Seven Not-So-Quick Takes :: Our School Year in Review and a Few of Our Plans for Next Year

I've been spending a lot of time the past couple months making plans for our next school year, deciding which programs we will continue and where we will be making changes.  Here is the link to our original Curriculum Plans :: 2012-2013.   

— 1 —

Let's start with Language Arts... So far we have loved everything we have used from the Institute of Excellence in Writing!  The oldest three just completed (yes, completed!!!!) the Student Writing Intensive, Level A and it has helped them incredibly with their writing.   Next year we will either move on to either the Continuation Course or perhaps the Ancient History Themed Writing Course to go along with our history studies.  Or maybe a combination of both? I haven't decided yet.

We have also completed Latin, Handwriting, and Vocabulary for the year.  (Prima Latina was a little too difficult for my 2nd grader, so we dropped it early in the year.) We will also continue with Fix It!  and all the children have been working on memorizing poems from Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization.

Phonetic Zoo and All About Spelling continue to be the perfect spelling programs for our family.  The oldest two are currently working on Level B of the Phonetic Zoo and Twinkle Toes is in Level A.  Chiquita will spend another year using All About Spelling before she moves on to Phonetic Zoo as well.

Snuggles started the year with the Alphabet Path and the writing portion of Primary Arts of Language.  I was so happy with PAL that I purchased the reading portion as well.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to keep up with all the extra fun activities for him with the Alphabet Path, but between the Primary Arts of Language and his Math he has continued to learn so much each week.  I am still hoping to add my posts from C and D weeks soon and then return to the Alphabet Path over the summer and continue next year as I originally planned.

— 2 —

Moving on to Math...  Bleh!  As much as I have loved it in the past, I am not happy with Teaching Textbooks...

I've mentioned before that last year we enrolled our children in a local Charter School.   The benefits of the Charter School, in addition to still being able to choose my own curriculum, have been that I have an "Educational Specialist" (who is a Catholic friend of mine) come to the house each week and spend one hour working with each of my children enrolled (5 hours on Thursdays, which has greatly helped keep me on track).  I receive an "allotment" that can be used towards purchasing some of our curriculum, paying for music and sports, or used towards extra tutoring, etc.  Some of the "drawbacks" are that I have work samples and reports to turn in for each quarter and we have extra testing throughout the year.  (When we were exclusively homeschooling we were required to test in 3rd grade, 5th grade, etc. Not every year.)

Anyways, back in March my oldest three children had to take the state tests.   It didn't go well.  My oldest (who struggles with Auditory Processing Challenges and is currently a 6th grader) failed both tests - Math and Language Arts.  Our 2nd son, who is in 5th grade, passed the Language Arts and Science, but failed Math.   Our oldest daughter in 3rd grade passed both the Language Arts and Math, but just barely on the Math.  (I thought for sure she would "exceed" since she is nearly a year ahead in Math.)

Over all it wasn't too bad - collectively they passed 4 of the 7 tests they were given.  I felt a little better once I had a chance to see how the whole school had tested.  Twinkle Toes (who I thought would exceed expectations) was the only student who passed the 3rd grade Math test.   The boys, did not pass the math tests, but only 16-19% of the students in their own grade levels actually passed. (Many of the students in the charter school also use Teaching Textbooks for math.)

Is it the test?  Or is it the programs being used to teach Math?   I've been spending many hours the past couple months trying to figure it all out. I've been talking to friends, comparing programs, and reexamining my decision to continue with Teaching Textbooks.

If you asked me a few months ago I would have told you that I love Teaching Textbooks.  Originally I switched to Teaching Textbooks out of necessity.  With a large growing family and babies arriving every other year I just wasn't able to keep up with the other programs we had been using.  I figured that the math they would get with Teaching Textbooks was most likely more than they would have been getting with me each day...  It really did help get me through some challenging times. Yet, now it seems that it has given both myself and the children a false sense of accomplishment.   How can the kids score 90-100% on all their lessons and then fail standardized tests and placement testing for other programs?  And it isn't just the tests (I'm not a big fan of the tests to begin with) there are so many concepts that they just haven't learned or do not understand.

Last month I hired another tutor (a friend of mine who has been teaching High School Saxon for the past 6 years) to start working with my older boys for Math, to prepare them to retake the test, and we started realizing just how far behind they are from Saxon Math.  Even after a couple months of tutoring and lots of extra studying the boys still were not able to pass the math test on the second attempt, though both of their scores did increase and Rascal "nearly met" the requirements.

