Homeschool Me!

Archive for the ‘Our Curriculum’ Category


Posted on December 14, 2009 - by

Year 1: Week 14

(December 14 – 18, 2009)
Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

*Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

Planning Day

  • Poetry – Free Reading:

    Amazing Peace, by Maya Angelou.

    Gorgeous book. Gorgeous illustrations. Gorgeous poetry – like I expected anything less from Ms. Angelou. This Christmas poem was written for the 2005 White House Tree Lighting ceremony and celebrates the promise of peace in the holiday season.

    As a side note, the book we checked out also included a CD of Ms. Angelou reading her own poem. I’m generally a fan of listening to authors read their own work; however, this particular rendition didn’t do it for me. I’m not sure she had the book in front of her while she was reading, because there are several pages of the book that you have to flip through quite quickly in order to keep up with her pace. Because of that, I feel like we missed out on some of the beauty of the poem and the illustrations of the book. We’ll read it again, more slowly to enjoy the message of the poem and stare a little longer at the detailed illustrations.

School Day

  • To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
  • Reading Log: Record non-school books Kate’s read for the reading program called Book It!.
  • Memory Work: “God became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” John 1:14 (My mix of The Message and NLT)
  • Spirituality: “He’s Here” (Birth of Jesus), The Jesus Storybook Bible, pgs 176-183.
  • Language Arts: Learn some of the parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective). Do an online madlib together.
  • History:
  • Literature: “A Raven and a Swan”, from Aesop’s Fables (Milo Winter Edition).
  • Geography:
    • Chapter 11 of Paddle to the Sea, by Holling C. Holling.
    • Fill in another square of our Paddle to the Sea Story Board with a picture depicting this chapter and a one sentence summary on the back.
  • Math:
    • Read Money Madness, by David Adler.
    • Discuss the ideas of bartering and how money came into being.
  • Poetry: Selected Poems from A Child’s Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis Stevenson. (during Tea Time.)

Library Day

  • Literature – Free Reading:
    The Princess Who had Almost Everything, by Mireille Levert.

    A book about a princess who is constantly bored. Finally her parents offer her hand in marriage to the prince who can keep her attention and amuse her. The prince who wins her hand was most clever, indeed. But, I won’t spoil the ending by telling you how he does it. :)
    Needless to say, this would be a fun book to read if your little one has been complaining of boredom recently. Who knows, it might even give them an idea or two to try for themselves…

School Day

Field Trips/Nature Study

  • Literature – Free Reading:

    Gaston, the Green-Nosed Alligator, by James Rice.

    A fun, Cajun rendition of the Rudolph story only with an alligator. This book has been in my family since I was a little girl since both my parents are from Louisiana. So fun to find eccentric Christmas stories instead of the same ones over and over. :)


Posted on December 11, 2009 - by

Year 1: Week 13

(December 7 – 11, 2009)
Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

*Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

Planning Day

  • Literature – Free Reading:

    Ginger and Petunia, by Patricia Polacco.

    Cute book about a pig who takes on the persona of her owner who is away on vacation for a few days. A bit wordy for my 3 and 4 year old, my 6 year old was entranced by the descriptions of all the funny things that Petunia the Pig did in her owner’s stead.

School Day

    Library Day

    • Science – Free Reading:
      The Bizarre Body, by Katharine Kenah.

      A great beginning reader about the body. Interesting facts about the eyes, heart, finger nails, etc. The kids have loved digging into this book and then looking at eachother’s fingernails and eyes to see what the book is talking about.

    School Day

    Field Trips/Nature Study

    • Handicrafts:

      Project of the Month Club, a unique website that delivers craft, woodworking, and science projects to your door, sent me a couple of products to try out and blog about on this site and my other site The Mommy Journal. We have a stepstool and a tissue box cover to choose from for our craft today. If you’re interested in joining the club, be sure to enter the promo code “homeschoolme” for a 10% discount. Check back on this site for my blog article after we attempt this craft, too. Should be fun!


    Posted on November 13, 2009 - by

    Year 1: Week 11

    (November 9 – 13, 2009)
    Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

    *Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

    Planning Day

    • Science – Free Reading:

      Voyage Ocean, by John Woodward.

      Another non-fiction book we picked up at our local library. The kids loved looking at all the incredible pictures of ocean life, the sea floor, underwater volcanoes, and so much more. To add to the fun, this book is actually a circular book that is contained in it’s own circular box and each circle page is devoted to a different animal or topic. The verbaige was over their heads for sure, but the pictures were excellent.

    School Day

    Library Day

    • Handicrafts – Free Reading:
      Ed Emberleys Fingerprint Drawing Book, by Ed Emberley.

      Another of Kate’s picks. She so enjoys any kind of artwork, that this was totally up her alley. Of course, we already love Ed Emberley’s stuff because it is so simple to follow his step-by-step drawing instructions. Perfect for a beginner, or a non-artist who can only draw circles and lines like myself. :)

    School Day

    Field Trips/Nature Study

    • Literature – Free Reading:

      Nuts to You, by Lois Ehlert.

      Another of our favorite authors, Lois Ehlert doesn’t disappoint. The art is amazing as usual and the adorable story about a squirrel and his nut definitely makes the kiddos smile.


    Posted on November 6, 2009 - by

    Year 1: Week 10

    (November 2 – 6, 2009)
    Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

    *Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

    Planning Day

    • Science – Free Reading:

      The Digestive System, by Christine Taylor-Butler.

