Posted by Cindy on July 27, 2009
After a nice LONG summer break, we’re starting back for the 2009-10 school year next week! I can’t believe I’ll be teaching 7th and 4th grades this year – and we can’t forget the 2 1/2 year old who will continue to wreak havoc daily! 
Here’s the basic daily plan – which hasn’t changed much from last year:
- Dressed/Bedroom Chores
- Breakfast/Bible
- Daily Chores
- Math
- Language Arts
- Unit Study
- Free Time for outdoors/handicrafts/hobbies
- Reading Break
Curriculum plans are (as always) subject to change, but here’s the projected list. Remember, I never teach from all these materials everyday, or even every week for that matter. These are just resources that we’ll use at some point or another.
7th Grade
Math/Logic
Language Arts
4th Grade
Math/Logic
Language Arts
Bible/Devotions
- Bible Topics – Daniel, Jonah, Ruth, Romans, Psalms, Proverbs
- Possible Bible/Character/Devotion Missionary Studies include:
How to Study Your Bible for Kids
Journeys of Faithfulness: Stories for the Heart for Faithful Girls
The Squire and the Scroll
with Life Lessons from the Squire and the Scroll
Princess & the Kiss: A Story of God’s Gift of Purity
with Life Lessons from the Princess and the Kiss
Beautiful Girlhood
Bible Games Packet that reinforces books of the Bible, divisions of the Bible, Bible research skills and more. I bought this at a Bible outlet store that was going out of business a few years ago. The game boards and pieces are all just paper tear-outs. Since I’ve already prepared all the games, I can’t find the title of the product anywhere. It was originally published by Standard Publishing, but I’ve had no luck finding it on their site either. It’s a wonderful resource! If I find out the title and it’s still available anywhere, I’ll be sure to post it.
Bruchko
George Muller: The Guardian of Bristol’s Orphans
Bartholomew’s Passage: A Family Story for Advent
Hero Tales, vol. 1: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes
Unit Studies
This is the fourth year in our four-year history/science cycle. We will be working on modern history and physics. I’ll post plans as each unit comes along. For now, here are the tentative unit lists.
History/Geography
- US Geography
- Statue of Liberty and Other National Monuments
- US Government
- US Presidents
- Inventors
- 1900-2010 History – This will be our biggest unit!
- World Geography
Science
- Energy – Heat & Electricity
- Light, Color & Sound
- Magnets
- Simple Machines and Work
Nature Study
We’ll use various ideas from the NaturExplorer units once (or more) a week. I’ll be posting many of those ideas here and at Shining Dawn Books.
Artist and Composer Study
August – Cezanne, Chopin
September – Rousseau, Vivaldi
October – Rodin, Gershwin
November – Gauguin, Ellington
January – Toulouse-Lautrec, Schubert
February – Seurat, Berloiz
March – Russell, Schumann
April – Matisee, Brahms
May – Kandinsky, Stravinsky
I’ll be sure to post lots about our daily lessons and happenings through the school year! Have a super 2009-10!
(You can find our current studies along with the resources I’m using in the sidebars.)
Posted by Cindy on July 21, 2008
School will be starting up again soon! We’ll probably wait until the rest of the garden has been harvested and canned/frozen, but the serious planning is well underway already. Following is our overall plan for the year.
Bible
Since working through the Old, then New Testaments over the last two years, I think we’re going to branch off into various devotionals and kid-friendly Bible studies this year. Some of which will include both kiddos, while some will be separate. A couple will be completed as part of our kid/youth group studies at church, too. These are just to get us started. I haven’t decided exactly where we’re headed after these are finished.
Science and History
This year’s science cycle is chemistry. Besides a once a month chemistry club that a friend is going to host, we will work our way through:
Of course, nature study will continue at least weekly, too.
History
Our history cycle is Early American History. The plan is to get through as many of the units below as possible and pick up where we leave off as we head into Modern American History next year. I’ll be posting detailed unit plans as we get to them.
- Explorers
- Native Americans
- Pilgrims
- Colonial America
- Revolutionary War (and other significant wars – French Indian, 1812)
- Pioneers/Westward Expansion
- Salvery/Underground Railroad
- Civil War
I’m also considering buying the The Story of the World Vol. 3 CD’s for our listening pleasure. (And to keep up with world history of the time period.)
Mahayla – 6th Grade
Math
And various logic activities.
Grammar
Spelling
Writing
We’re continuing the blog, journal, field trip journal, writing prompts and newsletters. We’ll also be adding things here and there from:
Reading
With each unit, she will be assigned at least one book. Otherwise, I never have to worry about her reading and comprehending. In fact, I often have to ask her to stop reading so she can get other things done!