All along I've been under the impression that Teaching Textbooks is a little behind and have been trying to compensate for that by having them try to get ahead in the program. (Chiquita just started TT 4 at the end of 2nd grade and Twinkle Toes should finish TT 4 soon.)

My long term plan has been to switch back to Saxon for High School.  We have a co-op here that I hope to join for a few subjects, which uses Saxon.  After discussing it with the boys' new math tutor, and having her compare programs, we realized just how much Teaching Textbooks is missing.  It seems to start out about 1/2 year behind or so, but by High School it seems to be about 2 years behind!

Needless to say we will be switching back to Saxon next year, at least for the oldest two.   After taking the placement tests my soon to be 7th grader (who just completed TT 6 and has been tutored with Saxon to help catch him up the past couple months) will still be going back to Saxon 7/6 (6th grade math).  My plan is to put both boys in the same level together and have a tutor come once a week to help with any challenging areas.

I still haven't decided what to do with my girls.  Twinkle Toes, who is going into 4th grade could move right over to Saxon 5/4.  This would probably be the ideal thing to do for her.  Chiquita who is just completing 2nd grade will probably continue with Teaching Textbooks 4 and move on to Teaching Textbooks 5, keeping her ahead a couple grades until we are ready to switch her back over to Saxon as well.  Decisions, decisions...

As for Snuggles, he has been using Singapore Essential Math which he has enjoyed.  I never did get to much Calendar Work with him and he definitely needs some practice there...  (That is one thing I've missed from the Elementary Saxon books!  I'm actually considering going back to Saxon 1 with him next year, now that I've sold all my old books! lol I think he'd really do well with the program.)  I've also been happy with Times Tales, as well as a couple math apps recommended by Charlotte:  Speed (definitely a favorite with my kids!) and Dragon Box.  For next year I am also planning on purchasing the actual Speed Card game for the children to play against each other as well, since they enjoy the app so much.

— 3 —

Maybe it was because of the accident in the fall, but we were all ready for a change from Exploring Creation... The older boys were also ready for something a little more challenging to prepare them for High School so we switched them half way through the year to Concepts and Challenges in Science Book 1. They have just completed the sections on Biology and Chemistry.  I have been very happy with this change and they will continue using this series next year.  (Note: If anyone out there has hardcover versions of Concepts and Challenges in Science Book 1, 2, or 3 that you are interested in selling please contact me!  These books are so hard to find...)

The girls are still working on completing Exploring Creation With Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day and their Notebooking Journals, but I will be switching programs for them next year too.  At least for now... We will probably go back to the Exploring Creation Series again at some point.



Anyways, I just purchased Focus on Elementary Chemistry and Focus on Middle School Chemistry for next year. I have a few more pictures to share, but you can also read more about these books on the publisher's website Real Science 4 Kids or at Emmanuel Books.

— 4 —

The boys are still working on completing our American History Studies for this year.  You can see our Election Study here and I still need to post the pictures from our Civil War Unit Study.   The boys have also nearly completed their Industrial Revolution to the Great Depression Unit Study. So that just leaves World War II which we might try and study over the summer going back to Ancient History in the fall.



The girls have also continued to enjoy their American (Girl) History studies!  I still need to post pictures of their Kirsten and Addy Lap Books and they are currently working on Samantha and Kit.

— 5 —

Everyone has completed their Maps Charts and Graphs workbooks and I've already ordered the next in the series for the fall.  We've also continued to make very slow progress through our State-by-State study.  Whenever things get too busy this is the first to get set aside...

I'm sure the kids will all want to continue making their way through the states, but next year I'd like to move on to World Geography.  That reminds me of a question I have for all of you...  I'd love to hear any thoughts you all have on Classically Catholic Memory.   Has anyone used in in a home setting, and if so how have you liked it?

— 6 —

In addition to our usual Baltimore Catechism studies, the children all just about finished with their Living In God's Church textbooks and their various assigned stories from Young People's Book of Saints, Golden Legend of Young Saints, Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls, and More Tales for Boys and Girls.

The highlight of the year was definitely the election of our new Holy Father and our Papal Lap Books!

— 7 —

Throughout the year we have studied a couple composers, though piano lessons needed to be put on hold for now, to spend the funds (from our charter school allotment) on extra tutoring.  We also had to take a break from organized sports.  On the plus side it left lots of family time and afternoons and weekends spent playing outside in addition to a couple little road trips.  It has been such a great year!

