Thursday, August 29, 2013

Our 2013-2014 Curriculum Plans and Checklists


Our new school year begins next week!   This coming year our oldest boys will be going into 7th and 6th grade, the older girls will be 4th and 3rd, and Snuggles will be in 1st grade.  Rose (3) and Bud (1) will have lots of fun with all sorts of "school time toys" and perhaps some of the Little Saints Pre-School themes.  The following is a list of our curriculum plans for 2013-2014:

Captain :: 7th Grade

Math:
Saxon Math 7/6
Various Math Games for Reinforcement including: Math-It, Equate, and Speed!

Language Arts:
Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course: A
Supplementing with: Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons
Phonetic Zoo, continue Level B
Fix It! (applied grammar - finish Tom Sawyer)
Editor in Chief B-1 (applied grammar)
The Book of Roots 
Novel Inquiries: Ancient Civilizations (The Golden Goblet, Tirzah, Hittite Warrior and The Children's Homer)

History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 1: A Guide to Salvation History
Old Testament and Ancient Cultures
Maps Charts and Graphs Level G: The World
Continue/Complete State-by-State Scrapbook
Asia and Australia Continent Study (CCM Alpha)

Science:
Concepts and Challenges in Science Book 1 (Physics & Earth Science)
 and Concepts and Challenges in Science Book 2 (Metric System, Biology & Chemistry)
TOPS Learning Systems: Electricity 32 and Perfect Balance 31
Snap Circuits
Science Activities and Nature Sketching (CCM Alpha)

Latin:
Latina Christiana 1
Ludere Latin 1


Music & Art:
Lingua Angelica 1
Continue Composer Study
Meet the Masters Track A

Memory Work: 

Rascal :: 6th Grade

Math:
Saxon Math 7/6
Various Math Games for Reinforcement including: Math-It, Equate, and Speed!

Language Arts:
Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course: A
Supplementing with: Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons
Phonetic Zoo, continue Level B
Fix It! (applied grammar - Finish Tom Sawyer)
Editor in Chief B-1 (applied grammar)
The Book of Roots
Novel Inquiries: Ancient Civilizations (The Golden Goblet, Tirzah, Hittite Warrior and The Children's Homer)

History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 1: A Guide to Salvation History
Old Testament and Ancient Cultures
Maps Charts and Graphs Level F: Eastern Hemisphere
Continue/Complete State-by-State Scrapbook
Asia and Australia Continent Study (CCM Alpha)

Science:
Concepts and Challenges in Science Book 1 (Physics & Earth Science)
 and Concepts and Challenges in Science Book 2 (Metric System, Biology & Chemistry)
TOPS Learning Systems: Electricity 32 and Perfect Balance 31
Snap Circuits
Science Activities and Nature Sketching (CCM Alpha)

Latin:
Latina Christiana 1
Ludere Latin 1


Music & Art:
Lingua Angelica 1
Continue Composer Study
Meet the Masters Track A

Memory Work: 
Classically Catholic Memory: Alpha

Physical Education & Other Activities:
Scouts of St. George

Download Rascal's Color-Coded Checklist

Some of our Reading Selections for Ancient History:  Mystery of the Roman Ransom, Detectives in Togas, The Golden Goblet, The Cat of Bubastes, King David and His Songs, The Children's Homer, The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone, Alexander the Great, Famous Men of Rome, Famous Men of Greece, Aesop's Fables for Children, D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, Ancient Egyptians and their Neighbors, Ox, House, Stick: The History of Our Alphabet, Pyramid, Gilgamesh, The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle, Archaeology, A Street Through Time, Shadow Hawk, Hittite Warrior, Victory on the Walls, God King, Herodotus and the Road to History, Archimedes and the Door of Science

Twinkle Toes :: 4th Grade

Math:
Saxon Math 5/4
Various Math Games for Reinforcement including: Math-It, Equate, and Speed!

Language Arts:
Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course: A
Supplementing with: Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons
Phonetic Zoo Level A
Fix It! (applied grammar - continue Tom Sawyer)
Handwriting
Roots of English
Additional Literature:

History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 1: A Guide to Salvation History
Old Testament and Ancient Cultures
Maps Charts and Graphs Level D: States & Regions
Continue 50 State-by-State Study with Baking and Notebook Pages
Continue American Girl Unit Studies (as time allows)
Asia and Australia Continent Study (CCM Alpha)

Science:
Focus on Middle School Chemistry with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher's Manual
Focus on Middle School Biology with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher's Manual
Behold and See 4: Human Anatomy and Health
Science Activities and Nature Sketching (CCM Alpha)

Latin:
Latina Christiana 1
Ludere Latin 1


Music & Art:
Lingua Angelica 1
Continue Composer Study
Meet the Masters Track A

Memory Work: 
Classically Catholic Memory: Alpha

Physical Education & Other Activities:
Piano Lessons
Irish Dancing
Sewing Classes and Sewing With Saint Anne
Little Women Hospitality Program - Year 1 with Student Companion (we didn't have time for this last year, hoping to have the time this year... but not making any promises!) 

