For those of you wondering why I haven't been posting much this month it's because we are taking it easy this July since we will start 'officially' homeschooling the first week of August. So this month has been really laid back with not much going on worth writing about, unless you want Play-Doh, painting or knight pictures everyday! We will get back into the swing of things in August and I will start posting several times a week again.
This week Gavin has camp every morning at his preschool (which we are going to have to start calling kindergarten instead of preschool). So this morning Austin had all the toys to himself. He played with his cars for a while, then Play-Doh and then his trains.
Then he found something he wasn't supposed to see for a couple of weeks and insisted on playing with it anyway...the new sensory bin. This has a space theme (more on that to follow). I used the yellow and black marbles and the black and yellow pom poms from the bee bin (black for space and yellow for stars), then put in some plastic space toys we already had that include a rocket, moon rover, astronaut and space shuttle, a tube of planets and to package of those glow-in-the-dark stars you can stick on your ceiling. Then a little sand and the bin was done! Austin really enjoyed playing in it!
Most of the stuff was still buried in the picture but you get the idea. There's also a few earth erasers in it as you can see.
When Gavin got home I told him I'd give him $1 to was his dog. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of watching a five-year-old wash a 85lb dog, I'd highly recommend it...great entertainment! He's still earning money for his Civil War soldiers he wants to buy this week. Anyway, we broke out the Coconut Calypso Moisturising 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner (yes, it is dog shampoo) and Gavin went to work. Jackson wasn't too happy during the bath but afterwards was very excited (I think it was the coconut smell!).
So I thought I'd talk a little bit about our plans for kindergarten. Once we get started the plans may change as we adapt to learning and find what works and what doesn't but this is where we are starting...just don't be shocked if some things change!
First of all we are following (not exactly but mostly) a Charlotte Mason style of learning. For those of you who aren't familiar with Charlotte Mason and are interested, you can get all kinds of information here: http://www.amblesideonline.org/WhatIsCM.shtml
You have already seen a little bit of her methods in what we do. We read poetry and good books to learn. We listen to classical music and try to get outside to learn about nature when we can (I have to admit I'm not the best at the nature study part but I resolve to get better).
I have designed our week on a four day schedule and hope to have everything done in an hour and a half or less. We will be learning Bible, Math, Phonics/Reading, Science, History and Art. We will do Bible, Math and Phonics/Reading each day, and then alternate Science and History (two days each during the week) and then art once a week.
Here is our school motto that we will say every day (stolen from Charlotte Mason):
"I Am, I Can, I Ought, I Will."
I am . . . a child of God, a gift to my parents and my country.
I'm a person of great value because God made me.
I can . . . do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
God has made me able to do everything required of me.
I ought . . . to do my duty to obey God, to submit to my
parents and everyone in authority over me, to be of service
to others, and to keep myself healthy with proper food and
rest so my body is ready to serve.
I will . . . resolve to keep a watch over my thoughts and
choose what's right even if it's not what I want.
We will also have a school prayer (I stole this from somewhere too but I can't remember where...it's probably a bad sign that I'm stealing prayers but I really liked it and thought it fit):
Lord, in the morning I start each day,
By taking a moment to bow and pray.
I start with thanks, and then give praise
For all your kind and loving ways.
Today if sunshine turns to rain,
If a dark cloud brings some pain,
I won’t doubt or hide in fear
For you, my God, are always near.
I will travel where you lead;
I will help my friends in need.
Where you send me I will go;
With your help I’ll learn and grow.
Hold my family in your hands,
As we follow your commands.
And I will keep you close in sight
Until I crawl in bed tonight. Amen
Here is what we will be using. I found this Bible at Wal Mart of all places. It was written by the American Bible Society based on the King James Bible but they collaborated with Scholastic. The stories are only 3 or 4 pages long but have great information (they don't leave out half the story) and has good reference material as well.
For math we will be using RightStart Mathematics. We will see how we like this. The people who wrote it went to Japan and studied how the kids learn math there and then came back and built a curriculum based on what they learned. It uses a lot of manipulatives and tries to make math a concrete thing that kids begin to see in their head. This first book looks easy for Gavin so I think we'll finish it before the year is done. If we like it we will go ahead and get the next book and start that, if not we will see what are options are.
So when I taught I used Abeka Curriculum and I thought I would never use it for my kids. However, they have a really strong phonics program and I think it's exactly what Gavin needs so that's what I got. This curriculum combines phonics, reading and writing together.
For history I wasn't going to get a curriculum but then I was trying to come up with a plan and really wanted a guide (how do you pick which events to cover and what not to?). Then I received an email about this new Charlotte Mason style curriculum and it was exactly what I wanted and inexpensive. It goes from the beginning of North America (Indians and Vikings) and goes through the Gold Rush. But it's told in a story format so it reads really easily. Each chapter is only a few pages and it's meant to be a starting place rather then a complete curriculum. It's enough to keep me on track but not so much that we are reading a textbook which is exactly what I didn't want. So we will get books about the subject of the chapter and do crafts and projects that go with each chapter. Next year we will get the second volume which goes from the Gold Rush to modern day.
For science I didn't get a curriculum. I just picked some themes and we will read about the chosen theme and do experiments and projects about the topic. Our first theme is going to be space (which is why I made a space sensory bin for Austin). We will also be learning about the human body, five senses, weather and dinosaurs. We will spend about 6 weeks on each theme.
In Art we will be using Artistic Pursuits. I like this book because each lesson uses a famous painting or sculpture and picks out something about it that that certain artist is known for and then you do your own art using that style so it combines art with art appreciation. We will also be learning about a different artist each month. In August we will be learning about Monet (just because I like Monet). I have some pictures of famous Monet painting cut out of books (it killed me to cut up a book but I kept reminding myself it's for a good cause) and talk a little bit about them. I was lucky to find some cheap art books at garage sales and on ebay for just a couple dollars each. We will also learn listen to a different composer each month.
I have some plans for Austin but obviously nothing super concrete. Since he's two if he wants to join us he can and if he doesn't he doesn't have to, I'm not going to force him to stay with us or complete something he's working on. But, if he wants to 'do school' with us, we will be working on color recognition, letter and number recognition (not writing!) and shapes.
So that's the master plan. As I said, things will change as we go through the year but at least we have a direction to go!
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