School Plans

I have had several people ask me what the girls are doing this summer and school year.  So instead of emailing everyone individually I decided to put it up on my blog.

This summer:

M (will be 5 this July)
Phonics and Reading
We will begin Explode the Code 1 by Nancy Hall along with lessons from Phonics Pathways by Dolores Hiskes (This will be really laid back and easy going.) We will also continue with the BOB readers by Bobby Lynn Maslen and John Maslen.

Handwriting:
She is almost done with Kumon Uppercase Letters and when finished will begin the Kumon Lowercase Letters book. 

Math:
Her Kindergarten math curriculum moves really fast in learning and using numbers 1-100. We want M to have a start in being exposed to them before we begin that book. (Most schools, from what I understand, will have them knowing these numbers in the first couple of months.) Therefore, this summer, she will use Kumon's Numbers 1-120 and/or Number Games 1-150. 

Logic:
She is going to finish her Mind Benders Book 1 (by Michael Baker and Scott Slyter)book by the Critical Thinking Company. She loves these puzzles, so this will be a great joy for her. 

We will also be baking and cooking together with a couple of cookbooks by Mollie Katzen: Pretend Soup and Salad People. 

 We will be playing A LOT this summer. I am a huge advocate of board games, pretend play, and building toys.  She is attending Music Camp and our church's version of VBS. She, also, has swimming lessons. We have not decided if she is also going to attend tennis camp as well.

E (will be 3 this July) 
She will be mostly playing this summer. I am going to buy her a dollar store maze book, and pull pages from a basic preschool workbook. This way she feels like she is doing school with M. 
Fine and large gross motor skills are essential in learning to read and write. Therefore, we will be doing lots of activities with that in mind i.e. throwing a bean bag back and forth

I am also going to purchase for her Learning Resources Helping Hands Fine Motor Set.
We might also use the blog 1+1+1=1 preschool packs.

Both girls are going to be read multiple times daily. J is just finishing up Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum with them, but we have not decided what book will be next.  

E is going to Kids Kamp (VBS) and doing swimming lessons.


This School Year (2014-2015):

M: Kindergarten

Math:
Horizons Math K by Alan Christopherson

Bible:
Big Thoughts for Little People by Kenneth Taylor
Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones
ABC Scripture memory and will use as copywork from the blog I Can Teach My Child 

Phonics:
Explode the Code 1 and 2 by Nancy Hall
Beyond the Code by Nancy Hall
Phonics Pathways by Delores Hiskes
BOB books by Bobby Lynn Maslen and John Maslen.

Latin:
Songschool Latin by Amy Rehn 

Science:

Usborne Science Activities, Vol. 2 by Helen Edom, Moira Butterfield, Rebecca Heddle and Mike Unwin

Caterpillars and Butterflies by : Stephanie Turnbull

Eggs and Chicks by: Fiona Patchett

Weather by: Kuo Kang Chen (Illustrator), Tim Haggerty (Illustrator)

Tadpoles and Frogs by: Anna Milbourne

How Flowers Grow by: Emma Helbrough

Under the Sea by: Fiona Patchett and Zoe Wray

History:

Living Long Ago by Felicity Brooks, Helen Edom, Cheryl Evans and Janet Cook 

Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne and Sal Murdocca

Wild Places by Angela Wilkes and Peter Dennis

Read Alouds:

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

Mary on Horseback by Rosemary Wells

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop

A Grain of Rice by Helena Clare Pittman

In Grandma's Attic by Arleta Richardson

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

More Paddington by Michael Bond

My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet

Logic:

Mind Benders book 2 by Michael Baker, Stephanie Stevens, Chanda Tsing and Scott Slyter

Handwriting:

Undecided

Art:

Tell Me a Picture by Quentin Blake

Music:

I have not decided entirely on what classical music CDs we will use.

E: Preschool

Science:

Berenstain Bear Big Book of Science and Nature by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

Learning Resources Primary Science set 

Learning Resources Mix and Measure set

Handwriting:

Kumon's Uppercase Letters and Lowercase Letters 

Phonics:

I am not sure when she will begin this series, but we will use Get Ready for the Code, Get Set for the Code, and Go for the Code by Nancy Hall  (These are great for when a child knows their letters and letter sounds.) They reinforce and apply beginning sounds. We have M's used ones if anyone wants to look at them.

Doodling Dragons by Denise Eide

We are going use Rod and Staff set of four preschool workbooks published by Study Time Publishers.

Bible:
Big Thoughts for Little People by Kenneth Taylor
Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones
ABC Scripture memory and will use as copywork from the blog I Can Teach My Child

We are also going to be doing a letter of the week using various preschool packs from preschool blogs.

Both girls will be going through Christian Liberty Nature Reader K with me. It describes an animal for each letter of alphabet. We will do one a week corresponding to our letter of the week and Scripture letter.