The Magic School House Sandbox

PLanning the garden

2009-02-15T15:01:00.000-08:00

I finally found a kitchen garden planting guide for my area!

And the first seeds go in March 15th! Yikes. I have to get my garden tilled and laid out. At. Least I have a place to start.

I am also planning to plant some fruit trees, gourds, and rhubarb.

2008-2009 school plan - Take Two

2008-12-20T18:15:00.000-08:00

I am working up a new school plan for the school year. I do have better things to do, but this is what I'm doing.

CC - Second Trimester Second Grade
Daily
Copywork - Poems
Grammar - Growing with Grammar, 1 lesson
Math - Singapore 3A, 1 Lesson
Sonlight LA 2 adv. (after we get the grammar going for a week or two)

Rotating Subjects
Literature - Veritas Press Study Guides, Alice in Wonderland thin Fairy Tales
Science - RS4K - Physics
History - TOG y2u1

LB - Not Preschool. I am going to teach her to read!
Sonlight LA with K readers
RS A math or Singapore Earlybird.

Eleventh Grade Here for BB

2008-10-12T12:23:00.001-07:00

What did BB do for 11th Grade?

At the Local Community College
Conversational Japanese
Japanese 1
Psychology

At Home
Sonlight 300 + Ambleside House of Education Yr 11
Twentieth Century History
Thinkwell Precalculus
Art
PE

Second Grade Earth Science Lesson Plans

2008-08-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

DRAFT -
rev 3

Texts Used:
Janice VanCleave's Earth Science for every Kid
How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World by Faith McNulty
The Practical Geologist by Dougal Dixon (PG)
Encyclopedia of world geography

Geology Crafts (GC)
Hill of Fire
http://www.thesolutionsite.com/lesson/1206/watsonelB1.html
http://www.amnh.org/ology/index.php?channel=earth#channel

The Earth Science Book (TESB)

Lesson 1 Formation of the earth - history and structure

This is the class where we bring the globes and the layer book and discuss the earth and what's in side and outside it.
Start with a brainstorm of what kids think is in the earth. Scientists can't take x-rays or samples to see what is in the earth. Show an apple as representative of the earth. SLice in quarters and explain the the skin is like the crust of the earth and it has taken many years to drill down bast the crust. The white part of the apple is like the earth's mantle. It is made of hot melted rock and is 1800 miles thick - this is lava. the outer core is melted nickle and iron. These metals are very heavy. The inner core is solid nickle and iron.

Layers of earth snack -
13 marshmellows, jelly type candy, buttler, rice crispies, chocolate shell, microwaveable bowl. Put candy in center of a marshmellow, mix butter and other 12 marshmellows in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute, stir for a minute, stir in cereal, wet hands and roll mixture around core, freeze for 15 minutes, cover with chocolate sauce, wait, eat.

Read How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World
Investigating the Earth from Ency of World Geography pg. 19 (this talks about how geologists study the Earth's structure through earthquakes and sound waves, I didn't know this and it would make for an interesting 5-10 minute discussion)

Lesson 2 Pangaea and continents

Pangaea puzzle activity CG pg 24

Continental Drift Theory

Nice List of evidences for pangaea

Compare with current world map

Name continents and oceans.

Lesson 3 Plates, earthquakes

Plate movement experiments. Three muskateers bars (snack size). Collide two bars together. This is how mountains are formed. Show how pushing makes the mounts rise. Add some facts here about different mountain ranges and the plates below them.
To go along with the plate movement experiment scroll down on this page http://www.amnh.org/ology/index.php?channel=earth#channel and check-out "Plates on the Move" Great map, okay animations, fabulous, relevant stories. We could go through these and then do the corresponding movement experiment then move on to the next, etc.
Measure earthquakes
Tsunamis

