2011/2012 curriculum

Sixth Grade

Bible – Explorer’s Bible Study Discovery series Early History of Israel

Math – Teaching Textbooks Math 6 and Evan Moor Daily Word Problems 6th Grade

Reading – various novels with weekly co op class (Homer Price, Love That Dog, Number the Stars, The Penderwicks, Tale of Despereaux, etc………)

Language – Easy Grammar

(creative) Writing – Apologia Jump In

Spelling – MCP Spelling Workout F

Vocabulary – Wordly Wise 6

History – Notgrass America The Beautiful part 1 and novels

• The Sign of the Beaverby Elizabeth George Speare (Units 4-5)
• Amos Fortune: Free Manby Elizabeth Yates (Units 6-7)
• Bradyby Jean Fritz (Units 9-10)
• Bound for Oregonby Jean Van Leeuwen (Units 12-13)
• Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (Units 14-15)

Science – Apologia Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day: Exploring Creation with Zoology 1

Critical Thinking – Editor In Chief A2 and Critical and Creative Thinking 5

Typing – Typing Instructor for kids Platinum

Third Grade

Bible – Explorer’s Bible Study Beginnings II series Jesus, My Shepherd

Arithmetic – Teaching Textbooks Math 3

Reading – A Beka

Language – A Beka Language 3

Handwriting – A Beka Cursive Writing Skillbook

Spelling – A Beka Spelling and Poetry 3

History & Geography  – A Beka Our American Heritage & Map skills book (1 semester)

Science – Land Animals of the Sixth Day: Exploring Creation with Zoology 3 and Junior Journal

Health – A Beka Health, Safety, and Manners 3 (1 sememster)

Critical Thinking – Building Thinking Skills Level 1

Kindergarten

Bible – My ABC Bible Verses

Phonics and Reading – The Reading Lesson and Explode the Code 1

Now I’m Reading Vol 1 & 2 reader and LOTS of library books!

Math – McRuffy Color Math

Handwriting – Handwriting Without Tears Letters and Numbers For Me

History & Science – lessons from www.enchantedlearning.com or www.sheppardsoftware.com once a week each

Computer practice (in all subject areas) – www.abcmouse.com and www.time4learning.com

Typing – Typing Instructor for kids Platinum

2010/2011 curriculum

2010.2011 school year

Fifth Grade

Bible – Explorer’s Bible Study Discovery series In The Beginning Genesis

Math – Teaching Textbooks Math 4 & 5 (four times a week)

Language – A Beka Language B Reading – A Beka readers

Writing – creative writing class at Co Op (three times a week)

Vocabulary – Word Roots A1 (once a week)

Critical Thinking – Building Thinking Skills Level 2 (daily) & Mind Benders A3 (once a week)

Spelling and Poetry – A Beka

History – All American History Vol 1 (three times a week)

Geography – Evan Moor Daily Geography Practice Grade 5

Science – Apologia Exploring Creation with Botany (three times a week) Physical Ed – Basketball

Second Grade

Bible – Explorer’s Bible Study Beginnings II series God’s Promises

Language – A Beka Language 2 and Letters and Sounds 2

Spelling and Poetry – A Beka

Reading – A Beka

Handwriting – A Beka Writing with Phonics

Arithmetic – A Beka Arithmetic 2

Geography – Evan Moor Daily Geography Practice Grade 2

History, Science, and Health – A Beka

Art – Co Op class once a week

Home Ec – Co Cop class once a week

Physical Ed – Dance class

Pre K/Kindergarten

Bible – The Early Readers’s Bible & The Beginners Bible

Phonics – Bob Jones Footsteps For Fours, Get Ready For The Code Book A, B, and C

Reading – Alpha Phonics Primer For Beginning Readers and LOTS of library books!!!

Handrwriting – Handwriting Without Tears Get Set For School

Math – Bob Jones Footsteps For Fours

Science – Bob Jones Footsteps For Fours

History – Bob Jones Footsteps For Fours

Art – Co Op class once a week

Physical Ed – Gymnastics Speech – twice a week

Switched on Schoolhouse new 2012 edition

New features for 2012 • A transcript you can customize to add any additional (non-SOS) courses to your child’s record. • A free-form, text-based, online Parent Journal where you can keep your ideas, questions, and notes. • A Reading and Activity Log in The Parent Toolbox to track your child’s many activities. • An opportunity to not only set appropriate test thresholds for your child to achieve, but also receive a message in your SOS Inbox if the child’s score is below that. And many more!

FREE shipping with A Beka in April

We are pleased to offer homeschoolers FREE SHIPPING on all A Beka Book textbooks orders over $50 placed online in April 2012. This is an excellent opportunity to receive character-building Christian textbooks from A Beka Book with NO SHIPPING CHARGE. For your convenience, you will always receive free shipping on ANY SIZE ORDER placed at an A Beka Homeschool Materials Display. These displays give you the opportunity to preview our quality, character-building textbooks and meet one of our helpful A Beka Representatives. To locate an A Beka Homeschool Materials Display near you visit abeka.com/materialsdisplay.

