Semester thoughts and Upcoming Adjustments

I can hardly believe that the fall semester is drawing to a close. The red writing are my new thoughts!

FIRST GRADE
I am glad that we chose to follow The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer as a template for M's first grade year. The classical education approach so far seems like a good fit for her.

2015-2016

Bible/Devotional: We went with Thoughts to Make your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd Jones. The girls enjoy doing our morning reading alongside prayer together. We each pray through ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication). E thanks God for making the animals every day ;) When we finish I think we are going to use Leading Little Ones to God by Maria Schoolland, or something else- recommendations are very much welcome!

Spelling: Building Spelling Skills Book 1 -Love this! Perfect fit for M.
Language Arts: Language Smarts B (Critical Thinking Company) Neither M or I really like this book. I see the value and how it could be a good fit for others, but just not for us. She is half way done, and I am going to pick and choose lessons from here on out. I have specific thoughts on why I do not like it, but that is for another place. and First Language Lessons by Susan Wise Bauer- The lessons in this book are just what we needed. We are half way done with first grade and will then move to second grade immediately after that. Ask M next time you see her what poem she has memorized recently. I think that is her favorite part.
Writing: Writing With Ease 1 by Susan Wise Bauer We will continue with this program. M loves the narration, and I like how it follows nicely with FLL.
Reading and Phonics: McGuffey Reader 1, Phonics Pathways by Dolores Hiskes, and Explode the Code 3&4 and Beyond the Code 1 by Nancy Hall- She is plugging away at each of these.
We are also going to be studying some poems by Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson.

Science: Elemental Science Biology for the Grammar Stage by Paige Hudson  This was a super hard decision for me, but we chose this one because the plans are designed to use 2 days or 5 days a week. We need this kind of flexibility. Also, E can join us during science which is a huge plus.
This has been a great find for our family. It fits all our science needs and wants. We are already planning on buying Earth Science for M next year, Intro to Science for E, and Learning through Science Colors for A.

History: History Odyssey Ancients Level One by Pandia Press There are several other books recommended to buy for this set, but I am still deciding on a timeline to purchase. I am also going to check out some others at the library. We are also going to start reading the Imagination Station series by by Paul McCusker and Marianne Hering
We all have been enjoying this history program. They have a plethora of projects to choose from, and could do this every day if we had time ;)

 Math: She is almost done with Horizon Math 1 Book1, and then will work on Book 2. When she is done we are leaning toward her using Christian Light math grade 2. The My Calendar Book is from Christian Light. She will also continue her "Fred Fridays". She loves Life of Fred so she will continue into the Butterflies (and probably Cats too) book by Dr. Stanley Schmidt.
Horizons Book 2 is almost complete (projected to be done early Feb.) We have debated and I have researched math curriculum to exhaustion. We have begun purchasing Christian Light Math 2, although Horizons has been good for her we just feel that there is something better out there. We have not been doing Life of Fred as often, because we bought some FlashSkills workbooks for her to fine tune some individual skills.

Art: M is so excited about starting these Usborne drawing books. I can hardly keep her away from them. I am probably going to cave and give them to her soon. I am going to admit that I have not been doing art with any of the girls very frequently this semester. She does enjoy the Big Drawing Book quite a bit all the same.

Critical thinking:
We have not touched these books although we love them! Christmas break?

Read alouds are such a sweet time for her and her dad. I just have not bought all of them yet, but I imagine this will be a good start.

Paddington Races Ahead by Michael Bond (this is her choice-she adores Paddington.We did not actually read this one. We read Paddington Helps Out. Paddington is amazing to M.
Usborne Greek Myths She enjoyed these. This book is a good introduction to Greek mythology.
A Tree for Peter by Kate Seredy (J and I love this book, and are excited about sharing it with her.)
Hitty her first hundred years by Rachel Field I think I enjoyed this book the most. J did not care for it, and had me read most of it. M found parts of it to be exciting and engaging, but this may not be the best for read aloud time.
Amy Carmichael by Janet and Geoff Benge
The Wheel on the School by Meindert Dejong The beginning of this book is SO slow! J almost shelved it, but then got to a certain chapter, and after that they fell in love with it. They we were so excited to tell me what happened next.
The Golden Book Family Treasury of Poetry by Louis Untermeyer

Not pictured:
Homer Price by Robert Mccloskey We read this in August, and I still hear about the doughnut machine. If your child has not read this- it is a must! We want to read the sequel Centerburg Tales soon!
Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry This is one of M's new favorite book. She adores Gooney Bird.
The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill
Little Pear by Eleanor Frances Lattimore
The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson This is such a sweet story. We wished we would have saved it for this month.
All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Pasteur's Fight Against Microbes by Beverly Birch
Missionary Stories with the Millers by Mildred Martin
Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates "A man must have a care to what he puts in his mind, for when he's alone on a hillside and draws it out he'll want treasures to be his company, not regrets." This book is a treasure of fantastic writing. Some of it was lost on M, but something to be revisited again. 
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling We are half way done with this book, and we like some and find others odd. I feel that is the way with Kipling.

Preschool:

She has already started Uppercase Letters, but will pursue the others at her pace. She was writing letters on the cement with chalk, and we thought well she is ready for handwriting. ;) 
She is done with the letters books, and we have not started formal cutting yet.

These books focus on a variety of skills and concepts. They are from the Rod and Staff series. We like the story flow of these books and the scope and sequence of what is covered.
She is almost done with Do it Carefully.

  She has begun the Singapore Essential Math Kindergarten A book, and the learning to write numbers 1-30 in the Kumon book. We will begin the Rod and Staff Counting with Numbers when she has completed the Kumon book first. I will alternate days based on her level between these two books. Did you notice the Rod & Staff are in alphabetical order? I am going to buy G-I, just to have on hand when she finishes the others. We like them that much.
She loved math! The Singapore Essential is a very good fit for this numbers girl. She is almost done with A and I need to purchase B soon. She is also almost done with Numbers 1-30 and Counting with Numbers.

 Phonics: She is on Get Set for the Code book B right now, and will begin C. When she is finished with that I am going to start Phonics Pathways, and Bob book readers with her. She will also use these Pathway reader workbooks which I realized I really ought to have the teacher's manual for -oops! She will review her letter sounds with the Doodling Dragon book (awesome resource!). Some letters have more sounds than you think, and this book is a gentle way to practice them. We are also going to be reading more poetry and I love that book! She will also memorize nursery rhymes to work on some skills. I read somewhere that if a child can know 4-5 nursery rhymes by age 5 their ease of reading increases by a good percent. I cannot for the life of me find the source nor the percentage, but regardless it cannot hurt! ;)
Somehow the girl learned to read and spell some. I need to be more intentional with her this semester. I really just do about an hour or so with her a couple days a week. I really feel that this child just needs to play, and practice communicating with others. We did just begin a few lessons in Before We Read and LOVE it! She enjoys that they encourage her to use a ruler when drawing lines.

The younger girls at this stage in their lives just need to be read to, and let to play. I will begin some Montessori for A during Christmas break and January to work on some fine motor skills. If you know A large gross motor skills are not a problem for her!