started last year. This is going pretty well and since there are quite a few multiplication problems (we're about 1/4 through the "book" because of last year), she's getting her facts down better. We're also working on one drill sheet per day.
• Latin: We love, love, love Latin for Children! We are both learning so much! (Yes, I took Latin in high school, but I really have forgotten most of it.) We are declining nouns and conjugating verbs and learning lots of vocabulary words. We love watching the videos - they are helpful AND entertaining. There's a CD for you car - a fun workbook - online quizes & worksheets - it just is REALLY working for us!
• Spelling: We already switched spelling curriculums. Neither one of us was enjoying All About Spelling. So, we switched to Rod & Staff Grade 3 Spelling by Sound and Structure. So far, it's pretty easy for her, but at least we are both enjoying it AND it works on other skills besides spelling.
• Cursive: She hasn't liked the Rod & Staff cursive that we bought and I think we might go back to working on print for awhile. Then, we will probably return to this curriculum.
• History: We are kind of continuing with Winter Promise American Story 1 - but mostly we are just reading the books at our own pace. We're getting ready to do a pocket book about the American Revolution to finish that up.
• Science 1 (marine biology): We started Exploring Creation with Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures a few days ago and it's going Ok. I think the first chapter is the hardest to get through. After this, we'll be studying various animals, but this is kind of the background material. We're also doing the extensive lapbook by Live & Learn Press which is a great way to do Q&A and have something to remember out studies by.
• Science 2 (electricity): We also have been studying about electricity because of our studies of Ben Franklin for history. We've been using a kit I bought a long time ago and Alexandra's Snap Circuit kit - which is wonderful!!!
• Science 3 (soap): We've also been doing experiments about soap with a True Book called Experiments with Soap. I've never used any of their experiment books before, and we both really like this one. We'll try to finish it up tomorrow and post about it.
• Composition: We started IEW's Teaching Writing: Structure & Style and it has been working wonderfully! I'm learning from it, too! We did take a break this week as I think she has step 1 & 2 down pretty well and I need to watch the next video!
• Literature: We're reading Laura Ingalls Wilder by the Benges. We're actually both enjoying this better than Laura's own series.

I'll try to post something more entertaining tomorrow - with photos and everything. :-)