The other things we weren't able to get to included Blue Knights and Little Women Hospitality.  It is so much harder to "make the time" when it's not done in a group setting.  I am thankful that we were at least able to still have a Mother-Daughter Tea Party!  I'm still considering if I want to coordinate actual groups again next year or not... We'll see.

I've been trying to get all my plans for next year finished by the end of the month and start creating new color-coded checklists for next year.  The checklists were such a blessing and really did help keep us on track!

I may not have gotten to everything I had originally planned, and we may be struggling in a couple areas, but over all I think it was a very productive and successful school year.

For additional Quick Takes visit Conversion Diary.

Catholic Daily Planners and the Church Calendar

One of the frequent questions I am asked is how I keep track of the upcoming feast days, and whether or not I have a favorite planner.

Just the other day Annie left the following comment on my Keeping Track and Making Progress {Daily Checklists and Planners for the School Year} post from last year:

This post was very helpful to me! I switched to the checklists midyear, and it was so much easier. Thank you! I'm looking for a new calendar to keep track of feast day celebrations. Do you have a preference between the Tan one and The Catholic Daily Planner now that you've used both?

Since I actually just ordered a couple new planners for the next school year, I thought this would be a great time to revisit the topic and try to answer Annie's question.

When I recommend a Catholic Planner I always suggest either the Saints Calendar & 16-Month Planner published by TAN (I've been using this calendar for many years) or the Catholic Daily Planner by Michele Quigley (I just purchased my 3rd annual planner).  

[UPDATE:  You can visit TAN Books / Neumann Press via my new Affiliate link here!  Thank you!] 

Last year I was also given a review copy of the Holy Simplicity Planner (I blogged about it here.) but after discovering that the publisher practices *Sedevacantism and the planner follows the General Roman Calendar of 1954 (which is currently used by the Sedevantists and is not the current calendar used by Traditional Catholics in good standing with the Holy See)  I removed the links from my blog and can no longer recommend the Holy Simplicity planner in good conscious.

*Sedevacantism (derived from the Latin words sedes or "seat", and vacans or "vacant") is the position, held by a minority of Traditionalist Catholics, that the present occupant of the papal see is not truly Pope and that, for lack of a valid Pope, the see has been vacant since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958. A tiny number of these claim the vacancy actually goes back to the death of Pope Pius X in 1914.  Sedevacantists believe that Paul VI (1963–1978), John Paul I (1978), John Paul II (1978–2005), Benedict XVI (2005–2013), and Francis (2013–present) have been neither true Catholics nor true Popes, by virtue of allegedly having espoused the heresy of Modernism, or of having otherwise denied or contradicted solemnly defined Catholic dogmas. Some of them classify John XXIII (1958–1963) also as a Modernist antipope.  Source: Wikipedia

My family is Catholic. While I agree that there are problems to resolve within the Church, Vatican I reminds us that we won't be left without successors to the throne of Peter. As much as I wish we had more frequent access to Traditional Latin Masses (approved by the Holy Father), I am very thankful that we still have all the sacraments, and trust that the Pope, Bishops, Priests, and Masses we have are valid. When choosing a Calendar to help my family follow and celebrate the liturgical year at home it is important for me to know that the one I am using does indeed follow the currently approved Church Calendar, whether it is the New (Novus Ordo) General Roman Calendar or the (Traditional/Extraordinary) General Calendar of 1962 (used, with permission, by the FSSP and other Traditionalists in good standing with the Holy See).

Now that I've become aware of some of the issues with other "Catholic" planners I very much appreciate that both the Tan Saints Calendar and Michele Quigley's Catholic Daily Planner both very cleary state the current Church Calendars on which their planners are based, and do so throughout the planners.

Saints Calendar:  This Saints Calendar and Daily Planner - 2013 includes both the New or Novus Ordo Sundays and feast days, and the Traditional Sundays and feast days (as of 1962).  These latter are observed when the Traditional Latin Mass is offered.  The Novus Ordo Sundays and feast days, which date from 1970 or later whenever they differ from the Traditional ones, are designated: (New). The Traditional Sundays and feast days, most of which go back centuries, are designated: (Trad.). Also included here are any feast days which no longer appear on either the New or the Traditional calendar (as of 1962) - such as the feasts of St. Philomena, St. Dismas (the Good Thief), St. Tarcisius, St. Gemma Galgani and St. Dominic Savio; these Historical feasts are designated: (Hist.). It should be noted that there was some moving around of feast days even before the New Calendar was introduced in 1970.  For example, St. Catherine of Sweden is shown in March 22 in a 1931 edition of Butler's Lives of the Saints but on March 24 in a 1956 edition of the same work. In this calendar, the date in parentheses after the name of a Saint is the year of the Saint's death.

