Archive for Homeschooling

09 Sep 2010
Homeschooling

Swanson quote

This was shared via Facebook and I thought it was a fantastic quote that really sums up what a lot of Christian homeschoolers feel about having the Bible part of their homeschooling curriculum.

The Bible is the Core Curriculum in the education of a child.

If we provide our children excellent academic instruction in mathematics, science, and grammar, but neglect to teach them Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, and the Gospels, we have failed in the education of our children.” Kevin Swanson

It’s a very inspiring quote and although I’m not currently familiar with Keven Swanson, this quote just really caught my eye and I created this small poster for you to print and post in your classroom or in your homeschool binder:
Kevin Swanson Quote

Sunflower Faith | 2 comments
21 Jul 2009
Ambleside Online • Handbook of Nature Study • Homeschooling • lesson plans • Nature Study

For Term 1-Handbook of Nature Study (Mammals)

We are using the AO curriculum and for nature study  and what I like about them, is that they also have yahoo groups geared for nature study; They break up the study in terms and this term, the study is on mammals.

Lesson Plan Outline:
You can google search and there are different “Mammals” cover pages that you can print for dividers or use this one: learningtreasures.com/mammals_divider.htm

Sunflower Faith | No comments
20 Jul 2009
Ambleside Online • Homeschooling • lesson plans • Resources

Preparing for the 2009-2010 School Year

Yeah!

My second year homeschooling.

Over the summer, I took a much refreshing break and sabbatical and one of the things that help was just going over what did and didn’t work with homeschooling and always refining it (homeschooling), in a way that works well, for the kids.

For the 2009-2010 school year, we are still using the Charlotte Mason/Ambleside Online curriculum, with changes here and there so it’s not CM/AO in its true form, but a flexible variant that works for our household.

The youngest is still in PrK and we are working on the following:

  1. Bible
  2. Alphabet
  3. Numbers
  4. Nature Study
  5. Art
  6. Art History
  7. Music

Talk about easy there,lol.

Alongside with the older sibling,though, the youngest is learning along and absorbing what is taught there, so really, what is listed for PrK isn’t set.

The advantages, I think, of having multiple siblings, is that they do cross-learn together.

For First Grade, we will be doing the following:

  1. Bible
  2. Reading/Literature
  3. Spelling
  4. Copywork
  5. Math
  6. Science
  7. Social Studies (I.e. community, etc.) 
  8. Geography  (we will be learning about the 50 states)
  9. General Art
  10. Art History (this is done every Friday and we pick an artist, to study that month)
  11. Music Appreciation
  12. Nature Study (Going with the AO schedule)
  13. Character Education (weekly)
  14. Extra-curricular activity of child’s choice

I think breaking up, our schedule with Term 1, Term 2 and Term 3 is more manageable and we can fit in a “month break” easier. In this case, our first month break will be in December, since it’s the busiest time of the year for us and still working with our schedule to see which next two months are more feasible to take off.

If you want an idea of how the AO weekly schedule looks, you can go here: amblesideonline.org/01sch.shtml

Curriculum that will be used :

