Math
I decided to start with math because I like to get the bad stuff out of the way first. Okay, I'm kidding...kind of. I hate math. My boys like it. Oh, the homeschool irony. Maybe it's my own dislike creeping in, but I've yet to find a math program that fits. We've tried Singapore, Saxon, Horizons, a Charlotte Mason Style program, math using living books, Life of Fred, so on and so forth. Yes, we've only been homeschooling 2 years. Yes, I have math issues. In spite of all this, the boys are doing well in math. They enjoy it, for the most part. They hate writing the answers, and get overwhelmed with a lot of worksheets and pages, but the actual math, they like and understand. This year, I think I've finally found a good one. We are going with Right Start Math. Right Start Math is a hands-on math curriculum that uses visualization and games while limiting writing and worksheets. In theory, it sounds like the perfect fit. Let's hope! I'd love to find a program and be able to stick with it. http://rightstartmath.com/home-school/
Writing, Spelling, Vocabulary, and Science
I hope to utilize a unit study approach with monthly themes and tie these subjects together. The boys love science, so hopefully it will pave the way to a love of Language Arts. HA! HA! HA! But one can dream. I'm drawing most of my language arts ideas from The Teaching Oasis http://www.teachingoasis.com/ and that's also the spring board for our monthly themes. For example, September will be apples, plants, and seeds. We will read one picture book a week, introduce the vocabulary, use the vocab words as our spelling list, and do a writing prompt a day (after we take a few weeks at the beginning of the year to really study what makes a good writer) all based on the book. We'll continue our book theme into science where we'll look at the theme through a scientific lens, as well as add in lots of hands-on experiments that relate. I'm really excited about this approach. It is similar to what we did with Five in a Row, which was a success. While the boys need a bit more than FIAR this year, I still love the idea and hope to create as many memories as we did working through the Five in a Row books.
Reading
This year we are going to celebrate Roald Dahl, and read as many of his books as possible. We are going to start by having a Roald Dahl party, learn all about Mr. Dahl, and do some fun hands-on activities with each book. I am finding so many great sites and ideas through Pinterest (oh Pinterest, how I love you).
The boys are still developing the focus to read chapter books to themselves, so they will read them aloud to me. We'll take turns reading, and hopefully make it fun. This worked well with previous books, so it should help smooth the transition into longer chapter books. It will also serve as good speech and fluency practice, which they still struggle with, especially while reading. We will read 3 days a week, and one day a week we will still continue to work through the Fluency in a Flash books I purchased at Lakeshore.
Geography
I hadn't really planned on teaching geography this year. We've already studied the US States and World Geography in years past. I was planning on moving more into history. But then Andrew asked if we could study the states again this year. I really want to follow their interests, so here we go and I am thrilled! I loved our previous state study, we had so much fun. Obviously, we didn't learn everything we ever could about every state, so we're going to take a fun look at them again. Instead of relying on a curriculum this time around, I ordered Little Passports, USA Edition. They will send us goodies from two states a month, so we'll use the information they provide and expand. We have tons of state books, and I plan on using Pinterest, the Web, and the library to find some fun, hands-on ideas, cooking projects, and anything else to round out our studies. We will make a USA Scrapbook that will be filled with fun facts, recipes, pictures, and anything else we can find. I will use this freebie http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/State-Notebook-164908 to act as an intro page to each state. It has very little writing, so I think the boys will be on board.
Social Studies
We are kicking it old school and heading back to re-visit a common preschool theme for social studies this year--Community Helpers! I plan on doing an older kid version, because I think it is still important to know who makes up our communities, and my boys are still fascinated with chefs, police, fireman, etc. Each month, we're going to look at one occupation in depth. I'm going to beef it up, and tie in as many subjects as possible. For example, when we study chefs and bakers, I'm planning on working in good restaurant manners, appropriate tipping, how to figure out a tip, what to do if you don't like a dish, and highlight the amount of work and long hours these chefs/bakers put in every week. We'll look at what education or technical training they need for each occupation, and (of course) take some field trips to see them in action. We're super lucky to live in a great city that has an abundance of field trip opportunities. Some of the field trips I have in mind: doughnut shop or restaurant tours, Police museum and mounted patrol stable, fire museum and station tour, vet office, pet store, or humane society, law office and local courtroom, and many more. Once again, I'll use Pinterest, the Web, and the library to round out our studies. I'm going to spend 2 days a week, alternating with geography, on social studies. It should be fun!