Lesson 4 Volcanoes, mountains

Read Hill of Fire
Make a volcanic
Toothpaste eruption TESB pg 46
Mountain building GC pg 38
Soft boiled egg to show bulges
I think most everyone will have "made" a volcano erupt with baking soda and vinegar. Check out this site http://www.nationalgeographic.com/forcesofnature/interactive/index.html?section=v Start with section 4 which talks about the different types of volcanoes (I don't know that we would have to go over this with them at the computer, just as long as we were familiar and could discuss it with them. I would like to find better pictures that we could hand out of the different types, but maybe that is asking too much. Section 5 talks about what determines how a volcano erupts, the amount of trapped gas and the viscosity. I think we could use two different soda bottles to demonstrate the trapped gas (shake one, don't shake the other open in a bucket to contain the mess) and the difference between water and honey to give them a visual on viscosity (poured into the same bucket). I like the idea that at the end they can "create" their own eruptions and volcanoes on line and experiment with the difference a bit.

Lesson 5 Fossils, layers of earth

Make sedimentary rocks. PG pg 35. Need sand, gravel or pebbles, some of the small sea shells, dry plaster of Paris, empty soda bottles, and water.
Make metamorphic Rocks - at beginning of class, give each child a zippy bag with some diiferent colored chocolate chips. Have each child sit on the baggie during class. If someone asks, explain that they are making metamorphic rocks with heat and pressure. After they have melted, take a rolling pin and layer them, roll, and slice. Fold, roll, slice again.

Make your own fossils. PG pg 69. Shallow trays, plaster of Paris, fern leaf. Make this in two steps one week and split it open the next week to see the imprint.

Simulate amber. PG pg 69. Liquid resin and hardener and a bug for inside.

Lesson 6 Rock cycle, Rock Identification

Erosion pg 50 TESB

Rock identification - using kit

Lesson 7 Local Geology PG

Read The Big Rock by Bruce Hiscock

Granite what it looks like and where to find it

Dolerite

Basalt

Limestone

Chalk

Sandstone

Schist

Gneiss

Gold and silver

Lesson 8 Minerals, panning for gold

http://mii.org/ has some great material

Learn about key minerals in the earth and the body

Maybe some history of alchemy

Pan for gold

Lesson 9 Water cycle

Lesson 10 Cloud Identification

Beginner clouds http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/P1.html

Make Sky mirror and measuring cloud cover http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/P5.html

Lesson 11 Climates, biomes

Other experiments

Glacier movement experiment. (need the reference)A glacier experiment with flubber

Crystal growing. Mix a hot saturated solution of soluble chemical such as alum or copper sulfate. Dangle a string in it and allow the solution to cool slowly. Crystals will form on the string and side of the container. Scrape off all but the biggest crystal and repeat. This only happens in nature as molten rock is starting to cool. PG pg 22, 23 has this experiment and guide to using crystalline structure to identify minerals.

Second Grade History Books and Read-Alouds

2008-07-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

History Spine - Story of the World 2 Fall of Rome to Queen Elizabeth. I'll read this at the pace of one or two chapters per week.

The Books in their Order

I have these already, and I need to buy these or get from library if they have them, and these will probably be from the library as we can get them and aren't strictly historical and if we don't get to these then it is okay. These books will be read once or twice weekly. Some are long and some are short. The topics are roughly chronological.

One Thousand and One Arabian Nights

Leif the Lucky

Beowulf from Favorite Medieval Tales
The Tomten
Across a Dark and Wild Sea
Brigid's Cloak

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight from Favorite Medieval Tales

King Arthur

Aladdin from The Blue fairy Book

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves from The Blue fairy Book

Making of a Knight

Robin Hood by Green

Chaucer Stories from Favorite Medieval Tales

A Medieval Feast by Aliki
Nicolaus Copernicus
Along Came Galileo
Good Queen Bess

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare

Michelangelo

Peter the Great

Second Grade Monthly Planner Sample

2008-05-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

Senior Year Here

2008-04-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

What is my very bright homeschool senior doing this year?