Catholic Daily Planner:  It is built on the standard guidelines of both the Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI in 1970 used in the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite and the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and reissued by Bl. John XXIII in 1962 used in the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite, as well as the particular calendar for the United States of America.  It does not represent all possible variants.

Anyways, back to Annie's question... Do I have a preference between the Tan and the Catholic Daily Planner now that I've used both?  

This is really a tough question for me to answer since I do (and plan to continue) use both planners each year!  My husband's mother always gives us each a copy of the Saints Calendar for Christmas, and I use it for the Calendar Year (Jan-Dec).   I also purchase a copy of The Catholic Daily Planner to go along with our school year (July-August) though I do believe Michele also sells a Calendar Year version as well.  

Since I've been using the Saints Calendar from Tan for so long, it is still my preference for planning our Saint Day Celebrations.   I love that it includes the New, Traditional, and Historical Feast Days for every day of the year.  I love that it highlights a saint each week.  It also includes lists of all the Saints' Days & Non Moveable Feasts, Patron Saints, and so much more.  This planner sits on my desk year round and is the calendar I reference when I am working on organizing the archives at Catholic Cuisine, writing my submissions for the Quiet Moments & Celebrate section at Catholic Digest, or planning our own family feast day celebrations.    (You can see some sample photos in this post. The Saints Calendar is currently sold out for 2013.)

There are also some things that I really love about the Catholic Daily Planner!  There are pages to include Personal Information, Friends & Contacts, and even a Web Log to easily remember all your favorite websites and blogs (like Shower of Roses, right? lol)! Since it does not include a featured saint for each week, there is more room for recording our daily plans and activities.  There is a 5 page section with Daily Prayers and inspiring quotes included throughout the planner.  I also love that it includes the Papal Prayer Intentions for each month!  

You can also customize the Catholic Daily Planner with your choice from a number of lovely cover options. You can also choose between a Full-Size or Half-Size Planner,  and you can add optional Lesson and/or Menu Planners to the back!  In the past I have always chosen the cover option 3LI (Bouguereau's L'Innocence), which is definitely my favorite, but this year I went with 5AG for a change. They are all beautiful!  I also prefer the Half-Sized Planner, which can easily fit inside my purse, since I do use it to keep track of all our appointments and extra-curricular activities.  And even though I have added the Menu-Planner in the past, I think the new separate Full-Size Menu Planner will be perfect for me. 

In summary, here is what works for me:

• Saints Calendar & 16-Month Planner (for all Feast Day Celebrations and Plans)
• Half-Sized Catholic Daily Planner  (for all Appointments, School Plans, etc)
• Full-Sized Menu Planning Booklet (Menu Planning)
• Color-Coded Check Lists (Lesson Plans & Goals - Mom)
• Weekly Check Lists (Lesson Plans - Children - We've tried other lessons planners in the past, but always come back to our own modifiable weekly check lists.)
• Magnetic Saints Calendar (Feast Day Calendar Magnets for the children, based on the 1962 calendar)

I really don't think you can go wrong with either the Saints Calendar or the Catholic Daily Planner.  They are both excellent planners which I highly recommend!   Hopefully the above descriptions will help you decide which is the best fit for you and your family.  

Keeping Track and Making Progress {Daily Planners and Checklists for the School Year}

Since I prefer designing our own curriculum each year, rather than purchasing a boxed curriculum conveniently complete with lesson plans and syllabi, I usually try and create my own plans and checklists. Each year has been different. When the older boys were younger, and using lots of workbooks, I would fill a page divider in their binders with all of their worksheets for the week.  As they finished the assignments they would move them to another page divider for all their "completed" work.  Some years we just used individual lesson planners to schedule and record our work.  (That didn't work too well, though I wouldn't mind giving it another try now that they are older.) The last couple years, I've been making checklists, inspired mostly by Sarah at Amongst Lovely Things.  Checklists have been perfect for us!

