I know many of you read Preschoolers and Peace because you have preschoolers.  Still many of you are in the same boat I am, with high schoolers on one end and babies on the other. I've got to tell you that even though we'd committed to homeschooling through high school, I was terrified.  It wasn't the breadth of knowledge that had to be taught or even the subject matter that made me a nervous wreck; it was the record keeping.  Suddenly grades mattered, particularly because our firstborn desires higher education and his transcript will be essential. Let's start there.  I'm sure you know that there are many, many resources for high school home education record-keeping, but just in case you don't, here are a couple worth noting:  HSLDA and Donna Young. I made a binder (of course!  You knew I would, didn't you?) for each of our high schoolers with the following subject tabs: Attendance, DSST/CLEP Tests, Online Courses, Master Reading List, and Field Trips.

Then, even though plans change and some people I know drag their feet through a subject like, say, chemistry (ahem), I do make a rough sketch of where we're going in the four years of high school.  Remember, our firstborn is very academic and eats this stuff up, so although I'm going to show you what his plan looks like, it isn't a plan for every one.  Compare thee not! Ninth Grade Algebra II World Literature and Comp ( plus CLEP) Modern World History Biology I Theology I PE Logic Latin II Tenth Grade Geometry Intro Constitutional Law Chemistry Classical Rhetoric British Lit and Comp US History I  (CLEP) Computer Graphics (Junior College course) PE Driver’s Ed Eleventh Grade Trigonometry/Pre-Calc French I Physics PE Statistics (DSST) Economics Law and Public Policy Twelfth Grade French II (CLEP) Senior Thesis Classes through the local Junior College Both of our high schoolers have decided they'd like to plug away at their college general education coursework while in high school, so they are taking CLEP and DSST tests as well as courses online through our local junior college.As a high school junior, our firstborn has already knocked off a semester of college work.Boy, do I wish I'd known I could have been doing this.Would have saved a lot of time and money. Not every student is college bound.Our second born is not an academic kid, and unlike his highly focused older brother, he doesn't know what he wants to do with his life.We think that's more typical, and we're absolutely ok with that.We just keep praying and trusting that God will show him in due time what He has called him to do.It's exciting!In the meantime, he wants to be a lifeguard.David Hasselhoff didn't do too poorly as a lifeguard, did he?:D

Our Marvelous Monday series ends today, but you can view all the posts if you haven't caught up.  Click on "Cheryl" to read Cheryl's posts, and click on "Kendra" to read mine.  Brilliant, isn't it???

Preschool and Kindergarten  Cheryl Kendra

Electives  Cheryl Kendra

Geography  Cheryl Kendra

Art and Music  Cheryl Kendra

Foreign Languages  Cheryl Kendra

Logic  Cheryl Kendra

Science  Cheryl Kendra

Handwriting and Spelling  Cheryl Kendra

English and Grammar  Cheryl Kendra

Literature  Cheryl Kendra

History  Cheryl Kendra

Math  Cheryl Kendra

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Phonics has been a fairly natural ebb and flow kind of subject in our home.  I find it easy to point out sounds and letters just as we go about our daily life, saying something like, "Let's put on your red shirt.  R-r-r-e-e-d-d.  Do you hear that 'R'?  It makes the Rrrrrrr sound."  I point to letters in print or play rhyming games fairly naturally as we go about life.

For formal phonics, however, we use TATRAS.  I wrote a wee bit about this program in my post on preschool and kindergarten materials.  TATRAS has been a thorough program for us, so much so that I gave the phonics chart a permanent place on our schoolroom wall.

I refer to the chart often in the elementary years because my budding spellers need reminders of what consonant blends make which sounds, etc.  And it seems as if I'm teaching someone to read around here every other year or so :)  In fact, although I don't love teaching reading, I am looking forward to helping my daughters and daughters-in-law with their little ones as they begin to learn to read.

TATRAS begins with a little booklet called The Penny Primer, in which the first eight letters are learned and 43 words are decoded.  It's exciting to get through that first booklet and be able to tell the child that they are reading!