Classes at the Community College:

Japanese 2 and 3

Italian 1

Philosophy 101

Physics

Classes at Home

British Literature

Computer Literacy

Weights & Fitness

Second Grade Reading List

2008-03-29T16:37:00.001-07:00

Books Scheduled into our Second grade
The Wizard of Oz
The Velveteen Rabbit
Charlotte's Web
McBroom's Wonderful One-Acre Farm
Twenty-one Balloons
Kildee House
Socks
Lumber Camp Library

Books for the additional reading book basket
The Boxcar Children
The Cabin Faced West
Misty
The Secret Garden
Pippi Longstocking
Winnie the Pooh
Peter Pan
The Toothpaste Millionaire

Dinner list March 3-16

2008-03-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

Monday
Spaghetti with steamed veggies
Tuesday
Breakfast for dinner with fresh fruit
Wednesday
Tacos
Thursday
Pot Roast Gravy
Friday
Pork Chops with a side of rice and steamed veggies
Saturday
Shrimp fried rice
Sunday
Roasted Chicken with mashed potatoes
Monday
Spaghetti with steamed veggies
Tuesday
Breakfast for dinner with fresh fruit
Wednesday
Gumbo (recipe to be posted soon)
Thursday
Burgers
Friday
Pasta with Alfredo sauce
Saturday
Homemade Pizzas
Sunday
Fried pork chops with rice and gravy
Monday
Dunno, I don't plan that far.

Human Body Lesson Plan

2008-03-02T17:08:00.000-08:00

Goals – This class will introduce the kids to the following body systems: skeletal, muscular, digestive, circulatory and nervous. We will over the weeks build and label a kid-sized paper body for each child. We will also perform many activities that will demonstrate the function of each body system. We’ll watch the Magic School Bus video “Inside Raphie” to discuss the immune system. We’ll Play the Some Body game before and after class and when the kids need more to do.

Special materials: We will be using a EyeClops (microscope that connects to a tv or computer to look closely at many things), but a microscope will work just as well. We’ll also use the laminated human body parts and felt body that I have somewhere in the garage.

Books: Head to Toe Science by Jim Wiese (HTS) , The Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia (KHE), My Body from Teacher Created Resources

Special Considerations – this is designed for a very active group of 5-10 year old co-op kids. They love activities and experiments. They are not very fond of paperwork or paper crafts. The classes are an hour long once a week. The session is fourteen weeks long. I plan for the skeletal and circulatory systems to take two weeks. I may not be able to complete all of the activities for a given week, and sometimes I will probably run out of activities, but that is all okay. The kids will learn a lot and have fun doing it.

My body
- Our bodies (10-13 KHE)
- Draw outline of body on butcher paper
- Maybe play the SomeBody game to see how well the kids do
- Do the "That's Me" (98 HTS) worksheet and collate data in class. Show how to make and read a bar graph. Hand out copies of the homework worksheet.
Skin and Hair –

Discuss skin (14-17 KHE)
Do fake blister experiment (103 HTS)
Look at skin under magicscope
Put finger prints on body
Discuss Hair (18-19 KHE)
Take hair samples and look at under eyeclops and do Hair Ball experiment (104 HTS)
Put hair on body
Discuss skin as first layer of immune protection. Hand washing. Use lotion and glitter to demonstrate germ spreading. Then discuss hand washing – when, warm water, soap, at least 30 seconds.
Key Terms – Epidermis and Dermis