      Every time we go to the library, I encourage my kids to check out at least one or two non-fiction books to encourage their natural curiosity about things other than story books. This past week, both Ethan (my 4yo ds), and Kate picked out a book about the digestive system. This series of books also includes the other body systems (circulatory, skeletal, etc). The information is laid out in easy 1-2 page ‘chapters’ on different topics. The ‘chapter’ we read was about burping. Of course, my ds was completely enthralled! That’s one of his favorite things to talk about! :)

    School Day

    Library Day

    School Day

    • To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
    • Reading Log: We’ve started a reading program called Book It!, where Kate sets a monthly goal of how much she wants to read (either pages, time, or number of books). At the end of the month, if she’s reached her goal, she gets a coupon to Pizza Hut for a free personal sized pizza. She’s set a goal for November of 20 non-school books.
    • Memory Work: “Be thankful in all circumstances,for this is the way God wants you to live.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18.(My mash up of NLT and The Message.)
    • Spirituality: Kate wanted to read about another ‘amazing person’ today and chose “Black Elk”, from Ten Amazing People: And How They Changed the World, by Maura D. Shaw.
    • Geography:
      • Chapter 9 of Paddle to the Sea, by Holling C. Holling.
      • Fill in another square of our Paddle to the Sea Story Board with a picture depicting this chapter and a one sentence summary on the back.
    • History:
    • Literature: “How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin”, from Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling.
    • Math: Read The Coin Counting Book, by Rozanne Lanczak Williams.

      Great introduction to the concept of money/coins. Covers ALL the denominations including half dollars and dollar coins, too. Love the photography, too, as it’s not all of just one side of the coin. It shows both sides of the coin, and almost never is it shown straight up and down. Great way to help kids recognize coins from any different angle.

    Field Trips/Nature Study

    • Literature – Free Reading:

      Ignis, by Gina Wilson.
      A story of a little dragon who can’t find his flame, Ignis goes on a quest to find out who he really is, since he can’t be a real dragon without fire! As he discovers who he’s not, he’s reminded that his flame can be found inside. A happy ending allows for a great discussion with kiddos about finding their true passion or true self inside.

    Posted on October 30, 2009 - by

    Year 1: Week 9

    (October 26 – October 30, 2009)
    Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

    *Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

    Planning Day

    • Literature – Free Reading:
      Swimmy, by Leo Leonni.
      We love Leonni books, and this is no exception. Kate was really intrigued by the illustration style – he used sponges cut in different shapes to paint with. Would be great to do a craft with sponge painting along with this book!

    School Day

    • Here’s where I tell you one of the things that I love about homeschooling…

      FLEXIBILITY.

      It turns out that we had company coming over this week and we REALLY needed a solid day of cleaning to make the house presentable again. So, instead of stressing about school today and trying to figure out how to fit in the ‘normal’ schoolwork with a full day of cleaning, I decided to put off until Thursday all of our ‘formal’ schoolwork and just allow today to be a day of learning about how to clean a house. Kate was a real trooper and really did help most of the day, doing dishes, picking up toys, and putting away laundry. The way I see it, she will be living on her own someday and need to have her own cleaning skills honed by then. :) So, today, was one of those days…
    • Literature – Free Reading: Nobody Laughs at a Lion, by Paul Bright and Matt Buckingham. (Really cute book about a lion trying to find what he’s best at. Great way to teach that we all have unique strengths and differences and that just because someone might be better than us in one area, doesn’t mean we don’t have our own unique thing, too.)
    • Science: Watch Sid the Science Kid: The Bug Club DVD during nap time.

    Library Day

    • Literature – Free Reading:
      Mars Needs Moms, by Berkeley Breathed.
      Do any little children truly appreciate their mothers? This book reminds us all what moms are really good at and why we should appreciate what we have. Because on Mars, they don’t have Moms, they grow like potatoes from the ground… So sweet.

    School Day

    • To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
    • Reading Log: We’ve started a reading program called Book It!, where Kate sets a monthly goal of how much she wants to read (either pages, time, or number of books). At the end of the month, if she’s reached her goal, she gets a coupon to Pizza Hut for a free personal sized pizza. She’s set a goal for November of 20 non-school books.
    • Memory Work: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)
    • Bible: Adam and Eve’s First Sunset, by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso.
    • Literature: “The Farmer and the Stork”, from Aesop’s Fables (Milo Winter Edition).
    • Geography:
      • Chapter 8 of Paddle to the Sea, by Holling C. Holling.
      • Fill in another square of our Paddle to the Sea Story Board with a picture depicting this chapter and a one sentence summary on the back.
    • Natural History: A Tree is Nice, by Janice May Udry.
      • Complete “How We Use Trees” mini-book.
      • Discuss and diagram the Oxygen–>Carbon Dioxide Cycle between plants and animals.
    • Literature: “How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin” from Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling.
    • Foreign Language: Watch Signing Time!: My Favorite Things DVD during nap time.

    Field Trips/Nature Study

    • Literature – Free Reading:
      Tortoise and the Hare Race Again, by Dan Bernstein.
      “Ever since the lazy hare lost The Great Race, he has had trouble getting any kind of respect… Meanwhile, the champion tortoise is sorry he ever beat the hare. He can’t stand all the attention, and wants to go back to his quiet life at the shell station… This hilarious send-up of Aesop’s fable is filled with high jinks and pun fun.”