Wordly Wise 3000

Wordly Wise 3000, 2nd edition, is a vocabulary program that is available for grades K-12. The program focuses on teaching vocabulary systematically in order to develop a link between reading comprehension and vocabulary.

Grades K through 1 develop oral vocabulary in order to prepare students for content reading in the higher grades. Beginning in grade 2 Wordly Wise 3000 begins to focus on vocabulary development, reading comprehension, critical thinking and test taking and assessment skills. Mastering these skills continues through 12th grade.

In addition, learning is tailored for grade level and more sophisticated concepts are introduced as students gain maturity. For instance, in grades two through five, students focus on such things as synonyms and antonyms, word usages, homophones, picture clues and captions, and analogies. As students reach Book 6 new concepts are introduced that continue through Book 12.  Students in upper levels continue with the skills learned in earlier grades, and also begin to learn about context clues and using word parts to determine meaning; including learning Greek and Latin roots, and word origins.

The program includes student books, teacher resource books, and audio CDs.  We LOVE the free online resources at www.wordlywise3000.com.  I have my children get online every Monday and listen to the  audio to make sure they know how to pronounce the word (audio also a sample question).  They then complete the Activity in workbook.

Computer & Activity a – Monday

Activity b – Tuesday

Activity c – Wednesday

Activity d – Thursday

Activity e – Friday

We use the Wordly Wise word list as our spelling list also.  I go to www.spellingcity.com ($29.99 per year for up to 5 students) and enter the list for the kids to play games and do tests Wednesday – Friday.

A Beka disocunts

It is no secret that i LOVE A Beka!  I usually attend a materials display to take advantage of discounts and preview curriculum.  A Beka offers FREE shipping and 10% off (until May 31st) as well flex pay.  Flex pay is a convenient way of paying for your order.  Just pay the deposit and the remaining balance in two equal monthly payments.  Once the full payment is received your order will ship and there are No finance charges :0)  Flex pay can also be used with the other discounts!  See the flex pay terms and conditions below

• Available only at Materials Displays and Conventions
• Available between March 1–May 31, 2011
• $125 minimum order (before discounts and tax)
• $40 minimum down payment required
• Remainder of balance due in equal payments over 2 months
• Convenient credit/debit card used for automatic monthly payments
• First payment due the 10th of the month after order is placed
• Second payment due the 10th of the following month
• Materials will be shipped shortly after the last payment
• $25 cancellation fee will be charged for canceled orders
• Orders cannot be changed after they are placed.

There is a materials display in Douglasville THIS Thursday, March 29th from 11am-3pm at The Douglasville Downtown Conference Center 6701 Church St.  Don’t worry if you miss this one because there is another one May 22nd and July 24th.

homeschooling multiple grades

Homeschooling multiple children in multiple grades can be stressful!   It didn’t take long for me to realize I needed to guide each child to be as independent as possible but blend in some one on one time too.  I do at least one hour with each of the older children and spend most of my time with the younger ones.  I schedule the more difficult and important subjects in the morning when everyone is wide awake (such as Math, Reading, English and other Language Arts.)  To figure out if they will need my help, I look at the subjects they are weak in and whether the subject has a lesson to teach.  Then I stagger those on my planning sheet so everyone isn’t needing me at the same time.  I give each student a copy of their schedule which hangs on a clipboard to keep them on track and prevent wasting time waiting for me.  I also stagger when classes begin at the start of the school year.  The oldest child is usually a week ahead to give them a solid start and time for me to “work out the bugs.”

Although it is extra work, setting up an organized work area and making a schedule is crucial in my house and actually saves time and trouble.   A regular routine provides structure and stability as well as gives them security and discipline.

There are times when I cannot be interrupted, such as when I am doing reading with Trinity.  Before we start, I try to make sure everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing and what they will do when they are finished.   For instance, after  explaining the math assignment to my 3rd grader, I’ll tell her to do all the problems, then to practice spelling on the computer.

Every day doesn’t go according to plan and I try to be aware of when the schedule needs a “tweek.”  I have really learned to RELAX and BE FLEXIBLE along this six year journey.

adding Current Events to our homeschool with the help of CNN

For History this year we use America the Beautiful (Notgrass Company www.notgrass.com).  Since this is currently the only product they offer for middle school, I elected to stretch it out over 2 years.  This would allow us to take our time completing the first 75 lessons of Part 1 during this sixth grade school year and the remaining 75 lessons of Part 2 for seventh grade.  As of right now we will finish about three months before the end of the year and I was looking for ideas to keep History going (without buying anything).  Thankfully, I came across this CNN Students News website and decided to assign Isaiah daily or weekly (haven’t decided yet!) current event essays.  To encourage Isaiah to be thorough with the task I found these current events worksheets online.  A little guidance is good 🙂

www.clappsclass.net/CEWorksheet.doc

http://www.newpaltz.k12.ny.us/156320111512610187/lib/156320111512610187/_files/CURRENT_EVENTS_WORKSHEET.doc

What is CNN Student News?

