Sunday, July 31, 2011

Our Morning Board: 2011-2012

 

Updated Morning Board:

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I reused a few things from last year like the weather chartsI printed them from Jolanthe’s blog ~ Homeschool Creations.

I added skip counting and Latin Words of the week. 

Song School Latin I am using Song School Latin this year. They have free printable coloring pages on their website ~ Song School Latin Coloring pages

 

 

Make the Date: I got the wooden date board from Target $1 section.  The girls write the date each day on the “Today’s Date is” worksheet.  I use plastic sheet protectors and dry eraser markers.  The dry eraser markers do not come off laminated sheets very well.

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I have also added a place to display the Character Trait we are focusing on for the week.

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I am using Character Notebooking pages from Notebooking Pages. 

Check out these links:

Delightful Learning blog - Morning Board links

Character Trait printables - Sarah Sweeties blog

 

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More fun learning from Homechool Creations blog ~ books of the Bible

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This is our Exploring Countries and Cultures – Morning Board fun!

Our John 3:16 wall will be filling up with paper dolls from each of the cultures.

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This is our pray card poster from Expedition Earth by Confessions of a Homeschooler blog.  Each culture we study will have a pray card: culture name, continent, country, picture, etc.  The cards will be displayed on the poster board.

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These are my UPDATED workbox grid cards:

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Check out my workbox system

Check out my Curriculum choices this year.

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Monday, July 18, 2011

Square Foot Garden Update ~ July

 

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My husband and I put in 6 Square Foot Gardens this year.  They look okay but I realized they would produce a lot more veggies if I have put in different kinds of compost. Instead I just used leaf compost and the soil is lacking ……… nitrogen (I think)! 

I dropped by the Farmer’s Market and got a few bags of mushroom compost to enrich the soil.  Boy is that some stinky stuff

Check back soon for a garden update!

I am now working on filling a compost bin to enrich the soil for next year’s crops!

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Sunday, July 17, 2011

Planning Our School Year: 2011-2012

 

Discover Their Gifts Button copyThis is my favorite time of the year……. planning the school year!  There are a few preparations prior to schooling that help our year go smooth!

 

File System for each week of school:

What you need:

  1. Hanging file folders – one for each week you do school in a year
  2. Label maker – Label each file folder with a number (I do 34 weeks)
  3. Colored file folders – Place one for each child in each hanging file folder
  4. Stuff your folders with EVERY lesson - for each week for the WHOLE year!

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I bought a file folder box with a lid. 

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This is the hanging file folder with the colored folders ~ one for each child.

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Here’s a few items I placed in the folder.  I will then put these in the appropriate workbox.

This planning process will help your year go super smooth.  

I just pull out the file folder for one child on Sunday evening and place just the papers in the appropriate work box.  You can stuff them each night with one day’s worth of work or you can pull out a week’s worth of work and place it in the workbox. 

Workbox System:

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I use 12’x12’ scrapbooking drawers – 9 drawers for each child.  I got them for $9 for each 3-drawer section from Hobby Lobby.

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Workbox cards and grids for each day of the week (details are from Jolanthe’s blog Homeschool Creations).  I still need to update the cards for the changes I made in our curriculum this year.   The new cards will be generic subject pictures, so I do not have to change them each year!

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I added P.E. activity cards from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  Go check them out… fun fun fun!  I will put several in the girls boxes each day to add fun!

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I keep a few items in the boxes all the time like: Explode the code workbook,  spelling notebook, latin workbook, etc.

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Morning Board: (update weekly ~ no photo yet because I am still working on it)

  1. Bible memory verse
  2. Latin words of the week (Song School Latin)
  3. Make the date with Money
  4. What time is it? digital and analog
  5. Calendar time
  6. Sowing seeds of __________ (Character)
  7. Prayer card – People group we are studying in ECC

Planner:

wpd1112I use the The Well Planned Day in a binder for my planning pages.

 

 

 

IMG_2037 I am using MFW Countries and Cultures for our lessons this year ~ they have done the planning for me.