Download Twinkle Toes' Color-Coded Checklist


Chiquita :: 3rd Grade


Language Arts:
Student Writing Intensive, Level A
All About Spelling  - Level 3 and Level 4
Wordly Wise Book C
Handwriting
Additional Literature Including:

 Latin:

History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 1: A Guide to Salvation History
Old Testament and Ancient Cultures
Maps Charts and Graphs Level C: Communities
Continue 50 State-by-State Study with Baking and Notebook Pages
Continue American Girl Unit Studies (as time allows)
Asia and Australia Continent Study (CCM Alpha)

Science:
Focus on Elementary Chemistry with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher's Manual
Focus on Elementary Biology with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher's Manual
Science Activities and Nature Sketching (CCM Alpha)

Religion:
The New Baltimore Catechism No. 1
Faith & Life 3 - Our Life With Jesus
Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls
More Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls

Music & Art:
Lingua Angelica 1
Continue Composer Study
Meet the Masters Track A

Memory Work: 
Classically Catholic Memory: Alpha

Physical Education & Other Activities:
Irish Dancing
Sewing Classes and Sewing With Saint Anne
Little Women Hospitality Program - Year 1 with Student Companion (we didn't have time for this last year, hoping to have the time this year...) 

Download Chiquita's Color-Coded Checklist 

Our Historical American Girl Lap Books - many are still in progress

Snuggles :: 1st Grade 

Math:
Saxon 1

Language Arts:
Primary Arts of Language: Writing and Reading
All About Spelling Level 1 and Reading Level 1
Supplementing with Explode the Code

History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 1: A Guide to Salvation History
Old Testament and Ancient Cultures
Maps Charts and Graphs Level A: The Places Around Me
Asia and Australia Continent Study (CCM Alpha)

Science:
Focus on Elementary Chemistry with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher's Manual
Focus on Elementary Biology with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher's Manual
Science Activities and Nature Sketching (CCM Alpha)
Apples, Bubbles and Crystals: Your Science ABCs  (with our Alphabet Path)

Religion:
First Communion Preparation
St. Joseph First Communion Catechism

Memory Work:
Classically Catholic Memory: Alpha

Arts & Crafts and other Fun Activities: 
Meet the Masters Track A
Continue Along the Alphabet Path   *If time allows - We only completed Aa, Bb, Cc and part of Dd last year.  As the other children get older, and their school work is more demanding, it is definitely more challenging for me to find the time for all the fun activities for my younger ones!  Apparently there is just only so many things I can add before some things have to go...  ;) I am really hoping we can at least continue this year.  We'll see!  In the meantime, Snuggles loves loves LOVES PAL (Primary Arts of Language).  It is such an excellent program, very solid and yet complete with lots of fun and games too! 

My crate of file folder games for with PAL - Yes, I used black file folders.  I think they look so much prettier than regular manilla file folders, plus I have a whole case of them! ;) 

Family Work 

Z is for Zeus: A Greek Mythology Alphabet and Greek Blocks

As you can see from our plans, I do try and combine as many children for various subjects as possible.  We will all be studying Ancient History this year, using Connecting with History, and Chemistry and Biology using the materials from Real Science for Kids. I've also decided to try out Meet the Masters Track A (also available for a discount from Rainbow Resource and Home-School Buyers Co-Op).  Another new addition to our plans is Classically Catholic Memory!  I purchased my set from Sacred Heart Books and Gifts and have been so impressed with the organization and quality of the material.  I'm so excited to begin this program!

You can download just my Classically Catholic Memory Checklist here. 

For those who don't want to spend the money on the complete set (though I do think it is worth the cost!), the Teacher Text would be a great place to start and a large portion of the program (minus the Geography and Timeline - though I suppose one could make their own set of timeline cards) can be completed with just this text. 

I have my Catholic Daily Planners all ready to go as well as my current Saints Calendar and Planner (you can purchase the new 2013-2014 version here).  I also have a few binders filled with all my lesson plans and checklists.  I use the actual lessons plans that come along with the Student Writing Intensive and Continuation Courses.  (I keep all the handouts with the lesson plans and give them to the children as they need them.)  Another binder has all the new daily lesson plans for Connecting with History!  (I am so excited about these!  The hardest part when we last used this program was trying to figure out what to do each day.  These will be so helpful to use as a guide.) And my third binder (my pretty Black Damask Martha Stewart binder) contains all the color-coded checklists!