  1. The Golden Children’s Bible
  2. Getting personal bibles for the kid(s) to have on their own
  3. My own bible
  4. Calvary Chapel’s Children’s Ministry: children.calvarychapel.com/site/curriculum.htm
  5. Parables from Nature
  6. Selections from AO’s book list: amblesideonline.org/01bks.shtml
  7. Dick and Jane Books
  8. McGuffey Eclectic First Reader ( see examples of the reader here: hstreasures.com/mcg/mcguffey_reader_menu.html or you can download versions via gutenburg books)
  9. Copywork for McGuffey from here:http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/reading-and-writing-copybook-pk-1st-zb-style-print-mcguffey-primer/1159762
  10. A Child’s Garden of Verses  ***Available Online***by Robert Louis Stevenson (will read 5 poems each week/choose one for memorization)
  11. Aesops for Children by Milo Winters  *available online* (with copywork)
  12. ***Need to go and look at my stack of books to write down the name of the other book we are using***
  13. Library books
  14. First Lessons in Arithmatic
  15. Math workbooks that we’ve either made or found online for free
  16. Our Father’s World-Help lay down basic foundation for beginning use of “Exploring Creation” series
  17. The World God Made
    -Help lay down basic foundation for beginning use of “Exploring Creation” series
  18.  Going to the library for books about the different states
  19. Paddle to the Sea (Geography)-When we are studying the Northwestern states
  20. Art is pretty easy. Markers, crayons, color pencils, and tempura paint.
  21. Study an artist each month-We use the AO Art History guide and they provide resources to art prints and have corresponding groups for picture/art study-http://www.amblesideonline.org/ArtSch.shtml
  22. Study a composer each month-Same thing; We are going with AO schedule-http://www.amblesideonline.org/ComposerSch.shtml
  23. Handbook of Nature Study (available for free online)-http://www.archive.org/details/handbookofnature002506mbp
  24. Outdoor challenges via Handbook of Nature Study Blog-
  25. Fun With Nature (Take-Along Guide)
  26. Hoping this year, we can invest in field guides for more, local nature and wildlife
  27. Manners Made Easy: A Workbook for Student, Parent, and Teacher
  28. Download Character Qualities from the Duggar site (I want to read their book so badly)-So we will be using that as  a perpetual guide of what to study

So that is it as far as our curriculum, but we will be adding and taking away with each term and seeing how things go.

I will probrably post a little bit more on what we will do by Terms, but still debating. I do have a Nature Study-Term 1 to share, in hopes that will be of help to someone.

Meanwhile, putting together the kids binders that they will be using. It’s a semi like the,”Avilian Notebook System” and each of the kids have their own file crate that is in the color, picked by them.

Each file crate has 52 file folders labeled, “Week One, Week Two”, etc. and a hanging file folder in their color, that they pick, for “administrative” files such as medical records, if they sign up for anything, field trips, etc.

For a better look at using a “File Crate system”, I wrote about it in a post here. By Sun and Candlelight, has the best look at using the file crate and you can read about it here.

In the “Weekly folders” I will add as I plan, worksheets that are pertitant to what they will be studying or doing for that week, either for school or outside of school.

For myself, I put together a “Teacher’s Binder” to keep lesson plans, schedules, personal notes and reminders, etc and I created for me and the kids, individual “Nature Study” notebooks to keep information and coloring pages, divided by AO-Nature Study schedule.

In this case, we are using Term 1-Mammals, so we have a “mammals divider” and all coloring pages and related information will be filed behind that.

I’m still debating if I should go with a 5.5 x 8.5 binder or standard letter size.

Anyway..that is about our schedule for now…LOL.

Sunflower Faith | 3 comments
30 Mar 2009
Homeschooling

Chalkboard, Whiteboards, oh my

Using a whiteboard has been a big help with our homeschooling, since many times it helps to be able to demonstrate a concept visually and it saves

Homeschool Resource and Tips Idea
Homeschool Resource and Tips Idea

money as well, since instead of paper, the kids can use the whiteboard to practice writing with.

Lately, I’ve looked into getting a chalkboard to add to our resources, but had to consider:

  1. Cost
  2. Size
  3. Storage
  4. Feasibility

and although, there are more options available these  days, just buying a chalkboard wasn’t feasible due to cost and we have had to tighten our belts (haven’t we all) a lot more lately.

However, for the frugal home school mom, there is still a way to get a chalkboard without the cost and the same if you need a larger whiteboard but can’t afford the investment.

In comes, the tri-fold display board.

Tri-Fold Display Board
Tri-Fold Display Board

Not only is it great for school projects, but with a little work, this handy dandy, tri-fold display board can be used for a quick, inexpensive whiteboard and/or chalkboard.

How you ask? Well, first of all, if you are wanting to add a chalkboard to your homeschool tools, it’s as easy as going to your local hardware store and buying paint.

Yes, you heard me paint, chalkboard paint, that is actually not only very inexpensive, but you can use to paint a chalkboard for your kids room as one parent did for theirs’ as shown here: Cabinent Chalkboards,

Chalkboard Cabinent by Dana Fleming
Chalkboard Cabinent by Dana Fleming

where one mom got an old cabinent door (can find them at garage sales, thrift stores, look around or just get a piece of plywood) and converted it to a chalkboard that can be easiy hung anywhere, or with the chalkboard paint, if you want something more permanent,paint an area in the kids room to use.

