Our Curriculum Choices for 2010 - 2011

Wonder where I have been?  I have been busy planning for the next school year ~ which will start for us on August 23rd.  I have decided to make some changes this year to our curriculum and the way we homeschool.  After much reading and praying I have decide to use more of a Charlotte Mason approach.  I have two children who learn completely differently and I can see how this approach will be beneficial for both of them.  For anyone not familiar with Charlotte Mason or her philosophy you can read more about it here. 

Aiden will be included in most of what Emily and I do this year.  Last year he sat with us during most of our school day so I decided this year I would include him.  I am always amazed at what he learns just from listening and watching Emily and I.

Both Kids:  Preschool and 2nd Grade (Almost 4 and 7)

Bible and Character ~ Character Concepts for Preschoolers and Leading Little Ones to God (Our main focus this year will be  character training.  After looking through the Character Concepts for Preschoolers lesson plans I decided to have Emily join us.  It really is a great curriculum which includes stories to go along with the character trait being taught, verses to memorize and hands on activities.)

Geography ~ Galloping The Globe along with Five In A Row

Science ~ Giant Science Resource Book along with living books.

Artist and Composer Study ~ We will be learning about one artist and composer every six weeks.  We are also using Discovering Great Artists.

Nature Study ~ Handbook of Nature Study

Emily: 2nd Grade

Math  ~ Math-U-See Beta

Language Arts ~ Learning Language Arts Through Literature Red Book

Spelling ~ All About Spelling Level 1 and Level 2

History ~ The Story of The World Volumes 1 and 2

Latin ~ Songschool Latin

Art ~ Draw Write Now 

Aiden: Preschool

Math ~ Count on Math:  Activities for Small Hands and Lively Minds

Language Arts ~ Language Lessons For Little Ones (This book teaches alphabet letters - how to recognize, write, and differentiate.  It also includes picture study, narration, and poetry readings)

History ~ Uncle Rick’s History for Preschoolers (which was included in the Character Concepts for Preschoolers curriculum kit)

Other ~ We will be adding some fun activities to go along with the books we read.

I have been busy putting the finishing touches on our school/play room and will be sharing pictures later this week.

~Cindy

Homeschool ~ Summer Plans

We have enjoyed a few weeks of NO SCHOOL!   Although I don’t plan on doing much with the kids this summer, there are a few things we are going to work on.

Emily

Math:  Games ~ lots of games!  Emily’s favorite game right now is Monopoly Junior.  I would like to find a game that works on telling time.  Anyone have any suggestions?

Language: We started using First Language Lessons in the middle of the year so we need continue doing a couple of lessons each week in order to catch up.

Spelling:  We switched to All About Spelling after reading all of the wonderful reviews ~ so glad we did!  Emily actually loves spelling so we are going to continue doing at least one lesson a week. 

Science:  I really want to start doing more nature studies and drawing with the kids.  We are also going to be doing some FUN science experiments.

Aiden

This summer our plans are to read, read, read, and play.   I’m working on some printables  ~ will see if Aiden is in the mood to do them!

Me

The kids may not be doing much this summer but I have a LONG list of things to do. First thing on the list is to organize our school/playroom and finalize our curriculum choices for next year.  

What do have planned for the summer? 

~Cindy