In limbo...

Well, I had planned that we would start our 1st grade curriculum this week...however, that is on hold. Not because of MY planning, but because my husband just told me the other night that he didn't want to start Little Britches in 1st grade yet because he's afraid he'll get too ahead too fast and doesn't want him to graduate from high school when he's 15.

okay. Well. Wow. That just really came out of left field and thru me for a loop. I thought he and I both agreed on a modified year round schedule...so this was a bit...frustrating?

So until I have another heart-to-heart with my hubby...I'm in limbo.

I need to ask him why thinks we have to hold Little Britches back...he's definitely READY for 1st grade. Yes he IS advanced. But isn't that what homeschooling is about? Letting your child go at his or her own speed? I do NOT think he'll be advanced in all subjects. And we don't have to rush through the 1st grade program. I had planned on doing half days during the summer to allow maximum play time. We will take breaks for vacations and field trips and our camping trips.

I totally understand where my husband is coming from...but at the same time, I think he's also getting a little ahead of things! There is a big gap between 6 years old and 15 years old!

So what are we doing in the meantime?

Well, Little Britches learned how to tie his shoes which was a huge thing and cause for MUCH celebration when he tied his own church shoes this past Saturday!

We are continuing to practice our reading skills with books of all kind, but especially his favorites--the Biscuit series about the little yellow puppy. We owned two of them and then I found a pack of 6 more at Costco and then on Ebay, I found a 10-in-1 collection of MORE Biscuit stories...he doesn't know about any of this yet...I'm saving it. He LOVES to read them and because of that I want to make sure he has them to enjoy.

We will bring back Five-in-a-Row to fill in the time...that is a curriculum in itself and he'll be learning a lot. I have Grandfather's Journey, Clown of God, and A Glorious Flight lined up for us.

We are doing the Singapore Primary Mathematics 1B Textbook. I got it for free on Paperbackswap.com and it just happens to cover the EXACT thing we needed to work on. So even though we don't have the workbook, we are going thru it using the whiteboard and talking thru the answers. He's learning a LOT. It also helps me to see if I want to go the Singapore route after 1st grade when I split up our curriculum.

We are continuing to work on our handwriting with book reports and copywork. I like to use lines from the books we are reading for his copywork because he knows it.

And we are continuing to read our chapter books. We finally finished reading Black Beauty last night...now we are going to put together the amazing Black Beauty lapbook that Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler created. I was so excited to see that it was one of her units in her Classical Literature. I have a whole stack of books to do next...I'll share those in a few days with my first grade curriculum post.

And last but none the least...we started piano lessons. It is different for me to teach my own child--but enjoyable. I just have to remember to place practicing as a responsibility he has. But we set up a practice schedule for him and he's enjoying it...so far! LOL! Here is a picture of him hard at work practicing...

It's great because with Little Britches starting, that gives me THREE boy students--a personal record! LOL! I don't get boys very often, but the three I have now WANT to learn so that makes all the difference!

So that is what we are doing right now as I continue to work out the kinks...and really it is enough!