Not only is this going green (hey your recycling), but you don’t have to break the bank for your child’s education. Sometimes, less IS more.

Want a pink chalkboard or  a chalkboard that matches your decor? Not a problem…from Crafts at Home, there is this fantastic recipe for homemade, CHALKBOARD paint.

How does the tri-fold display board fit in?

With limit spacing that many homeschooling parents face and if you’re not handy with a saw (if you use a plywood, you can just get three pieces of wood, add hinges in the back, paint the surface so when you’re done for the week, you can fold up the blackboard and put it away for the weekend), I had the idea of just either covering the surface of the poster with contact paper and then, painting it over with the chalkboard paint so when I’m done at the end of the week, I can just fold up the board and put it away.

There are many ways to create a chalkboard of your own and it’s just a matter of using your imagination and the resources you have on hand.

Hey,if you have a better idea of creating a chalkboard using either store bought or homemade chalkboard paint, leave me a comment so other parents can get some ideas.

So where does the whiteboard fit in all this?

On babyparent.com, if you want a large whiteboard or even handheld without the cost, they recommend buying contact paper.

Not sure what will work? Try out this site that shows you various whiteboard surfaces you can get from around the house or at the local store:

Whiteboard Surfaces Recommendations

This is just me, but I like the following  idea that I can use on a display board (once again, light, cheap (often under 4.00) and easy to fold and put away) :

Contact Paper

Just head to your local retailer and pick up a roll for a couple dollars. Quick and easy. Test it out before buying to make sure that your type of contact paper will erase cleanly because some textures and materials do not work with dry erase markers. Typically, the cheaper contact paper works better.

and hey, if you have access to a laminating machine, guess what..yes…you can make a whiteboard that way too!

Laminate

If you laminate tagboard, you can create fairly good dry erase boards without spending loads of money. This would work great for teachers who want each student to have a whiteboard, or if you want a cheap whiteboard to keep track of figures at your desk. I have used them while playing D&D to keep track of turns and my hit points during battle.

Pro: It is quick, easy, and cost-effective.
Con: When marks linger for a while, they may stain the plastic. It is not as easy to wipe off as a real whiteboard.

The method is simple: Just find some tagboard and laminate it. You may need to find a local copy shop or a school to get it laminated with one of those nice industrial-strength laminators. I have heard of bad results if you try to use some types of clear contact paper or a similar sticky plastic as a laminate. You want to find the type that is melded together by heat under a roller as a press.

So if you are on a tight budget and would like a whiteboard or chalkboard; You can still do it; It’s just a matter of thinking creatively and out of the box.

Sunflower Faith | 3 comments | Tags: , , , ,
16 Mar 2009
Resources

Spelling Resource

Spelling was something that I wasn’t too sure how I was going to approach and something, I’ve been researching for awhile. 
With the curriculum (CM/Ambleside) method, spelling wasn’t recommended for Kindergarten or First Grade, but we are doing an eclectic blend of CM/Ambleside teaching, so I wanted to find something that was fun,creative and will keep the kids interest.
Something that would be of interest to homeschoolers who are faced with the daunting question of what to do about Spelling; SpellQuizzer byTedCo Software is something that I would highly recommend for parents who want to find a fun, creative but educational way to help kids learn to spell.
SpellQuizzer is a spelling program for helping children learn their spelling words and SpellQuizzer will also help students practice their vocabulary words.
While using SpellQuizzer, several things stand out about the program.
  1. It’s super easy to use and learn
  2. It’s fun; I even enjoyed it and discovered I can use it myself to learn “big words”
  3. In thirty minutes, my kids had it figure out (course they also know how to turn on and off the dvd, program the report and buy stock. I was kidding about buying stock, they don’t think right now is a good time to buy,lol…okay, bad joke is over).
Because you can create your own word lists, SpellQuizzer works for all subjects and for all spelling programs even for learning how to spell  biblical words and vocabulary work.
There’s  a spellchecker that is built in so while creating your own word lists, it catches and warns if it (the program) thinks the word is spelled incorrectly, so what a great way to encourage kids to create their own word lists of words and vocabulary that want or need to learn.
If you are a homeschooler, SpellQuizzer has a page devoted for homeschoolers that you can find here: spellquizzer.com/Spelling-Software-For-Homeschoolers.htm.