Here is a peek at the checklists I made the kids this last school year, in addition to our History Unit Study Checklists.   (Note: I always try and leave Friday free for attending Mass and catching up on any unfinished school work and projects.)

(Click to enlarge)

Each weekend I would update and print the lists for the upcoming week, after reviewing each child's work.   It was working wonderfully, until the baby arrived...  After that I just didn't have the extra time or energy to continue.    The kids continued completing their school work, but they really missed having their check lists. This year I knew I wanted to find an easier way... 

Inspired once again by Sarah and her Color-Coded Progress Lists, we began the year with beautiful colorful checklists, listing our"color-coded" goals for each of our four semesters.   This is such a awesome idea and has been making it so easy for the children (and mom!) to keep track of where they are in each subject, while being able to see their progress and overall goals for the whole school year at a glance. 

Sarah has generously shared her modifiable documents over at her blog. I created my own documents with tables in Microsoft Word, using the same idea and colors.  (They were perfect picks after all: Orange for Fall, Red for Christmas, Purple for Lent, and Green for Spring!)   

CaptainLessonPlans2012-2013 by Jessica

.: Links to our Checklists :.

I've uploaded copies of my completed documents to Scribd, for anyone who would like a peek at our plans for the year:

Family Work

Captain :: 6th Grade

Rascal :: 5th Grade

Twinkle Toes :: 3rd Grade

Chiquita :: 2nd Grade

Snuggles :: Kindergarten

UPDATE:   Since I've had so many requests, I uploaded the actual modifiable word documents to Scribd as well.  You can find them here: Family, Captain, Rascal, Twinkle Toes, Chiquita, Snuggles (includes Alphabet Path).   When you click to download the documents just be sure to select "DOCX" to be sure you download the Word Document and not a Scribd PDF.   Depending on your computer the formatting will probably be off, but you can change the fonts, etc, to your own preference. Hopefully it will save some time for those of you that have students using a similar curriculum!  In exchange, would you please just offer a prayer for my family!  :)  

For Snuggles I am also making a checklist for each letter of the Alphabet, as I finalize our plans.   So far I have only made the checklists for the letters A-C:

Along the Alphabet Path A-C

"When we once begin to form good resolutions, 

God gives us every opportunity of carrying them out."

~ St. John Chrysostom

.: Organizing the Checklists :.

Using a 40% off (all Martha Stewart!) coupon, I purchased some Martha Stewart Office Supplies at Staples this fall.  I choose a pretty Black Damask three-ringed binder to hold the checklists.

I placed the "Family Work Checklists" in the front of the binder, followed by a section for each of the kids, using five Blue Paper Dividers.



At the back of the the "Family Work" Section I have printed pages for recording all of our extra Literature Read-Alouds.  The page pictured above is the record for our October Read-Alouds...  I'm still working on reading The Telmaj to the kids, and in the meantime they have already listened to four other audio books!  Yes, we are an audio book loving family!  I'm just not fast enough for the kids... :)

*I LOVE seeing that we are AHEAD in some subjects!  

.:  Weekly Checklists :.

(Click to enlarge)

I also made generic weekly checklists for each child so they have a general idea of what they need to accomplish each week.  I'm not updating them with the actual assignments and lesson numbers (that just takes too much time with this many kids) but so far these have also been really helpful.  On Monday morning I post the checklists on the pantry door in the kitchen.   That way, when they ask for extra privileges (i.e. watch a video, play a Wii game, etc) I can glance at their weekly checklist to see if they are caught up on their schoolwork before giving an answer.   At the end of the week I go over the checklist with each child, and update our Color-Coded Checklists in my binder.   Now I just need to come up with something similar for chores! ;)

"Without work, it is impossible to have fun."

~ St. Thomas Aquinas

.: Daily Planners :.

While I'm on the subject of planning, some of you have been asking about my daily planners and calendars...   Even though  I have tried using my computer and phone apps to get organized, I always fall back on my printed calendars and day planners.



I've already blogged about our Favorite Catholic Calendars.   This year, in addition to our wall calendar and Saints Calendar/Planner (which sits next to my computer to easily reference feast days and plan our celebrations), I am using two other Day Planners.

The first is my Half Sized Catholic Daily Planner. It fits perfectly in my purse, and it's what I use for scheduling and keeping track of all of our appointments and activities that take us out of the home.

