Adding Extra Stuff?

[netpea]

I'm just curious how many of you add extra stuff to your program, i.e. books, activities, games, etc...?

I tend not to but perhaps those who do could share there other ideas?

Lee Ann

[Melanie]

Hi Lee Ann,
I really only add more read-alouds. My kids would sit for hours (literally) and listen to me read.

We also do nature study which is a very natural addition around here. They draw in their nature notebooks regularly. We live on a fairly large farm in the middle of nowhere, so we're surrounded by lots of "nature".

We take piano lessons, so I do also add composer studies and music appreciation. We also do art appreciation, but I don't add much more art instruction other than the activities with LHFHG. My kids paint all the time (my mom is an artist).

Occasionlly, I will have one of the extra books listed in the back, and we'll read it, but most of the time, we just follow the manual. We do the boxes on the left side first, and then do the boxes on the right.

Oh, and we also sing a lot.

Melanie

ps. Now, had you ask who uses different reading and math than what is suggested, I would have had a much longer post!! I have to use up the stuff I bought before I found HeartofDakota!

[Tansy]

We have a prayer journal, it's a note book with a tab for each day of the school week. We don't pray every day, but we do it often.
Mondays we pray for the world (Often we use "windows on the world")
Tuesdays we pray for people in leadership. (presidents and kings)
Wednesdays we pray for extended family.
Thursdays we pray for friends and the missionary and the BOH kid we sponser.
Fridays we pray for our family and for a little sister from China.

We used to have Speech development stuff (added to language art) Like sequencing cards or word pictures with letters she had trouble pronoucing.

About once or twice a week I add a page from "Doodles" a book by Taro Gomi its not your average coloring book. Picture a rough drawing of a kid and the instructions say "draw bunny ears on this child." or 2 empty fish on side by side pages "which one is the prettiest," or and empty pot "whats for dinner." She drew spagettie with meat balls!

[mom2boys030507]

I am trying to add in fun unit studies to do in the morning. Currently Bryce is working on putting together a book about leaves and how they change colors. I do bettter in the morning if I have something structured I can do with both boys. My 2 year old does the art projects, listens to the stories and colors while Bryce does his writing. I will also do the writing portions instead of the Handwriting for a Reason. This is not working the greatest for us because Bryce would perfer to cooy sentences, so we are working on a lot of copy work for Handwriting. Which includes pages for his book, and his Awana bible verses.

I am not sure what we will do next. Most likely an animal study. I am planning on doing a Christmas study during the month of Decemeber. I also have some fun stuff to do with pumkins.

[blessedmomof4]

Me? Not a thing! At least, not day to day. However, on the few days that things have interrupted our regularly scheduled schooling (like me needing to go to the doctor), I may break out the workbooks/activity books, or assign extra reading, or pop in an educational DVD.

[Tansy]

Me? Not a thing! At least, not day to day.

Blessedmom I love your additude it made me lol

[blessedmomof4]

I love your signature -Dyslexics of the world untie! Funny how at first glance my brain turned that word into unite, until I looked again. My big brother is dyslexic, my son is dysgraphic. You made me smile
Lourdes

[6timeboymom]

I don't think we've added anything...maybe our own hands-on project instead of some of the book projects with the heart of reading curric. we've gotten hooked on lapbooks...so we have been turning everything into a lapbook lately!
I am using some substitutions, I guess you could say. My reading program is different. And we do a lot of our own bible study stuff; my church is really good at sending out weekly Bible topics and passages that will reinforce the lessons taught in sunday school that week.
But that's the absolute beauty of the program! We can do what works for us! that's why I homeschool in the first place.