Now I just need to assemble this year's Back-to-School Schultütes and we'll be ready to get started!

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Our Little Saints Preschool


I've used Little Saints Preschool with all of our children.  When our oldest was in Preschool (back in 2004-2005) I nearly burned myself out on homeschooling that very first year, trying to "do it all!"  I remember spending most of the summer in 2004 collecting all the books (all of our local libraries were closed down at that time due to budget restraints), art supplies, and cutting out countless pieces of felt and paper for all the activities in the program.  The following year (2005-2006) seemed like a breeze when I decided to just enroll Captain in Seton for Kindergarten, even though Seton (as a whole) ended up not being the right fit for our family... Since then I've continued to use bits and pieces of the Little Saints Preschool program with the rest of the children.  Of course, like everything we do, I love to modify and expand on the themes with some of our own ideas, books, snacks, and recipes.  The themes are a great place to start though, and the book is filled with all sorts of suggestions.  Below you will find links to a few of the weekly themes that have made it on to the blog.  I will continue to add to this post as time goes on.... Perhaps by the time all our children my grandchildren have made it through preschool there will be links to all the themes.  However, I'm not making any promises! ;)

2008-2009 (Twinkle Toes and Chiquita)

I Belong to God (Theme #1)
Having Fun with the Alphabet  (Theme #2)
My Five Senses (Theme #3)
Number Fun (Theme #4)
Winter Fun (Theme #22)

 2011-2012 (Snuggles)

I Belong to God (Theme #1)
Alphabet Fun (Theme #2)
Colors/Guardian Angels (Theme #9)

 2016-2017 (Rose and Bud) 

Alphabet Fun (Theme #2)
Fall Is Here! (Theme #10)

 Other Links for Preschool:

School Time Toys
An Alphabet of Saints: B is for Blocks

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{pretty, happy, funny, real} :: From My iPhone

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

{pretty}


We will be celebrating a 10th birthday tomorrow!  I haven't had much time to prepare, other than placing a couple online orders for gifts for the birthday girl, but after rounding up a few things yesterday afternoon and a quick trip to the store I am hopeful that the "Caroline" party will come together.  Now to start baking and decorating a cake... 


{happy}


After trying quite a few samples, including some salmon/terra cotta-ish reds and a couple tans, I finally settled on the Cleveland Green.  I didn't like it at first (with just a sample size spot on the wall), but ended up deciding it was the best of all the options.  Once I got the full wall painted I LOVED it!  It looks a little darker than the picture at some times of day, but even then it is beautiful. (The picture really doesn't do the color justice.) I still have to touch up the edges and paint along the ceiling, once I can borrow a taller ladder from my dad, but that will have to wait for now... 

{funny}



Pizza, anyone?!  I had to use up that last gift certificate that Sean won at Vegas in the Valley by the end of the month.  Between the gift certificate and our Papa John's App Rewards/coupon code our total was only $4.05 for 3 large pizzas, 2 boxes of garlic parmesan breadsticks, a box of chicken poppers and a 2-liter of soda.  The older boys were very excited - and all that pizza didn't last very long!

{real}


From Instagram/Facebook last Sunday:  I couldn't help but smile during Mass this evening (after nearly missing due to one more little cross- aka trouble walking/pinched nerve in my back) when I looked up and realized I was kneeling right next to the fifth station. I immediately recalled the encouragement from a dear friend this past week who said "Look 'em in the eyes (my crosses-we all have them!) and carry them even more resolutely now! Or Jesus will soon send you a Simon of Cyrene for a while;)" I think I'm about ready for Simon to show up... or at least another Advil! :)

I'm feeling much better this week.  Well, I can walk at least, and I haven't been moving any more furniture.  I don't know what I was thinking last Friday/Saturday when I decided, after a way too busy and emotional week, that I might as well give the schoolroom to Snuggles and Bud now, before our new school year begins.    It started with moving the crib out of the girls new room, and taking the toddler bed to Rose's new room, which meant I needed to take down down one of the big girls old beds to make room for the toddler bed.  Then my desk (from the school room) was moved to my room.  The single bed in the boys room was taken apart to set up in the schoolroom (until we can purchase a bunk for the little boys, after Bud is a little safer around ladders). The two white desks from the schoolroom went to the older boys room, under the window where the single bed was before. The changing table/dresser (from Rose & Bud's old room) went to the school room.  Then I reset up the twin bed and crib (as a toddler bed) in the school room for Snuggles and Bud.  Oh, I forgot the bookcases! A small wooden bookcase went from the big boys room to the little boys new room, and two of the white bookcases from the school room went to the big girls bedroom.   The stacking shelves went out to the dining area (our official new "school room").  Yep, I was a little busy and pushed myself (with the help of our oldest boys) a little too hard.  I somehow managed to pinch a nerve and could barely walk by Saturday night.  I am still trying to find homes for some of the stuff that had been stored in the schoolroom, which is stacked and lining my hallway at the moment.   It is going to be a huge adjustment for me, not having that room anymore (it had started to function as more of an office/storage room for me), but we will make it work. 

