St. Francis de Sales Home School

Fall Planning, Already?

2012-02-23T13:31:00.000-05:00

The hunt is on for next year's curriculum! I love this part of our homeschooling adventure because I get to exercise my brain through research, spreadsheets, and lists (lots of lists). I do tend to spend a lot of time on this phase, but this is the first year that I'm not fretting over these decisions. I'm using it as a time for learning and I know that whatever decision I make will be okay. I have learned that I can always tweak, discard, or follow it completely; so I'm not exactly stuck with my initial plans.

Currently I am browsing these resources for ideas*:
Kolbe Academy
Charlotte Mason Help
Ambleside Online
WTM Forums
Simply Charlotte Mason
Memoria Press they also have forums
Mater Amabalis
Several Yahoo groups
4Real Learning Forums (love, love this site)
Content/Standards from Core Knowledge

Books:
Thomas Jefferson Education by DeMille
Well Trained Mind by Wise/Bauer
Homeschool Family Fitness by Whitney
What Your Third Grader Needs to Know by Core Knowledge

I've gathered a few items into my Amazon wish list as I continue to delve into my planning stage.

I will have a 3rd, 1st grader, preschool, and toddler for the Fall session. I'm hoping to engage more in social activities this year since the youngest is no longer a baby.

I'll keep you posted as I start to carve out our core subjects and books for this year.

*At this time my links are purely links. I do not profit from your clicks to these sites or products.

Spring Cleaning Wk1 - Days 2-4

2012-02-23T13:28:00.000-05:00

I've encountered a bit of bumps this week in my cleaning plan. We are refinancing the house, so I spent Tuesday and Wednesday doing a whole house cleaning in anticipation of the appraiser's visit on Wednesday. Today I am preparing for a delayed Mardi Gras party tomorrow, so I am focusing on setting up those areas. I hope to tackle one of the bathrooms this afternoon which will leave just one more to finish up tomorrow (after the party). I knew this would be a busy week, so tackling the bathrooms seemed to be the easiest of all the house areas. Although, I'm almost ready to chuck out the plan because it appears to be harder than I expected, but this is my Lenten sacrifice. It's supposed to be difficult, isn't it? If I want to grow and learn, I have to struggle a bit!

And if you need more inspiration, Gardenia over at My Little Flower has a Shaking Off The Bonds of Stuff Lenten challenge. I think I'll join in next week!

Simply Me

Spring Cleaning Wk 1 Day 1

2012-02-21T09:13:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my first day of Spring Cleaning and I tackled the half-bath on our main living area. Here's my checklist:

~~Vaccum cobwebs from walls and ceiling~~.
~~Wipe down walls and baseboards.~~
~~Clean~~ ~~mirror.~~
~~Dust shelves, pictures, light, fake plant, and plant stand.~~
~~Clean sink, faucet, and cabinet (wiping down outside and purging inside).~~
~~Clean toilet outside and inside.~~
Take off toilet seat and clean in hard to reach areas.
Clean floor (wood floor).
Take down blinds, wash.
Clean window, inside only.

I managed to complete most of the list, and will finish up today.

I used a safe cleaner for the initial scrub down, but did go over the toilet with a bleach solution. I try to use non-toxic cleaners at other times but felt I needed more germ-killing power this time around. If you have a better alternative than bleach, let me know.

Lent 2012

2012-02-21T09:01:00.000-05:00

Spring Cleaning!

It's the Lenten season, and this year we are going to start a Spring Cleaning tradition during Lent. Not only will be work on cleaning out our hearts, but the house will also get an overhaul. My tentative schedule is to tackle a room/area per week:

Week 1: Bathrooms
Week 2: Bedrooms
Week 3&4: Kitchen/Breakfast Area/Foyer/Laundry Room
Week 5: Family Room
Week 6: Schoolroom
Week 7: Basement

If you search for Spring Cleaning Checklists, you will find lots of help on the internet. I looked over a few, and finally settled upon writing out my own based on my specific needs.