When the entire TATRAS program has been completed, the child is a strong reader, has learned all the necessary phonograms to decode and read anything in the English language, and has had ample writing practice as well.  I personally don't stress the writing aspect of TATRAS, and if I have a child who is particularly aprehensive about writing I ignore it altogether.

Check out Cheryl's final Marvelous Monday post here, and don't forget to visit her blog after this series.  She is a wise woman and I count myself very blessed to have her in my life.

I really don't know anything about preschool or kindergarten materials.  :D

What I do know is that over the course of the past 16 years, we've used a lot, seen a lot, ditched a lot, and loved a lot.  Because this is a subject that could garner a ridiculously long post for me, I thought I'd offer here only the things that have really worked for us.  If you don't see something mentioned, it's likely because we either haven't used it, or we have used it without success.

In the earliest years, I like to offer learning tools that are hands-on.  Preschool attention spans are notoriously short, so if I can get ten or fifteen minutes out of one of these items, I am happy.

♥ Lauri Alphabet Puzzles are my favorite way to purposefully review the alphabet with a preschooler.  The puzzle's bumpy texture and bright colors allow the child to feel the letter, trace the letter with a finger or two, and associate colors as well.

Lauri also makes lower case alphabet puzzles, number play puzzles, and many others: cars, flowers, people, and play packs such as this one.  The price is right, they're pretty durable (ours have lasted over ten years), and the company will replace missing pieces.  Incidentally, I love to put these away as birthday and Christmas gifts; they don't know I'm sneaking "school" in that way.

♥ Wedgits are building blocks that are suited for little hands because they are larger and easier to hold.  The pieces drop right into each other and stack in interesting geometric ways (aha!  math!).  Bonus: they can be thrown in the dishwasher.  Another bonus: older kids like them, too.

♥ Wikki Stix allow preschoolers to bend the little waxy sticks into any shape, including letters (my older kids have been known to write messages to dad on the front door).  Wikki Stix are quiet, mess-free, and intriguing.  Perfect for the car or church, too!

♥ Big, fat crayons.  I'm sure you're familiar.

Preschool in Grammy and Pop Pop's motorhome

♥ Kumon workbooks are a lovely little thing for preschoolers.  Books range in subject from math to rhyming, cutting to tracing.  Workbooks can get a bad rap in some homeschooling circles, but to my way of thinking, they are a nifty way to keep a preschooler happy, productive, and learning.

Our preschooler loves games, too.  And pretty much anything with Charlie and Lola (including pink milk)

Kindergarten is simple here.  I haven't changed my approach too much with each child, except with the last two I have waited to teach reading.  While I was busy helping the older kids, our fifth child decided she didn't need me to teach her and she taught herself to read.  She's an amazing reader, so I'm not expecting the same from the others younger than she.  It was quite a bonus though!

♥ We use TATRAS in our home.  TATRAS stands for "Teach America to Read and Spell".  I love this approach, adore the man who authored the book, see huge and wonderful results, but I do wish it was laid out a little better.  Don't let the book scare you off; it's a bit busy (ie, too many things going on each page), but it works and it works well.  TATRAS employs the vertical phonics method, which you can read about here.

The reason I adore the author is that when I first began using TATRAS nine years ago, I was flabergasted to receive a phone call from him after I had purchased the program.  He wanted to make sure I understood it and knew I could call him at any time if I had any questions.  Six weeks later, he called me again to follow up.  Now that's a man who stands behind his product and believes in what he is doing.

♥ We jump right into Rod and Staff preschool, which is equivalent to kindergarten.  Motor skills, letters, numbers, comprehension, and following directions are all covered in the series.  These books are long on preparation and short on fluff. The illustrations are engaging and the work leads to really solid skills needed for first grade. They are also very reasonably priced.

Don't forget to go see Cheryl's Marvelous Monday post.  We've only one left; these have been fun, haven't they?