Now that we’ve finished three weeks of school, I feel like we’ve found our groove with our new schedule!

We finished our study of the Civil War this week, and will be moving on to Reconstruction next week. I’m really enjoying using Joy Hakim’s A History of US as our American history spine this year. I like the conversational tone of the books, and I’m also impressed with how much information is presented, in a way that’s both interesting and easy for elementary students to understand. I did discover as we were reading that I will, on occasion, start lecturing on the material, without even intending to. I find this amusing…I guess I was meant to be a teacher all along!

To go along with our Civil War studies, we finished our first read-aloud of the year, Turn Homeward, Hannalee. I liked using this book, because it portrays a poor white Southern family during that time, as opposed to the more well-known rich Southern planters. Bunny has also been given the task of writing a report on the sequel, Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee, which I got from our library, and presenting what she learned to us. I think I’m looking forward to learning what happened to Hannalee’s family more than anybody, which is funny, because I actually read the book as a child. I guess it didn’t stick with me too well! We also started watching Gone With the Wind, to get the more stereotypical view of the South during the War…and also because it’s one of my favorite movies!

Ladybug finished the “practice lessons” in her handwriting book, and will be moving on to actual lessons next week. She will also begin reading consonant-vowel-consonant words within the next few weeks. She still views school as total fun, and not work at all, which is the way it should be in kindergarten. Her enthusiasm for school is entertaining, but also humbling…she reminds me what a privilege it is to be able to teach my children at home!