History Plans Completed (and Math Info)

Another subject completed - one of my favorites - History! We are doing some American history this year.

We've already read The Light and the Glory for Children (and I read the adult version). We are now just a few chapters into From Sea to Shining Sea for Children. (Again I am reading the adult version.) We'll finish the school year with Sounding the Trumpet for Children, which will take us to the year 1860. (All of those books are by Peter Marshall and David Manuel.) I've got all 3 activity books and I will be photocopying some pages from those to go along with our reading.

I've also got a book called American Adventures: True Stories from America's Past 1770-1870 and I will be integrating selections from that book as well.

Mostly our history work is me reading the chapter aloud while the children color a coloring sheet that goes along with the information. There are discussion questions for each chapter, so we'll cover those. Sometimes I'll integrate a picture book or a movie that goes along with the topic - like Star-Spangled Banner by Peter Spier or the Liberty's Kids DVD's that we have. The books include several games and some map work so that will be included and we also work on an ongoing timeline that we started with Mystery of History Volume 1.

If we haven't come to the end of May yet when that's complete, I'll pull out some Civil War stuff I have and we'll work on that.

Next year, we'll go back to Mystery of History and begin Volume 2. (I am looking to buy it used, if anyone has one to sell!)

So, there's history!

I'm not going to do a separate entry for Math for two reasons.
One - Bob teaches it, not me.
Two - it doesn't require any planning other than to make sure they have their books.

Here's what they're doing:

David - Math-U-See Pre-Algebra - he's on Lesson 14.
Emily - Math-U-See Gamma - she's on Lesson 9.
James - Math-U-See Beta - he's on Lesson 24 (need to get Gamma for him!)
Suzy - working on beginning addition concepts and counting by 2's, 5's, 10's. We don't have a curriculum for her - just random worksheets and practicing with Daddy.

Language Arts Plans (partially complete)

I worked on literature plans for David and Emily this afternoon, as well as their Grammar lessons.

For Grammar, we are using Sonlight's new grammar curriculum, The Grammar Ace.

I listed out the lessons and the activities we will do. It takes us two days to do one lesson. I was doing grammar two days a week, but I think we'll increase to three days a week so we can finish on time.

I make up my own reading and literature "curriculum", following the philosophy that it's better to just READ. Now that David's in junior high, I have instituted a little more structure. Emily is a good reader, so I've started having her do a little more as well.

Here are the books that they will read for the rest of the year.
David - 7th grade, second semester
Adam of the Road - Elizabeth Janet Gray (finishing from before Xmas)
The Book of Three - Lloyd Alexander
Captains Courageous - Rudyard Kipling
C.S. Lewis (Heroes of the Faith) - Sam Wellman
The Bulletproof George Washington - David Barton
The Life and Times of Washington - Enzo Orlandi (reading these two together)

Once a week or so, he will do an exercise from Adventures in Greatness: Speed and Comprehension Reader (A Beka).

Emily - 5th grade, second semester
Pilgrim's Progress (A Beka edition) - John Bunyan (finishing from before Xmas)
The Secret Language - Ursula Nordstrom
Meet My Friends - Joni Eareckson Tada
Amy Carmichael (Women of Faith) - Kathleen White
Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell
Plain Girl - Virginia Sorensen
The Midwife's Apprentice - Karen Cushman

Once a week or so, she will do an exercise from Read and Think Skill Sheet 5 (A Beka).

I need to find some online reading guides for some of these books, but I didn't have time to do that yet.

For their literature study, they write every day in their literature journals to respond to what they've read. They can write a summary (which they usually do) or they can respond in some other written way to the selection. (James does this too on a smaller scale.)

If there are comprehension questions, they answer them in the lit journals as well. Any book reports are also written in the literature journals. They will do a book report for each book, I believe.

They will do one entry a week from English from the Roots Up and play Rummy Roots once a week or so as well.

They will do Spelling Power four times a week. David will do handwriting once or twice a week. Emily will do handwriting three or four times a week. They are both working on their cursive.

I think that's it. I am going to find some online reading guides (free!) and then work on James and Suzy's plans, which are much easier. Then I just have History and Math to do, I think. Oh yeah, Art and Music.

Bible Plans complete

I completed the lesson plans for our Bible class for the next five months! Bible is probably the easiest of the subjects to plan, actually, except for Math. Math is just - do the next lesson. lol

We will learn several new hymns and praise choruses - one of each for each month. Here are the choices:

January - Holy Holy Holy, Jesus Lover of My Soul

February - Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus, As the deer panteth for the water

March - He Lives, Thank you Lord for saving my soul

April - All Creatures of Our God and King, Have Thine Own Way Lord

May - Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, There's just something about that name

We will finish up two curriculums that we began in 2006, I think: Bible Study Guide for All Ages: Volume 3 by Charles and Mary Baker and Character Building for Families: Volume 1 by Lee Ann Rubsam.