When I first open it, I wasn’t sure what to expect and wonder, oh no, is it going to be complicated and something I’m really going to have to learn,so I figure, I’ll wait till the kids are on Spring Break, no pressure, and play with it then.

I was surprised how fast it took to learn the program. When you initially open the program, there’s six options to choose from.

If you want to just try out the program before leaping into creating a spelling list, there are several word lists that are currently available on SpellQuizzer.

However, you don’t have to just use those lists.

As you can tell on the picture, you not only have the option of creating a spelling list or importing ones from SpellQuizzer, but you have the option of exporting spelling lists.

This is great for homeschoolers who want to create spelling lists for specific curriculums to exchange with others.

How it works is that you basically click on “Quiz me”; Choose a spelling list you want to be quizzed on and the following window, pops up:

My kids really enjoy the audio feature of SpellQuizzer.

With a microphone that you can find for cheap at any store, SpelQuizzer allows you not only to create word lists, use definitions for the kids to associate a word with, or just hint, but you can also record the audio of the word to play for the kids to hear and then guess the correct spelling.

This is great for families who are multi-lingual to teach their kids to read and spell a foreign language and also it makes it easy for parents to have kids working on their spelling lists wearing headphones, while they use that time to work/teach their other children.

Or say you are teaching several children the same spelling curriculum.

If you want to individual test them, you can do so that way (the program allows for randomizing words) or together while your working with another child (great for families who are homeschooling multiple children).

The only drawback I could find with SpellQuizzer, is that there is no option to score percentages which is helpful for those who are required to keep records or want to keep spelling test scores so it would have to manual, but who knows, this may end up being an added feature in the future.

If you want to find out more about SpellQuizzer you can find out at their website here, but you’re going to find it was so user friendly, even had a video demo.

There’s a  30 day free trial demo then you have the option of paying for it or you can get it free through TrialPay.

The way that works (TrialPay) is that you  choose from a selection of offers from qualifying partner companies. When you complete an offer, you receive a free license for the software.

So if you’re on a budget like myself and other homeschoolers and looking for something that is worth the investment and is inexpensive , TrialPay, is  an avenue to look at and in the meantime, you can just try it out first for thirty days before buying or doing the trial pay.

Since we are on a tight budget, it’s hard to find a really good Spelling curriculum that we clicked with, and would want to buy, so this is really a great alternative to buying a spelling curriculum and worrying that half way through or even first chapter, we may end up going, this isn’t for us.

Something that I would like to see, and hope maybe an option is, printing out the word list, but really, I like this program because I don’t have to worry about paper (or being frugal since this is all on the computer), the kids love hearing the words sounded out and typing in the words, this is a GREAT way to introduce kids to computers at a young age and you don’t have to worry about content because, well, you create the content and they are learning without knowing it…

Now when the kids get older and realize they are having to do spelling, that might be a different story, lol.

I really like this program big time.

I ended up downloading the “Books of the Bible” spelling list for me (blush), since that is something that can help me in my bible study and hey, I get to try it out for when I use it with the kids for their bible study.

As I create spelling lists of my own for this program, I plan on sharing them here with and for you, so check back often if you start using the programs yourself!

Let me know what you think of SpellQuizzer and what you think of it yourself.

I was thinking of starting a yahoo group to share spelling lists created since this is a relatively new program, but if you have or do start one first, let me know and I’ll join!

Sunflower Faith | 2 comments | Tags: ,
12 Mar 2009
Homeschooling

The case that has homeschool forums/groups buzzing

In North Carolina, there is a news headline that is raising talk everywhere on homeschooling boards, in groups and email exchanges regarding a judge’s decision to basically force a divorcing mom to put her children into public school and contended that, ” the judge also said public school would “prepare these kids for the real world

and college” and allow them “socialization.”

link:Judge orders NC mom to place homeschool children into public school and Christian Wire News has the full story

I came across this post via,”The Homeschool Lounge” and it was an eloquent reminder that homeschooling isn’t a trend or just about religious beliefs..

