Curriculum for 2014-2015

I feel like a kid in a candy store this time of year!  I have chosen our curriculum for next year, and the boxes have arrived.  Let the lesson plan preparation begin!  Of course I enjoy this part, I am a TypeA planner!!!  Here are our plans for the 2014-2015 school year.  Lauren will be in 5th grade, Lyndsey will be in 2nd grade, and Colleen will be in PreK4.  You can follow Colleen's preschool lessons under the Preschool Page at the top!

:::BIBLE:::

This year we are going to start off the school year with Who Is God? from the Apologia What We Believe Series.  It is a 10-week study on the basic truths of the Christian faith.  This first volume, we will meet our loving God who longs for us to know him and spend time with Him.   Each girl will have their own Notebooking Journal for puzzles, projects, questions and to record thoughts and prayers.  There is also a coloring book to go along with the series which will hopefully keep Colleen entertained during our Bible time!

I would also like to work through the Kay Arthur book How to Study Your Bible for Kids.  I am not sure if we will do that before, during, or after Who Is God? Ideally, I would like to get them started on this book and let them run with it during their own personal quiet time!

:::MATH:::

Math should come as no surprise!  I love Saxon Math!  Lauren will move into 7/6.  Lyndsey will start Math 3.

:::GRAMMAR:::

Lauren will return to Building Christian English Series from Rod and Staff Publishers.  Lauren will be in Level 6 Progressing with Courage. Lyndsey will also be switching over to the Level 2 Preparing to Build.  

:::SPELLING:::

Lyndsey will be using All About Spelling which will blend with her reading program.  Spelling has not been Lyndsey's strong subject, so I hope the drilling of phonograms, syllables, and phonetic rules will help improve her spelling power!

:::WRITING and PENMANSHIP:::

I really do not like using penmanship books, but for teaching cursive to Lyndsey I felt the need for guidance!  I chose the Horizons 2 and 3 for Lyndsey.  The cursive begins have way through Horizons 2.  We will practice the manuscript for a few months before starting cursive.  The Horizons 6 is for Lauren to keep practicing.  This is not a requirement everyday for her.  We just do it a few times a week. 

I am using WriteShop Primary Book B for writing for Lyndsey.  WriteShop Primary Book B introduces children to the writing process using engaging activities, crafts, and picture books.

Lauren is enrolled in a writing class with The Potter's School.  She has struggled with writing compositions over the last two years.  I hope this class is the turning point for her.  I have heard only good reviews about this class!

:::READING--LITERATURE:::

Last year Lyndsey started Level 2 of Sing, Spell, Read and Write.   I loved Level 1, but Level 2 was just not appealing to either one of us.  We dropped it by November, and I supplemented with other reading materials that I had.  This was not a good option!  Lyndsey did not progress and improve as she should have!  This year we are jumping in Level 3 of All About Reading.  I think the constant phonogram review and drilling on syllables and spelling will be very useful.  I am very excited about giving this a try!  Lyndsey is a great reader, but she struggles with spelling.  I find this odd since she has been taught phonics from the beginning.  I think she is just in fast forward mode and does not stop to think about each word.  This program should give her the tools!

Lauren struggles with reading and comprehension.  This year I have enrolled her in an online literature course with CenterForLit.  She will be responsible for reading basically 1 book per month.  The class meets once a month to discuss the books with the teacher using the Socratic method to examine the book.  We will probably read the books together each month, but she will be responsible for the book if we do not have time for it during Read Aloud time.  

The Reading Comprehension skill sheets in the picture below are for Lauren once a week.  This is just to work on reading faster while retaining facts.  

I am excited about introducing the kids (and myself) to Shakespeare this year. I have been reading How to Teach Children Shakespeare for a few months now.  We will learn a few lines of Shakespeare each week, and we will start with a piece form A MidSummer Night's Dream.

:::HISTORY:::

We are going to pick up The Mystery of History in volume 2 with The Early Church and the Middle Ages.  We are very excited to travel back in time to right after the death of Christ.

:::SCIENCE:::

 

For Science this year we are going to use the Focus On... books.  The first book we are going to work through is Astronomy.  Lauren will use the Middle School version, and Lyndsey will use the Elementary version.  Both versions are compatible with each other so I will be able to teach them at the same time.  I will probably use the middle school as my teaching guide because I really think that Lyndsey can handle it, but she will only be responsible for the material actually covered in her book.  I think the book will take about 12 weeks, so we will should be able to cover the Chemistry and Geology books also this year.  Yeah!!!

:::GEOGRAPHY:::

We are using the Trail Guide to World Geography this year to travel around the world and make stops on each continent.  We enjoyed using The Trail Guide to US Geography over the last few years, so I think this will be a good fit.  The girls are not so excited about learning all the countries this year.  Time to start working with the iPad app Stack the Countries to get a head start!!!

:::MUSIC:::

We previewed this Music Appreciation program in the spring.  We did a few lessons, and we really liked it.  In Book 1 we will be introduced to seven different composers, dating from 1685 to 1828.   The composers are Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Paganini and Schubert. 

Along with the Music Appreciation program, the girls will continue in the homeschool choir and weekly piano lessons.

 :::LATIN:::

Ugh!  We did not do so good with Prima Latina last year!  We are going to give it another shot this year.  I ordered the DVD teacher this year to move us along.  I think I just let myself drown in what I did not understand!  I know we can do this!

:::ART APPRECIATION:::

 Meet the Masters is another program that we previewed in the Spring.  It was so fun!  I lead the kids through the online presentation.  We learned an art concept to go with each master.  Then we completed at least one project for the master.  We are going to complete Track A this year which will cover Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Winslow Homer, Pablo Picasso, Mary Cassatt, and Piet Mondrian.  I know this will be a special treat!  The girls love Art!

:::Extras:::

Lauren will continue to work on Typing with Always Ice Cream.  Always Ice Cream has really expanded their games online to cover math, english, geography, arts, sciences, and foreign languages for many grade levels.  It is a great way to play and learn.  Lyndsey has been asking for a login for Always Ice Cream, and I will probably sign her up after she completes Reading Eggs.  I do want her to move on into Reading Eggspress.  The Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress are just great review for her reading fluency.