    Posted on October 23, 2009 - by

    Year 1: Week 8

    (October 19 – October 23, 2009)
    Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

    *Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

    Planning Day

    • Literature – Free Reading: Old Macdonald Had An Apartment House, by Judi Barrett. (Cute story about Old MacDonald as the Super of an apartment building. As his tenants move out, he uses their old apartments to plant vegetables. Great use of imagination as the carrots grow down through the ceiling of the apartment below, etc…)

    School Day

    • To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
    • Natural History: Record our observations of the Monarch caterpillars we’re rearing.
    • Memory Work: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)
    • Nature Study: We are starting a tree lapbook and will work on it a little bit at a time over the next 2-4 weeks. If you’d like to know more, check out my post about lapbooking.
    • Go to a local park with lots of different kinds of trees.
  • Copywork: I found this beautiful poem about trees and thought it fitting for our lapbook on trees.
    • Breath by: J. Daniel Beaudry
      Tree, gather up my thoughts
      like the clouds in your branches.
      Draw up my soul
      like the waters in your root.

      In the arteries of your trunk
      bring me together.
      Through your leaves
      breathe out the sky.

    • Library Day

    • Phonics – Additional Reading: NASCAR ABCs, by Paul Dubois Jacobs and Jennifer Swender. (Most ABC books aren’t all that great, but this one was perfect for my 4yo ds who loves race cars! It didn’t try to dumb all the words down, but used real terms (with a glossary at the back for those of us who didn’t know them all). Fun book!)

    School Day

    Field Trips/Nature Study

    • Literature – Free Reading: Elmer and the Lost Teddy, by David McKee. While we love Elmer stories – Elmer is a special multi-colored elephant that stands out amongst all his other elephant friends – this one wasn’t really our favorite.

    Posted on October 15, 2009 - by

    Year 1: Week 7

    (October 12 – October 16, 2009)
    Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

    *Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

    Planning Day

    • Music Appreciation – Free Reading: Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin, by Lloyd Moss. (Another Caldecott Winner – we seem to be on a kick with those lately. This one is about the different instruments of the orchestra – beautifully descriptive phrases about each highlighted instrument makes you almost hear the instrument. Great introduction to the different sections of the orchestra.)

    School Day

    • To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
    • Natural History: Record our observations of the Monarch caterpillars we’re rearing.
    • Memory Work: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)
    • Bible: “The Young Hero and the Horrible Giant” (David and Goliath), from The Jesus Storybook Bible, by Sally Lloyd-Jones, pgs 122-129.
    • Phonics: Review Short Vowel Sounds, idea from Better Phonics and Beyond in 5 Minutes a Day, by Lisa Deters, pg 9.
      • Fill in the vowel sound for each of the following words: “a” words: b_t, t_p, p_n; “e” words: h_n, n_t, b_lt; “i” words: w_n, p_g, sw_m; “o” words: d_g, kn_ck, p_t; “u” words: c_b, r_n, t_b
      • Read the words aloud being to sure to correctly pronounce the short vowel.
      • Place each complete word in a chart under the correct category of “things you can do”, “kinds of animals”, and “things you can use”. Can any words be used in more than one column?
    • World History:
    • Literature: “The Lion and the Mouse”, Aesop’s Fables (Milo Winter Edition).(Also found online here.)
    • Math: Place Value – watch this video, then do pg 184 in Brain Quest Grade 1 Workbook, by Lisa Trumbauer.

    • Geography:
      • Chapter 6 of Paddle to the Sea, by Holling C. Holling.
      • Fill in another square of our Paddle to the Sea Story Board with a picture depicting this chapter and a one sentence summary on the back.
    • Poetry: “Looking Forward” and “A Good Play”, from A Child’s Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis Stevenson. (during Tea Time)

    Library Day

    • History – Additional Reading: Pocahontas, by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire. (One of the “Additional Readings” suggested by AmblesideOnline.org for Year 1.)

    School Day

    • To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
    • Natural History: Record our observations of the Monarch caterpillars we’re rearing.
    • Memory Work: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)
    • Literature: “Shepherd Boy and the Wolf”, from Aesop’s Fables (Milo Winter Edition).
    • Literature:
      • Read “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, from Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb.
      • Use barbie dolls, puppets, and stuffed animals to ‘act out’ the story as we read along. There are too many characters with unfamiliar names in this story to be able to read it off the page alone. Following along with the puppets and barbies, Kate was actually able to understand the story and then retell the major points after we were finished reading.
    • Math: Place Value, from Brain Quest Workbook: Grade 1, by Lisa Trumbauer, pgs 185-188.
    • Phonics: Digraph ‘ch’, from Brain Quest Workbook: Grade 1, by Lisa Trumbauer, pgs 23.
    • History:
    • Natural History: Dot & Jabber and the Great Acorn Mystery, by Ellen Stoll Walsh. (during Tea Time)
    • Composer Study – Free Reading: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Mozart Finds a Melody, by Stephen Costanza. (during nap time.)

    Field Trips/Nature Study

    • Nature Study: Nature walk at the park across the street from Mercer Arboretum.
    • Math – Free Reading: Bean Thirteen, by Matthew McElligott. This cute little book about 2 bugs and their quandry over what to do with the ‘unlucky’ bean thirteen is quite cute and has some great math concepts incorporated, too.

    Posted on October 6, 2009 - by

    Shape Shooters

    Kate the "Shape Shooter"I got this idea from 100 Best Ideas for Primary Math, by Holly Sar Dye, M.A., to take Kate for a walk around the neighborhood. During our walk I encouraged her to look for different shapes and to take pictures of those objects for us to look at later. We would be “Shape Shooters” – shooting pictures of shapes on our walk. (Clever, I know…) I asked her to look for at least one circle, rectangle, square, triangle, diamond, oval, and octagon.

    I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun this activity was and how easy it was to find all sorts of shapes just on our cul-de-sac. I even brought along my husband’s fancy camera so I could shoot a few with her and really enjoyed shooting completely different subjects than I normally do.

