Well, I spent the summer planning what I thought was going to be the best school year yet and, for the most part, it has been.  I have had some ups and downs with Sierra's curriculum and have changed up some things but have been pleased with it so far.  Daniel's was all good.  I wasn't entirely pleased with his Art History, so I have paused that aspect, but everything else was going along really good.  There were areas I thought dragged a bit at times, but for the most part it was going GREAT.

And than....a good friend of mine excitedly told me about a curriculum she just bought called Moving Beyond the Page.  We had discussed this curriculum somewhat last year, but when I researched it I discovered that it costs a bit of change....much more change than I was willing to pay.  I was very impressed with the curriculum...extremely...but let's face it....if you can't pay for it you likely can't get it.

That same friend also decided to go a different way with her curriculum choice and was satisfied with what she got.  However, as soon as she got into it, she found herself getting frustrated.  I hate when that happens.  Curriculum ain't cheap, you know.  She spoke to me often about her frustration (2 years on American History from 2nd to 3rd grade) and felt she should have kept with her first instinct and get Moving Beyond the Page.

Well, she could take it no more...she ordered MBTP..  She came to me all excited about her purchase and informed me that she got this years and next years...offering NEXT years curriculum to use THIS year with Daniel!!  By this I mean, she bought curriculum that she will use this year with her son and she also bought the curriculum she will use next year with her son.  She felt that Daniel was ready for the curriculum she will not need until next year.  I was shocked and grateful....but skeptical.  Look, I had it all set.  You've read my blogs before...I have a school calendar all worked up.  We are ON SCHEDULE.

When her shipment came in, she brought the books for me to look through and assured me if I wanted to, I could keep them to use.  I thanked her and out of politeness took all of them..I was genuinely interested in the literature guides, but confident in my own choices.  When I got home, I sorted out the literature guides...planning on only looking at them....but I noticed some of the topics coming up with the other books.  There were topics about Life Cycles and Economic Cycles, American Heroes, the Environment...and the literature books go with these topics.  Out of curiosity  I opened a book or two and found myself SOLD hook, line and sinker!

Here is what I like:

1. Daniel's current science program is very...well....black and white.  I do not necessarily mean in color, though that fits pretty well.  It is more of I have a Teacher Guide that I read from and it has some activities planned for each chapter section...but it can be somewhat dry.  The activity sheets are also black and white, as is Moving Beyond the Page, but with Moving Beyond the Page, the teacher guide is just a guide.  They require you get certain books that go along with the topic...these books are colorful and books your kid will look at.  For instance, the first unit is on weather and we had to get a book on weather and climate.  The book is full of colorful pages that will engage Daniel versus me just reading some scientific information.  It goes along with a trend that is running through Homeschooling called using living books.  Instead of boring textbooks, they get books full of life.  I LOVE that.
2. I also love the literature that corresponds with the units being taught.  For instance, the first topic is weather...the first book is Tornado by Betsy Byars (a book about a tornado that brings a dog house traveling from one house to another...with a dog inside that gets names Tornado).  Now, Daniel read this book last year, but I figure a little repetition isn't so bad.  The difficulty steadily increases as the year goes on.  The activities that go with the literature are very educational like finding the main idea of the chapter, etc.
3. It is a real brain tickler.  It requires thought and reason which is perfect for Daniel.  When he is not challenged, he gets bored.  He loves math because it requires him to work and use logic.

So, I went into looking into this curriculum with every thought of not changing a thing...and then, in the matter of minutes, my whole system was thrown out the window.  Well, that is a bit melodramatic.  Though this curriculum is comprehensive with history, language arts, science, and literature, I am continuing to use what I have (minus science).  We will continue with Story of the World because Daniel likes the stories and activities.  I LOVE Shurley Grammar which deals with more of the mechanics of grammar while Moving Beyond the Page will deal with more of the structural parts.  There will be some overlapping of concepts...but there is NOTHING wrong with that.  I did not have a structured literature program, so I appreciate having the guides now that will go a long way into getting more organized.  This curriculum does not cover math which is good because Daniel LOVES Singapore Math.