2012 - Third Quarter

2012-01-28T17:24:00.000-05:00

Wow, we are already in the third quarter! This school season is passing very quickly and I'm already excited about next year's curriculum. I need to temper my future thinking a bit and keep to the present while we finish out this year. So, let's take a quick look at where we've been and where we are heading!

I updated the curriculum page with what we are actually using this year. I had some lofty plans that just didn't work out for our family. I completely underestimated how difficult it would be to school two kids while caring for a toddler. The 3 yo is no problem, but the 1 yo is a master safe cracker. He figured out all my child locks, insisted upon climbing the table and chairs, is strong enough to push through my tension gates, and rarely nursed quietly during learning time (ah, it was much easier when he was an infant and slept in my arms). Needless to say, it's been a very ~~tiring~~ exciting school year!

My kindergarten student, Mr. T, is beginning to read but his printing needs more time for refinement. He does printing exercise, but they tend to frustrate him. He can sit still for lessons on most days, but since it's just kindergarten, I only *require* that we do a 5-10 minute reading lesson. If he feels like doing five math pages, great! If not, I send him off to play with his brothers in the family room. We also attend bi-weekly library programs where I am requiring him to sit with the other children and at least listen (participation is optional for now). Even with this loose of a schedule, he is right on target for finishing all his books by summer.

Mini, my second grade student, is progressing nicely with her reading, math, and memorization skills. Her spelling is horrible, but it is usually large words that have irregular spellings. I also did not realize how poorly I pronounced my words. She was spelling everyday words just like I spoke them - gettin', cowner (counter). Now I am more aware of my speech and enunciate my words! Another addition to our school this year is music lessons. Mini takes piano lessons from a really nice home school senior.

We joined the local museum this year, so I plan to spend time there reinforcing things learned at home. We also have lots of library programs to attend as well as utilizing all the resources at the public library (books, DVDs, Cd's, Playaway View).

Now that Chomp-chomp is getting older and less hands-on, I hope to carve out some time to devote to my blogs. So, hope to see you around the blogosphere!

Curriculum Updates

2011-07-05T17:00:00.000-04:00

I did some updating on the curriculum pages today.

Resources

2011-07-05T12:25:00.001-04:00

I am working on converting my bookmarks to a Homeschool Resource page. I am finished with the first round of bookmarks. Take a look here.

Inside Fun - Sewing

2011-06-09T16:31:00.000-04:00

It's just too hot for outside play so we had an afternoon of sewing fun. Mini picked out some fabric from my stash and helped me create a quick skirt. It was her first time using my sewing machine, and she did a great job guiding the fabric and maintaining an even speed. I think we might have a seamstress in the making!

The pattern came from Oliver + S, but I didn't have any ribbon so I did a basic hem.

Homemade Notebooks

2011-06-08T19:02:00.000-04:00

After reading this thread at 4Real about book binding, I was inspired to try out the 5-stitch book binding method. My daughter had a birthday party to attend, so we made notebooks for her to give as a present. We used cereal boxes and she painted them with different designs; her brother helped out on one (we used basic washable paint, I wouldn't recommend this since it dried chalky and was susceptible to bleeding off). We made several sizes using white computer paper for the inside pages.

This was a great method that I plan to use in the future.

Skirts, Again?

2011-06-08T15:13:00.000-04:00

So, this blog is morphing into more than just education related topics, but I'm going to go with it and see where it takes me. I hope you join me for the ride!

Just wanted to let you know that the She Wears Skirts series has ended with a link-up and give away. Take a look at some of the outfits worn by other mothers that are finding ways to wear skirts everyday (or at least some days).

My previous skirt post.