    We took quite a few of the shots during our 15 minute walk. It would have been a MUCH longer walk if we hadn’t needed to get back quickly to eat lunch! Kate didn’t want to come back!
    (Continue reading this article…)


    Posted on October 6, 2009 - by

    Year 1: Week 6

    (October 5 – October 9, 2009)
    Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

    *Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

    Planning Day

    • Literature – Free Reading: The Twelve Dancing Princesses, by Marianna Mayer. (Beautifully illustrated version of this old story. Different from the ‘Barbie’ telling, this one has a little more depth of the characters and plot differences. Beautiful language used also. Definitely for kids with a little longer attention span.)

    School Day

    • To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
    • Natural History: Record our observations of the Monarch caterpillars we’re rearing.
    • Memory Work: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)
    • Copywork: “There is no woman in Rome so much like a queen as our own dear mother.” (from Cornelia’s Jewels in the History lesson below.)
    • Bible:
    • History:
    • Literature: “The Boy and the Filberts”, Aesop’s Fables (Milo Winter Edition).(Also found online here.)
    • Math: Shapes – Go for a ‘shape walk’ around the neighborhood. Take a camera on the walk and have Kate take pictures of the different shapes that she finds on our walk. Look for at least one circle, rectangle, square, triangle, diamond, oval, and octagon. (Read my post about being “Shape Shooters” for more details.) **This idea is from 100 Best Ideas for Primary Math, by Holly Sar Dye, M.A.
    • Phonics: Ending consonant sounds (l or ll and s or ss), from Brain Quest Grade 1 Workbook, by Lisa Trumbauer, pg 21.
    • Science: Can air help things float?, from How Does a Ship Float, by Jim Pipe.
    • Poetry: “The Average Hippopotamus”, from Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face, by Jack Prelutsky. (during Tea Time)

    Library Day

    • Natural History – Free Reading: A Mama for Owen, by Marion Dane Bauer. (Another book about Owen and Mzee and their incredible friendship. Beautiful drawings lend a soft tone to this book and the telling of the story is very sweet.)

    School Day

    Field Trips/Nature Study

    • Literature – Free Reading: There, by Mary-Louise Fitzpatrick.

    Posted on September 28, 2009 - by

    Year 1: Week 5

    (September 28 – October 2, 2009)
    Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

    *Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

    Planning Day

    • Literature – Free Reading: The Three Little Pigs, by David Wiesner. (Caldecott Winner that starts off with the traditional story. Then, as each little pig gets “huffed and puffed” right off the page of the story, the explore other stories. In the end they return to their own story, with a few new friends, and a different happy ending. Great book for teaching kids that they can change their own “story” in life by having a different perspective.)

    School Day

    Library Day

    • Poetry – Free Reading: Please Bury Me in the Library, by J. Patrick Lewis. (Book of poems about language, books, and libraries. Fun way to introduce all sorts of different types of poetry. Very cleverly written and illustrated,too.)

    School Day

    Field Trips/Nature Study

    • Nature Study: Go for a nature walk through our neighborhood. Collect pine cones, acorns, etc…
    • Handiwork: Make a pinecone votive.

    Posted on September 21, 2009 - by

    Year 1: Week 4

    (September 21-25, 2009)
    Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

    *Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

    Planning Day

    School Day

    Library Day

    • Nature Study – Free Reading: Actual Size, by Steve Jenkins (Fun book that illustrates lots of different animals in real size. One page is nothing but a giant eyeball – the eye of a giant squid! Great for learning bigger/smaller than me/Daddy/refrigerator.)

    School Day

    Field Trips/Nature Study

    • Science – Free Reading: One Giant Leap, by Robert Burleigh. (Beautiful book that tells the story of the Apollo astronauts first landing on the moon.)

    Posted on September 14, 2009 - by

    Year 1: Week 3

    (September 14-18, 2009)
    Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

    *Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

    Planning Day

    • Literature – Free Reading: Kate and the Giant Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne (A cute retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk where the heroine outwits the giant.)
    • Science – Free Reading: A Drop of Water, by Walter Wick (A beautiful book with close-up photography and explanantions of the different phenomena of how water works. We mainly looked at the pictures and then I would paraphrase the science behind what we were looking at. Probably best suited for mid to upper elementary students.)

    School Day

    • To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
    • Natural History: Record our observations of the Monarch caterpillars we’re rearing.
    • Memory Work: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)
    • Science: Do experiment “Evaporating Water”, from Science Projects About Rain, by Robert Gardner. Observe a saucer of plain water and a saucer of salt water over the next few hours and days to see what happens to the water and what’s left behind.
    • Literature: “The Donkey (Ass) and His Driver”, Aesop’s Fables (Milo Winter Edition), (also here online)
    • Bible: “The Girl No One Wanted” (Leah and Rachel), The Jesus Storybook Bible, pgs 70-75.
    • History:
    • Phonics:
      • Hard or Soft “G” and “C”, from Barbie Phonics Workbook, pg 28
      • “Soft or Hard, Let’s Find Them All” activity, from Better Phonics and Beyond in 5 Minutes a Day, by Lisa Deters. (Finding and cutting out words in a newspaper with g’s and c’s and placing them on a chart that shows soft vs hard.)
    • Nature Study: Start Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship, by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Dr. Paula Kahumbu. (A true story about the friendship that developed between a baby hippo named Owen and a 130-year-old giant tortoise named Mzee.)
    • Copywork: Finish writing out the second sentence of our Memory Work passage.
    • Math: ABC Math Riddles, by Janelle Martin
    • Poetry: “Foreign Lands”, A Child’s Garden of Verses (during Tea Time)
    • Geography: Chapter 1, Paddle to the Sea, Chapter 2 (listen to audio during nap time)

    Library Day

    • History – Free Reading: Helen Keller: The World in Her Heart , by Lesa Cline-ransome. (A biography of the incredible deaf and blind woman, Helen Keller, and her impressive teacher, Annie Sullivan, as they learned how to communicate through a system of sign language done in Helen’s hands.)