Spanish
Last year, while we traveled the globe and looked at different world cultures and countries, we studied the language of the country. The library had a great stock on language CD's, and it was fun getting a taste of each language. This year, we're going back to Spanish. We use The Fun Class, and really enjoy it. My goal is to introduce a foreign language in a fun, engaging, hands-on way that makes the boys WANT to learn. The Fun Class does just that. We sing and move each lesson, as well as cook, make crafts, and learn about various Spanish speaking cultures. We're going to repeat Level 1 again since we took a whole year off. I'll go at the boys pace. We may go quickly and move to Level 2, or we may take the year in Level 1. I will plan on doing Spanish twice a week. Once with the DVD lesson and once to cook or do the craft while listening to the practice CD.
Religion and Fine Arts
We will once again use our church's material for religion. They are workbook style, but since we are doing a home study instead of classroom CCE, I have the ability to do a lot orally, and add-in whatever hands-on activities I can find. We will also continue to watch the Superbook DVD's my dad purchased for them. They love those, and it introduces bible stories in a way they "get" and will remember. This year, both boys will participate in their Rite of First Communion and other Rites, so it should be an exciting year.
I am using a slightly Charlotte Mason-inspired style for our Fine Arts. I would love to showcase one Artist and Composer a month, and gain familiarity with their style and works. I'm going to plan this month by month and use whatever free resources I can find from the library and internet. We will round out our fine arts with monthly trips to the many art museums around our city, free children's performances at Miller Outdoor Theater, and the Children's Concert series through the Houston Symphony. Houston is rich in The Arts, and offers a lot of free opportunity for kids, especially homeschoolers. A lot of what we study will be based on what is offered and available. Besides the artist/composer study, we have been utilizing this method since homeschooling, and it has produced two kids that love and appreciate various art forms. I couldn't be happier!
Field Trips and Volunteering
We are a field trip family. My boys love getting out and getting hands-on with their learning. We participate in homeschool classes at the zoo, and homeschool days at various museums and other places around town when they are offered. We homeschool 4 days a week and leave 1 day to get out into the community. We also volunteer throughout the year through our church. Last year, we were on the plant team, and took care of the plant displays around the holidays. We will probably continue this again, and might look for other opportunities to volunteer. The boys have shown great empathy toward the homeless recently, so we may look for ways they can help both locally and city-wide.
Games
We play a lot of games in our house. We have board games, card games, action games, language games, math games, critical thinking games...you get the picture. We will continue to play one game a day every single day. Last year we started playing different "types" of games on the different days of the week. This helped us play all our games instead of playing the same one over and over again. We'll probably stick with the same cycle. Monday-Math Game, Tuesday-Lang Arts, Wednesday-Science/Art/Geography, Thursday-Critical Thinking/Fun
Physical Education
Both boys take gymnastics twice a week and play soccer during the fall and baseball in the spring. We also attend our homeschool support group's park play date once a week in the afternoon. This year, however, we're also going to add in physical education through Family Time Fitness. http://www.familytimefitness.com/fitness4homeschool/Fitness4HomeSchool.php
I purchased this curriculum several years ago and it's been sitting on my hard drive. I hope to start our day with at least 30 minutes of PE based on the lessons they provide. This is for the boys as well as myself. We will all benefit, they focus so much better during the day when we start with activity, and it will get me moving as well, which is hard to work in when you have kids with special needs.
So that's it! I look forward to sharing our weeks ahead with you and seeing how this list of goals translates into real life. Thanks for following us on our journey!
No comments:
Post a Comment