We will do lessons 280-312 of the Bible Study Guide for All Ages. This covers the remainder of the book of Judges, and the complete books of Ruth and 1 Samuel. We will continue with Volume 4 beginning in the fall, I think.

We will finish a study on Service in the Character Building curriculum and complete a short study on Hospitality. That will bring us to the end of that book. I will buy the next volume to work on next year.

Finishing those books will take us to about mid-March, so I poked around to find something else we could do to finish the last two and a half months of school. I had purchased The Model Family: God the Father and Jesus the Son by Ray and Charlene Notgrass three or four years ago. This looked like it would fit ok into our plans, so I decided to use it. We will finish 7 of the 13 lessons by the end of May. Hopefully we can then work on the remaining 6 lessons over the summer, finishing in time to begin the new volumes of Bible Study Guide and Character Building in the fall.

Need to print out the hymn and praise chorus lyrics for the kids and make some copies to be completely ready.

Science Plans Complete

I also got the Science lesson planning done tonight. I wrote out all the science I hope to get done before the end of the year. It's a little more for David than for the others, but that's as it should be since he is doing seventh grade work.

David is working out of Backyard Ballistics. He has completed only a couple projects from this book so far. I need him to complete all of the book before I will consider this subject complete. I am calling his science work: Applied Science: Ballistic Engineering. Doesn't that sound fancy? He's pretty much learning the physics that goes into creating weaponry.

If you're wondering what kinds of projects David will be working on, here is a project list that the author - William Gurstelle - put on his website.

I do plan to have David work on a website for these projects. He has a webpage done for one of the earlier projects, but we never published it anywhere.

There are a LOT of materials needed for this book, everything from Sterno to lots of PVC to things I've never heard of. So, it'll be costly, but I bet he'll remember THIS science way more than he would reading a dry textbook. And he may actually be able to apply the physics principles later on too.

OK, now the three younger kids are all working together on some simple science concepts. Last year we did Considering God's Creation and that stretched both Bob and me nearly to the limit. So I wanted something simple this year.

Suzy is Kdg, James is 2nd/3rd, and Emily is in 5th. I found a book called Science Mini-Journals from Scholastic, aimed at grades 2-4, which seemed close enough to me. There isn't a whole lot of content and the story-writing prompts are kinda lame, but I think the little booklet format is fun. There's enough information that I feel good about using it as a jumping-off point anyway. We will do several activities for each topic, some writing, and read some related picture books. That's not much science for a 5th grader, I know, but she got a LOT last year and she's in no way ready for what David is doing. We'll do something more involved next year again.

Anyway, those are all planned out and photocopied (did that in the fall), although I have to find the picture books before each topic.

We've been doing Science and History in alternating weeks. Not sure what we'll do now.

January - May Lesson Plans

Since I have a few days off work, my goal is to get my lesson plans all done through May. Hopefully then we can stay on track. I have yet to actually accomplish any of it though, and I go back to work on the 2nd. We will start our lessons on the 7th, I think, although we may begin math before that.

Stay tuned here for lesson planning progress.

Everything is about EASY

Our lessons have been going well this year so far. Bob has taken on the responsibility of teaching Math and Spelling, as well as leading the prayer time. Talk about a big help! When the kids have a math question, I can say, "Hey! I'm not the math teacher! Go ask your dad!"

I redesigned our schedule to be more friendly to a momma who doesn't get home from work until well past midnight and who rarely gets to sleep before 2 am. This way, I can sleep a little more in the mornings and Bob can get them ready and started on their work. The schedule needs a bit more tweaking, but when doesn't it?

We start with prayer time and I am usually still in my jammies then, with a big cup of coffee! Then David and James begin their language arts, doing the independent parts first, so I can finish getting ready for the day. David does his reading and writing in a literature journal, while James does some independent phonics practice (read: WORKBOOK pages! lol) Meanwhile, Emily and Suzy are doing math, under Bob's supervision. Suzanne has been so extremely excited about her lessons, now that she is in "kindergarten"! Once I am ready, I do reading and phonics instruction with James. He also writes in his lit journal.

After this segment, they switch, and I do phonics instruction with Suzy while Emily reads and writes in her literature journal. At this point, Bob is doing math with the boys.

