First Week of School 2015: School Room set-up and what we use for Bible, Math and Science

Here is short video of our homeschool room set -up and what we are using for Bible, Math and Science.

Video of Homeschool Room set-up and what we use...

  We started school today after a 2 month break that went by super fast!  The kids were all begging to start school...yes, begging.   So, I decided, yeah---we can start slowly and just do 3 or 4 subjects and then add in the rest the following week.

Bible Study Guide for All Ages - Beginners

BSGFAA - intermediate

Filling out calendars for Math

We are using Bible Study Guide for All Ages http://biblestudyguide.com/families.php  This is new for us.  I chose NOT to print it out on my own.  Instead, I bought them printed and bound and ready to go.  It really is an open and go type of Bible Study and I like that.  The only thing it does not have are memory verses to go with the lessons.  So I'm continuing to use Hubbard Cupboard's Character Trait Tune Charts: http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/character_activities.html#CharacterTraitTuneCharts


We are continuing with CLE (Christian Light) for Math.  It is a favorite for it's ease of teaching, instruction, approach and scope/sequence.  The entire first light unit is review of the previous grade.  It helps highlight an area if they need to practice or have it re-explained before proceeding with new concepts.  https://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/4

We are also trying something new for Science this year: Lifepac https://www.aop.com/lifepac_overview  I like that it is low prep for me and they all have a Science that is on their own grade levels.

Lastly, we try to prepare for Presentations each day before Friday.  Classical Conversations ensures that each student has 2-3 minutes to give a Presentation to their class.  This is such a great opportunity to work on Public Speaking skills.  We take the inch by inch approach---a little practice or prep each day before Presentation.

Next week, I will share what we are using for Phonics, Handwriting, Spelling, Writing, Literature, History and Memory Work.

Blessings!
K

CC Cycle 1 Weeks 1-12 Craft Links

I collected links for printables, crafts and activities to go along with our books and read alouds and History sentences.  I tried to choose those that can eventually fit in a binder.  So, you won't find salt dough maps or large/bulky crafts here.  While those are super fun, I have found that if I can 3 hole punch it...it has a better change of being filed and stored in their portfolios.

Blessings to you and yours!

Here's the dropbox file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6a3hwkpu8d2yqpy/CC%20Cycle%201%20Craft%20Links.docx?dl=0

Cycle 1 Literature List: Picture Book and Read Aloud list

It's no secret that I love books.  I love learning about people, places and things from real books.  When we went through Cycle 1 three years ago, I posted this list that went along with books from either Five in a Row or Homeschool Share year:
Original Cycle 1 reading list (from our first time through Cycle 1)

Here's our current one (with a craft list coming soon)
Cycle 1 Booklist (Round Two)

Cycle 1 Reading List for Year: ________________________________

Week	Picture Book	Read Aloud/Chapter Book	Notes
1	10 Commandments The Littlest Mountain by Barb Rosenstock	10 Commandments Sarah and Paul Go to the Museum by Derek Prime
2	Egypt Rookie Read About Geography: Nile River By Allan Fowler	Egypt Seeker of Knowledge: The Man who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphics by James Rumford
3	Greek/Roman gods Norman the Doorman by Don Freeman	Greece Our Little Spartan Cousin  by Julia Darrow Cowles	-   Find  Hermes/Mercury connection in ‘Norman’ -   ‘Spartan Cousin’ $1.99 Kindle Edition
4	Greece Aesop for Children illustrated by Milo Winter	Greece Growing Up in Ancient Greece by Chelepi
5	Rome Ottavia e I Gatti di Roma by Claudia Cerulli	Rome Our Little Roman Cousin by Julia Darrow Cowles	- ‘Roman Cousin’ $1.99 Kindle
6	Rome Pompeii: Burned Alive by Edith Davis	Rome Imagination Station: Doomsday in Pompeii by Herring/McCusker
7	India Can Brown Eyes be Made Blue?  MacKenzie	India The Hidden Jewel by Dave and Neta Jackson	- Both books this week focusing on Missionary to India: Amy Carmichael.
8	India The Story of Little Babaji by Bannerman	India The Story of Lord Clive by Lang and Orr	- ‘Lord Clive’ $2.99 Kindle
9	China The Empty Pot by Demi Growing up in Ancient China by Teague	China The Great Wall of China by Fisher Jr. World Explorers: Marco Polo by Graves
10	Japan A Pair of Red Clogs by Matsuno	Japan The Japanese Twins by Perkins	- ‘Twins’ free on Kindle
11	Byzantine Empire/Middle East The Very First Christmas by Meier	Crusades Stories from the Crusades by Kelman
12	Middle East Day of Ahmed’s Secret by Heidi	Middle East Arabs in the Golden Age by Moktefi