    School Day

    Field Trips/Nature Study


    Posted on September 8, 2009 - by

    Year 1: Week 2

    (September 7-11, 2009)
    Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

    *Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

    Planning Day

    School Day

    Library Day
    • Math – Free Reading: Museum 123 by The (NY) Metropolitan Museum of Art (A book of artwork from the museum that asks students to find the number of objects in each picture. Some pictures are more difficult to figure out which object to count, which makes it great for reading to a group that’s mixed in age.)
    • History – Free Reading: Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story Of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way To Fame, Fortune & Swimsuit History! by Shana Corey (A really inspiring story of the lady who invented water ballet and the modern swimsuit. My dd really loved the great illustrations and the encouraging story of this book.)

    School Day

    • To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
    • Natural History: Record our observations of the Monarch caterpillars we’re rearing.
    • Memory Work: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)
    • Copywork: Write out the second sentence of our Memory Work passage.
    • History:
    • Natural History: “Safety First” pgs 14-15, from Follow the Trail, by Jessica Loy
    • Phonics: Rhyme Collage Activity, from Phonemic Awareness Activities for Early Reading Success, by Wiley Blevins. Have student cut out magazine pictures of objects whose names rhyme and then make a rhyme collage with the pictures.
    • Literature: “The Eagle and the Jackdaw”, Aesop’s Fables (Milo Winter Edition)
    • Math: Card Game – War. Use “greater than”, “less than”, or “equal to” skills to play the card game War. (Click here for how to play)
    • History:
    • Artist Study:Raphael Sanzio’s “The Knight’s Dream”
    • Poetry: “Foreign Lands”, A Child’s Garden of Verses (during Tea Time)
    • Foreign Language: Watch Signing Time!: ABC Signs DVD during nap time.

    Field Trips/Nature Study
    • Poetry – Free Reading: Scranimals by Jack Prelutsky (A cute collection of poems about imaginary animal mash ups like the HippopotaMushrooms, RadiShark, RhinoceRose, etc. Great book for inspiring imaginative playing with words.)
    • History – Free Reading: What Charlie Heard by Mordicai Gerstein (A biography of Charles Ives – the Modern American composer who wrote music made to sound like every sounds of life. Great artwork to accompany the storyline helps the reader to better understand the way that Charles wrote and ‘heard’ the music in his head.

    Posted on September 3, 2009 - by

    Year 1: Week 1

    (August 31 – September 4, 2009)

    Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

    *Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

    Planning Day

    School Day

    • To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
    • Bible: “A New Beginning” (Noah’s Ark), The Jesus Storybook Bible, pgs 38-47
    • Memory Work: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)
    • Phonics: Review Long and Short Vowels, Phonics Grade 1 Workbook, pgs 17-19
    • History:
    • Copywork: Start writing all ABCs, upper and lower case, in journal to get a baseline of handwriting for this school year.
    • Poetry: “Bed in Summer”, A Child’s Garden of Verses

    • Math: Addition using a number line, Disney Addition and Subtraction Workbook, pg 9
    • Literature: “The Wolf and the Kid”, Aesop’s Fables (Dover Edition), pg 22-23 (also here online)
    • Poetry: “A Thought”, “At the Seaside”, A Child’s Garden of Verses (read during Tea Time after picking up ds from Mother’s Day Out. Click here to read the post where I got this fun idea.)
    • Literature – Free Reading: Today is the Birthday of the World, by Linda Heller and Alison Jay
    • Geography: Chapter 1, Paddle to the Sea (listen to audio during nap time, then draw a picture narration)

    Library Day

    School Day

    • To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
    • Natural History: Record our observations of the Monarch caterpillars we’re rearing. We released our second Monarch butterfly today! So exciting!
    • Memory Work: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)
    • Copywork: Finish writing all ABCs, upper and lower case, and numbers in journal to get a baseline of handwriting for this school year.

    • Literature: “A Lesson of Faith”, Parables from Nature, by Mrs. Alfred Gatty
    • Math: Single Digit Addition – drawing marks (x’s) to count, Disney Addition and Subtraction Workbook, pg 10
    • Literature: “The Tortoise and the Ducks”, Aesop’s Fables (Milo Winter Edition), pg 8 (also here online)
    • Phonics: Matching game – match beginning, middle, and ending sounds on matching cards with drawings of words, from Phonemic Awareness Activities for Early Reading Success, by Wiley Blevins
    • World History:
      • “The Stories of Albion and Brutus”, Chapter 1 of Our Island Story
      • Find “Albion” (Britain) on the globe.
    • Artist Study: Term 1 for this year we will be studying Raphael Sanzio (1483 – 1520) of the Italian Renaissance period.
      • Add Raphael Sanzio to our Book of Centuries.
      • Read portions of his biography online here.
    • Poetry: “Young Night-Thought”, A Child’s Garden of Verses (during Tea Time)

    Field Trips/Nature Study


    Posted on August 31, 2009 - by

    First Grade Here We Come!

    We’re starting a new school year tomorrow and I can hardly believe that my big girl is going to be starting 1st grade! I still feel like she’s a kindergartner in some ways, but then I realize that she is sooo smart and mature and geesh where has the time gone?

    I’m looking forward to settling into a little different rhythm this year compared to last. I feel like this year is a little more planned out for me, which makes me so much more comfortable. We are going to be following AmblesideOnline’s curriculum for Year 1. For those who aren’t familiar with it, AmblesideOnline (AO) is a curriculum based on the educational approach developed by Charlotte Mason, an amazing educator from England in the late 1800s. (You can read more about her and her educational philosophy here.) Most of the books used in this curriculum are highly literary and are available for free online.