Bones – two weeks
- Discuss Bones (20-23 KHE)
  - 206 bones in body
  - Bones are alive
  - two main purposes for having a skeleton? (to give you shape and help you move)
  - Your ears and nose have a substance inside them that also gives them shape, but it is softer than bone. What is it? (cartilage)
  - Your bones need calcium. What are some foods that have calcium in them? (green & leafy vegetables, milk, and cheese)
  - What bones protect your heart and lungs? (the ribs)
  - What part of your skeleton protects your brain? (skull)
  - What is the place where two bones fit together? (joint)
  - What holds the bones together at the joints? (ligaments)
  - What is made up of 34 bones and allows you to twist and turn? (backbone; Point out that in the song it is called the spine.)
- Make Skeleton Man (82 HTS)
- Do the Bendable Bones (80 HTS) to show bones are porous – this will take a week so we will start one week then examine the results the next week
- Listen to song Dry Bones (on the Wheels on the Bus Scholastic dvd) and Dry Bones book by Bob Barner
- Bones and Joints (24-25 KHE)
- Label 15 Bones on body drawing skull (cranium), spine (backbone), ribs, scapula (shoulder blade), humerus, radius, ulna, phalanges (finger bones), femur, tibia, fibula, patela, phalanges (toe bones), pelvis, and collarbone
- Label bones with markers on the kids (swimsuits) - maybe
Circulatory System
- Learn about 4 chambers of Heart (56 KHE)
- Measure Pulse
- Use stethescope to listen to heart
- Demonstrate with a meat baster how a heart pumps blood
- Learn about Blood vessels (58 KHE)
- Did you know - Blood vessels in body would stretch over 100,000 miles
- Make sure the kids know the four basic parts of blood and their functions – red blood cells (carry oxygen), white blood cells (fight germs), plasma (the fluid), and platelets (helps blood clot)
- Fake Blood (63 HTS)
- Piping the Blood (66 HTS)
- Draw heart and Arteries and Veins on body (Blue and Red markers) include aorta, vena cava, lungs and heart.
- Things to Know
  - How big is your heart? (about the size of your fist)
  - Your heart is actually a big muscle Emphasize that the heart is an involuntary muscles because we have no control over it.)
  - What is happening when the heart contracts? (It squeezes itself together and blood is pumped out of the heart.)
  - What are the blood vessels called that carry blood away from the heart? (arteries)
  - When the heart expands, blood is able to flow into the heart. What blood vessels carry blood to the heart? (veins)
  - Where are the arteries and veins in your body? (They travel throughout the entire body.)
  - Who has a faster heartbeat, a grown man or a baby? (a baby)
  - Does your heart ever stop pumping blood? (no)
Immune System
- Infection (62-63 KHE)
- Learn about White blood cells
- Remind kids of hand washing
- Magic School Bus video
- Maybe take temperature with those disposable temperature strips
- Discuss Lymph glands?
Respiratory System
- Breathing (64-67 KHE)
- Huff and Puff (48 HTS)
- Air Chamber (52 HTS)
- Can’t Keep it in (53 HTS)
- Key Terms – Trachea, bronchial tubes, alveoli, diaphragm

Muscles
- Muscle Power (26-29 KHE)
- Try to locate pairs of muscles that do each task – ie. bend and straigten arms
- Make sure kids know – difference between voluntary and involuntary muscles.
- Bet You Can’t (72 HTS)
- Stretch it out (75 HTS)
- Muscle Fatigue (76 HTS)
- Add a few muscles to body – bicep, tricep, Achilles tendon, choose some more but we won’t have much time for this

Digestive System
- All About Teeth (72-72 KHE)
- Tooth Detective (38 HTS)
- Enchanted Learning has some great printouts and activities for teeth
- Add teeth to body
- Digestion (74-76 KHE)
- Spit (40 HTS)
- Moving On (44 HTS)
- Make Whoopie whistle (45 HTS)
- Label digestive system on body

Nutrition and fitness
- Staying Fit (90-91 KHE)
- Healthy Food (92-93 KHE)
- Balancing Apples and Oranges (42 HTS) Assign kids to record what they ate during the week (give as handout the week before) so that we can discuss in class
- Do the Yoga Kids video or other exercise activity

Brain and Learning
- Control Center (32-35 KHE)
- Label parts of the brain and its functions
- Relfexes, Learning and Sleep (36-40 KHE)
- Do reaction time activity (32 KHE)
- Reflex activity (36 KHE)
- Balance Activity (18 HTS)
- Homework – dream diary