Handwriting/Typing
Handwriting and typing will be practiced thoroughly through writing assignments. Within each unit, there will be some copywork, and at least weekly, she will practice keyboard skills at Nimble Fingers.
Caleb – 3rd Grade
Math
Various logic activities
Reading/Phonics
Spelling
Writing
We will continue with the journal, field trip journal, writing prompts and newsletters.
Grammar
Handwriting/Keyboarding
Cursive practice worksheets
Nimble Fingers
Other Things That Will Be Tackled At Least Weekly
Art/Artist Study
Adventures in Art – an out of print book I found at a used curriculum sale
Artist Studies
Music
Paid piano lessons for Mahayla
Composer Studies
Foreign Language
We don’t hit this hard, but here are some resources I at least plan to pull out once in a while.
Home Skills, Homestead Skills & Handicrafts
Keepers At Home group
Indoor and outdoor chores
Weekly cooking responsibilities
Serving others
4-H Club
I know this looks like A LOT, but remember I don’t do everything from every curriculum, nor do I teach everything every day! Life is education!!! I’ll be keeping you posted on our school year and I wish you a very blessed, productive and smooth school year at your house!
Posted by Cindy on April 11, 2008
This was another question asked recently at co-op. Another part of the question was: How do you plan for next year when you may or may not want to change curricula? Once again, here’s the answer I gave, but I know my friend would appreciate your thoughts in a comment.
I’ve told you before that I can be considered by some as “curriculum ADHD”, so I’ve had experience planning for a year in the midst of curriculum changes! Here are my basic planning steps:
1.) PRAY! Ask God to guide you in all things – and that includes curriculum choice.
2.) Know Your Goals
- What is my educational philosophy? Do I need to plan my year to be more in line with Charlotte Mason? Do I need to make more room for classical subjects? Do I need to buy more workbooks?
- What are my children’s learning styles? Do I need to do more/less hands-on next year? Do I need to find materials that are more auditory? Do I need to stick with one type of curriculum all year or do I need to vary the approaches for more interest?
- What “holes” do I see from this year? For instance, I don’t feel like I have been including enough classic literature in our curriculum. I also don’t feel like I’ve been pushing my oldest to her greatest potential. Those will be things I’m sure to think about as I make out plans for next year.
3.) Know your plans
- For example, if I know that every Monday afternoon we will be at co-op, I need to plan my curriculum with that in mind. I wouldn’t want to plan schooling so tightly that we would be behind in our studies from “missing out” on a Monday afternoon of book work.
- If I like to plan field trips or be a part of 4-H, Keepers At Home or other clubs, I need to keep all that in mind as I think about what I want to accomplish in our curriculum over the year.
4.) Research your choices
- With all the above in mind, really take some time to research what’s best for your family. Think about things like:
- Is there anything I can buy that will cover more than one child?
- Is there anything I can find that will meet several of our needs – meeting particular learning styles, filling the “holes” from last year, and helping me include more CM style learning?
- I use catalogs, the internet, used curriculum sales, our state homeschool convention and a local Christian/homeschooling bookstore when researching.
- I often buy things I’m not sure about from used sources so I haven’t wasted a lot of money if it doesn’t work. Internet selling sites are my friends when a bad choice has been made!
5.) Write out a plan for each child to be sure everything:
- is being covered (Make sure you haven’t forgotten math or something!)
- is well balanced (You haven’t overloaded the schedule, but at the same time you have enough.)
- really fits the learning style of that particular child
- pulls the kids together as much as possible
- won’t overwhelm you!
6.) Gather supplies
- don’t be afraid to make mistakes
- don’t be afraid to make changes
- don’t be afraid to stick with something and give it another chance
It’s funny that as I type this, I’m simply ready for this year to be finished! It’s been a long year with a toddler running around. We only have four more weeks to go!! Once our year is over and I have a few moments to sit on the porch swing with the sun in my face, I’ll be ready to cart the catalogs out with me.
Posted by Cindy on April 9, 2008
This was a question asked recently at co-op. My friend’s question related more specifically to whether or not a child is ready to “move on” to the next grade level. Here’s the not-so-short answer I gave. I’m sure my friend would enjoy reading your comments, too.
1.) What grade you call a child is fairly meaningless as an overall rule.
-Most children I know are working either somewhat above or below that particular grade in at least one subject.
-If a child has struggled greatly in math, for instance, then go slower with math – starting now. Who cares if the workbook says 2nd grade when they are actually in 3rd grade? Who cares if they won’t finish every workbook page by the end of the year if you go slower?
-What’s more important – that they understand a process or get through the book? Also, is it more important to get multiplication eventually – at their own pace – or to become so frustrated with ”not getting it” before they’re ready that they feel like a failure and never choose to like math from that point on?
