Posted in Homeschool

After posting about our schedule, I thought I would explain a bit about what our subject matter looks like. 

Warm-up:  The Princess adds the calendar number to our wall calendar.  Then we work on our Bible memory things.  I am working my way through Charlotte Mason's suggested Bible memory list.  For our read-aloud/unit study I choose a book to read-aloud to the kids.  Every other book I read has a lapbook/unit study to go along with it.  I choose our books from Sonlight's read-aloud schedule.

Handwriting ~ The Wild One is using A Reason for Handwriting.  He has a short handwriting lesson 3 days a week.  On the fourth day, he writes his handwriting passage on bordered paper.  This will be his last year for a traditional handwriting program.     The Princess is also using A Reason for Handwriting.  She practices writing a different letter each day.  Then on the back side of the page is a color sheet.  Next year we will be switching to Draw Write Now.

Math ~ The Wild One is using Saxon 65.  I absolutely love this math curriculum.  Each day (excluding test day), he does a bit of memory work, a timed test, writes notes in his notebook, and then completes his lesson.       The Princess is using Alpha Omega Horizon Math.  She also does a math journal.  In her journal, she fills in the date, updates her weather graph, does tally marks for the days in the month, and counts how many days we've been in school.  Then she adds a journal entry (for example, I see two apples and 3 bananas.  How many pieces of fruit do I see?)  Then, I help her complete her math workbook page. 

Science ~ We just started using the elementary Apologia books this year.  We love them.  This year we are doing Astronomy.  I am amazed with how much the kids have been able to retain.  I do a read-aloud each day pertaining to the topic.  These books are anything from Magic School Bus to Seymour Simon books.  Whatever I can find at the library.  Then I read the lesson from our text aloud to the kids.  After I read the lesson, the kids fill in their lapbook pieces.  At the end of each unit, there are a few activities/projects that we do together.  The Wild One can't wait for the Anatomy book to be written and released in time for next year!

Geography - We are Galloping the Globe.  We study roughly one country per week.  I read-aloud each day here, too.  I try to have a "pattern" to how we study the country.  Day One is fact day.  We map it, talk about the flag, and do some lapbook pieces from www.homeschoolshare.com.  Day Two we study a famous person.  It may be a scientist (like Louis Pasteur/France) or an artist (like Michelangelo) or a king/queen/explorer, etc.  Day Three is our animal study day.  Each of the children is assigned an animal to study.  They will complete lapbook pieces or a short animal report.  Then they will add an animal card to the animal classification board.  Day Four is a miscellaneous day.  We study another famous person, if necessary.  If there is a picture book with a lapbook that goes with it for the country we are studying, we may do part of that on this day.  We then add that person to our timeline.  On Day Five, we finish up any facts we didn't cover on Day One.  We review what we have learned.  And, I try to cook something from that country. 

English ~ The Wild One is working his way through Bob Jones English.  I like that writing is incorporated into this curriculum.  Every other chapter is grammar, and the others are writing. 

Phonics ~ The Princess is working quickly through Saxon Phonics K.  She is a good reader, but I want her to have the phonics foundation to be able to sound out bigger words and spell them.  We are also using online sight words lessons (carl's corner).  In these activities, she is learning to use words in context with fill-in-the-blank activities.  She also reads a little paragraph and answers comprehension questions.  She enjoys these.

Spelling ~ The Wild One is using A Reason for...  In addition to the daily worksheet/activity, he writes his spelling words 5x each.  He really struggles with spelling so we are trying the 5x each thing for a while.  I want to see if he is able to retain the spelling of these words after the review lessons.  The Princess has asked to do spelling like her brother, so she has 5 words each week.  I figure this just gets her in the routine for later on.

Reading ~ I require my kids to read silently in their rooms for 30 minutes most days.  These are books that they choose themselves.  They do not have to be "theme"-related.  In addition to this, I also teach reading.  The Wild One is reading chapter books that have lapbooking/notebooking pages that go along with them.  This allows me to check his reading comprehenison.  The Princess uses a combination of Five in a Row and Homeschool Shares units.  Her books either relate to the country we are studying in Geography or to the season.