It has been like Christmas in July here the last few day. The UPS and Fed Ex men have done a wonderful job of delivering our packages with care. However, instead of toys and games, the boxes are filled with books, glorious books. Our home school books for next year arrived and I am so excited by what we will be studying.
I mean just look at this list of topics in Nicholas' 1st grade curriculum: Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Three World Religions, Mexico Today, Early Civilizations of the Americas, Early Explorers and Settlers, From Colonies to Independence and Exploring the West. Second grade should be no less interesting for Rachel with topics like Ancient India, Ancient China, Japan Today, Ancient Greece, Making the Constitution, The War of 1812, Americans Move West, The Civil War, Immigration and Citizenship, Civil Rights Leaders, and Geography of the Americas. We will also continue studying Math and Phonics. Plus, our curriculum stresses fine art, music, literature and poetry.
It makes me plain giddy to think about all the cool stuff that the kids are going to be exposed to this year. I didn't learn about many of these topics, if they were ever formally introduced until Middle or High School. Perhaps a big reason that I get so excited about the topics that we learn about is that we are all learning, myself included. For example, I did not know that Betsy Ross had three husbands nor did I know that Corona is not just a beer but rather a part of the Sun. Just this summer during our unit study on the Olympics, I learned that there was a separate sporting event for women since they couldn't compete in the Olympic games. In fact, when the modern Olympics first started it was a male-only event just like in ancient Greece.
The slightly less fun aspect of the arrival of all of our homeschool material is that I will now have to make schedules and figure out how to balance teaching two grades at once. Luckily, both children are doing Second Grade Math, so I can kill two birds with one stone there. Plus, the fact that Rachel is such a strong reader makes it possible to give her an assignment to work on independently while I am working on a different subject with Nicholas. We have been trying to find our balance this summer as we have continued on with our studies, just scaled back to a summer load.
As the year progresses, I have no doubt that there will be great successes and a few stumbling blocks. Nothing worth doing comes without a bit of struggle. Nonetheless, I know that my children are getting a first rate education...heck, I am too.
"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." Albert Einstein
NOTE: For those interested, we use Saxon Math, Saxon Phonics, and Core Knowledge (this the first year that I purchased the corresponding material from Pearson Learning, but at first glance, it looks wonderful.)