Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Since I posted last, we've completed weeks 12-17.  They were crazy weeks, with Grandma and Grandpa visiting for Thanksgiving, Christmas preparations, regular life, and the fitting in of all doctor and dentist appointments before the end of the year.  We're on break this week (and were mostly on break last week, and kind of on break the week before that), and will be on break next week, too.

There are some changes in the works (here is my post from the beginning of the year).  The major change is that Luke & Ezekiel won't be going back to their  enrichment program.  They loved it, and have loved it for the past couple of years, but we need the time at home.  Jacob, Micah, and Nicholas will stay in for the rest of the year.

I'm looking at adding Windows to the World for Luke & Ezekiel.  It arrived on Christmas Eve, so I haven't had time to look at it yet.  I'm mostly happy with how our year has been going, but we're just not making the progress I'd hoped for with literature and writing.  I'm not sure exactly how this will fit in with Omnibus and Classical Writing, but I figure that will become clear as I look it over this next week.

I'll be adding New American Cursive for Micah & Nicholas (and will do a refresher with Ezekiel and Jacob).  I bought Book 1, and ordered the StartWrite software, but it hasn't arrived yet.  I'm hoping to combine New American Cursive with Draw Write Now.  Micah still hates to pick up a pencil, but he'd like to learn cursive and he likes to draw.  I really think writing will become easier as he practices more and builds up his endurance, and I hope this will make it less painful for both of us.

Jacob's writing will be changing.  We've had to spend more time than planned in math filling in some gaps, and we just haven't had time to do Writing with Skill, so I'm shelving that until next year.  He's been working on Sentence Composing for Elementary School, and he's going to do the first part of The Creative Writer this semester.  I was doing the Magic School Bus kits with Jacob, Micah, and Nicholas, knowing they were below Jacob's level.  I'm now having Jacob teach science to Micah & Nicholas, and I just ordered this Student Guide to go with our Snap Circuits set.  If I like it when it arrives, I'll have Jacob work through it.

I'll be adding Rod & Staff Spelling 2 for Nicholas, and I'm going to have Micah read Super Grammar.  I also hope to add poetry memorization back in for all of us.

Overall, I'm excited to start the new semester.  We took on too many outside commitments this fall, and I think eliminating the enrichment program for Luke & Ezekiel will help our weeks go a lot smoother.