Senses
- Have stations for the activities and information cards at each station.
  Sensory Stations
  * Hearing: bells, drums, whistles, rice-filled containers, spoons to tap.
  * Touch: sandpaper, playdough, clay, ice, finger paint
  * Vision: microscope, magnifying glass, colored water, prism
  * Olfaction: vanilla, perfume, chocolate, spices
  * Taste: jellybeans, cookies, crackers, fruit slices, salty chips, dill pickles
- Sight (42-45 KHE)
- Blind spot activity (42 KHE)
- Balance activity (46 KHE)
- Add Eyes and ears to outline
- Taste and Smell (48 KHE)
- Touch (50 KHE)
- Touch activity (50 KHE)
- Touch Activity (34 HTS)
- Add mouth and nose to outline
- Great site for Preschool Activities for the senses.
- Enchanted Learning Five Senses page
- A free printable book on the five senses with some good activities.

Conclusion
- Review Dem Bones to perform for parents
- Make sure everyone has their body labled to hang at expo and then take home
- Play Some Body
- We also dissected sheep's brain, heart, eye, and kidney.

Back to The Magic School House

Second Grade for LB (2012-2013)

2008-03-02T16:56:00.000-08:00

Daily
Singapore Primary Math 3A & 3B
Second Grade Reading List
Lively Latin

3 Times a week
Writing With Ease
First Language Lessons 3

2 Times a Week
TOG Year 1 Ancient History
Sonlight Level 2 Science DVDs and kit
Artistic Pursuits

DamningGutter

2008-03-02T12:12:00.001-08:00

Sixth Grade Plans for CC (2012-13)

2008-03-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

Chalkdust PreAlgebra
Sonlight Level 6 Readers
Wheelock's Latin

Classical Writing Homer B
IEW History Based Writing Lessons
French
Elementary Greek
Learn some Greek maxims -

TOG Year 1 Ancient History
The Elements Chemistry
Artistic Pursuits

Preschool for LB (2008-2010)

2008-03-01T15:55:00.000-08:00

I have decided to call it Not-K this year
Revised Dec 12, 2009

everything but math
We are doing Sonlight LA K without the readers since we have plenty of those little things.

Newly 5, LB sits with us to do copywork, practice the word cards from the SL K book, and then I do an activity with her and read her a story which she draws a picture of. It is simple and easy so far.

I'm still not trying teach her to read - which she is doing anyway. I just want her to participate with us for a few minutes each day. She's been proudly putting her work on the fridge before she runs off to play.

Math -
RS A - its been sitting around for years. I'm going to open it up and use it.

Revised Aug 9,2009
I guess this year it is K4 or is that still PreK

Explode the Code workbooks
Starfall.com for additional word play and their books are great readers
MEP 1 math
Rays New Primary Math done orally
Singapore CWP 1 done slowly and orally. I love word problems.

Lots of reading, playing and exploring. I'm keeping school to just one page a day three days a week of work. My primary goal is to get her reading fluently and ready for easy chapters by this time next year. She has started reading CVC and CCVC words already. She'll join us for our geology hikes and history lessons. She's also old enough to take art classes this year and wants ballet.

Older versions of this to see how my planning has evolved.

Revised Feb 7,2009
Singapore Early Bird Math
BJU K5 Math
Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K
Stories
Celebrating Art

I realized that RS A just wasn't getting done so we started BJU K5 math. It is a simple workbook but does a great job so far of introducing math. She loves doing her math and gets lots of praise for joining us at the school table and doing her work. She also gets lots of prasie for being smart at math. So far we are just introducing numbers and doing pattern recognition which is plenty for her age. I love Celebrating Art. It helps me to remember to do art at the little-one level at least once a week. It even incorporates a story every few lessons. And speaking of stories - DOH. I had been forgetting to read things like Goldilocks and other classic stories to the little one. I am purposely doing those weekly now. Doing work at the table is voluntary still, but the stories and art are now a part of our routine which is really good.