Seton Arrives

2011-05-20T15:46:00.000-04:00

This week brought us a box from Seton Home Study School. A box filled with anxiety - will I like it, will we succeed, did I make the right choice? I slowly open the flaps and peer inside. It's stuffed with books showcasing lovely pictures on the covers. I'm still on guard as I thumb through the stack. Religion, writing, coloring, and more for my Kindergarten student Mr. T. This isn't too bad, I chuckle to myself as I dig through the pages of the lesson plans. Yes it's workbooks, but the best curriculum is the one that gets done. I can do this. My lofty ideas and goals can guide me, but this, this basic instruction will get done.

A test was also included for Mini. We finished part of it yesterday and the rest will be completed in a day or two. Once returned, we will then receive our curriculum for second grade.

A new journey begins.

Chef For A Day

2011-05-18T14:05:00.000-04:00

Well, my camera battery is dead again after only a few pictures. I guess it's time to research battery packs and cameras. I mention this because that's why I have no pictures to share from today's adventure in the kitchen.

Today we decided to make pizzas from scratch since I'm trying to slowly wean us from prepackaged foods. I was a bit nervous since my dough making skills are lacking and I'm picky about the taste of the sauce. We forged ahead with two recipes from Whole Foods For The Whole Family by Roberta Johnson; one for dough and one for sauce. The sauce recipe was very simple and I had most things on hand except for individual seasonings. I substituted an Italian seasoning mix and one can of diced tomatoes since I only had two ripe tomatoes. The dough was very simple with yeast, flour, and honey. I did substitute white flour for half of the whole wheat flour in the recipe.

The kids helped mix and knead the dough as I talked about how the yeast makes the dough rise. We also talked about fresh vegetables and fruits, kitchen safety and cleanliness. They touched/observed/smelled the ingredients before, after chopping/mixing, and after cooking to get an idea of how they change during the process of cooking. It was a fun morning! The hardest part was waiting for the dough to rise and the sauce to simmer (it took 1-1/2 hours to get a good consistency).

After rising, the dough was punched down and split into two portions. Mini-me enjoyed stretching out the dough to form the pizza crust. We slathered on the sauce, which was mashed in the pan with a potato masher to break up any chunks of tomatoes. Unfortunately, I didn't have any toppings except green peppers so we just had cheese on one and green peppers/cheese on the other. Even Chunk was able to help spread on the cheeses without creating too big of a mess.

After waiting, again, we finally tasted our new creation. It was delicious! I'm still basking in the light of my children's praises. These were the best homemade pizzas I have tasted, and I highly recommend the recipes from the aforementioned book. I plan to make some dough to freeze and some more sauce so we can have pizza without spending all morning in the kitchen.

What a great day of learning by living!

I'm Too Serious

2011-05-18T08:15:00.000-04:00

As I was cleaning up some links in my favorites folder, I came across a blog post from Kate Wicker. What a timely read! With all the curriculum planning and future thinking I've done recently, this post brought me back to reality. Read the entire entry here - Cleanup Time (it's not about cleaning your house).

A few excerpts that spoke to me:

“Taking things from the mind to the heart is always the toughest part.”

"....... moms take mothering and themselves so, so seriously. Everything we do isn’t that big. Kids grow up in spite of us. We’re not in control nearly as much as we’d like to think we are.”

Dear Lord,
I am a mess, please clean me up.

She Wants To Wear Skirts (but not all the time)

2011-05-17T09:04:00.000-04:00

I stumbled upon a series of posts called She Wears Skirts written in collaboration by Raising Arrows and The Modest Mom. I was intrigued because I do like to wear skirts, but I was a bit leary because in the past a lot of these posts were from a strict "no pants allowed" view point. I personally think women can look modest and feminine in good fitting pants and shorts. I was pleasantly suprised with their gentle views. I also appreciated the nuts-and-bolts of how to incorporate skirts/dresses into your wardrobe.

In my life, I started incorporating skirts into my week after my second child was born. It made me feel good about myself and it was flattering to my figure (pants seem to accentuate my hips). I didn't wear them all the time, and after my third child they seemed to be worn less and less. With the recent birth of my fourth child, my weight ballooned and I entered a new bodystyle - plus size. Neither my skirts nor my pants fit anymore; so I'm at a crossroads. I need to lose weight, but in the meantime I want to look decent.