2.) All schools – whether public, private or homeschools - have different expectations for each grade level. In other words, what one school expects to be accomplished in 2nd grade might be an expectation for 4th graders in another school.
-If your child is greatly struggling with an entire 3rd grade curriculum, you might research a different curriculum rather than blaming your child for not being smart enough to keep up.
-Make sure the curriculum you’re using is meeting their learning styles and even their interests. I don’t mean to say that every assignment has to be pure joy, but if your child is motivated by bright colors vs. black and white pages, find a curriculum with bright colors. If they enjoy crafting over workbooks, look into hands-on curriculums.
3.) I would never harm a child’s self-esteem by telling them that they aren’t ready to advance to the next grade level, or that they will redo all the same curriculum again next year because they “didn’t get it” this year.
-Whatever changes you need to make – redoing a particular book, buying a grade level lower, implementing reteaching strategies, taking things slower – should be adult decisions. A child will be much more motivated to continuing trying and learning if they don’t feel like a failure.
4.) If you are drastically concerned:
-Talk to seasoned homeschoolers about the issues and get their advice.
-Look through books like What Your ___ Grader Needs To Know. Remember that this is one person’s opinion, though.
-Test the child to see what level they are actually working on. Remember that not every child tests well and the results may be a bit skewed.
-Research the particular concerns on the internet to see what steps you might take.
-Get a tutor.
Homeschooling is such an awesome opportunity for raising children who are bright, confident and allowed to blossom at their own pace. God created every one of us to be different, unique and special. Just because one of your children may struggle with a particular subject, or even all subjects, doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have great big plans for them anyway. Help them to the best of your ability, while giving them an abundance of encouragement and love, and God will take care of the rest!
Posted by Cindy on June 21, 2007
A new baby has slowed me down in the planning department! I’ve been putting this post together for what seems like weeks, but I believe it’s finally ready. I’ll copy this to put into my planning binder as a record of our curriculum and goals for the 2007-2008 school year.
Subjects we do together:
Bible/Devotions
Read through the New Testament in The Child’s Story Bible
by Catherine Vos and complete our Bible timeline using the The Big Picture Bible Timeline Book
.
The Seven C’s of History
(this is our summer study)
Discovering Jesus in Genesis
by Susan Hunt
Missionaries Unit using Missionary Stories with the Millers as a “spine”
Bible Bowl
History
Ancient History Unit – Spine book: History Pockets: Ancient Civilizations, Grades 1-3
Middle Ages Unit – Spine book: Knights & Castles: 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience the Middle Ages
Kentucky History Unit – Spine book: Spectacular State Report Projects-For Any State
Science
Astronomy Unit – Spine books: Exploring Creation With Astronomy by Jeannie Fulbright and the Astronomy Lapbook from Knowledge Box Central
Earth Science Unit – Spine books: Primarily Earth, NaturExplorers Hard as a Rock, and Considering God’s Creation
Art, Music, Foreign Language
Various art studies, art lessons and art projects throughout the year, no specific resources
Various music composer studies, music classes and hymn memorization throughout the year, no specific resources
Prima Latina
5th Grade Math
Math 6 / 5: Homeschool Set
Bi-weekly problem solving and logic opportunities using a variety of resources. Below are a few sample books:
Mind Benders Grades 3-6+ Book A3: Deductive Thinking Skills
Thinking Skills, Grades 5-6
NC Math
5th Grade Language Arts
Daily silent reading
Daily read alouds with Mom
The following subjects will often be integrated into the current learning unit. Other times, activities will be chosen from various places including…
Spelling: Spelling Works!
Grammar: Great Grammar Lessons That Work
Writing: All sorts of sources including:
Typing: Nimble Fingers
2nd Grade Math
Horizons Math 2
Miquon Math
Mind Benders
NC Math
2nd Grade Language Arts
Reading: Still plugging along in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
, and adding easy readers, Explode the Code, and fun games
Grammar: First Language Lessons
Spelling: Spelling Workout
Typing: Nimble Fingers
Extras
Co-op classes 1x/week
Piano Lessons
Horse Lessons
Just a reminder for some of you who will say, “She’s using ALL that THIS year?!!” I don’t use everything all the time. Nor do I use all of anything. I use only what I feel like my kiddos need at the time. I pull the best from several resources because no one resource ever seems to fit us perfectly! It doesn’t bother me to have undone pages in a workbook or undone lessons in lesson guide. I’m the teacher at my house and I get to choose what we do and don’t do. The list above is actually far from complete. I’m always on the lookout for new and exciting things to add to the mix. I guess I’m the ultimate eclectic, unit study, lapbooking, notebooking, workbooking, literature loving homeschooler! It all has it’s place you know!
