Sunday, August 14, 2011

2011/2012 Curriculum: Preschool

Last year I dabbled here and there with a few things for my preschooler.  All summer he's been begging me to "do school" with him and since he only has 1 more year left until kindergarten, I thought I should do just that.  I'm really taking advantage of his enthusiasm to learn, so hopefully it'll keep up throughout the school year!


Language Arts


Preschool Boot Camp - My mom gave this to my preschooler and he LOVES it!  It teaches pre-reading fundamentals & motor skills (tracing, letter copying, etc) and his an ABC workbook, dry-erase mats, an ABC puzzle, & ABC Bingo.


  • Phonics Pathways - I may or may not use this this year.  I haven't decided yet.
  • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - I'll be using this as an introductory unit to the alphabet.  Then he'll learn about a letter a week.
  • Alphabet flashcards - Found these at the dollar store ages ago when my oldest was a toddler.  I laminated them so they'd last longer.
  • A+ Alphabet Bingo - found in the $1 section at Target.
  • Magnet Letters
  • A+ Alphabet Puzzle Pairs - Also found in Target's $1 bins!
  • Starfall
  • Scrabble Apple - This is great for all ages!  My preschooler likes to sort the letters and my older son likes to do his spelling with them.
  • Spelling Fun Wooden Puzzle
  • Magnetic Learning Let's Learn Our First Words (Priddy Books)
  • Super Why! The Power to Read Software - Our preschooler LOVES Super Why (in fact he was Alpha Pig & our baby was Super Why for Halloween this last year!), which has really gotten him excited about the alphabet, reading, and spelling.  Our family likes the Alpha Pig ABC song much better then the traditional one! :-)
Math

 
Science
We'll be doing science alongside his brother (just more at his level), so many of the resources are the same.


History
History will also be done alongside his brother, so we'll be using much of the same books here too.




Art & Music
Not quite sure what we're going to use here yet.  He'll be learning about instruments and we'll be doing a lot of singing and listening to classical music.  But may or may not be learning art/music history just yet.  We'll see what his brother ends up doing in school.
    PE & Health
    We'll be getting a family pool pass, as well as learning about the food guide pyramid & healthy eating.  


    • DK (Let's Explore Science) Me and My Body - We found this used bookstore in the mall that everything is $1.  You really have to dig through it, but they've got some cool stuff.  I really had to set a limit for myself and the kids!
    Misc.
    In addition to the above items, I plan on doing some mini units as well.
    Posted by Julie at 7:56 PM 0 comments
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    2011/2012 Curriculum: 2nd/3rd Grade

    As I mentioned previously, I'm making some MAJOR changes to our classroom this year!  No more killing myself trying to come up with my own lesson plans.  That stuffs for the birds (obviously the birds are much more organized, creative, and better at time management then I am)!  I'm trying some new stuff this year that hopefully will make my life a WHOLE lot less hectic!  This year my son will be attending a classical hybrid charter school.  I will be his primary teacher, but he will attend school 2 days a week where they will teach him History & Science, with a little of everything else on the side.  We're REALLY excited for it!  In addition to teaching for me 2 days a week, they also provide me with the curriculum I need at home.  They give us a curriculum catalog, along with points (equal to an amount of money) we can use throughout the year to purchase the resources we need at home.  If we don't like a particular thing we are using, we can order something new with the extra points we have.  It's a REALLY cool setup!  We totally benefit.  "Technically" my son should be going into 3rd grade, but with his continued struggles in reading, this last year we focused more on reading and not enough in other subjects, so he's a little behind.  He decided he wanted to repeat 2nd grade, so we'll be wizzing through 2nd grade math, and quickly moving on to 3rd grade stuff.  This is the part of homeschooling that is so wonderful!  So here's what we've got planned for this year (by "we" I really mean "I," just to clarify):

    Language Arts


    Grammar: 



    Handwriting: 

    Phonics: 


    • Phonics Pathways - This was the one good thing we used this past year.  I have a child who really struggles to read.  This has really help things be a little more clear for him.  I've learned a lot of new things as well (either I wasn't paying attention, or my good ol' public school education missed a lot of stuff).  So we will be using this a lot for review!

      • Explode the Code - We're sticking with Books 1 & 1 1/2, as well as the Teacher's Guide/Key for books 1 & 2
      Spelling & Vocabulary: 


      Writing: 


      Math



      •  Math Mammoth: 2-A & 2-B - Before I knew my son was going to attend the charter school, I went looking for an affordable math curriculum that had good reviews.  I came across Math Mammoth over and over again.  I didn't really find any negative reviews on it.  For the complete Grade 2 package, it cost me under $30!  And it was downloadable, so if I find I like it, I can use it for my younger children as they get older.  I figure its worth a shot.  If we don't like it, then I figure we can always get something through the school!
      Science
      Since my son's school will be providing Science, I won't be doing the bulk of it, but rather supplementing, so this isn't exactly all I would get if I were doing it all myself.  This year the focus of science is on Biology (plants, animals, & the human body).  Most of these books I already had in our home library already.


      History
      Again, the school will be providing most of this, so we'll just be supplementing.  This year they'll be focusing on Ancient history.

      • Story of the World: Vol. 1 - I'm really excited about this!  This book is written so simply for children (and adults) to understand.  My husband, who majored in history and is quite the history buff, has been reading it.  He's a BIG sceptic when it comes to history books, especially those that "dumb down."  He's been really impressed thus far.  I myself have only had the time to make it through the first 2 chapters, but from what I've read, its wonderful!  I love how they explain what history is and why it is important.  Can't wait to dig into this!





