Our Approach

To introduce you to a little of what we are doing...
We are definitely from the Eclectic Homeschooling camp.  I have pulled together resources from several different curricula, depending on what I think will appeal to the Boys.  We have started with the Ancient Civilization unit from Intellego.  I really like how their unit studies are put together - just enough structure, links, ideas and resources to give me a framework.  Combine that with a few dozen library books, some documentaries and tons of hands-on projects, and we've got a month's worth of Unit Study.  The Unit block takes up the biggest portion of our day and I've been tying in anything I can think of to our Unit: art, reading, writing and even math. 

For our math studies, I have chosen Life of Fred, a very unconventional, but very thorough, reading-based math study.  So far, the Boys are really enjoying it.  Reading is a constant at our house, so I have just been giving the Boys reading time every afternoon.  We also are always doing a read-aloud together, sometimes more than one (one with Dad in the evening, one with me during the day).  Writing, on the other hand, has always been a chore for the Boys.  Santa brought them each a copy of The Boys' Doodle Book by Andrew Pinder (smart Santa!).  It's a great way to get boys to doodle and write using some very imaginative prompts.  They also each got a new journal and spend some time every few days writing in it.

There are several other priorities that I am working on.  Movement is a big one.  We take a break during Unit study time and toss some bean bags around.  I am following the Bal-A-Vis-X method that I bought several years ago to give us some good throwing patterns that work on crossing the mid-line.  We also do some tossing back and forth each day standing on the balance board.  We'll work up to the ball bouncing as we get better at the patterns.  Here's an good introduction to the program:

Another great resource I've found is Energizing Brain Breaks.  There's a book and several videos on YouTube.  I'm trying to take baby steps and add only one thing at a time - we'll be adding a short meditation time soon and then maybe some yoga. Since the winter weather has held off, we go for several walks a day, sometimes 3 or 4.  Our dog Sanga is getting a LOT of attention.

So far, I am very please with how well we've been covering the major topics each day - Unit study, math, reading, writing, movement and art.  The Boys have been enjoying it so much, it hasn't been as difficult as I though it would be to stay on task!