Homeschooling is about parents/family, making a personal choice and taking the personal responsibility of what is best for their children and yet there is still a persistant myths regarding socialization and homeschooling.

Before making a decision either wise about this,as mention before, take the time to read the news article for yourself and here is a really wonderful explanation of why homeschooling is a choice and for many familes, the best choice.

Homeschool is a type of smaller classroom.

The children are given individual attention along with the ability to challenge them on their proficiency of the curriculum. In times of weakness within a subject, the children are allowed to continue on the topic until they reach mastery in that area. Public schools cannot take time to allow for such an accomplished environment.

As far as socialization within the homeschooling community, the children participate in various extracurricular activities throughout the school year. Teachers in a public school environment, tend to spend countless hours disciplining the children to keep some sense of order in their classroom. Ergo, socialization is only wanted during lunch and PE.

Homeschooled children are given the freedom to socialize throughout the day whether it is among their homeschool family members, during an organized PE class held through a local homeschool co-op, or from participating in a sports league. From this standpoint, you can surely see that homeschoolers are quite socialized.

Homeschool is a preparation for life skills.

Homeschool families give their children the necessary skills to “make-it” in the real world every day. Many times working parents do not have the time to devote life skill teaching for their children. Thus, we end-up with countless problems contributed to the lack of “home-training” because the parents have to work. Many others would love to be able to stay at home and “raise” their children….with homeschooling in mind.

You might ask, “So, when do they get to test out their knowledge of life skills?” Their knowledge is tested everyday, in every step of life. Going back to the socialization aspect, the kids MUST put forth their knowledge of life skills when dealing with their peers during any type of social activity. I have already explained the social activity range. Therefore, life skills are being tested each day.

As you notice, I do not mention anything about religious beliefs. This is because homeschooling is a choice, no matter the reason.

link: thehomeschoollounge.com/forum/topics/my-email-to-judge-mangumtell

I would love to hear your thoughts about this interesting case and your thoughts why people worry so much about socialization and being socialized (they are actually two different things).

Sunflower Faith | 2 comments | Tags:
09 Mar 2009
Homeschooling

Homeschool Filing and more

Getting organized has been a work in progress for me; The beauty of homeschooling is that nothing is set in stone and it’s about adapting to your child’s learning style and needs and you can change and work with different teaching methods.

After trial and error, I’m finding that I”m slowly finding a method that works for me and my household, but like all things, open to adaption as the kids grow older and our learning needs and methods grow and change.

Right now, here is a pic of the current system(s) we are using…all laid out on the counter each Monday through Friday (or Saturday) and then put away on the weekends.

As you can tell, it’s a combonation of several systems.

First, there is the file crate system.

Each child has their own file crate (the youngest one isn’t pictured). In the front of the file crate, are a set of folders for Monday through Friday and this is where I place workbooks, manuals, examples, manipulatives, if we are going on a field trip, I place information to be retrieve (directions, what to bring, etc.) on the corresponding day.

After those files, there is a color folder for the specific child. In that file, are the following folders:

  • Certificates-If they completed something that is rewarded with a certificate it goes here so we can have a record of their accomplishment; A new folder is made for each year
  • Field trip folder-To keep track of field trips we go for the year; I normally just file what I have printed off with the date we went on the field trip written on the paper
  • Progress Folder-This is for any tests, progress notes to be filed
  • Membership Info-This is for groups we have joined, extracurricular activities we’ve joined for this year, subscriptions, etc.

After that, any books that we use on a daily basis such as the kid’s bible, any textbooks, or books we are currently reading get place behind the folders. This keeps them within reach and makes it easier for the kids to just reach in and get them, or if Daddy takes over, they are there for him to get without searching.

Behind the books, I keep our watercolor pads within easy reach.

When I was looking at file crate organization, I found the following sites a HUGE help in helping me figure out what to do with mine. As the kids get older, I expect the file crates to get a little bit more tweak with what we are doing with each school year.

I followed this with what you see in the above picture with binders-My notebook system.