I decided to spend some money on a few basics - a pair of crop pants, a pair of knit shorts, and a skirt. I'm hoping to be back to my prepregancy weight by winter, so I didn't splurge on lots of new clothes. I'm very happy with the new basics, especially the skirt. It is so comfy and dare I say flattering?

Well, the picture was hard to take with the timer, but I hope it gives you an idea of what the skirt looks like. I purchased the skirt here.

Wether you like skirts or not, I hope you visit She Wears Skirts for a look at two women's take on modesty.

Second Grade Planning

2011-05-16T13:01:00.000-04:00

Okay, after months of pondering, prayer, and playing online I finally decided on next year's curriculum. I started planning out the year based on TWTM with Mason thrown in based on Ambleside Online and Mater Amabilis. I was chugging along, but realizing that I had the daunting task of preparing lessons plans for each subject. Even at the basic level, I would have to divide up all our books and determine how many pages a week, how many times a week, and on what days would I loosely schedule for the subjects. To satisfy my need for a plan, I would also have to create a way to have a weekly checklist so I could prove to myself that I was following my plan. I downloaded several plan examples, but nothing was quite what I needed, so another project was added to my to-do list. It is actually quite fun to do this research and planning, but I realized that I just don't have the time necessary to commit to this level of detail right now. I love, love the Charlotte Mason and Classical methods, but my type A personality (and my husband's) was in need of lesson plans, records, and grading. Things I just didn't have the time to create for multiple children (okay, just two and one is only kindergarten, but my mind always races to the future).

I thought about it some more and found references to being more relaxed and just delving into books each week. I could stack up all the books we want to read, start at the beginning of the year and just read each day. No detailed daily plans and schedules, just daily work in whatever we wanted that day. Ambleside Online even has a weekly schedule to do just that. Just read the books listed each week and narrate (you'd have to read CM to understand this method); then add in basics like phonics and math. Doesn't it sound lovely and relaxing! I wish, oh how I wish, that I could be that mom. I've tried to be that mom, but it just isn't working for us. Just as I try to teach based on my children's learning style, I also need to acknowledge that I have a planning and organizing style that needs to be honored.

So, I went back to the packaged curriculums. The main ones I focused on were MODG, Seton, Kolbe, and Angelicum. I analyzed each one (here's a great resource) noting things I did or did not like about each program. I created spreadsheets comparing costs (I love spreadsheets!), comparing subjects, and laying out a perfect world scenario. Yes, one size does not fit all and it was apparent that none were going to satisfy me completely. Then I did what a normal do-it-yourselfer always does, I tried to figure out how to morph what I liked about each into one curriculum. That didn't work too well because then I was back to either creating lesson plans and records for certain subjects or paying a lot of money to piecemeal the programs together. Ugh! What to do?!

For starters, I had to reassess why we are on this home school journey. I began with a list. What is the number one reason we are doing this? Money. Plain and simple. Yep, if we had the means of paying for a Catholic education at our local Parish our kids would be in school. Since we do not have the means and are not willing to sacrifice my role as a stay-at-home mom in these early years, educating our children at home was the alternative. So, if I am willing to send my kids to private school, and if I’m willing to work with and around their curriculum, then I can do the same with a curriculum provider. Well, back I went to prayer and discussions with hubby.

After more prayer and more online researching, this time on forums where people were using these curriculums, a decision was reached. My husband encouraged me to make life a little easier and go with an enrollment with Seton. Yes, there are things about Seton’s program that I do not like. I think their science and history is weak is some areas, so I’ll supplement with living books Mason style. I’m also not thrilled with their math, but I already have an alternative that I have been using (Math Mammoth). So, overall I am content with their offerings. I’m also excited that I do not have to create lesson plans for most subjects. This will free my time and allow me to add in those little things that make learning at home fun (can we say rabbit trails? J)

Maybe in a few years when the babies are grown a bit I’ll go back to planning all my subjects.

