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 3 History Enrichment Weeks 1-6 a.k.a. 'The fun stuff'

      So, I wanted some fun things for my kids to do to build upon the History content they will be learning this upcoming year.  I also wanted to be able to put the activities in a binder.  (No large salt dough maps and other large projects.)  Since my trio will be in Kinder, 1st and 3rd grade, I didn't want three separate History curriculum either.  I did some searching and 'tinkering' in Word and this is what I came up with.
     This is not the only thing we will do to help solidify the History 'grammar'.  I'll post our History plan later.  But, there will be no SOTW, too.  I know, I know...that's almost 'sacrilege' in the Classical world.  I want to focus in on what I know we could do...that one or two extra things that would NOT overwhelm.

Week 1 - Columbus, Scribd link History-Cycle-3-Week-1

Week 2 - Pilgrims, Scribd link History-Cycle-3-Week2-Activity-Page

Week 3 - Boston Tea Party, Scribd link History-Cycle-3-Week-3-Activity-Page

Week 4 - Declaration of Independence, Scribd link History-Cycle-3-Week-4-Activity-Page

Week 5 - Washington, Scribd link History-Cycle-3-Week-5-Activity-Page

Week 6 - Louisiana Purchase/ Lewis and Clark, Scribd link History-Cycle-3-Week-6-Activity-Page



The Document preview below shows Week 1.  Click the above links to download or print weeks 1-6

History Cycle 3 Week 1 by Kathie K.

CC Cycle 3 Reading List

I've been working on our History reading selections for the next Classical Conversations Cycle.  Cycle 3 is probably my favorite Cycle.  Now that I have children in both Upper and Lower Elementary, I thought I'd schedule out a picture book and read aloud option.

***I've recently updated up to Week 12: CC-Cycle-3-Reading-List-Weeks-1-12

If you'd like to download from Scribd directly go to:  CC-Cycle-3-Reading-List-Weeks-1-6

CC Cycle 3 Reading List - Weeks 1-6

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

CC Cycle 1 Literature Planning

Classical Conversations Cycle 1 Literatuare Planning

**link to update post**

I love learning through literature.  I love it when my kids make connections when reading or hearing a story and something they are learning about during school time.  There have been many of those moments this year and I'm praying that there will be many more in the this upcoming year.  Just yesterday we were watching a show with the kids and my son mentioned how the two characters were working together and I brought up how they were compromising.  My son busted out in song, "The Compromise of 1850...."

I have enjoyed using Five in a Row and Homeschool Share's unit studies so I have compiled a list of possible literature titles that are loosely matched up with a History, Geography or Science fact for Classical Conversations Cycle 1.   I want to integrate the subjects as much as possible so that we can see how these subjects fit together and recognize any connections between them.**I must add, we may or may not use this list next year.  We are trying to decide if we should use Memoria Press 1st grade or even Sonlight for this Cycle.  If we do not, we will use this approach for literature.**

If we decide to go with our own eclectic curricula mix, I want to put together a Literature Notebook that has a place for vocabulary words, copywork, drawings, narrations and other important things to note or printables to remember for each book.  I will use the discussion points and activities suggested in either the Five in A Row manual or Homeschool Share unit study.  I tried to only use those resources less I get caught up in major research.  That is such an easy time trap for me and I don't want to spend countless hours 'reinventing the wheel'.

Are you planning on using literature that matches up somehow with any of the CC Cycle 1 subjects?  If so, I would love to see your suggestions.

Here is what I have so far:

*These are just my initial notes, so I do not have author last names or even correct punctuation/capitalization unless otherwise noted.  Most titles can be found at Homeschool Share.

 