I also was given a copy of the Holy Simplicity Planner.  I've been using this Full Size planner to jot down notes each week, plan our menus, and record some of our weekly accomplishments that aren't accounted for on our checklists (i.e. various science experiments, feast day celebrations, etc.).  

Note:  The Tan Saints Calendar and the Catholic Daily Planner include the feast days for both the Extraordinary AND New Church calendars!  The Holy Simplicity Planner is based exclusively on an [UPDATE: older version - not the current Traditional Calendar] of the Extraordinary Church calendar.  [UPDATE: I am no longer using the Holy Simplicity Planner, and will not be using it agin in the future.] 

My favorite part of this planner was the Weekly Planning Sheet which is found in the Reproducible Section in the back.  I may change my mind, but for now I'm posting it inside my broom closet in the kitchen... It was either there, or on my laundry room freezer, and lately I've been sweeping multiple times each day, and spending very little time doing laundry...  [UPDATE: I wasn't consistent with using these either, and had the most luck with the above color-coded checklists I made for myself. LOVED those and will be making them for the 2013-2014 school year too.]

Anyhow, I'm still working on updating our old daily schedule, which has been quite challenging.   If only there were a few more hours in the day!   I'll be sure to share it with you all if I ever do figure it out.

"The goal of all our undertakings should 
be not so much a task perfectly completed 
as the accomplishment of the will of God."

~ St. Therese of Lisieux

Inspiration for the New School Year

Why Homeschool

I shared the link to this beautiful homily over on my Facebook page a week or so ago, and was going to add it to my last Daybook post as well.  I changed my mind and decided it really deserved a post of it's own, that way I'll be able to find it easier when I need to listen to it again in a month or two.  ;)  

It is so inspiring and encouraging - just what I needed to hear as we begin our new school year!   

 Note:  Here is a link to the conditions for sharing this sermon.  I just offered three Hail Mary's for the priests that preach the sermons at Audio Sancto, and ask you all to do the same.  Thank you! 

Prayer for Homeschoolers

Dear Lord, bless me in my decision to homeschool my children. Grant me the grace of peace and determination in this awesome endeavor. Lead me to the proper materials for the instruction of each of my children, so that their individual talents and skills will be nurtured and they will grow in intelligence to the fullness of their abilities. Give me the strength to persevere when the weight of being teacher, mother, wife, and housekeeper seems too much to bear. Help me to maintain my household and family school, knowing that there will be times when one or both may seem to suffer, but confident that you will assist me in restoring harmony to both in good time. Allow me the contentment of heart and knowledge that the proper formation of my children's minds holds importance far above many of the callings of this world. Bestow on me courage to overcome the criticisms of those who disagree with me in this effort, keeping ever mindful that the growing of my children in knowledge and grace will be for your glory, and the trials I must endure are for my personal sanctification. Amen.

Prayer to Our Lady for Homeschooling Parents

Blessed Mother, as you so humbly and graciously accepted God's will to bear and raise His only son, and to guide him in wisdom and virtue, help me in the instruction and education of my children. Pray to your Heavenly Son to grant me the grace and strength to assist in their learning, overcoming tiredness and discouragement. Assist me in the management of my home, so that I may be able to keep order and peace, despite the challenges of schooling within it. Intercede for me, imploring Our Heavenly Father to bestow upon me wisdom, not for my own sake, but so that I may form my children's minds and hearts, so that they may grow into strong adults, helping to shape the world for His glory, and ultimately inheriting the kingdom of heaven. Call upon your heavenly angels to stand by my side, with their great intelligence, to help me understand that which I am instructing, and assist my children in learning of same. We humbly ask this through you beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

May the most just, most high, and most adorable will of God
 be in all things done, praised and magnified forever.

Our Curriculum Plans :: 2012-2013

Our new school year is just around the corner!   This coming year our oldest boys will be going into 6th and 5th grade, the older girls will be in 3rd and 2nd, and Snuggles will begin Kindergarten.

I have been busy working on creating our curriculum plans for this coming year, and making some changes, as usual... I was very happy with last year's choices for Math, Spelling, Science, History, Geography, Religion, and Music, but we definitely needed to make some changes for Writing and Grammar.   Even though we really enjoyed the first couple levels of Writing With Ease and First Language Lessons, the later levels just weren't a good fit for us anymore.  Since we have all been so happy with The Phonetic Zoo, we decided to take the plunge and try a few more of the products from Institute for Excellence in Writing.   (They offer a 100% guarantee, so what did we have to lose?)  I bought Teaching Writing with Structure and Style for me, the Student Writing Intensive, Level A and Fix It! Grammar for our oldest three, Primary Arts of Language: Writing for Chiquita, and Linguistic Development Though Poetry Memorization for everyone.   We worked through a couple lessons during the summer and so far I have been very happy with everything!