Big Red Cabinet

2011-03-04T09:23:00.001-05:00

There was a discussion about taming the arts and crafts supplies at 4Real, so I thought I would post a picture of my cabinet for the ladies.

My hubby made this cabinet for me, and I finally got around to organizing it last weekend.

The three larger plastic containers hold the children's school items (notebooks, pencils, crayons, workbooks, etc.). Chunk (my 2 yo) has a box with coloring books, blank paper, and crayons. They each use their box for school, and then put it away when we are finished. I purchased a cheap cardboard slotted organizer (similar to this.) for construction paper, notebooks, colored paper, etc. I also have plastic drawers for rules, scissors, glue, stickers, pencils/pens, and other small items. There is a larger plastic bin on the top shelf that holds miscellaneous craft items such as ribbons, beads, pipe cleaners, and more. Smaller shoebox size bins hold flashcards (I'm always picking up those $1 flashcards at Target) and some bagged games (sorting colored paper clips, stringing beads, nuts & bolts).

I'm excited that it's no longer a jumbled mess. Now, on to the other areas that need a makeover.

The Simplicity of Learning

2011-01-31T15:17:00.000-05:00

My little ones seem to delight in their natural thirst for knowledge, and it's always the simple and spontaneous lessons that captive their attention.. We were browsing our bookshelf, when two books (a book on Mammoth Cave and The Builders - Marvels of Engineering) caught their eye. We were swept away down dark passages, skipped along the Great Wall, and tumbled with millions of gallons of water over the Itaipu Dam. The photography was breathtaking!

In the next pictures:

Alphabet and number magnets + a big plastic container + empty toilet paper tubes = at least an hour of fun with no arguing.

First Grade History Plans

2011-01-07T14:27:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd share my new take on history for first grade. I spent all summer and most of the fall gathering ideas on how to teach history. There were many things to consider:

Chronological Order - do I start at the beginning as suggested by the Classical Education method and seen in RC History - Connecting With History or Story Of The World?
Known to unknown - Do I start with what is known (our town) and move out from there going back in history to the founding of our Country?
Do I randomly pick historical time periods that my daughter is interested in today?

History is such a vast subject, and I was becoming very overwhelmed trying to decide on the 'best way'. I finally settled on Story Of The World, but as we worked through the book it just seemed to be too much too soon for our family. So, back to my research phase. I posed my history question on the 4Real Forums and received many wonderful suggestions. I realized I was worrying too much about doing it the 'right way', when there is no right or wrong answer. After alleviating that stressor, I gathered up my books and laid down a new plan for the year.

I am starting off with a tour of the continents. For each continent I am using What Your First Grader Needs to Know as a starting point and then I will supplement with library books and other activities (field trips, museums, etc.). Another resource site is Homeschool Creations. Here you will find maps and flags to color as well as great ideas and examples to use in creating a Geography Notebook.

Here is my outline for our continent study:

Continent Outline

Mapping:

Get map of continent, label oceans, major rivers, deserts, forests
Draw equator
Note well known geographical places

Native Animals – learn about several native animals. Write a few sentences about one animal and draw a picture (use lined paper with drawing space).

Attractions and Landmarks – learn about a few of the famous attractions or landmarks. Write a few facts about one and paste/draw a picture.

Saints – learn one or more Saints and find where they lived.

Visit a museum or other related place.

Culture – foods, clothing, day in the life of a child. (Why do they live differently – is it because of their climate, technology, government - i.e. raised houses in flood plains?)

For each continent we will also choose one country and delve a little further. Here's the country outline:

Country of ___________________

Locate and label on world map. Label country map with geography, landmarks, and/or major cities studied.

What is the climate? Draw a picture.

Flag – find online and color

Make a craft, toy or play a game. Take a picture to include in folder.

