Our 2011-2012 Curriculum Choices!

Pin It Let me start off by saying that I am so excited to finally put into action what I’ve had the desire to do for so long. When CJ and I started dating, he knew how much I wanted to homeschool someday. I am thankful for a supportive husband who is totally on board and in agreement with this decision. Homeschooling the girls for preschool went so well last year, and gave me the confidence to say, “Hey, I can do this next year for grade school, and have Samuel join us!” The reasons why we chose to homeschool will be saved for a different post, but I can’t tell you how many people have asked why we chose this route and how we plan on socializing them (lol).
The following curriculum choices are based on what we thought would work best for our children. I’ve seen so many different options and read blogs about what others are doing where I’ve thought, “Hmm, should we be doing that too?” CJ continues to remind me that what works for others may not work for us. So, I continue to stay focused on my family through this journey while being excited about all the new families we will meet along the way. And somewhere in between I hope to get all my questions answered!

Madelyn (Pre-K):
For Pre-k, I am pulling a lot of resources from the internet like I did last year. We will focus on one letter/sound and number/math a week, have a theme of the month, sight words, sensory bins, etc. Madelyn’s friend Isabelle will be joining us again for preschool this year, so she will have a little buddy to do learning centers and art with.  I am adding in some Montessori aspects this year as well. I am hoping to do to All About Reading Pre-Level 1 with her, but other than that my preschool curriculum is mainly DIY. Madelyn will also take ballet lessons with a group of homeschoolers.

*There will be links to the curriculum choices below soon (hopefully). 

Sarah (Kindergarten):
Phonics/Spelling- All About Spelling Level 1

Reading/Writing-Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, Bob Books, Handwriting Without Tears

Math- Math-U-See Primer

Science- Apologia Zoology 1

Social Studies- My State Fun Book

P.E.- Ballet lessons with a group of homeschoolers

Art- Library resources and whatever I come up with at home

*Not all of these subjects will be done daily. I plan on rotating some of them, and am not concerned with getting through an entire text book by the end of the year. My goal is to allow them to have a lot of hands-on experiences that they would not get from sitting in a classroom. Therefore, I don’t want homeschool to feel like public or private school.

Samuel (2nd grade):
Reading/Phonics/Spelling/Writing- A Beka Grade 2, First Language Lessons Level 2, Writing With Ease Level 2

Math- Math-U-See Beta. I went to a Math-You-See workshop and was sold on this method quickly!

Science-Apologia Zoology 1

Social Studies- My 50 States (from the same people who created the State Funbook for Kindergarten)

P.E.- Uncertain because I’ve heard that I should definitely sign him up for Swim and Gym at the Y, while others have said not to waste my money :)

Art- Library and whatever I come up with at home

Oh, and CJ is doing Bible lessons because he has an amazing gift when it comes to teaching others about the Bible.  :)

Summer Bingo Part 2

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Go here for Summer BINGO rules and info.

We are about 2 hours into Summer Bingo and having tons of fun! Samuel and Sarah are really enjoying marking off activities, and really concentrating on them, rather than trying to rush through the card. Right we are on a lunch break. Afterward, they will spend time reading and resting. This afternoon there will be some more time to complete squares on their Bingo cards. My goal is to have them do 5/day in order to complete an entire card at the end of the week.

Hook #1: Bingo cards and rules

Hook #2: Summer reading logs

Hook #3: Stickers, tickets, and pens

I ended up only making cards for Samuel and Sarah. Madelyn can always join in the fun, but she entertains herself during the day quite well.

Rather than getting the tickets from the store like I had originally planned, I just made some on the computer.

This is a card from Sarah’s pack for the week of July 4th. Some of the activities listed are watch fireworks, build something using red, white, and blue Legos only, and make s’mores.

Summer BINGO

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Okay, I am beyond ecstatic after coming across this SUMMER BINGO idea as a way to keep my kids active this summer without having to run 50 million places and sign them up for 100 costly activties. Even though Samuel still has about 3 weeks left of school, I am already getting started on making my cards. Samuel, Sarah, and Madelyn will each have their own set to complete. While I was typing up the first card, Samuel was eagerly reading everything. He can’t wait to begin! I thought I would share what I’ve accomplished so far.

The dollar store that is by my house will probably have tickets, and we have plenty of stickers to mark the spaces. I will post a card from Sarah and Madelyn’s packs once I get them made up. The activities I chose were a mix of learning, reading, indoor, outdoor, and character improvement(Samuel needs to work on how he treats Sarah).  I printed the rules and BINGO card off on cardstock, then glued them onto scrapbook paper just because I thought it would look cute. Once I have everything printed off, I am going to hole punch the top corners and keep the cards together with a metal ring. Does this sound like fun to you? It does to me!!

Homemade Magnet Boards

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I came across this today and loved the magnet board idea. My girls are very into magnets…they have have magnet version of paper dolls, magnet letters, magnet playsets, etc. Our dishwasher has been serving as the current magnet board area, but after a quick trip to the Dollar Store that has changed…

Aren’t they neat?!?!?!?!

These are so simple and quick to make!

You’ll need:

* Cookie sheets (dollar store)

*Magnet letters (I got mine a few months ago from the dollar spot at Target)

*Scrapbook paper (Mine was 1/2 off at Michaels)

*Mod Podge

Sarah and Madelyn helped out by smoothing out the “bubbles” after I glued the paper down.

When we travel I’m going to use them as trays for coloring/drawing, and they’ll easily tuck into the pockets on the back of our front seats when they aren’t being used. I’m super excited!!!