So, sheepishly I let my friend know that I will be using the curriculum that SHE paid for.  I am so lucky to have a gracious friend who is excited to have me using it.  Now, I stress about messing up this precious, expensive curriculum.  But, you know...when it involves your kid and you want to give him the best, it is hard to turn down generosity like this.  

Things I look forward to this year with this new curriculum:

1. When we get to the book, Poppy by Avi, we will dissect owl pellets.  
2. In a couple weeks, we will make a wind vane as well as a barometer.
3. Daniel gets to pick his favorite American Heroes to study in several weeks.

There are so many things to look forward to...it didn't take me long to decide this curriculum was right for us, so I stopped looking ahead and began planning for NOW.  Now is going to be FUN....INFORMATIVE....EDUCATIONAL....and CHALLENGING.  Of course, now is also going to be me wondering what to do.  My calendar is no good.  My mojo is broken.  I will admit to being a bit stressed about this as I do not do well without structure.  I managed to plan out the rest of this month and will likely plan through to Thanksgiving break and than spend most of that break getting my act together.  My brain is already working towards coming up with new ways to structure myself...and Daniel.

I recommend Moving Beyond the Page.  I am already thinking that we will have to buy it for next year.  It is pricey, but what can you do??  It's all pricey, right??  I looked up what the next level would cost and shared the information with Matt....he choked a little.  I told him they had a payment plan, we could order and start paying off early next year.  He isn't convinced.  :-)

Did you get that??  lol

Ok, homeschooling is full of ups and downs and a lot of those ups and downs can hinge on the curriculum you use.  Some time ago I shared a definite DOWN with the curriculum I chose for my daughter's grammar.  It was heavy, fast moving with little to no explanation for teaching the concepts.

Today I want to share an up that, if I could, I would attach to a balloon on this computer to illustrate just how UP this is.  It is Sierra's writing curriculum.

When choosing curriculum for Sierra, I knew she needed a formal grammar program, but I also wanted her to work on a writing program.  Her writing was typical, I think, for an 8th grader...as basic as basic can get with no real focus or structure.  I wanted to get something that would change that.

I read about a lot of great writing programs out there, but one just seemed to outshine them all, at least by reading customer reviews and by the limited views I could see on the internet.  Lucky me, it was inexpensive and thus easy to reject if necessary.

We have been using Wordsmith for a little over a month now and I am really impressed with the early results.

First of all, it is not dry or boring.  The creator/writer of this curriculum writes as though she is in the room talking to the student.  I read the text with Sierra and often find myself laughing.  Many times what she says is not only funny, but so true and personable that I will stop after reading a sentence, again as if she is in the room, and comment...that is so true!

Secondly, it is loooooooooooong.  We do not spend more than 10-15 minutes on a lesson per day.  She gives some information, some examples and assigns the student a task.  These tasks are often really fun like taking an old word like happy and coming up with other words you can use in it's place.  This is great on so many levels because it shows Sierra the importance of those adjectives and adverbs that we are studying in Grammar.  It has really gotten her thinking outside of her box and expanded her vocabulary.

Thirdly, in this short month of doing this program, I have noticed a HUGE difference in Sierra's writing.  Today she had to write a restaurant review and I read it and laughed and nodded knowingly as she described the salad bar at Jason's Deli.  Very descriptive writing that gave me, the reader, a clear picture of what she ate and why I would want to eat that....and why I would not want to drink the drinks there, too.

It is so thrilling when something sticks...and so, fourthly (uh...fourthly?), just as I started to write this review, Sierra came in and commented on my note on her restaurant review (which simply said "Awesome").  I was talking to her about how impressed I was with her form and descriptive writing and how she only had a couple minor grammatical issues and I saw the pride on her face.  She often complains about the curriculum she is doing this year...it is hard, challenging, and asking more of her than she has ever had....but she sat on the end of my bed and told me she really likes Wordsmith.  I grinned from ear to ear as she told me that she can see a difference in herself.  That is the best reward of all.

So, check it out.  It is truly a great writing program!!  http://www.commonsensepress.com/wordsmth.htm