    As we go through this next year, I’ll be posting our weekly lesson plans here on the site under the “Curriculum” category. Feel free to use whatever works for your student(s), drop the things that don’t, and add the things you feel are missing. And by all means, please leave me a comment that lets me know what your thoughts are – I’m still very much a novice here and look forward to hearing other educators’ input!

    Ready or not, here we go!!!


    Posted on August 24, 2009 - by

    How to Plan for the Year

    Everyone has their own system of planning their homeschooling curriculum for the year. It’s just a matter of finding the method that works best for you and digging in. With that in mind, I thought I’d document my own journey this summer in case it might be helpful to someone else learning how to plan out their year.

    I started this summer by digging in on the AmblesideOnline website since that is the main curriculum we will be following this year. I pulled up the booklist for Year 1 and printed it out. I looked through our own personal library and my parents’ library (my mom LOVES children’s books), talked with friends who have already gone through Year 1, visited several used book sales, and looked for online resources, including our local library system’s catalog. Every time I would come across one of the books on this year’s list, I would mark on my printout who owned that particular book. (Continue reading this article…)


    Posted on May 28, 2009 - by

    Year 0: Week 31

    Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

    This is our last week of school before we take a break for the summer months. Although we are ALWAYS learning (and will be going many places, including the Cockrell Butterfly Center!), we will not be doing ‘formal’ lessons for the next couple of months. So, I wanted to use this week to wrap up our lapbook and then do an end-of-year evaluation with Kate to assess where to start again next school year.

    Monday:

    • Mommy’s book club
    • Errand, cleaning day
    • Observe caterpillars and milkweed.

    Tuesday:

    • Pledge
      Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
      Calendar: Write out weekly schedule
    • Butterfly Lapbook

      • Continue copywork of The Caterpillar by Christina Rossetti. (Handwriting)
      • Paint My Butterfly Symmetry. We found that the paint needs to be watery and wet when you fold over the butterfly to make a print on the other half. Our first attempt was too sticky and wound up tearing the paper.
    • Lunch (1hr)
    • Read first two sections of The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson, retold by Naomi Lewis.
    • Independent Reading/Rest Time

    Wednesday:

    • Story time at the Library (11:30 am)
    • Turn in old and check out new books (12:00 pm)
    • Lunch (1hr)
    • Outdoor Play (1hr)
    • Literature: Library Books

    Thursday:

    Friday:

    • Nature Walk

    Posted on May 28, 2009 - by

    Year 0: Week 30

    Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

    This is our third week creating a lapbook about butterflies from homeschoolshare.com to contain all the new things we’re learning. If you’d like to know more about what a lapbook is, please visit this post where I included helpful links that helped me learn more about this great way to present a unit study.

    Monday:

    • Mommy’s book club
    • Errand, cleaning day
    • Observe caterpillars and eggs on milkweed in backyard

    Tuesday:


    Posted on May 19, 2009 - by

    Year 0: Week 29

    Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

    This is our second week creating a lapbook about butterflies from homeschoolshare.com to contain all the new things we’re learning. If you’d like to know more about what a lapbook is, please visit this post where I included helpful links that helped me learn more about this great way to present a unit study.

    Just another note: Yesterday was Mother’s Day. Our family tradition for the past few years has been to plant flowers in our backyard to celebrate this day. Part of our research on plants that attract butterflies was put to good use as we shopped at our local garden shop and picked out some milkweed and zinnias to plant. Within an hour of planting the milkweed, we already had a Monarch butterfly flitting around checking it out. On Tuesday we noticed that she had actually laid eggs! We’re so looking forward to watching a butterfly’s life cycle up close and personal in our own back yard!

    Monday:

    • Mommy’s book club
    • Errand, cleaning day

    Tuesday:

    • Pledge
      Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
      Calendar: Write out weekly schedule
    • Butterfly Lapbook

    • Lunch (1hr)
    • Independent Reading/Rest Time

    Wednesday:

    • Story time at the Library (11:30 am)
    • Turn in old and check out new books (12:00 pm)
    • Lunch (1hr)
    • Outdoor Play (1hr)
    • Literature: Library Books

    Thursday:

    • Pledge
      Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
      Calendar: Write out weekend schedule
    • Butterfly Lapbook

      Friday:

      • Nature Walk

      Posted on May 7, 2009 - by

      Year 0: Week 28

      Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

      This month we are trying a new activity. We will be learning about butterflies and doing a lapbook from homeschoolshare.com to contain all the new things we’ve learned. If you’d like to know more about what a lapbook is, please visit this post where I included helpful links that helped me learn more about this great way to present a unit study.

      Monday:

      • Mommy’s book club
      • Errand, cleaning day

      Tuesday:

      Wednesday:

      • Story time at the Library (11:30 am)
      • Turn in old and check out new books (12:00 pm)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Library Books
      • Kate and I decided to draw a large butterfly outside using sidewalk chalk. I told her that she would draw half, and I would copy her half on the other side like a mirror. She knew that is called ‘symmetry’. We had fun not only discussing symmetry, but also using the anatomical names we have learned like fore wings and hind wings, antenna, proboscis, etc. She had a blast coloring with Mommy while also reinforcing things we had already learned about butterflies.

      Thursday:

      Friday:

      • Nature Walk

      Just another note: This Sunday will be Mother’s Day. Our family tradition for the past few years has been to plant flowers in our backyard to celebrate this day. Part of our research on plants that attract butterflies will be put to good use as we shop at our local garden shop. Looking forward to planting some great flowers this weekend and then watching to see what we’re able to attract to our little garden in the back yard.


