So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90.12

Monday 19 September 2011

The First Week at Tamarack Academy

Our first week went surprisingly well.  The kids are getting the hang of the routine and I think they are really enjoying the Workbaskets (they love carrying them out to the kitchen table and looking in the folders to see what's inside).  Lass complains that there isn't enough "fun" stuff in hers (as compared to her brother's), but I reminded her that she is older than he is and able to do harder things than he can.  Every time I turn my back, she's "helping" him with one of his activities.

Lass is really zipping through her My Father's World First Grade curriculum.  I am absolutely amazed.  She struggled so much with everything when we started this back in April.  The lessons are really easy for her now. We could probably go through 2 days of lessons each day, but I wanted to ease back into schooling the first week.  We'll see how things go and adjust accordingly.

Ambleside Online has been a bit of a challenge.  I haven't been able to get some of the books and some books I find too mature for my children (like Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb - I like Shakespeare but I think we can hold that off for a couple of years at least!).  It is a very through programme with TONS of reading - I lost my voice a couple of times this week.  So far, we've been reading An Island Story by H E Marshall, The Little Duke by Charlotte Mary Yonge, Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula, The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess,  and Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.  I thought some of these books would be too "heavy", but my kids love them.  We're also reading an Enid Blyton book as a family read-aloud in the evening and when we finish it, we'll be moving on to Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I loved the "Little House" books as a child and my children are enjoying them as well (we've already read Little House in the Big Woods and Farmer Boy earlier this year).

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better week.  The weather was gorgeous and we were able to be outside quite a lot.  We took a nature walk around the perimeter of the 15 acre field next to our property and gathered lots of leaves, berries, acorns, flowers, etc to create an autumn centrepiece.


Thanks for visiting today!

4 comments:

Homeschool on the Croft said...

We love the Little House books too. We're doing it as a read-aloud - we're on By the Shores of Silver Lake just now (though we haven't read Farmer Boy - should we have read it before now?)

I'm not sure who enjoys the books more - me or the wee guy!

Jacqueline said...

Farmer Boy is kind of a stand alone book, since it's about Laura's husband as a little boy growing up on a farm in New York State. I'm sure your wee guy would love it - it's full of animals (even sheep!). I think I enjoy the books just as much as my kids do - and I've read them all many, many times!

Marsha Cooper said...

Sounds like you really have it going.
Twice I used the Little House in the Schoolroom workbook and we read through the books along with doing activities in the book. We loved it so much the first time through that we had to do it again.

Autismland Penny said...

I love all the books you mentioned. Have you looked into audiobooks to help lighten the read a loud load? My Audio School is a great resource . There are a lot of free links there although a subscription is not that much. Well worth the cost in my opinion.

As for Shakespeare, at this stage you are just getting them used to hearing it. They don't necessarily need to understand all of it. If its too mature for your audience then I would wait too. Ypu csn pick it up later.