At some point, I gather them all together and do group instruction in Science OR History (we are seeming to do alternate weeks so far this year), as well as Bible and any other group subjects, such as Art. I give any grammar or writing assignments at this point as well.

We have lunch and I read aloud. Our current read aloud is The Secret Garden. They spend a little time on chores and then they finish their studies for the day, which would be anything not finished yet and Spelling with Dad. We are usually done by 2pm, but always by 3pm when I leave for work. My goal is to have them done by 2pm so that we can spend an hour being together. That usually ends up being half an hour though, since I need to spend some time getting ready for work. I am streamlining that process though too.

Soccer keeps Bob busy in the evenings. With 4 kids playing and practices or games almost every night of the week, he is always running someone to practice or picking someone up! Saturday mornings are filled with soccer games also!

Everything is about EASY this year!

First Day of Lessons

Although the first day of lessons was FOUR weeks ago, I am finally getting around to posting. Our first day traditions include new learning supplies, a scavenger hunt, and ice cream sundaes for lunch.

Kids Who Like Workbooks

Children who like workbooks feel this way because they are good at them, find them easy, and are not required to think critically. Many children want workbooks because they think they are supposed to have them. They see older students, older brothers and sisters, or neighborhood children using them. Children and parents like workbooks because they are perceptible evidence of something occurring in school (workbooks can often be the only tangible evidence of learning in the classroom). There are many more effective tangible items children can bring home.
Raising Readers: Helping Your Child to Literacy
by Steven Bialostok
(emphasis added by me!)

Curriculum 2007-08

Well, I hate to be a copycat, but Jennifer posted her curriculum choices for next year, and since I have mine mostly worked out, I thought I'd do the same. So, thanks, Jennifer, for the impetus!

For those that might not read regularly here, I have 4 children and work full time on second shift. My kids are David, age 12-1/2 in 7th grade; Emily, age 10 in 5th grade; James, age 7-1/2 in 2nd or 3rd grade; and Suzy, age 5 in kindergarten. (Only homeschoolers could be unsure of their children's grade level! lol)

Bible

All kids - Baker Bible Study Guide for All Ages - Finish Volume 3

and alternate with:

Character Building for Families – Volume 2

Math

David - Math U See – continue with Pre-Algebra, then move to Algebra 1

Emily - Math U See - Gamma and memorize all math facts

James - Math U See – Finish Beta, start Gamma

Suzy – learn the numbers and practice counting

Language Arts

Reading

All will do child-chosen silent reading and mom-chosen instructional reading (some aloud, some silent).

All will listen to Read-alouds, Mom-chosen, of general interest

Literature

David – still deciding (perhaps Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings?)

Phonics

James – Finish Alphabet Island Phonics 2B, Explode the Code 3 & 4, & Phonics Pathways (to supplement when needed

Suzy – Alphabet Island Phonics 1 and Bob Books when ready

Grammar

David – Sonlight Grammar Ace

Spelling

David & Emily - continue with Spelling Power

Penmanship

David Self-Instruction in Handwriting (Zaner-Bloser) Cursive

Emily Self-Instruction in Handwriting (Zaner-Bloser) Neater Printing & Cursive

James Self-Instruction in Handwriting (Zaner-Bloser) Printing

Suzy - Writing the Letters and her name

Writing

All kids will write back and forth to me in their Journals, and write to others via the postal service

Composition for David and Emily will be Institute for Excellence in Writing's course - Student Writing Intensive B.

Science

David – Apologia General Science (or possible Physical Science, if co-op offers this class)

Emily, James, Suzy – Scholastic Science Mini-Journals (9 mini units on various science topics)

Social Studies

Might do From Sea to Shining Sea & Sounding Forth the Trumpet since I already own those, thus continuing our American history study.

Or we may go on to Mystery of History Volume 2....

Physical Education

All kids will play AYSO soccer in the fall & spring.

All kids will have PE at co-op twice a month.

Will include in some form: Music Appreciation, Art, Geography, Typing

May also include Spanish, which I can teach, but I might get Rosetta Stone instead.

Teaching My Own Kids

I have had a very hard time deciding if I should take the job that has been all but offered to me at the Christian school for next year. (Full time teaching 3rd/4th). I prayed like I never have before and I very clearly heard from God that my calling is to teach my own children at home.

So, next year, I will be back home with my kids. Well, actually, starting June 16! lol

Things will be very different for us though, as I will be working full time, just not during the "school day". My job is Monday-Friday from 3:45pm to midnight. I am working in a plastic injection molding factory as a machine operator.

But I will be teaching MY OWN KIDS AGAIN! Praise the Lord!