      Posted on April 30, 2009 - by

      Year 0: Week 27

      Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

      Monday:

      • Mommy’s book club
      • Errand, cleaning day

      Tuesday:

      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekly schedule
      • Phonics:
        • Short I vowel sound with “ind” and “ild” Crossword Puzzle- Barbie Phonics (pg 15)
        • Short and Long I vowel sounds – Phonics Educational Workbook (pgs 6-7)
      • Math: Addition sentences – Disney Princess Addition and Subtraction (pgs 7-8)
      • Science: We had a very strong thunderstorm system blow through the last few days, so Kate requested to learn more about storms.
      • Literature: Raggedy Ann Learns a Lesson by Johnny Gruelle
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Wednesday:

      Thursday:

      Friday:


      Posted on April 23, 2009 - by

      Year 0: Week 26

      Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

      Monday:

      • Mommy’s book club
      • Errand, cleaning day

      Tuesday:

      Wednesday:

      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Watch Disney’s “Earth” at the theater for Earth Day!
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Library Books
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Thursday:

      Friday:


      Posted on April 17, 2009 - by

      Year 0: Week 25

      Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

      Monday:

      • Mommy’s book club
      • Errand, cleaning day

      Tuesday:

      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekly schedule
      • Evaluation Week! Kindergarten Skill Test covers the following skills:
        • Alphabet – recognize and name all upper and lower case
        • Letter Sounds
        • Read Color and Number words
        • Knows Shapes
        • Count to 30
        • Knows Birthday, Address, and Phone Number
        • Says Days of the Week and Months in Order
        • Knows consonant blends and digraphs
        • Knows short and long vowel sounds
        • Reads 30 most common words
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Wednesday:

      • Story time at the Library (10:30 am)
      • Turn in old and check out new books (11:00 am)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Library Books
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Thursday:

      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekend schedule
      • Phonics:
        • Short Vowel Review: Barbie Phonics (pgs 7-8)
        • Short and Long O: Phonics Grade 1 Educational Workbook (pgs 8-9)
      • Math: Addition sentences using #s 1-9: Disney Princess Addition & Subtraction (pg 6)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Sign Language: Practice Time 123 DVD from Signing Time
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Friday:

      • Nature Walk

      Posted on April 9, 2009 - by

      Year 0: Week 24

      Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

      Monday:

      • Mommy’s book club
      • Errand, cleaning day

      Tuesday:

      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekly schedule
      • Phonics: Easy Reader – Oliver Pig and the Best Fort Ever by Jean Van Leeuwen
      • Composer Study: Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf”
      • Artist Study: Matisse: The King of Color by Laurence Anholt (see my review of this book here)
      • Literature: Old Mother West Wind “Jimmy Skunk Looks for Beetles” by Thornton Burgess
      • Poetry: “The Farmer and the Queen” by Shel Silverstein
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Wednesday:

      • Story time at the Library (10:30 am)
      • Turn in old and check out new books (11:00 am)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Library Books
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Thursday:

      Friday:

      • Nature Walk

      Posted on March 12, 2009 - by

      Year 0: Week 23

      Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

      Monday:

      • Mommy’s book club
      • Errand, cleaning day

      Tuesday:

      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekly schedule
      • Poem of the Month: A Frisky Lamb
      • Handwriting: Practice all Upper Case and lower case letters
      • Literature:
      • Artist Study: Katie and the Sunflowers, by James Mayhew (another great story where Katie disappears into the paintings in a museum – this time they’re all of the postimpressionist era)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Wednesday:

      • Story time at the Library (11:30 am)
      • Turn in old and check out new books (12:00 pm)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature/Art Study:
        • I Spy: An Alphabet in Art, by Lucy Micklethwait (Awesome introduction to the alphabet and to art at the same time. Micklethwait has hand-picked 26 pieces of art and then asked the reader to spy the element in it that starts with that letter. Very cleverly done, and actually encourages the reader to stop and study a piece for a while before turning the page.)
        • Ellsworth’s Extraordinary Electric Ears, by Valorie Fisher (A very clever alphabet book that has a one-sentence story with as many words starting with that letter as possible. For instance, “Alistair had an alarming appetite for acrobats.” The picture for that page includes the alligator, Alistair, as well as the acrobat along with several other ‘a’ words for the children to spy. At the back of the book is a list of all the ‘hidden’ elements for each letter. It was fun to see if we could find them all without looking at the back of the book first!)
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Thursday:

      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekend schedule
      • Handwriting: Finish writing lower case letters, discuss which letters we need to work on for next time.
      • Poem of the Month: A Frisky Lamb
      • Sign Language:  Review all words, check against Signing Savvy
      • Composer Study: Strike Up the Orchestra, by Carin and Joan Dewhirst
      • Literature: Mother Earth and Her Children, by Sibylle Von Olfers
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Friday:

      • Nature Walk

      Posted on February 19, 2009 - by

      Year 0: Week 20

      Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

      Monday:

      • Mommy’s book club
      • Errand, cleaning day

      Tuesday:

      Wednesday:

      • Story time at the Library (10:30 am)
      • Turn in old and check out new books (11:00 am)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Library Books
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Thursday:

      Friday:

      • Nature Walk

      Posted on February 18, 2009 - by

      Year 0: Week 19

      Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

      Monday:

      • Mommy’s book club
      • Errand, cleaning day

      Tuesday:

