Monday, September 5, 2011

Homeschool 2011-2012 1st Grade (long post!)

Warning: If you're not interested in our homeschool, you'll probably not be interested in this post :)

It's been so long since I posted anything on here! What good is a blog if you never blog? None, I guess.

Well, I've decided to be much more intentional about my daily use of time and to help keep me accountable, I'm going to use this space as a living scrapbook, so-to-speak, of our homeschooling days (and other happenings). My plan is to post daily with what we've accomplished during homeschool and a few pictures just for fun.

Surely, knowing that my husband and parents will be "looking over my shoulder" each evening will make my intentionality even more purposeful!

So to start, I'll share the curriculum that we're using this year ....

Bible: Grapevine Bible Studies. So excited about this Bible curriculum! We're starting with creation and are just going to work our way through the Bible. This curriculum uses drawing stick figures about the story as a memorization tool. It sounds simplistic, but it's very neat and I think L is going to love it! We're also going to be doing character training, with a different character trait each week. And, at some point, we'll be reading The Princess and the Kiss, which is about the sacredness of the first kiss a girl receives: the one from her daddy. It's a sweet little picture book with a sweet little study guide to go with it.



Language Arts: Sing, Spell, Read & Write. I've tried other programs, and frankly none are as good. I've had this box of gold sitting here for 8 years. I bought it when Michael was 5 and he turned 13 today, so if my addition/subtraction is correct .... yep, 8 years :) Anyway, Michael has always been an amazing reader and to this day reads 3 to 4 years above grade level. I attribute it to amazing genes, of course, but I think SSR&W may have played a small part in his success ;) We'll see how L does with it.


Math: Saxon (2nd grade) and Life of Fred. Strange combination, I know. Life of Fred finally came out with an elementary series and L is in LOVE with it. For those of you who do not know about that of which I speak .... I'll tell you this: it is simply the most entertaining math program around and it's incredibly thorough. It tells a story about a 5 year old named Fred who is a math genius and goes to teach at a university. And somehow seamlessly, math gets incorporated into the story, and L remembers it! ALL of it! Granted, she's a math whiz by nature, but this Fred thing is really working. So why Saxon? Well, because it's Saxon of course! And isn't that what diligent homeschoolers use? We've also started flash cards for addition facts, but she memorizes them so fast we hardly need them!

History: Winter Promise, Hideaways in History. So excited about this too! We'll be studying history from creation thru modern times all in 36 weeks. Each week we'll be constructing a "hideaway" out of cardboard boxes that corresponds with what we're studying (caves, pyramids, submarines, you name it we'll be making it!)

Spanish: Thursday Connection . So far L is loving her Spanish class at co-op! Which is surprising since it's primarily conversational. But her teacher is sooo sweet and patient, L just can't help but love her and learn from her. So far she's learned los colores (colors), el tiempo (the weather), and los lugares (places).

Science: Thursday Connection. When I signed L up for co-op, I didn't think about the fact that 3 of her 4 classes would be science related .... I was just trying to get her in the door with a cohesive schedule. So.....she's taking 1) Hands-on Science, a general science class learning about everything from mixtures to weather to electricity. 2) Critters, Critters, a class all about, well, critters of course. And already L was the star of the show as she got to bring in our sweet little dog, Booboo, for "show and tell". They'll also be having a K9 dog come in, animals from the zoo, and who knows what else! 3) Hands-on Human Body, a class about, yep, you guessed it! The Human Body. I know, she seems young for an A&P class, but really she's loving it! They constructed a human cell out of candy ... how bad could it be? When she got in the car Thursday she wanted to hurry home and get her human body book out so she could look at the difference between white and red blood cells. How many 6 year olds do that?

Art: Artistic Pursuits. I've heard this is the best art program around. We haven't started yet, but we'll see. We'll be doing that along with studying some Impressionist's paintings. And general arts and crafts for various seasons, holidays, celebrations, etc.

Music: Haven't nailed it down yet. We're going to listen to some of the Kid's Classics CD's which are stories about famous composers, interspersed with their music. We'll start with Beethoven Lives Upstairs and then probably Tchaikovsky Discovers America. We'll also be listening to Wee Sing USA which is all patriotic songs.

Did I leave anything out? Oh yes, P.E. She'll hopefully be restarting gymnastics in the fall. This is the thing she really wants to do most.

Yep, a full schedule it is! See why I need to be intentional?

Thanking God today for the privilege of homeschooling!

4 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for visiting my blog and the sweet comments. I think you are correct. We are twins. LOL I just ordered The Princess and the Kiss from the library on Saturday. We have used Grapevine and LOVED it. We are also using Saxon for both of my kids. Honestly, I'm hoping LOF can allow me to get rid of it. My kids think it is B.O.R.I.N.G. They are both good in math and hate Saxon.
    Love the idea of using your blog as a daily scrapbook. I hate to say, but I have the best intentions when it comes to school but I am not always wise in my use of time. I love homeschooling my kiddos and spending time watching them grow up to be what God intended. We are getting ready to start the Keepers Gold club on Currclick and the kids are so excited. So nice to "meet" you. God Bless.

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  2. Oh yeah, I don't see a way to follow your blog. Let me know if you put one on and I will definitely follow ya. If you need help doing it, just let me know. Blessings.

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  3. Hey sis! lol! Check it out ... I'm a big-time blogger now .... you can follow me via email! But beyond that I didn't see any other "gadgets". How on earth do all of you "real" bloggers get your blog to look so unique and fun? Instead of this boring old template? Also, what is the Keepers Gold club? I'm going to go to currclick and check it out :)

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  4. Love your page makeover and love that your favorite place to be is at my house :)

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