Food – prepare a recipe and use traditional utensils. Picture and recipe to put in folder.

Holiday celebrations – How do they celebrate?

We will keep all the drawings and papers organized in a folder. I'll include pictures of crafts and foods, and other pertinent information.

After the continent tour, I will go continue on with the history section in What Your First Grader Needs To Know. Here's the rough outline:

Continents

Land bridge migration

First American Civilizations - Maya

First American Civilizations - Aztecs

First American Civilizations - Inca

Arrival of Europeans - Christopher Columbus

Arrival of Europeans - Spanish Conquerors

English Settlers - Lost Colony

English Settlers - Jamestown

English Settlers - Pocahontas

English Settlers - Pilgrims

English Settlers - Puritans

Slavery

Thirteen Colonies - Tension between colonies and King

Boston Tea Party

Paul Revere

American Revolution - George Washington

American Revolution - Benjamin Franklin

Westward Expansion

Daniel Boone

Louisiana Purchase

We will mainly read the the information in the book and then supplement with picture books or stories for that time period. As we move through history I'll devise ways to make it come alive through field trips, crafts, art, writing, and topics that are interesting to a 7 year old girl. As I search out resources, I'll list them on this blog to keep everything in one place for my end of year portfolio.

Back To School

2011-01-07T14:04:00.000-05:00

Holidays are over and back to focused school we go! We even have new morning routines to help us kick the new year off. With these new routines I am finding that I am more focused during learning time. All the, "I need to do this and that", thoughts are gone since I have a plan for our days. Now I can truly focus on teaching my children!

We are covering some math concepts that didn't quite click before Christmas like rouding up and down, adding multiple digits, and comparing large numbers to show < and >. Mini me is doing a great job in Reading. Her Aunt found an old A Beka reader that she is devouring right now. I also borrowed a few readers from my Mom that are from the 1940's and 1950's. For writing practice she completed Thank You cards for the guests at her birthday party. We are plodding along in other areas and next week we will be delving into the Asian Continent and using China as our focus country. We'll also pick up science again with some books on hygiene, sleep, and exercise.

Learning Is Not Just For The Kids

2010-11-26T16:14:00.000-05:00

I started out the school year with lots of ideas and plans about how we would educate. You know, the nuts and bolts of day-to-day teaching and organizing. I created daily plans and set up a file system to help order our days. I always knew there would be some tweaking as school progressed, so this is my update post. Here are some changes I've made in my every evolving system.

I still use my Excel spreadsheet, but I reworked it into a weekly printout. Now I can see at a glance everything for the week, and it also gives me that satisfaction of putting a check mark next to the assignments we complete. I didn't like having the CHC lesson plans (a two-page spread) out on the table all the time, so moving everything to a single sheet was very helpful.

If you notice on the spreadsheet, I now have a 'binder' column. Putting daily lessons into a daily file was very time consuming and did not work as planned when hubby needed to take over the teaching duties. He suggested putting each subject into a binder. D'oh! Why didn't I think of that? Oh, that's right, I instinctively knew which books were needed each day, but I didn't think about how he would be able to decipher my homegrown system. So, I gathered all the supplies for each subject and placed them in a binder using plastic sheet protectors and magazine holders. These binders all fit into my plastic crate and can be moved around the house as needed.

Another thing I tweaked is my expectations. I was too caught up in doing what I had planned for each day as written. Instead, I now see how the day progresses and if she is doing well with math, we continue math games and problems instead of switching to history. I just make up the missed work on another day or push it to the next week. I have always read about not treating home education like school, and I'm beginning to see the wisdom in that advice. After all, a major perk of home school is its flexibility.

Catholic Magazines

2010-10-23T09:51:00.001-04:00

There is a new Catholic magazine for children - St. Mary's Messenger. The website describes it as a "Catholic version of Highlights". They offer a free trial and also sample downloads of previous issues. I have not subscribed, so I have no knowledge of this magazine, but it looks interesting and something my oldest might like to receive.