week	History	Geography	Book suggestion by History or Geography	Book suggestion by Science
1	Commandments  1-5	Fertile Crescent (from Nomad to Civilization) Ancient Hebrew (10 Commandments)	A is for Adam, Beechick The True Story of Noah’s Ark,  Life in the Great Ice Age,   The Story of Creation: Words from Genesis,Ray	Classification: The Salamander Room,
2	Commandments  6-10	Ancient Egypt	The Giraffe that Walked to Paris, Milton Boy of the Pyramids,  The Day of Ahmed’s Secret The Littlest Frog Rouss	Kingdoms:  Andy’s Circus, Stopping by the Woods,  Wild Horses of Sweetbriar,  Grandfather’s Journey
3	Greek/Roman Gods	Ancient Greece	Norman the Doorman,  Nico’s Octopus,  Aesop’s Fables	Animal: Owl Moon, the tale of Peter Rabbit, The Giraffe that Walked to Paris, Warm as Wool
4	7 Wonders	7 Wonders	Liberty Rising, Who built the pyramids (hooper)	Plant Cell: Make Way for Ducklings, Tale of Ferndinad, Miss Rumphius, Linnea’s Windowsill Garden, Tale of Peter Rabbit,
5	Split of the Roman Empire	Ancient Rome	Clown of God, Papa Piccolo, Angelo, Gabriella’s Song,	Invertebrates: Niko’s Octopus, Night of the Moonjellies
6	Fall of Rome	Ancient Rome	Same as above	Vertebrates: When I was Young and in the Mountains
7	Hinduism	Ancient India	Little babaji, What should I make by Nayar, monsoon and monsoon afternoon	Reproduction: Make Way for Ducklings
8	Age of Imperialism	Ancient India	Same as above	Types of Seeds: Miss Rumphius, Follow the Drinking Gourd
9	Confucius	Ancient China	Round is a Mooncake, Fish in the Air, The Empty Pot Lapbook, Love as Strong as Ginger, Daisy Comes Home, The Story About Ping Resources	Parts of plants: same as above, The Parable of the Lily, The empty Pot, Down, Down the Mountain,
10	Heian Empire	Ancient Japan	Little Oh, Taro and the Tofu, Crow Boy, A Pair of Red Clogs s, Grandfather's Journey , Grass Sandals	Leaves/parts: same as above, The trellis and the seed
11	Constantine	Ancient Middle East	Little Humpy and How the Camel got it’s hump,	Flower Parts: The Plant Gardener
12	Muslim Empire	Ancient Middle East	?	Plant Systems: Growing Vegetable Soup
13	Kush	Ancient Africa	The Giraffe that walked to paris, Why  mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears, The Mosai and I, Fatuma’s New Cloth, My Rows and Piles of Coins,	Parts of Earth: Climbing Kansas Mountain, Grandfathers Journey, Hill of Fire
14	Songhai	Ancient Africa	See above	Rocks: The Gift Stone/ Stone Soup
15	Henry the Navigator	Colonial Africa	See above	Mountains: When I was young and in the Mountains, Climbing Kansas Moutain
16	Civilizations of Meso America	Meso America (Olmec, Inca, Mayan)	The umbrella, The Parrot Tico Tango, Abuela’s Weave,	Volcanoes: Rocks in His head, little island, hill of fire
17	Aztecs	MesoAmerica (Aztec)	Hill of Fire, Isabel’s House of Butterflies, the Old Man and his Door, The Gullywasher	Parts of Volcanoes: see above
18	Mound Builders	Native Americans	Long Night Moon, Hiawatha,	Ocean Floor: Time of Wonder
19	Anasazi	Native Americans	Same as above	Ocean Zones: Very Last First Time, Hello Ocean, Atlantic
20	Mexican Revolution	Mexican Revolution	Same as week 16	Atmosphere: Amber on the Mountain, Harold and the Purple Crayon
21	Exploration of Canada	Canada Explorers	All those secrets of the world, Cranberry Thanksgiving, Mirette on the High Wire,	Circles: Three Snow Bears, Rechenka, Curious George, Me on the Map, katy and the big snow,
22	British North America Act	Canada culture	The Three Snow Bears, Fight of the union	Weather fronts: A Pair of Red Clogs, Wild Horses of Sweetbriar
23	Liberation of South America	South America (History, liberation)	On the Pampas, Gauchada, chucaro wild pony on the pampas, This Place is Wet, a pen pal for Max	Clouds: Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car, Three Names
24	Napoleon	South America (Culture)	See Above Madeline, Giraffe that Walked to Paris	Globe Markings: Curious George, Me on the Map, Katy and the Big Snow, The Rag Coat, Henry the Castaway, Mapping Penny’s World

2010 Kindergarten Goals

 I have the link below to the goals and plan we have for the year.  It really helps me to have it all out on paper--if you're interested click on the link to check it out.

2010 Kindergarten Homeschool Goals and Study Plan

Here is the link to the the Resources/Curriculum choices document for 2010 for Kindergarten

2010 Kindergarten Curriculum Choices and Resources

Kindergarten Resources: 2010

Main Resource:  My Father's World Kindergarten 

Bible/ Character:

·         Integrated in MFW K

·         NIV Bible

·         Beginner’s Bible

http://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Bible-Timeless-Childrens-Stories/dp/0310709628/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282340193&sr=1-1

·         Everything a Child Should Know About God by Kenneth Taylor

http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Child-Should-Know-about/dp/0842300074/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283540101&sr=8-1

·         Hubbard’s Cupboard Joyful Learning Memory Verses

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/bible_memorization.html

·         Raising Rock Stars Notebook

http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/RaisingRockStars.html

·         Rainbows (Noah’s Zoo Club)

http://mgc.ag.org/rainbows

·         ABC’s of Character by Tony Salerno

·         http://www.characterbuildingstore.com/home.htm

·         My ABC Bible Verses

·         http://www.amazon.com/My-ABC-Bible-Verses-Hiding/dp/1581340052

Math:

·         Integrated in MFW K

·         Hubbard’s Cupboard Calendar Binder:

·         http://hubbardscupboard.org/character_activities.html#CalendarandMath

·         Math Journal and Math Tubs

·         http://hubbardscupboard.org/math.html

·         Math concepts review sheets that correspond with MFW K  (download)

·         Living Math Books

http://livingmathbooklist.blogspot.com

·         *Possibly Math Mastermind

http://www.amazon.com/Mastermind-Kindergarten-Editors-Studio-Publishing/dp/1592233155/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283541477&sr=8-1

Science:

Integrated in MFW K

Nature Journal (download available soon)

Language Arts:

·         Phonic: Queens Language Lessons for Little Ones volume 3

·         http://www.queenhomeschool.com/productpages/Language%20Lessons/Language%20Lessons.html

·         Readers: Abeka Reading for Fun Enrichment Library

·         http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Enrichment-Library-Complete-Kindergarden/dp/B001RL8U7G

·         Handwriting: Donna Young.org and MFW K

·         http://donnayoung.org/penmanship/k_1.htm

·         Read Alouds: MFW K, Simply Charlotte Mason List, Classical Homeschooling lists (download)

Fine Arts:

·         Integrated in MFW K

·         Integrated in Queens LLFLO

·         Hubbard’s Cupboard Imagination Station

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/bible_and_rhyme_activities.html

·         Intro to Classical Music

Social Studies:

U.S. States Notebook based on The Train of States by Peter Sis and pages from Enchanted Learning

Various Unit Studies on holidays, communities, history, etc:

-          Community and Safety (download) 

-          The 1^st Thanksgiving

-          Christmas

-          New Years

-          Mail, Maps and Me

-              

Life Skills:

Life Skills activities (download available soon)

P.E. and Games

P.E. and Games activities (download available soon)

Next up planning forms and such...