      Geography


      • Maps, Charts, & Graphs: B - This is one of the supplemental materials the school is providing.  I'm planning on focusing on neighborhoods as far as reading maps, charts, & graphs is concerned, but we're also going to focus on the countries that we'll be learning about in our history studies.
       



      Typing
      I haven't quite decided what program I'm going to use just yet.  I think I'm going to stick to a free online one for now.  Here are a few of the ones I'm looking at:
      Practical Skills
      I know that scouting isn't a typical school subject, but my son just started the scouting program a few months ago and is REALLY into it.  So I decided to incorporate it into his schooling with the thought that this might be a good motivator.  If he does his math or language arts, then he gets to do some scouting before he moves on to more language arts, etc.  We'll see if it works, but either way he's going to be working on it to pass some things off. 


      Art & Music
      This will also be taught at my sons school, so I'll be supplementing where I feel it is needed.


      • How to Draw Aquarium Animals - We picked this up at Monterey Bay Aquarium this summer.  Thought it would be a good activity to use as a "break" subject.
      Religion
      I haven't really decided what I'm going to do here.  I don't know if I'll add more then our normal family scripture stories at night or our morning family scripture reading.  Right now we're reading a story each night from this book:

      I'd like to coordinate our History lessons with scripture reading if I can organize myself to do so.  Since we'll be learning about the Ancients, I'm thinking I may use these books:





      PE & Health
      I haven't really decided what exactly I'm going to do here.  For part of PE we're going to get family passes at the local pool (they're only $50 for the entire family for a full year!).  We're also going to be doing a unit on the food guide pyramid & healthy eating.
      Posted by Julie at 7:55 PM 0 comments
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      Wednesday, August 10, 2011

      Lessons Learned

      This year things are gonna change!!  For the better that is.  Well at least I hope so anyway!  This last year was our first year homeschooling.  Our son already had 2 years behind him in public school then, which made the switch kinda difficult (not to keep anyone from doing it...it was the best choice we could've made!), only because he had his own ideas of what school should be like from what he had already experienced.  It didn't help that he had the same teacher for both years either.  And let me just say that focusing on 1 child, as opposed to 30+ children is a LOT different!  He didn't really get that at first.  We decided to homeschool 2 weeks before school was to start.  I know I could have waited a little longer, but at the time I really wanted my child to be on the same schedule as his friends in public school.  PLEASE learn from my experience...if you are considering (or have already decided on) homeschooling, research, research, research!  Ask your homeschooling friends, look online, and find curriculum!  I thought that I could do it all on my own (plan my own curriculum that is), which really I could have, but with a newborn and a 3 year old in tote, it was WAY too difficult.  I just didn't have the planning time I needed and I ended up having to sit with him while he did most everything.  It did NOT work so well for any of us!  Half way through the year I decided things HAD to change.  But how?  What could I do.  I can't say that I really changed much for the remainder of the year, but I did finally start doing the kind of research I should have done 6 months earlier.  Several of my homeschooling friends had suggested some books to me, which I always intended on reading, but never got around to doing so.  When I finally decided to reform my classroom so to speak, I headed to the library and checked out some books.

      They changed my world!

      Seriously, it was the best thing to have happened to our homeschooling lives!  It got my mind a-movin'!  I read those books, and found others and read those.

      I finally GOT homeschooling!

      So this is how people did it and not only lived to tell the tale, but actually enjoyed it and were successful at it.  I seriously felt a rebirth coming on.  I was just mad that I hadn't read these books back when people TOLD me to read them!  Lesson learned...

      Here's a few of my faves:


      The Well-Trained Mind - Excellent resource!  Can't say enough wonderful things about it.  It explains a classical education and how to teach your children using this method.  It provides resources (book titles, websites, curriculum choices, etc), schedules, guides.  Really this is a dummy's guide to homeschooling. Its all spelled out for you.  But whats wonderful is it also shows you how to create your own schedules and styles.  It really is wonderful!


      A Thomas Jefferson Education - When we were first contemplating homeschooling, a friend directed me to this site.   I read through the 7 Keys of Great Teaching...I couldn't believe how much I agreed with what I was reading!  It really opened my eyes to the beauty of homeschooling our children!

      What Your 2nd Grader Needs to Know - This actually comes in like every grade.  I'm not sure how far up it goes, but I know it at least goes up to 6th grade.  Its a really great resource.  I know some people have based their entire curriculums around this book.  Its easy to read and tells you just what it claims to: what your 2nd grader needs to know.

      I really love the classical approach to education.  Most of my readings were centered around just that, but I also gained a love for Montessori.



      Teaching Montessori in the Home: the Pre-School Years and Teaching Montessori in the Home: The School Years - Both really good resources.  It shows you the basics of teaching Montessori to your children.  It shows you how to make your own materials (this is GREAT since they can get really pricey!).  Even though I'm not exclusively teaching with the Montessori method, I am using a lot of the approaches in our schooling.  I'm a big fan of hands on, independence in my children, and moving at your own level.


      Sue Patrick's Workbox System: A User's Guide - I'm so excited to put into practice Sue's workbox system this year!  This system helps you be more organized and makes it more clear for you child on what work they have to achieve each day.  It allows your child to become more independent and less reliant on you.  I'll be expounding more on this in future posts.  If you're interested, do a google search for "Sue Patrick's Workbox System" and check out all of the rave reviews from parents...I don't think I've heard a bad review yet.  Have I mentioned I'm REALLY excited to start this?

      I'm sure I'll expound more upon these books, but for now I encourage you to check your local library for any or all of these books.  The library is a wonderful tool and its a great way to preview a book before you buy it yourself!
      Posted by Julie at 11:33 PM 0 comments
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