Hello all! I'm Ashley- a mom and entrepreneur raising two littles and lots of critters on the central coast of California. On this channel I cover everything homeschooling! We love Charlotte Mason, Waldorf, unit studies, unschooling and mostly...play! Welcome to the ranch!
LOVED this peak into your daily Homeschool routine! 🥰 also loved the voice you put on with the zebra puppet! I do the same thing when I use our puppet Alberto for our Homeschool Languages Spanish lessons! You can tell your son thoroughly enjoys it 🥰
I’d highly suggest using only one formal phonics/reading program. Especially if your child is starting to show signs that she may be struggling. I have a 10 year old son that has never been formally schooled with the exception of pre-school and one year of a public Waldorf school. I took him out and de-schooled our family (three kiddos) a few years ago. I was super concerned that he’d never learn to read/write. I did a “reading test” earlier this year with him and he is far beyond 5th grade level. Trust the process. What I didn’t want was for him to give up and hate learning. When I pulled him out he never wanted to do any formal schooling. I just allowed him to learn through play. He also enjoys playing ROBLOX. I was shocked to hear him read at the level he was. This is the first year that we joined a public charter here in SoCal. He approached me and asked if he could start to “learn” more. A good friend (that started this charter), unschooled her children all throughout their school years. They are both in college and getting ready to transfer to cal-states. It’s pretty amazing what kids learn when they want to ❤ sorry for the novel 😂
My kiddos attended a Waldorf in person school for a couple years here in California. The notebooks that they used were near identical to the planners you bought. They absolutely loved them and we still look at them to this day. They’re homeschooling now but we plan on using the notebooking method this year. I really liked the ones the school used vs the spiral bound ones. It was more like a book for them to refer to, like for history…it became more of a story. Just for future reference ❤
Your daughter reminds me of my son.. they are so active and funny. Also, we are doing the same science curriculum and are a week behind you guys so we have that project next week 😄 And lastly, you are a very patient mama! You’re a sweetheart. Thanks for sharing your day.
@@homeschoolingboymom funny about the kids! Yes, my daughter🤪 she is a perfect candidate for homeschool. Week one of this science was a little lackluster but this week was great. I’m excited about the program. And thank you for your kind words🥲 Not everyday is so smooth. I have thrown pillows at a wall before🫣 I have enjoyed your videos!
@@ashleymurphy4813aw thank you! I enjoy yours too. And yes, same here lol. But the good times and seeing their progress make the frustrations worth it 😂🥰
@@ashleywasham2809 hi! Sure thing- Endangered, Extinct & Legendary Animals | A Science & Research Handbook: Zoology & Cryptozoology a.co/d/hm5e8AE I will be doing a video soon on our social studies plans which will include info and resources on a 6 week animal geography unit. Stay tuned!
@@Michelgia523 I know, right?! But we would be so bored with the same all in one program everyday. This way we can do something one day and a different thing another. Week 2 down and it’s going well!🤞🏻
@@andishobbies I know it can be hard to make it a habit, but what has helped me is just pulling from the same resources every week like the same deck of flashcards and collection of little letters and then I prep the following two letters for the following week so that it’s ready to go to be put up
Beauty and Truth math is more scripted. I like it, but even that isn't enough structure for me in this season. I need more open and go. I like the high quality crayons and paper that The Beauty of Math, or whatever it was called, but I didn't end up using the curriculum. Thanks for your thoughts. We felt the same about a higher level of Beautiful Feet Geography. It wasn't a good fit for us, so I switched and am still using their map.
I tried the Treasure Hunt Reading with my 1st grader last year and after a few weeks she was so over it. We started in Journey 2. She didn't want to illustrate any of the story panels (but I always got her to do a single one) and she hated hunting for words. I didn't find the videos helpful. I'm interested in hearing your review of Elemental Science since I have a couple of Elemental Science Chunks scheduled for later this year.
@@user-fb5ze9fx7e you’re daughter sounds like mine- in all the other programs we tried. So far she is taking to THR but not in love. Hoping we can keep it going a couple more months. I think AAR will be the ticket🤞🏻
@@BetzyCarmona thanks I’ve considered it! But she is so close to AAR level 2, I don’t think we need to start that far back. Treasure Hunt Reading is OG style and has been compared to AAR. Hoping we are good with this and can move into AAR 2 in a couple months🙌🏻🙌🏻
@@ashleymurphy4813 That’s awesome ☺️ question, where did you see that first language lessons can be paired with growing with grammar? I got the first language lessons, but intrigued why you included the other one as well ☺️
@@BetzyCarmona gosh, I cannot remember where I heard the recommendation! I can’t find it on their website… I do know they also recommend Writing with Ease but that is narration and copywork heavy and we already do quite a bit of that. I wanted to have an extra grammar program that was an actual workbook. There is hardly any writing or sentence structure practice in level one of FLL bc technically they don’t recommend the child start doing a grammar workbook until level 2 or 3.
