I can’t believe I have two school-aged kiddos this year! Last year Grace would tag along on our learning adventures, but I never forced her to listen or participate in an activity. This year, with her being officially kindergarten, it will be different! The pressure is on… 🙂
Jonathan- 1st grade
Discipleship Studies-
* Bible: Continue with Long Story Short & Old Story New Devotionals (family). Read the Gospel Story Bible (family). Jonathan has been reading daily in his Adventure Bible (NIrV), and I hope to keep encouraging this habit!
* Bible Memory: Awana Wing Runner handbook & music
Character/Habit Training: I hope to go through Laying Down the Rails for Children as a family. Doing projects from Plants Grown Up during weekly “Mug Time”.
Disciplined Studies-
Reading- All About Reading 3 and continued practice reading books! Right now I use this Leveled Book List to help select books for J. at the library. He will comfortably read “Henry & Mudge” type books. He still mostly reads aloud, not to himself. We will see if his confidence grows this year.
Math- Singapore 1A and 1B; Miquon Orange/Red. We started Singapore 1A last year and J. grasps the concepts of addition and subtraction fairly well. He doesn’t have his facts memorized yet, so this summer we have been doing math games and experimenting with Miquon math. My sister in law gifted me with a set of cuisinaire rods when Jonathan was little and I found the Miquon books that go with the rods. Miquon and Singapore are very complimentary programs. There is even a chart which correlates the two, so I plan to use them together.
Handwriting- Handwriting Without Tears 1st Grade. I’m not a huge fan of the font that HWoT produces, but the program has worked well so far for Jonathan. He still needs practice in correctly forming letters.
Spelling- All About Spelling 1. We are venturing into spelling this year! Now that Jonathan is able to write all of his letters, it’s time to build words. This program complements our reading program. We shall see how it goes!
Grammar- English Lessons Through Literature 1 (plan to start in January once we have more copywork practice). This teaches grammar and sentence structure through observing and copying sentences from classic works. It also introduces narration and picture study.
Discussion Studies-
History- Truth Quest American History for Young Students 1 and relevant read alouds. I’ve developed a tentative plan which takes us from Explorers through the American Revolution this year. I will highlight the books we read along the way!
Geography- Legends and Leagues– We reviewed world geography last year, this will be a fun weekly review of maps and cartography.
Read Alouds- I pull read alouds from different book lists. We usually have at least one fun read aloud going!
Music- Cartoons, Classical Music & Composers- Jonathan is taking this class through our local co-op. This is our first year in this co-op, we shall see how it goes!
Discovery Studies-
Science- human anatomy & physiology using 106 Days of Creation Studies– We have used this book slowly over the past two years to guide our nature study. We will be diving into health & human anatomy this year and supplementing with read alouds.
Nature Study- drawing what we see outside in our nature journals. Read Outdoor Secrets and perhaps Christian Liberty Nature Reader 1
Art- J. is taking a co-op class in art, we will see how that goes. The children and I are also doing exercises in Drawing with Children.
Extra Curricular-
Trail Life Scouting
Gym co-op class
A sport of some type- In the past we have done swimming, soccer, gymnastics.
Grace- K
Grace is a young K student, so this is a basic plan. My thoughts are not to emphasize formal academics until she is 6, but to gradually increase our consistency in the 3Rs [reading/math/writing]. She generally wants to do what her big brother is doing, but I will let most of the rest be optional this year. Next year when she is 6, she will be required to do academic work.
Discipleship Studies-
Bible: Continue with family devotional & Bible reading.
Awana- Hang Glider handbook
Character/Habit Training– Laying Down the Rails for Children, Polished Cornerstones project at weekly “Tea Time”.
Disciplined Studies-
Reading- Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and possibly All About Reading 1– Grace wants to read, but needs lots of practice. We started with AAR1, but she was struggling with letter reversals and reading sentences. I felt like 100 Easy Lessons offered a more gentle start and then we will transition back to AAR1. She also loves to write, so I’ve toyed with the idea of starting her with All About Spelling as well, so she can write her stories down.
Math- Singapore EarlyBird B– This has been a fun PreK and K series for my kids.
Handwriting- Kumon Workbooks– Grace already completed Handwriting without Tears K, and I felt like she needed additional practice before moving on to the next level. I think the Kumon workbooks will fill the gap. I’m toying with the idea of getting Delightful Handwriting.
Discussion Studies- together with Jonathan
History- Truth Quest American History for Young Students 1 and relevant read alouds. I’ve developed a tentative plan which takes us from Explorers through the American Revolution this year. I will highlight the books we read along the way!
Geography- Legends and Leagues– We reviewed world geography last year, this will be a fun weekly review of maps and cartography.
Read Alouds- I pull read alouds from different book lists. We usually have at least one fun read aloud going!
Discovery Studies- together with Jonathan
Science- human anatomy & physiology using 106 Days of Creation Studies– We have used this book slowly over the past two years to guide our nature study. We will be diving into health & human anatomy this year and supplementing with read alouds. Grace is really excited and curious to know how the human body works!
Nature Study- drawing what we see outside in our nature journals. Read Outdoor Secrets and perhaps Christian Liberty Nature Reader 1
Art- Draw, Write Now 1. The children and I are also doing exercises in Drawing with Children. Grace is currently first on the waiting list for art in our co-op. I hope she gets in!
Extra Curricular-
American Heritage Girls Scouting
Spanish Co-Op Class
A sport of some type- In the past we have done swimming, soccer, gymnastics. She is very interested in dance.