Original
Singapore Early Bird Math
Right Start Level A
Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K
Earlybird Start-Up Science

Lots of Play, Stories, and Cuddles

In case you noticed it missing, I don't teach my kids to read. The oldest two learned to read despite my best efforts to teach them. I refuse to try to teach this one. She will have to learn it like the others did.

Right now she is 4 and her participation is voluntary. She gets "lessons" on the days that she wants them which is about once a week right now. She gets daily stories of her choice and lots of free play. She has chores and helps out around the house. She loves to play with the dog, hamster, and chickens. She loves to go to the zoo and on nature walks. She is looking forward to starting ballet when she is older. Play is the best teacher for the young.

Second Grade for CC (2008-2009)

2008-03-01T15:53:00.000-08:00

Revised 17 January
ART
Artistic Pursuits 4-6 book 1
Math
Math Mammoth Add and Subtract 2B and 3 (completed)
Singapore math 3 A&B
Singapore Math Challenging Word Problems 2, 3
Miquon Green almost done
Mquon Yellow Next
Miquon Purple Later - maybe summer

English

IEW Fables Myths and Fairy Tales

The ABC's and All Their Tricks (for me)
Copywork daily from a poem of the student's choice

History
Story of the World 2

Science
Completed
Earth Science unit
Darwin and the Galapagos

Galapagos Means Tortoises by Ruth Heller
Galapagos dvd by BBC
The Voyage of the Beetle by Anne Weaver

Current
ummmmm - Nature Studies and free choice science books whenever she feels like it. We are currently unstructured for science until probably next year.

Future

Real Science 4 Kids Physics
Lego Motorized Engineering II

The Literature - August - May
Celtic myths - complete
Norse myths - Future - starting next week
1001 Arabian Tales - Complete - as a read aloud, now she is reading it herself
Indian tales - Future
Shakespeare Stories - Complete

Older version - Revised 15 Dec 2008
Core
Singapore math 3 A&B
Singapore Math Challenging Word Problems 2, 3

Writing with Ease (without the workbook)

We dropped the workbook so that I could pick our own models. This is when I started looking at changing writing programs.

Growing with Grammar

More
Story of the World 2
Second Grade Middle Ages History List

The Yummy Literature - August - May
Celtic myths - almost complete
Norse myths -
Indian tales -
Shakespeare Stories - Complete

Other
Lively Latin I have this already, but it never seems like a good time to start.

Or maybe Song School Latin - CC is enjoying the singing in Spanish class. This might be a very good approach. Then we would move into Latin for Children next year which is very strong in grammar, and they have history readers in Latin. Nice.

Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 2 starts with art history in about the year 1200. Once we get to that time period, we will add in Artistic Pursuits.

Earth Science (complete)

For the Teacher -CW Aesop Core Book. I want to do CW later and would like to read the core book before I begin.

Older Revision 09 August 2008

Core
Math Mammoth Add and Substract 2B and 3
Singapore math 3 A&B
Singapore Math Challenging Word Problems 2, 3

Writing with Ease
Just Write 2
Can Do Print

More
Story of the World 2
Second Grade Middle Ages History List

The Yummy Literature - August - May
Celtic myths - 1 month
Jakata Tales - 1 month
Norse myths - 3 months
Indian tales - 3 months
Shakespeare Stories - 2 months

Later This Year
Lively Latin
Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 2 starts with art history in about the year 1200. Once we get to that time period, we will add in Artistic Pursuits.

I will teach this at co-op since science is more fun with our friends
K'Nex Simple Machines - Maybe
Earth Science

For the Teacher - IEW Teaching Writing Seminar

Fifth Grade Plans for CC (2011-2012)

2008-03-01T15:40:00.001-08:00

Chalkdust Basic Math
Sonlight Level 5 Readers
Galore Park Latin Prep
Galore Park French 2

Classical Writing Homer A
IEW History Based Writing Lessons
Figuratively Speaking Literary Analysis

TOG Year 4 covers the 1900's
Sonlight Level 5 Science Human Anatomy
Artistic Pursuits

Fourth Grade Plans for CC (2010-2011)