CNN Student News is a ten-minute, commercial-free, daily news program for middle and high school students produced by the journalists and educators at CNN. This award-winning show and its companion website are available free of charge throughout the school year.

Where can I find CNN Student News?

You can record the program on HLN from 4:00-4:10 a.m. ET Monday through Friday. You can also see it as a streamed video on our website (http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/index.html), or download it as a free podcast. The program is free and accessible to anyone who wants to watch; there are no subscription charges or contracts to complete.

What materials are available to use with the show?

At http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/index.html, you’ll find a wealth of teacher materials presented free of charge, including Daily Transcripts for each show, Daily Discussion questions, the Media Literacy Question of the Day, downloadable Maps and additional support materials to help students understand the news.

In addition, the educators at CNN offer Discussion Guides for CNN documentaries and initiatives, including Black in America, Latino in America and CNN Heroes.

choosing the right Math curriculum

Choosing curriculum can be difficult.  Math is a subject that I prefer not to teach past second grade.  We are currently using Teaching Textbooks for third and sixth grade and that is going great.  The lessons are short and interactive with all teacher instruction being done by the CD ROM.  The gradebook allows you to keep track of your students progress and even erase lessons you want them to repeat.  You can read my previous review on TT for more details.

I’ll admit I am considering a switch to Saxon for seventh grade just because Isaiah no longer needs the interactive lectures and instant feedback.  For Kindergarten Math we are using Bob Jones which I am not loving.  So started my journey of shopping around for something else.  There is nothing like having to switch mid year (and spend more money) to get you FOCUSED!!!!!  At this point I have my guard up and am less interested in the prettiest pages!  So in order to make my decision I made a list of some questions to ask about each potential candidate.

• Is the curriculum largely mastery-based, or
  spiraling?
• What is the cost?
• Is it colorful or black and white?
• How teacher-intensive is it? Does it require
  much teacher preparation?
• Is the curriculum scripted?
• What do the reviews say?

Honestly, I am so miserable with BJU, cost isn’t too much of a factor.  Trinity works better with black and white because it offers her less distraction.  I personally like scripted lesson plans that do not require much preparation.  And we do all her work together anyway so the BIG research went to the question spiral or Mastery?

Spiral programs introduce a variety of topics without expecting children to fully understand them.  With repeated exposure and continuous review, children have numerous opportunities to learn and master all necessary concepts.  Mastery programs require children to fully understand a concept before moving to another one.  For instance, a child learning addition would learn to add 4 digit numbers before moving on to subtraction.  Because mastery programs require full understanding of the subject matter, children may not move through lessons as quickly and encounter very little review of previously covered material in subsequent lessons.

After consulting one of my FAVORITE sites www.homeschoolmath.net and reading reviews from www.homeschoolreview.com  , I placed an order with www.christianbook.com for McRuffy Color Math (Kindergarten) with manipulatives .  Wish us luck 🙂

The Reading Lesson review

There is no better feeling than choosing a new curriculum that WORKS!  It is not only a joy to teach but the student is equally excited.  Trinity is doing kindergarten level work and teaching her to read is a main goal for this year.  After much research, I chose to go with The Reading Lesson and I am VERY pleased with the results.

Because it was designed by a physician specializing in behavioral, attentional,
and learning problems in young children, any child who is struggling to master
reading may find the slower pace and clean, distraction-free pages of The
Reading Lesson more suitable to his learning style.

The Reading Lesson, is child-friendly, easy to use, fun, and low cost! TRL  is organized in 20 lessons, with over 400 pages in all.  Each lesson:

• Teaches phonic sounds of letters.
• Teaches combining sounds and reading new words.
• Teaches high frequency key words in the Word Theater.
• Reinforces sight words with word games.
• Teaches writing and typing of common words.

We begin our Phonics/Reading lesson by reviewing the alphabet using a game, flashcards, worksheet, etc…………..  Then we complete two pages of The Reading Lesson (children between five and six are recommended two to three page per day) which takes about 10-15 minutes.  If I feel she struggled, we will repeat those pages the next day.  We copy a few of the words (especially those she had the most trouble with)on a separate sheet of paper.  That transitions us right into our handwriting lesson.  We use Handwriting Without Tears but there is a companion to TRL called The Writing Lesson.  Other companion products include The Storybook and The Reading Lesson CD ROM.  i HIGHLY recommend The Reading Lesson.