Welcome Back

In approximately 9 hours, another new academic year begins.

Say what?

I swear it was only June 26th when I woke up yesterday.  How is it already September 3rd?  Time is a cruel thief, or maybe it just flies way too fast when you're middle-aged like me.  But no, Little L also expressed her incredulity that summer whizzed by us too quickly, and she's only 7.5.

And in second grade. Home learning. 😮

Time to make more metaphoric lemonade, but with an "improved recipe" that's even better tasting!  Last year, our DL teacher thought that maybe I had worked my kid a little too hard; she challenged me to dial it back this year and, y'know, make it more fun for her.  Time will tell if I heeded this advice or not! 😉

Anyway, here's my plan (which is not only subject to change, but likely to change, because my kid is a sassy pants with a mind of her own, and if she's not buying in, it's a pointless venture to keep trying):

LA - We are embarking on a Brave Writer adventure, complete with Tea Time Tuesdays (think tablecloths and centrepieces, poetry, fancy teacups, and fascinators) and Free Write Fridays (which no doubt will be when she practises penning the new 4-letter words she has learned from Youtube this summer).

Math - Our curriculum of choice is called Math U See, which is a fairly tactile math program that uses their proprietary cuisinaire rod manipulatives to help visually illustrate abstract number concepts.  Unfortunately, while we love the videos and the materials, the books don't quite cover all of the BC content and curricular competencies that we are expected to hit, so I'll be supplementing with a Nelson Math workbook and an Evan-Moor one as well.

Science & Socials - I'm hobbling these subjects together using unit plans designed by our school, as well as materials found on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Last year, these subjects took up too much of my time, so I'm trying to reduce the workload for Little L and I in these areas.  I mean, clearly Science and Socials are not priorities in second grade the way that literacy and numeracy are.  My brother and sister-in-law disagree, because they are scientists.

Arts - Another mish-mashed subject, this year I'm focusing on dance, music, drama, as well as visual arts.  I will be introducing Little L to musical notation, which is sure to bore her the way that it bored me when I took piano theory.  Hopefully, I will manage to make it a little more engaging than what my Catholic nun piano teacher did for me. 😜.  I'm also excited to introduce Little L to Wreck This Journal, which looks to be a ton of fun (because who doesn't want to put a coffee stain on a page inside a book, on purpose!?!)

Bible - Last year, we started using a Christian curriculum and it just about killed me.  The material was D-R-Y, a bit condescending, and the lessons would have taken me an hour a day, 5 days a week, to complete as directed.  Neither Little L nor I had that kind of patience or time, thanks, so we abandoned ship halfway through last year, and never looked back.  This year, I decided I'd DIY the Bible content myself, instead of wasting a bunch of money and time on materials that I find to be trite and devoid of meaningful discourse on the Scriptures.  I opted for us to study the Jesus Storybook Bible.  I love that translation; it's illustrated well, and weaves together all of the Bible stories into one giant narrative on Jesus's love for the world.  And the lessons are short.  Perfect.

PE/DPA - The worst injustice is when someone who nearly failed PE is tasked with encouraging/teaching her kiddo to do PE things.  What are PE things?  I would literally sit on a swing for an hour and call it a day, but somehow the province has managed to stretch PE out into a full curriculum that must be followed.  So here's the plan: I do the fun stuff (like hopscotch and jumping jacks and hula hoops) with Little L, and I hire other people to do the real sports stuff with her, like ice skating and gymnastics and swimming.  She's not a team player, my Little L, so I have no need to fight other parents for a spot on a soccer team.  These individual lessons in individual sports is just fine.

And that's about it.  My goal is to keep everything short and sweet, and to not let any one subject or lesson run past the 20-minute mark.  And I want her and I to have ample breaks between subjects. Like, 20 minutes on to 20 minutes off.  We'll see how that goes.

So I wish everyone luck on the first day of school, and I wish me luck as I try to wake up early enough to start the day's schooling before noon.  At this rate, it's not a certainty.  Thank God we are home learners.