Each child has two notebooks. One is a working notebook and the other is a 3″ notebook to keep their completed work for the year; This is really geared more for the oldest right now.

In the working notebook, there are 5 binders for each day (Monday through Friday) and every Sunday night, they are filled with “consumables” for that week.

The advantage of this, is this can be taken on the road, so to speak, if something comes up and we have to run an errand, go to the doctor’s, etc. or if Daddy takes over, it will have that week’s work already in there, ready to be worked on, without Daddy worrying what to do.

Each of the kids have their own Nature Study binders which are portable 8.5 x 5.5 but sometimes they just take a portable art book with them and we just tear out the page they work on that day, hole punch it and place it in their “Field books”.

The other binders are really more for me.

There are different binders for subjects that are more specific such as “Nature Study” where anything related to Nature Study such as the “Outdoor Hour Challenge”, photocopy chapters from the “Handbook of Nature Study”, printable field guides, etc. will go in.

I also have a binder for Art History/Art Appreciation to keep art prints, I printed out “Questions to ask about art” that I found at this link, artmuseums.com/questions.htm, to keep on hand to use with the kids when looking at art work.

An idea that I got from,Trivium Academy, was to use quarter binders to ease lesson planning for the year. Since we are schooling year round, the quarter binders, make it easier to just break down what we will be learning more specifically and help me feel less overwhelmed.

Each quarter binder has:

  • Calendar
  • Quarter Planner sheet
  • Curriculum list
  • Schedule
  • Each binder uses  number tab dividers. I keep 9 tabs in each binder to break it down into 9 weeks; Behind each week, I place whatever workbook pages, readings, copywork, etc. we need to do in that specific week.  If I don’t want it hole punched yet, or just plain to get it bind another method, I use sheet protectors instead.

Here are really great sources on how to get ideas for creating your own binder system:

Then there is the last item in the picture….my purple teacher file storage box.

I use this to keep my lesson plans, either written by me or printed and other school items.

The files are broken down basically

  • First by months. I have 4 different color tab dividers. I use one color for the months of the first term, another color for the months in the second term, etc. Basically, for example, our school year starts in September-November; That’s one color; I then offset the tab divider how it is arrange and using another set of color, have 3 tabs for December-February; and so on.
    • In each months, I keep seasonal information (i.e. Easter is filed under April, Dental Health Month is filed in February, etc.)
  • After the months, I have tabs for the subjects that we study and I keep lessons plans, manipulatives, etc. filed under each respective study. Right now with the kids being young, we are barely touching on the subjects, but there are certain topics, I know we will revisit each year and expand on and material that can be re-use.
  • After the subject folders, we have a specific folder for unit studies or say if we do a study on a book, I create a folder just for that book to keep material in. This is helpful for the next child if we revisit the book later on, or maybe I know someone who can use this and I can “pass it on” to help a fellow homeschooling mom.
  • General file folders, these folders contain continuing information, such as homeschooling laws, membership information of groups I’m a part of, if there is material relevant to a subject or homeschooling, I have a “General Homeschool Info” file that I can file the article in and maybe revisit later.

For now this file storage box has been of great use though I foresee as the kids get bigger, a need for something bigger than what I have.

Then there are the banker storage boxes.

Yes… a little bit more.

Each child has their own.

In these boxes, I keep

  • Their completed work binder-This is their whole years work; It’s divided into subjects study;If we do specific studies, say a handwriting workbook, I file all the handwriting workbook  together in the binder to show progress.
  • Move their certificate folders, progress notes, art portofolio into this box to be stored (I find it helpful to use the box that the file folder comes in for this, so each year just place the folders in this to protect the folders and it’s recycling the file folder box versus just throwing it away).

This isn’t a perfect system and one I know will change as the years (and maybe even just months) go by, but coming up with an organization system that works good for you and your family helps make homeschooling a lot smoothing.

It cuts down on looking for books, workbooks and a lot of paperwork and helps you feel more relax and really enjoy homeschooling more.

The added plus is being able to have a place to store your child’s work to go back in later years to see how they have progressed.

Hope this helps!