      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekly schedule
      • Handwriting: Write Valentines for friends
      • Poem of the Month: Baby Bumblebee
        Verse of the Month: 1 John 4:19 “We love because God first loved us.”
      • Math: Add up costs of items purchased for handicraft
      • Handicraft:  Make paper flowers with tissue paper and pipe cleaners as valentines for friends/family
      • Composer Study: Camille Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals (in background while doing handicraft)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Wednesday:

      • Story time at the Library (10:30 am)
      • Turn in old and check out new books (11:00 am)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Play at a local park (1hr)
      • Literature: Library Books
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Thursday:

      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekend schedule
      • Phonics:  Finish the All About Me section on Starfall
      • Poem of the Month: Baby Bumblebee
        Verse of the Month: 1 John 4:19 ”We love because God first loved us.”
      • Nature Walk: at park behind library, Kate added the drawing of a pine tree to her nature journal.  We’ll also print out the pic she took on my iPhone and add it to that same page.
      • History: Kate noticed that it was Lincoln’s Bday on my calendar.  It was the perfect segue into a small history lesson on who Mr. Lincoln was.  We read this story about his childhood, and Kate loved ‘coloring’ this pic, too…
      • Math: Fewer/Less Than vs More Than in Counting At the Zoo, by Amy Rauen (not the best example of a ‘living book’, but Kate enjoyed the simplicity of it.)
      • Natural History: 
        • Jump Into Science: Sun, by Steve Tomecek (Kate picked this one up at the library and really enjoyed learning more in depth about the sun. Definitely written to her age group or just a tad older, but done really well to explain how the sun works, sunspots, and why we need the sun here on earth. Another great random find at the local library!)
        • Across the Solar System, by Rod Theodorou
      • Literature:
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Friday:

      • Nature Walk

      Posted on February 18, 2009 - by

      Year 0: Week 18

      Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

      Monday:

      • Mommy’s book club
      • Errand, cleaning day

      Tuesday:

      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekly schedule
      • Poem of the Month: Baby Bumblebee
        Verse of the Month: 1 John 4:19 “We love because God first loved us.”
      • Handwriting: Write out new monthly verse
      • Handicrafts: American Girl Kit Fashion Studio: Design your own fashions for paper dolls
      • Composer Study: Camille Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals
      • History:  Read about the fashions of Kit Kitredge’s day
      • Literature: I know a shy fellow who swallowed a cello, by Barbara S. Garriel (cute book with same structure as the poem, “I know an old lady who swallowed a fly”.  Great illustrations and a fun look at different instruments)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Wednesday:

      • Story time at the Library (10:30 am)
      • Turn in old and check out new books (11:00 am)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Library Books
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Thursday:

      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekend schedule
      • Outing:  Kate went with me to get my Driver’s License renewed at the DMV.  We talked all about driving and getting a license, eyesight tests, and posing for pictures.  While we were waiting we also reviewed some of her sign language and poems.  All in all, a fun way to learn while on-the-go.
      • Literature: The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Other Stories by Beatrix Potter and T. Burgess on CD
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Friday:

      • Nature Walk

      Posted on February 3, 2009 - by

      Year 0: Week 17

      Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

      Monday:

      • Errand, cleaning day
      • Mommy’s book club

      Tuesday:

      • We took school to our local playground and did all our work on a blanket in the grass – so much more fun!!
      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekly schedule
      • Phonics: Review Short/Long I vowel sounds, Phonics Workbook (pgs 6-7)
      •  Verse of the Month: From Memory! 2 Cor 5:17 “Anyone united with God gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life blooms!”
      • Math: Addition sentences, Addition and Subtraction Workbook (pgs 5-6)
      • Natural History: Pick a clover, draw and mount in Nature Journal
      • Composer Study: Camille Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals (with accompanying children’s book) Pianists, Fossils, Swan, Finale
      • Literature: Old Mother West Wind by Thornton Burgess: The Willful Little Breeze
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Wednesday:

      • Story time at the Library (10:30 am)
      • Turn in old and check out new books (11:00 am)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Library Books
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Thursday:

      • School at Mimi’s house – Make gifts for Mommy’s Bday  :)
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Friday:

      • Nature Walk

      Posted on January 27, 2009 - by

      Year 0: Week 16

      Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:30am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.

      Monday:

      • Errand, cleaning day
      • Mommy’s book club

      Tuesday:

      • History:  Watch the Inauguration of President Barak Obama
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Wednesday:

      • Story time at the Library (10:30 am)
      • Turn in old and check out new books (11:00 am)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Library Books
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Thursday:

      • Pledge
        Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
        Calendar: Write out weekend schedule
      • Phonics:  Phonics Workbook: short and long e sounds (pgs 4-5 )
      • Math: Addition/Subtraction Workbook: addition equations (pgs 2-3)
      • Artist Study: Pointillism: Katie’s Sunday Afternoon, by James Mayhew – great use of famous paintings by Seurat and others in a clever story line
      • History: Duck for President, by Doreen Cronin- Fun book about our democratic process starting with Duck holding an election to oust Farmer Brown as the leader of the farm he lives on.  (Wish we had read this during election time, instead of after the inauguration, but Kate seemed to ‘get it’ anyway.)
      • Grammar:  Dear Deer – A Book of Homophones, by Gene Barretta  - Awesome book about homophones – need watch age level, though, as a non-reader won’t get the double meanings of the all the homophones.  Of course, they would just enjoy the cute story line, if nothing else! :)
      • Natural History: All About Sharks, by Jim Arnosky  and  Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks, by Sandra Markle  (Kate’s most recent picks in the non-fiction aisles at the library.)
      • Lunch (1hr)
      • Outdoor Play (1hr)
      • Literature: Kate’s choice
      • Independent Reading/Rest Time

      Friday:

      • Nature Walk