Week	Picture Book	Read Aloud/Chapter Book	Notes
13	Africa Moon Shines Down by Margaret Wise Brown	Africa Stories from Africa by Inquisicorp
14	Africa Mosquitoes buzz in Peoples Ears by By Allan Fowler	Africa Africa is my Home: A Child of the Amistad by Monica Edinger
15	Africa/Explorers David Livingstone: Courageous Explorer by: Meloche	Africa/Explorers Story of David Livingstone by Golding	-   ‘Story of David..’ Kindle .99 c
16	Mexico Hill of Fire by Lewis	Mexico Guide to Mexico by Highlights
17	Mexico Say Hola to Spanish by Elya	Aztecs Secret Agent Jack Stalwart: The Quest for Aztec Gold by Hunt
18	Rome Pompeii: Burned Alive by Edith Davis	Rome Imagination Station: Doomsday in Pompeii by Herring/McCusker
19	North American Indians North American Indians  Gorsline	North American Indians Vostaas by Buffalo
20	North American Indians Grandmother’s Adobe Dollhouse by Smith	North American Indians Cities in the Sand by Warren
21	Canada Very Last First Time by Andrews	Canada Kids Book of Canadian Explorers by Owens
22	Canada Good Night by Canada by Gamble	Canada Paddle to the Sea by Holling
23	South America Nate Saint: Heavenbound by Meloche	South America The Fate of the Yellow Wood Bee by Jackson
24	Napoleon/South America Biblioburro by Winter	Napoleon/South America The Story of Napoleon by Marshall

6 Step History and People/Places History Sheets

So this year we will begin our 5th year at Classical Conversations.  It will also be our eldest son's 2nd time through Cycle 1.  He'll have one more pass through this Cycle before he goes to Challenge.  I love that he's getting layer upon layer of learning this History.

I love when my kiddos make connections with their History sentences, literature, the Bible, etc.

However, my eldest son, (let's just call him A) is not so much into arts-y/craft-y stuff.  He has always been a 'spewing out what he knows' kind of guy or 'reading all he can get his hands on a topic' kind of dude.

So I put together this to help him (and me) track his History learning.  We do not have a History Curriculum per se.  We use CC Cycle 1 History sentences as our 'spine'.  I then have a gazillion lot of supporting books like 'Story of the World', 'Pages of History', Usborne Encycolpedia's and a great many other non-fiction books.  On top of that, I have selected a picture book and chapter book/read aloud for my children to go along with each History sentence.  I love to read, A loves to read, my two littles love to be read to....this works for us.  See our History Picture books and Read Alouds here.

Without further ado here is 6 Step History and the 'People/Places' sheets.  A will fill these out each week.  And, he'll have fun or else....kidding on that one...hahhaha.  I think he'll like having it spiral bound and not fishing for Notebook pages or Narration sheets.  At the end of the year he'll have a great record of what he has learned in History --History---History--History:)

6 Step History

People-Places History Pages

Classical Conversations Week 9 - Tutoring

Review Game: "Sticky Hands"

This game is so simple.  My class really liked this one---it got a lot of laughs.  More importantly, it got a lot of answered review questions.  Kudos to Traci at http://motherofchina.blogspot.com/ for sharing this idea last year.  It's a keeper!

-This game is kind of like 'fishing'.  The sticky hand is the 'fishing pole'.  Whatever, cards the sticky hand picks up---are the cards the student answers.
- I used the CC Memory Master flashcards.  I spread them on the ground and they got to see how many their sticky hand picked up.
- I bought the sticky hands at Target in the party supplies aisle.  I found them in the $1-$2 goodie bag toys area. 

Sis helping me practice this review game at home.

New Grammar:

Geography:  We located and labeled areas for Eastern Asia.  I also showed them visual clues to remember some of the Continents and also China.  They took turns coming up to the big map and pointing to different locations.  I'll have to post this printable soon.  I need to consolidate them to one sheet first.  If you are interested---leave me a message.