The little boys are loving their new room and sharing it with each other.  The first night they slept in their new bedroom we walked by to see Snuggles standing over Bud.  Sean asked him what he was doing out of bed and he replied, "I just wanted to make sure "Bud" was covered up!" So sweet!


I'll be back in a bit with our curriculum plans for this coming school year!

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more pictures of contentment.


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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

"C" is for Cookies, Corn, Cowboys, and The Church!



Cocoa and Constellations on Columbus Day, Catastrophes, Canonizations, Costume Parties, Costume Contests, Corn Maze Confusion, Carving Celtic Crosses, Crowded Celebrations (with more Costumes), and the Cemetery...  It's been crazy around here Along the Alphabet Path but we finally completed the letter C!

..............

I wrote the above and started this post back in November... Months later, right when we were about to Continue it was time for a Conclave!  After that we just Didn't get much Done Along the Alphabet Path for the Duration of the school year.  We are hoping to continue this fall...
In the meantime here is what we Completed for Cc!

.: Letter Introduction & Formation :. 

"C" is the happy letter!  Start at the top and circle around, but don't close it up! This is the happy cookie because somebody took a big bite!  /c/, /c/, cookie. - Primary Arts of Language: Reading


 Chocolate Chip Cookies and a Cat drinking Cream


 Snuggles colored this picture from My Book of Letters last school year...


I pulled out the rest of the activity pages for the letter C...



He sounded out the names of four pictures and figured out which three began with the sound "c."  He also made the letter C with Wikki Sticks and our Wooden Letter Pieces.

We also read Cowboy ABC and B is for Buckaroo: A Cowboy Alphabet
(while wearing Cute new "Cowboy Clothes of  Course!") 


.: A, B... Seas & Storybook Science :.


A, B... Seas Ocean Box :: C is for Clownfish
For the letter C Snuggles crafted a clownfish for his Ocean Box.
(The Ocean Box is one of the things we aren't planning on continuing for the rest of the Alphabet since we are adding in a complete Science Course for Chemistry and Biology this coming year.  We will continue the coloring book and Apples, Bubbles and Crystals Science)

C is for Clingfish

C is for Crystals :: Crystal Creations

The suggested experiment in Apples, Bubbles and Crystals: Your Science ABCs was all about Crystals.


C is for Color

C is for Corn



Corn is Maize by Aliki
Corn by Gail Gibbons
The Popcorn Book by Tomie dePaola


We also went on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze...


... and Choose pumpkins to Carve

Crazy Cowboy!


.: Arts, Crafts & Additional Activities :. 

Create a Car 

For the letter "C" I pulled out this little lego set for Snuggles to Create a Car!



.: My Catholic Faith :.

 C is for Church


It's A Joy to Go to Church Catholic Coloring Book
The Caterpillar that Came to Church
Manners in Gods House


C is for Church 
Christ's dwelling place here
I will visit Him, talk to Him 
feel Him draw near.
Show Compassion

Show Compassion is the theme for this week's Writing ABC's on Little Hearts by Pondered In My Heart. Snuggles colored the picture and added it to his book.


C is for Chalice
A is for Altar, B is for Bible and Chalice

C is for Christ Child

Continuing Snuggles' Bible Narrations and Picture Study for this year...    We read about the Christ Child from Classic Bible Stories: A Family Treasury.   After I read the story to Snuggles' he narrated it back to me and then illustrated a page in his book based on the picture provided.



C is for St. Christopher


I converted the image from Picture Book of Saints into a Pencil Sketch and added text:

In addition to reading about St. Cecilia (An Alphabet of Catholic Saints), St. Christopher (An Alphabet of Saints), and St. Charles Borromeo & St. Catherine of Siena (S is for Saints)  we also read a few picture books about these saints:

Saint Clare of Assisi (Glory Stories)


.: A to Z Recipes :.

Cheesiest-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese


We made Cheesiest-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
 from My A to Z Recipe Box: An Alphabet of Recipes for Kids.



Cut out Cookies
Cloud, Car, Crown, Church, Cat, Cupcake, and Cross all Coincidentally begin Commence with C! 
Indian Corn Cookies


... to Celebrate St. Kateri's Canonization!  I posted the directions here. 

Well that is finally Done!   I do plan to simplify for the rest of the Alphabet, if I hope to complete the Alphabet Path before Snuggles graduates high school! ;) 

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