Another magazine that I like is mater et magistra. It is a Catholic magazine that includes lots of tips and ideas for home education. They also offer free articles and unit studies so you can get an idea of what is included in the magazine.

Just wanted to share these two resources! I hope you enjoy!

New Baby!

2010-10-07T12:24:00.000-04:00

We welcomed our new baby last week, so it's been a little relaxed around here lately. Hubby has taken over the schooling while I am recovering, and by the end of the week we will be caught up and back on schedule.

The week before last, we read about the early nomads in SOTW Vol. 1 and did some cave paintings. After the pictures were painted, I taped them to the underside of a card table and then made a cave by putting blankets over the table. The kids enjoyed showing off their cave paintings by flashlight to friends and family.

Week Two

2010-09-24T15:35:00.000-04:00

Here are some of the things we learned in our second week:

Long vowel ai, ay (weekly memorization verse, reading practice, sight work practice)
More addition, comparisons with < and >, number line counting
Birds - how are birds and mammals different? what is a bird? Watched a video about birds and lots of library books with bird themes.
Apologizing and forgiveness
Bible study - Creation
Religion - Heaven, two more prayer book pages
History - nomads
Art lesson - light shading (pastel colors)
Review of last week's learning
Lots of daily living!

Short list today. It's hard to list all the teachable moments, but this gives an idea of some of the basics we covered during the week. Once we meet our new baby (any day now) and get acclimated to having four children, I hope to embark on at least one field trip a month to reinforce our lessons.

Planning Our Days

2010-09-24T15:07:00.000-04:00

Prior to beginning this school year, I browsed the Internet for ideas on organizing our home school. I gathered worksheets from DonnaYoung.org Printables and Resources, read over file folder ideas at The Well-Trained Mind Forums (just search for filing system to pull up tons of threads), tried out Homeschool Skedtrack, and followed links to numerous blogs for inspiration. I finally narrowed it down to a few tools that I think (I hope) will be all I need for this year.

Since I am using CHC Lesson Plans, most of my weekly planning was already in one place. I needed to add in history, music, science experiments, and different math and religion lessons. I also needed to add an extra day since CHC plans for the year are only four days a week (for first grade). So, being the excel geek that I am, I created my own excel workbook with these added lessons for each week. I also included basic references to the CHC Lesson Plans. With all the information in one worksheet broken down by day, I was able to create another sheet that pulled each day's lesson plan. This allows me to print out a daily sheet with all the daily lessons listed by subject.

(In the above image, I type the day I want in line four and the subjects are filled in based on another worksheet that has all the lessons broken down into days. The image is blurry, so I'll attempt to figure out how to create a shared document sometime.).

Each week I print a daily sheet for each day and then gather all the necessary workbooks, math pages, and other supplies for each day. I have five folders labeled Day 1 through Day 5 and I insert the lesson plan sheet and supplies into the appropriate folder. Each day I grab the daily folder, Lesson Plan binder (holds the CHC weekly plans, attendance records, and reading logs), and any library books needed for that day. So far this system is working and keeps me fairly organized. I also have a daily folder for my son that I fill with pages taken out of several preschool type workbooks (tracing, dot-to-dots, pasting activities, etc.). All of these folders are kept in a portable hanging file crate.

Each week I look at a weekly checklist and order books from the library along with any DVDs or CDs to enhance the weekly themes and lessons. I also print out my daily excel lesson sheet and prepare my folders. Another weekly preparation is browsing the Story Of The World blogs and workbook for craft ideas. I will also start science experiments on a rotating basis, so those supplies will need to be gathered as well.

So far, this is working except for the library visits. I need to get better control on keeping the library books from migrating to all rooms in the house.