Our History Study from this last year was a favorite!   I had planned 6 units for the year, and we were only able to complete the first four:  New World Explorers, Colonial Life, The American Revolution, and The Early 19th Century.  This year we will complete the remaining two units on The Civil War and The Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression, as well as a unit on U.S. Presidents and the Election Study and a unit on World War II.   The plan is to spend one semester on each unit, allowing plenty of time for our reading selections and activities.

With our new little guy this last year, we also weren't able to finish our Holling C. Holling Map Study... So this year we plan on finally completing the 3rd and 4th Maps, based on the books Minn of the Mississippi and Seabird.  I'm also hoping that we can wrap up our State-by-State Study this year...  It should be fun!

One other addition to our lesson plans will be the formal study of Latin.  I had purchased, and planned to use, Prima Latina a few years ago, but at that time (since we were focusing on correcting auditory processing challenges, and improving reading skills) it just wasn't a priority and didn't happen.   This year the four oldest will be completing the course together.   Looking though the Student Workbook, it is going to be really easy for my oldest two, but a gentle introduction will be perfect for them.  They can move on to either Latina Christiana or First Form Latin next year.

I'm still working on Kindergarten plans for Snuggles...  Last year we began the All About Reading's Program (Pre-1), but after progressing through the first lessons I realized that Snuggles just wasn't quite ready for formal reading instruction.  We went back to just reading lots of pictures books and will pick up where we left off this year.   He is very excited to get back to "his" school work!

Here is the breakdown for each of our students:

Captain :: 6th Grade

Math:
Teaching Textbooks 6

Math Facts Drill and Practice
Times Tales

Language Arts:
Phonetic Zoo, finish Level A, start Level B
Student Writing Intensive, Level A
Handwriting 5 for Young Catholics
Fix It! (applied grammar)
English from the Roots Up (with flashcards)

Literature/Reading::

• The Hardy Boys Series by Franklin W. Dixon
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
• Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
• Various Historical Reading Selections

Latin:
Prima Latina

Science:
Exploring Creation With Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day
Exploring Creation with Zoology 2 Notebooking Journal with Lab Kit

American History: (complete 1 unit per quarter)
U.S. Presidents and Election Study
Civil War
Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression
World War II

Geography: 
Maps Charts and Graphs, Level E and Level F
Continue/Complete State Scrapbook 

Complete Holling C. Holling Geography Map Study

Religion:
Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 2

The Bible (Chapters of Mark & Luke with discussion questions)
Living in God's Church (Living My Religion Series)

Young People's Book of Saints

Music:
Continue Composer Study
Piano Lessons

Rascal :: 5th Grade

Math:
Teaching Textbooks 5

Math Facts Drill Sheets
Times Tales

Language Arts: 

Phonetic Zoo, finish Level A, start Level B

Student Writing Intensive, Level A

Handwriting 5 for Young Catholics

Fix It! (applied grammar)

English from the Roots Up (with flashcards)

Literature/Reading:

• The Hardy Boys Series by Franklin W. Dixon
• Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
• Various Historical Reading Selections

Latin:

Prima Latina

Science:
Exploring Creation With Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day

Exploring Creation with Zoology 2 Notebooking Journal and Lab Kit

American History: (complete 1 unit per quarter)
U.S. Presidents and Election Study
Civil War

Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression 

World War II

Geography: 
Maps Charts and Graphs, Level E
Continue/Complete State Scrapbook 

Complete Holling C. Holling Geography Map Study

Religion:
Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 2
Living through God's Gifts (Living My Religion Series)

Golden Legend of Young Saints
Blue Knights - Year Three (continue)

Music: 
Continue Composer Study
Piano Lessons

Twinkle Toes :: 3rd Grade

Math:
Teaching Textbooks 3 (complete and then move on to level 4)
Math Facts Drill & Practice

Language Arts:

Phonetic Zoo, Level A
Student Writing Intensive, Level A
Italic Handwriting - Level C & D
Fix It! (applied grammar)
Wordly Wise, Book A and Book B

Literature/Reading::

