First Day of School

Today was the first day of our new school year! Things went pretty smoothly, although we have a few scheduling difficulties to work out. . . and I didn't even get Collin's kindergarten lessons done. (Happily, he forgot about "doing school" and went outside to play!)

Brandon is using:
--Saxon Math 76 with DIVE CD-R (he does exceptionally well with the DIVE instructor, and it really frees up my time to help the others)
--Easy Grammar 6 (the very best approach to grammar that we have found so far)
--Sequential Spelling 2
--Wordly Wise 3000, Bk. 2 (our first year to try this, and so far it seems good)
--Handwriting Skills E
--BJU Life Science 7 (haven't started yet)
--Writing Strands 3 (haven't started this, either)

Devin is using:
--Saxon Math 54 with DIVE CD-R (he loved the DIVE instructor, and wanted to do another lesson!)
--Easy Grammar 5
--Sequential Spelling 1
--Handwriting Skills D
--Science PACEs
--Writing Strands 3 (haven't started yet)

Kaylee is using:
--Saxon Math 54 with DIVE CD-R (another positive experience here, too!)
--Easy Grammar 4
--Sequential Spelling 1
--Steck-Vaughn Reading Comprehension 4
--Handwriting Skills C
--Science PACEs (haven't started yet)

***All 3 of the older kids are doing history through lots and lots of excellent books, including biographies, historical fiction, and non-fiction. We usually read together, then do copywork and/or original writing to cement what we have read. They also maintain their own timeline books (we love the timeline figures from Homeschool in the Woods), which helps to provide a "picture" of history for them. This year we are focusing on the Revolutionary War Period, using Abeka History of Our United States as a "spine," with plenty of good literature to go along with it! We all love history, and hopefully we'll be able to share some of what we have learned with you.

Keaton is using:
--Saxon Math 1 (have to finish up what we didn't get done last year)
--Abeka Language 1
--Abeka Letters & Sounds 1 (I'm wondering if I should even bother with this, since he is reading at about second-grade level?)
--Abeka Writing with Phonics Manuscript (I don't start cursive quite this early)
--Science PACEs
--History with the older kids, on his own level

Collin is using:
--Saxon Math 1 (he has tremendous potential in math, so I'm starting him a little earlier than I normally would)
--Abeka Letters & Sounds K
--Abeka Writing with Phonics Manuscript K
--History--listens in on our reading

Wow! No wonder I'm tired tonight! :)
I just had to share a few pictures of our schoolroom, too. Brandon painted it for me during summer break, and I made new curtains a few weeks ago.