Our First Week

2010-09-24T14:35:00.000-04:00

We had a fairly smooth first week of school. Not everything went as I expected, but overall it was a good week. My oldest is excited to be reading and is very patient as we work through these early weeks of finding our groove. One thing I learned is that my 4-1/2 year old is ready for more than I expected. He is devouring all the worksheets I give him and wants more, more, more. Even the file folder games I created are too easy and not engaging his attention for very long. I see that I must find some challenging activities for him that will occupy his time while I teach the oldest in subjects that need my direction and attention. He enjoys cutting and pasting, so craft type activities might do the trick for awhile until I start his phonic instructions.

Little Chunk (he's almost two) has not been as disruptive as I expected. He is perfectly happy to sit at the table with us and scribble or tear all the paper off of his crayons. Honestly, as long as he's quiet for a bit, I don't mind the mess. He also has toys and activities in the learning area that keep him occupied, and sometimes we take a quick break to give him some attention.

Here are some of the things we did this week:
Long vowel 'a'
Sight words - he, the, and
Copy work - poem, practice words included in reading lessons
Memorization and recitation of short poem
Addition practice and math games to review addition
"Please" and "Thank You" - courtesy
Began working on a prayer book
Drawing lessons
Learned about Mammals, wrote about them in our science notebook, drew pictures of mammals
Learned about percussion instruments, listened to Japanese drum CD, made our own music with percussion instruments, watched Stomp (I really enjoyed it! Kids lost interest but enjoyed some of it.)
Started history lessons with an introduction to archaeology
Used a variety of library books to present lessons and reinforce concepts.

The first week was spent working at the kitchen table which was doable but inconvenient. I'm glad that we now have the table in our learning space so I can keep the kitchen clear for eating and other projects.

On to week two we go!

New Posts Soon

2010-09-21T17:28:00.002-04:00

I have a couple posts in the works, but late pregnancy is wearing me out. I hope to have them up this week unless I go into labor (crossing my fingers).

Welcome!

2010-08-25T14:19:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my new blog! Here I will record our books, resources and other activities as we begin our first year of home education.

To start, I'll give you a rundown of our First Grade Curriculum 2010-2011 (being new and expecting a baby in September, I wanted to start with prepurchased lesson plans):

Catholic Heritage Curricula - main provider of our core curriculum
Lesson Plans for First Grade

Reading/Writing/Grammar
Little Stories For Little Folks
My Very First Catholic Speller and Handwriting Level 1

Science
Easy as 1, 2, 3 Science
Science Experiments for Kindergarten (Seton)

Math
Math Mammoth

History
Story of the World Vol. 1, SOTW Activity Guide
http://satorismiles.com/curriculum/story-of-the-world-1/ - Story Of The World resource blog
The Chronicle of the Earth - SOTW resource blog
What Your First Grader Needs To Know - outline for American History

Art
ArtPac 1
Included in CHC Lesson Plans

Music
What Your First Grader Needs to Know
http://www.classicsforkids.com/about/index.asp - Classical music for kids, lesson plans and radio programs.

Religion
Faith formation classes at church
New Catholic Picture Bible - CHC lesson plans
A Year With God
Weekly stories of Saints - various library books

Other resources:
http://www.printactivities.com/Mazes.html - Mazes
http://www.tlsbooks.com/firstgradeworksheets.htm - First Grade worksheets
http://www.suzy.co.nz/suzysworld/FactSheetIndex.asp - Fact sheets with experiments about different topics. Very interesting site.
http://www.livingmath.net/ - Listing of picture books that explain math subjects.
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ - Unit studies based on books with other resources for doing lapbooks.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geography-action/index.html Geography resource
http://donnayoung.org/index.htm Inspiration for organizing plans, calendars, and other administrative ideas
http://materamabilis.org/ma/ - Charlotte Mason style curriculum for Catholics

Forums
http://4real.thenetsmith.com/default.asp Catholic forum with lots of inspiration, ideas, and support for using Living Books (Charlotte Mason style)
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/ - Secular Forum with lots of information for finding books and help with implementing a classical education based on the book by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise The Well Trained Mind