 

 Check out the details of my Curriculum Choices for 2011-2012.

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Friday, July 15, 2011

Curriculum Choices: 2011-2012

 

It’s been a great summer for our family! 

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Swimming with daddy.  The girls had their first sleep over … 8 girlies!

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My girls turned 6 and 8 years old!  We also had lots of play dates with friends!

 

….On with our curriculum choices for 1st and 3rd grade!

The new school year is just around the corner so I thought it would be a great time to let you know what curriculum we will be using this year.

Bible, Geography, Science, Read-Alouds, Art and Music

95102TLast year was our first year using My Father’s World.  It was our best year.  MFW does the lesson planning for me!

We will be using MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures this year.  It is a unit study designed for students grades 3-8th.  It includes lessons for Bible, history, geography, science, read alouds, art, cooking, nature study, and music!

 

Why do I love MFW? 

  1. The lessons plans are created for me and I have all the resources I need except a few library books to add to our reading. 
  2. My girls work together on all their subjects except math, language arts and reading … so I only have to teach the subjects just once. 
  3. It’s economical especially since I will reuse the same curriculum again in 5 years but at a more advanced level of study.
  4. It is easy to do with a co-op group.  We have 5 families in our ECC co-op this year! 
  5. Just plain fun. My kids loved doing their MFW science and history last year!

What we will be studying in MFW ECC this year?

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Check out their website  Exploring Countries and Cultures with MFW

 

How often are we planning to do each ECC subjects?

Bible  ~ daily;  Geography ~ 2x/ week;  Science ~ 2x/ week;  Art ~ 2x/ week; Reading ~ daily;  Music ~ 2x/ week;  Nature Walk ~ 1x/ week

Our co-op will meet each Thursday morning for 3 hours during which time we will complete ECC projects like crafts, cooking, geography games, missionary/ character lessons, memory verse games, hands-on science projects, and/ or a nature walk lesson.  The goal of our ECC co-op is to complete projects and lessons assigned in our ECC curriculum lesson plans.

I will also be adding a few supplements to our year:

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  1. Expedition Earth Curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler
  2. Heaven’s Heroes by Shibley
  3. Children Just Like Me by Kindersley
  4. 10 Girls / 10 Boys Who Changed The World by Howat

 

Math

Math U See has been our best choice for math curriculum.  It teaches mastery without the busy work.  The girls are working on MUS Alpha and Beta.

mdmFor math drill, we will be using a program I reviewed (and the girls enjoyed) called Mad Dog Math. Check out my review here

The girls will do math lessons and drill 4 times a week.

 

 

Language Arts

In January, I starting using the Barton Reading and Spelling program with my older daughter.  It is my third and final curriculum purchase to teach her how to read.  It has been the BEST program EVER for teaching a dyslexic child how to learn to read.  It is an Orton-Gillingham based program so it’s multi-sensory.  She will be finishing level 3 soon!

The Barton program teaches: reading, spelling, dictation, fluency, games and phonics.  It is expensive and worth every penny.  The re-sale value is high!

contents3Check out Susan Barton’s Reading and Spelling programs here:

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Bright Solutions For Dyslexia

 

 

If you have a child you suspect with dyslexia or reading delay listen to Susan Barton’s webinars for more details!  Click the Bright Solutions link above or email me @ m_wharton@yahoo.com

 

My younger daughter, Marissa, will be using Learning Language Arts through Literature Blue, All About Spelling Level 1, and the Explode the Code workbooks.

Both girls will be doing Language Arts 4 times a week.  Spelling will be 2-3 times a week.  Reading will be daily.

 

Foreign Language

ssl_LRGI reviewed a product called Song School Latin as part of This Old Schoolhouse CREW last year. 

My girls loved the program so much that I plan to complete it this school year.  Read my review here

 

More details on my homeschool planning for the year to come soon!  It will be similar to what I did last year with a few updates – click here!

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Check our what others are doing this year at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers blog.

Also join me for a blog hop @ Heart of the Matter – Curriculum choices week one

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