@@ashleymurphy4813 Thank you so much! I do see that Bloosom & Root LA (level 1) is very similar to the writing with ease. I might just stick to one, and go from there. We are doing 1st grade and formal writing just seems a bit much to me.
@@BetzyCarmona yeah we did Blossom and Root LA for 1st grade and yes, Writing with Ease is really similar. Growing with Grammar is more sentence structure and punctuation but it seems gentle. Good for 2nd grade I think!🤷🏼♀️
I’m the same with the Gentle and Classical Preschool. I don’t like the books they suggest. I’ve changed 2 out of 3 so far and replaced with my own. I don’t think I’ll move forward with them past Preschool. I do like their nature study so far but we’ll see by the end. I am loving Heart of Dakota so far.
We just finished all levels of All About Reading and, if you’re open to advice, start your daughter in AAR level 1 right now. That way she won’t have any gaps as AAR is OG based which is systematic.
We experienced the same thing over the first two weeks this year. I felt like we were schooling ALL DAY and weren’t able to get it done before lunch. Part of that was transitioning back into a school routine, but part of it was we needed to weed out some curriculum and now going into the 4th week I feel really good about our schedule! 🥰 you’ll figure out what works best for you and your kiddos! I’m excited to hear your thoughts on Biology for the Grammar Years because we plan to use it next year!
I feel the same way about BFB US Geography and we haven’t even started it yet. It just seems soooo boring. What I like about THSH nature study, we did some fall and some spring this past year, is that you can cycle through it year after year and add more things as your kids age up. We are starting again with fall in the next few weeks, which I feel like is just such a fun season even though we don’t have fall in Arizona lol.
@@hannahhensley8497 I wanted to LOVE BF geog, I so did. And the guide is so lovely but the kids don’t care about a pretty guide at this age. I’m hoping the books get better! Good point on THSH growing with age. It’s definitely been a hit in some areas… there is just something that doesn’t totally wow me. But the Autumn unit has great topics and maybe now I know how I can start making it fit us a bit more.
@@ashleymurphy4813 yes I just pull bits that work for us in our stage, knowing that we can go back to it next year and the next. It’s a good jumping off point for us - ex. One week of the spring used a Van Gogh painting that my kids loved. We spent the morning at a park recreating his painting and then collected wildflowers that matched the colors. We didn’t get to everything but it was so memorable!
We are going to start that science curriculum tomorrow. I agree the first week looks underwhelming. Probably the dullest week in the curriculum! But there are many things my children are excited about having looked through their books and lots of things I’m excited about looking through the teacher manual. I think we’re collectively most excited for the animal and human body units.
Cute kitty!! I keep our days to 2 hours max for my second grader. More will come later but now I’m doing my best to make it enjoyable and short and sweet. Cute ideas for gifts.
Thanks! She’s the sweetest🐈⬛ Yeah, I’d say with breaks between subjects, my second grader is about 2-2.5 hours total time- at least I know I don’t need more stuff!! 😅
I'm a brand partner with PaperPie, formerly Usborne Books and More. In the Drawing Dinosaurs book, the large white space is for you to practice and draw as many dinosaurs as you wish, get creative, add color, and designs. Thanks for sharing some great resources!
@@braniffosborn5480 hi! I am putting my own bird unit together but the spine will be Burgess Birds unit from Simple Studies. I will be doing a video in the coming weeks about our plans once I get everything!
Homeschool are always fun! Thanks for sharing! We have the Usborne drawing book, and the space isn’t for drawing out each step, it’s just so they have plenty of space to practice and draw as many as they want!
@@rebeccat9389 it’s called the Beauty of Play. The video before last is my math picks for TK and 2nd grade- In that video I do a whole flip thru of the curriculum🙂
@@jessicamcclelland5906 here ya go! All the Animals: How to Draw Books for Kids with Dogs, Cats, Lions, Dolphins, and More (How to Draw For Kids Series) a.co/d/3NYwTSQ
@@tnctnc5972 here you go- Usborne Beginners History 10 Books Collection Box Set (Stone Age, Iron Age, Egyptians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Vikings, Castles & MORE!) a.co/d/iD8rY48
I got that large calendar planner for myself! Set it up today and I am loving the BIG format! I also have a medium one and I love your idea about using it for weather or feelings. I'm going to borrow that great idea!