2008-03-01T15:38:00.000-08:00

Singapore Math 5
Sonlight Level 4 Readers
Galore Park Latin Prep

Galore Park French 1
IEW History Based Writing Lessons

TOG Year 3 covers the 1800's
Sonlight Level 4 Science DVDs and kit
Artistic Pursuits

Third Grade Plans for CC (2009-2010)

2008-03-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

What we are currently using as of December 12, 2009

Math
Saxon 5/4 with Life of Fred Fractions once a week

English
Sonlight 3+4 LA
in this we are doing the copywork, writing, reading and vocabulary

Reading
I don't assign reading - CC reads about an hour a day in addition to her SL reading.

Languages
Lively Latin isn't working well for us, I'm just not in the swing with it.
Rosetta Stone French is a new arrival thanks to the school disctric. We'll see how that goes.

Science
Is mainly done at the enrichment school. They do a unit study with those big, expensive science kits and field trips. She reads lots of non-fiction science books and enjoys watching shows like Mythbusters, Popular Mechanics for Kids, and Discovery's Ultimate Guide to the Awesome. We also take frequent trips to the zoo, the natural history museum and the aquarium and lots of nature walks.

History
CC lives and breathes Roman history so I don't schedule that. She does it after school for fun. I have a big shelf of American history books that we are working through in roughly chronological order. She is also reading Take Me Back on her own, for fun.

Memory
We do work on memorizing poetry and lots of it.

That's all of school at this point. She does science, world cultures, art, music, p.e. and chess at her enrichment school once a week and plays, takes care of animals, reads, cooks, helps around the house and does art in her spare time.

Plans as of August 9, 2009
These were finalized about two weeks before school began.

Math
MEP 3b moving through 4
Finish Singapore CWP 3 then 4
Ray's New Intellectual Math for oral review.

English
We'll start with copywork and dictation using selections from J.H. Ewing.

Literature
In Search of a Homeland by Penelope Lively
I'll need to add more after this, but I'll wait before I decide what to add.
There will again be lots of poetry read and memorized.

Foreign Language
Lively Latin
plus we listen to a cd of French songs in the car, and BB is teaching the girls some basic Japanese

Science
We are starting the year by continuing my current obsession with the rocks and geology of or area. We'll be using Hiking Colorado's Geology as our guide. We'll move inside to physical science and mechanics (as opposed to physics which you can't teach without a great deal more math than even an advanced third grader knows) when it gets cold.

History
Story of the World 3 with a liberal dose of early American history. I'm only planning to get to the Revolutionary War this year. I have a list of the other books we are using on the side of my main blog. I'm not using them all, but I'll put them in as we find topics that interest us.

That is all. I don't schedule reading because she does a lot of that. I don't schedule handwriting because hers is beautiful. I don't schedule art because she takes classes at the local art school. And I am hoping that grammar is covered by Latin and copywork and dictation.

My original plans for third grade.
Singapore Math 4
Sonlight Level 3 Readers These are early American History
Lively Latin or Latin for Children

First Language Lesson 4
Classical Writing Aesop

TOG Year 2 Units 3 and 4 at half pace
Sonlight Level 3 Science DVDs and kit
Artistic Pursuits

What about changing everything and doing OakMeadow 5 next year? I had thought of doing Sonlight 3 for third grade for many years, but recently I realized that she had already read most of the books on the reading list. I like the OM secular history approach. I like that it is integrated with the English. I like that it is artistic. I even like the environmental science. I would keep a writing program because I am firmly committed to a classical writing path. OM would be our art, history, grammar, science, and literature. We would only need OM, math, and writing, plus Latin if we choose.

First Grade Plans for LB (2011-2012)

2008-03-01T15:28:00.000-08:00

Daily
Singapore Primary Math 2A & 2B
Handwriting
Readers

Once or twice a week
Lively Latin
TOG Year 4 LG
Artistic Pursuits
Explode the Code
Our own Animals Lessons

Short Lessons. Lots of stories and time to play.