Sunflower Faith | 9 comments | Tags: , , , , ,
20 Feb 2009
Charlotte Mason • Nature Study

Outdoor Challenge #1

Outdoor Challenge by Handbook of Nature Study Blog
Outdoor Challenge by “Handbook of Nature Study” Blog

Due to last week being Valentine’s Day, I ended up postponing our first week doing Nature Studies to this week instead.

The funny thing is that the weather had been pretty bad and not much to see outside when we were able to go out and about, so I guess our Heavenly Father, provided us with a means indoors, and we and the kids ending up talking about “Mosquito Hawks” and they were wanting to raise butterflies.

Right now the weather isn’t conducive to raising butterflies but “Mosquito Hawks” didn’t mind and we had quite a few so we spent a lot of time, indoors and with hot chocolate, observing the fearsome “Mosquito Hawk”.

This was perfect timing, because hubby and I had to keep reassuring the kids that “Mosquito Hawks” were not interested in them only to have one of them come running up to us a few days later, crying, because a “Mosquito Hawk” was caught in a spiderweb and they wanted to save him or was it a her?

Right now, we are currently doing an “Animal Nature Book” class that is being offered by “Learning Things” so this has been a great way, since the weather is anything but friendly, to use the time to put together our notebooks (it’s been hard to find a cheap 8.5 x 5.5 binder).

I plan on doing a short introductory study on insects after we learn about the 5 kingdoms mostly due to weather related reasons and the only “nature” we see right now are our dogs and maybe a spider and, oh yes, mosquito hawks; lots of mosquito hawks, but no mosquitos or insects (I’m sure their out there,just probrably huddling in their homes with a mug of hot whatever it is that insects will drink in their mugs,lol).

For their “Animal Notebooks”; I’m using that to keep worksheet related works, printed information and more for the kids to use more as a “reference book” and looking to create an 8.5 x 5.5 working nature journal,mostly because it would be easier to pack and bring with us when we have nature field trips and are out and about.

Hopefully as the weather clears up and it gets warmer and the critters start coming out…we can do more.

Meantime, I was blessed to be able to get a copy of “Pocketfull of Pinecones” and looking forward to reading it!

Sunflower Faith | No comments | Tags: , , ,
18 Feb 2009
Charlotte Mason • Homeschooling • lesson plans

Book of Virtues-Primary Grade Lesson Plan

I’m anxiously awaiting a copy of this book to use in the fall, but in the meantime I created a lesson plan to use with the kids.

Because we are using somewhat more of a Charlotte Mason method, the emphasis is more on discussion and understanding with some copywork and less on worksheets and I pray and hope, that people who are using the Charlotte Mason or Ambleside method, will find this friendly and easy to use.

Traditionally, Charlotte Mason does not use lesson plans and feel this is restrictive to a child’s learning, so I guess, it’s better to say, this lesson plan is a guide and not set in stone.

The age group this is geared for is for PreK-2nd grade with the understanding that the parent will do most of the reading and develop the discussions with the kids.

It’s basically an introduction for toddlers to the 10 virtues outline in the book of virtues with emphasis on a scriptue (suggest memory verses are included).

I left copy work, additional reading and reading selection up to the parent so they can customize it more to fit with their curriculum.

If you use it, I would love to hear your feedback if it’s worth it or not.

<a href=”http://www.mediafire.com/?lnc1breoynw”>Book of Virtues-Lesson Plan for Primary Grades</a>

Sunflower Faith | No comments | Tags: , , ,
13 Feb 2009
Ambleside Online • Charlotte Mason • Homeschooling

Uploaded our homeschool curriculums for PreK and Kindergarten

Just to help people get a general idea of our PreK and Kindergarten curriculum’s; I’ve uploaded copies for anyone to print out.

Please feel free to use them as a guide for your own curriculum and keep in mind Charlotte Mason’s philosophy about education:

“In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mothers first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet and growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it for the most part spent out in the fresh air.”

As she had quoted, because we have it written down doesn’t mean we have to follow it word for word and have learn to keep flexible to what the day, the month, or the season brings us.

If you would like to know more about our PreK and Kindergarten Curriculum for this year, follow the links on the sidebar.

Sunflower Faith | 2 comments | Tags: , , ,
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