• The Gift of Summer Snow by Donna Alice Patton
• Happy Little Family by Rebecca Caudill
• Schoolhouse in the Woods by Rebecca Caudill
• Up and Down the River by Rebecca Caudill
• Schoolroom in the Parlor by Rebecca Caudill
• Various Historical Reading Selections

Latin:

Prima Latina

Science:
Exploring Creation With Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day
Zoology 2 Notebooking Journal - Junior and/or
Corresponding Lapbooks for Lessons 1-5 and 6-13

American History: (complete 1 unit per quarter)
U.S. Presidents and Election Study - Marie-Grace & Cecile Unit Study (1853)

Civil War - Addy Unit Study (1864)

Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression - Samantha & Kit Unit Study (1934)

World War II - Molly Unit Study (1944)

Geography:
Maps Charts and Graphs, Level C
Continue 50 States Study with Baking and Notebook Pages
Complete Holling C. Holling Geography Map Study

Religion:
The New Baltimore Catechism No. 1
Living through God's Gifts
Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls
More Tales for Boys and Girls

Music:
Continue Composer Study
Piano Lessons

Homemaking & Hospitality:
Little Women Hospitality Program - Year 1 with Student Companion
Tea & Cake with the Saints
Mother's Little Helper
Sewing With Saint Anne

Chiquita :: 2nd Grade

Math:
Teaching Textbooks 3
Flashcard Apps 

Calendar Journal

Language Arts:

Primary Arts of Language: Writing with DVD-ROM (Part 2 & 3)
All About Spelling  - Level 1 (complete) and Level 2
Wordly Wise, Book A and Book B
Explode the Code 3 and 4
Italic Handwriting - Book A, B & C
Daily Reading (including aloud)

Latin:

Prima Latina

Science:
Exploring Creation With Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day
Zoology 2 Notebooking Journal - Junior and/or
Corresponding Lapbooks for Lessons 1-5 and 6-13

American History: (complete 1 unit per quarter)
U.S. Presidents and Election Study - Marie-Grace & Cecile Unit Study (1853)

Civil War - Addy Unit Study (1864)

Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression - Samantha & Kit Unit Study (1934)

World War II - Molly Unit Study (1944) 

Geography:
Maps Charts and Graphs, Level B
Continue 50 States Study with Baking and Notebook Pages
Complete Holling C. Holling Geography Map Study

Religion: 
The New Baltimore Catechism No. 1

Living by God's Law

Complete First Confession Lap Book

Complete First Holy Communion Lap Book

Music:
Continue Composer Study
Piano Lessons

Homemaking & Hospitality:

Little Women Hospitality Program - Year 1 with Student Companion

Tea & Cake with the Saints

Mother's Little Helper

Sewing With Saint Anne

Snuggles :: Kindergarten

Math:
Singapore Essential Math A & B 

Calendar Work

Language Arts:

All About Reading - Pre-1
Primary Arts of Language: Writing (Part 1)

Letter Formation (Handwriting without Tears Hands-On Materials)
Picture Books and Narration

Science:  (Alphabet Theme)

Picture Book Science 

Arts & Crafts:  (Alphabet Theme)

Picture Study

Modeling Wax Creations & Letters

Letter Themed Crafts, Recipes, and Activities

Religion:
Bible Stories and Narration
Our Heavenly Father
Catholic ABC Coloring Book

Saint/Virtue/Catholic Theme of the Week (Alphabet Theme)

Blue Knights Saint and Virtue Study, Year 1

* We will be doing a simplified version of Along the Alphabet Path, which the girls enjoyed so much a couple years ago - spending two weeks on each letter for reinforcing letter formation, picture books science, arts & crafts, and religion.   

Family Work 

Religion:
Celebrating the Liturgical Year (as always)
Saints for Young People for Every Day of the Year - Volume 1 and Volume 2 (Dad reads at dinner - we have the old hardcover versions)

Poetry:

Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization

Music:

An Introduction to the Classics - The Vox Music Masters Collection (Including The Story of Bach, The Story Of Handel, The Story of Beethoven, The Story of Mozart, and more...
Composers Lap Book
Various Books by Opal Wheeler

Test Preparation:
I also plan to have the tutor (who will be coming over once a week) work with the boys on test taking skills using Core Skills: Test Preparation Workbooks, as well as logic skills using Logic Countdown, Logic Liftoff, and Orbiting With Logic.

Now I just need to finish creating our checklists and lesson plans, and we'll be ready to get started!