Timeline: I showed the timeline cards and explained hand motions for the new timeline grammar.  We I used the hand motions from C3 (Classical Learning Center) main page: https://www.classicalconversations.com/foundations-classical-learning-center     One of their favorite motions this week was Benedict and Monasticism (a monk robe).

History:  We learned the history sentence about the Confucius and Taoism by doing hand motions.  I also shared to scriptures with them about having ‘no other god’s’ and also that Jesus is ‘the way, the truth and the life..’.  

English Grammar: We learned the next set of the prepositions using hand motions.  The class really likes to do these motions.  I am using the motions found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj08_kRNOuY .  

Math: I have been having the students find a number on the skip counting chart to help them with number recognition. ( I have mostly First graders.) We then sang the tune for the 15’s.  You can find the skipping counting posters here: http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/2012/01/skip-counting-charts-updated  I like how it visually shows the ‘skipping’ of numbers.  

Latin: I showed them the Latin pronunciation chart to help sound out the Latin noun endings.  The one I used can be found on C3:  C1 Latin Noun Declensions Picture Pronunciation Gu.pdf* Picture keywords to help students correctly pronounce the Latin Noun Endings* NoGreaterJoy5

Science: We recited the science sentence on parts of a plant.  This was a fun and simple one as the class got to pretend to be these parts.

Science Lab:

 We went on a nature walk.  Boy, did they ever have fun doing this.  I think their little eyes are pretty astute on finding critters and interesting things.  I used brown lunch bags and glued a checklist of things to find.  (I found this checklist on C3)  I also had colored pencils, clipboards and a lab sheet ready at the end of our walk.  The students were then able to draw and tape down things they found---that were not animals;)

Tin Whistle:

We discussed rhythm.  We learned a hand rhyme to remember the whole, half and quarter notes. This was pretty fun and I know we'll review this again and again.   The children then identified which of those notes were in ‘Mary had a little lamb’.   I also used the Rhythm Pizza printouts that are found here: http://susanparadis.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/rhythmn-pizza-on-foam-board/

We also went over some conducting prompts to help them know when to start playing.  I clap and then say ‘1, 2, ready and’.  That is our cue to start playing.  The class surprised us all by playing the song pretty well the first time.  I have found that my little ones can remember the song easier by learning which finger hole to cover.    (Mary had a little lamb Finger code: 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 2)

Linking up to:
Half a Hundred Acre Wood CC Weekly Link Up - Wk 9

Classical Conversations Week 9 - At Home

School Week 13 CC Week 9

 We are reading and learning a little more about China this week. The History sentence and Geography locations centered around China so that is what we are focusing on. Here is a little of what we're reading and also a great unit study found on Homeschool Share.

We read 'Daisy Comes Home' last week and this week we read (re-read for Bud) 'The Story About Ping'

Sis and Lil Bear got to work on Tangrams as a part of Saxon K.  Bud wanted in on this, too.

Covering the shapes

I'm so proud of her! 

.....and so proud of this little guy!

more tangram shapes

I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a bird or what??

Working on calendar and also showing his 'gospel beads'.  These are kind of like 'gospel fuzzies' for those that have heard of those.

Sis showing her bead wristband and working on calendar with some incentives (Tic Tacs) in the mix.

The trio busy learning and having fun!

Bud got a chance to copy and learn some Chinese words/characters. 

Chinese calligraphy printable found here: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/chinese_character_cards.htm

He loved trying to copy these. 

We got a chance to discuss how these characters only used straight, angled or curved lines.   So, that was a nice OILS tie in.

Chinese calligraphy by Bud

Before lunch, Bud found some Space books from last year.  So of course, he pulled them out and wanted to read them.  Little Bear, of course, wanted to be just like big brother.

We are back to using A Reason for Handwriting.  For Bud, the best part about this is picking out a border page and getting to choose who to give it to.  When it comes to handwriting, I'll go with whatever motivates him.

Everyone getting ready for Daddy to get home.  We heard this quote over the summer, "You get what you INSPECT, not what you EXPECT."  Sooo, he started inspecting a few areas when he gets home.  Two of those being school areas and school work.

Linked up to:
http://www.halfahundredacrewood.com/2012/07/classical-conversations-cycle-1-week-9.html