Kindergarten Plans for LB (2010-2011)

2008-03-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

Singapore Early Bird Math
Right Start Level A
Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K
Earlybird Start-Up Science

Lots of Play, Stories, and Cuddles

British Lit. Book List

2008-03-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

Here is our reading and resource list for British Literature this year.

Lightning Lit. British Medieval Lit.
Beowulf
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings
Lord of the Rings by Tolkien

Hamlet by Shakespeare
William Shakespeare's Hamlet by Bloom
Shakespeare and CO. by Stanley Wells
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Paradise Lost by John Milton

The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

First Grade Curriculum

2008-03-01T12:44:00.001-08:00

Daily
BJU Math 2
Singapore Math Intensive Practice 2A
Reading - She has already read more than I planned for the year so now she just reads everything around.
free choice Read Aloud

Twice a week
copywork from reading or recipes for copywork
various Fairy Tales

Once a week
Roman Mythology
Story of the World 1 audio
Gymnastics
Singapore Math Challenging Word Problems 2

Co-op classes once a week
Guitar
Face Painting
Human Body
Girl scouts
Spanish

Completed
FIAR co-op
SOTW activity co-op

The reading and math are the main priorities this year.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

2008-03-01T12:41:00.001-08:00

My son a.k.a. Brother Bear (BB) wrote this as a summary of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for our British Literature class. Enjoy.

Take a chair and you will hear,

The tale of a contest,

Not far from here.

Starting the day before new year.

At the feast of that famous table round,

The footsteps of hooves trod the ground.

Upon it, a knight so obscene,

From his head to his toes all dressed in green.

A burly beard and an axe made of steel,

Bellowing for the strongest foe,

That a deal may be made to strike a blow.

'Come out and face a man that is real!

I come here not for battle or war,

But someone to strike me a blow with my axe,

Thats all I, you will hear from me no more.

Except a year from now I will strike you back,

Is anyone here man enough for that?”

With that calling rose the noblest of kings,

Grey and wise, but large with strength.

Accepting the challenge, the giver of rings,

From the table a voice spoke, short of length.

'Your majesty, If I may, I have no noble deeds,

Allow me to strike this blow,

If not for honor then for the need,

Lust for blood, and death of this foe.'

With that, the king stood down,

The man, sir gawain, grabbed the weapon

And readied the blade to hit the ground.

Then the green knight's head went off and down.

But to everyones surprise the body in green

Grabbed his head and turned away,

'Remember the deal we made sir gawain,

Come find me in a year and a day.'

A year followed and sir gawain set off.

He was going to keep his promise,

He left without sneer or scoff.

Stopping at a manor with intent to rest,

Inquired of the knight in green.

The lord of the house saying without jest,

'The man you seek lies across the stream,

A two mile ride, it would seem.

If what you tell me is true,

You have three days before your day is due.

In this house, stay with me and my wife too,

We are happy to accommodate you.

But shall we, strike a deal, for fun if nothing more,

Every morning I'll hunt, until sleepy is the sun.

And you will stay within my door.

At night we shall exchange the goods we get bar none.'

To this said sir Gawain,

'My lord i shall play this game.'

The next morning the lord's wife came,

With offerings of love and seduction.

But nay, what a flawless speaker Sir Gawain was,

Meeting every parley with a true explanation.

Resisting temptation of bliss,

But the woman before leaving, stole a kiss.

That night the lord gave sir gawain Venison,

A kiss gave Sir Gawain to the lord in return.

The second day two kisses for a boar,

But the third produced something more.

The lady offered Sir Gawain a belt,

Immortality, she said, leaving through the door.

That night the lord came with a fox,

Sir Gawain gave three kisses,

But not the girdle in the box.

The day after that he set off to find,

The knight in green to settle the deal.

Hearing the sharpening of blades, he made up his mind.

With girdle on his waist he waited to feel,

The green knight's blow when he would keel.

The green knight raised the axe and feigned twice,

On the third blood struck

Sir gawain's neck trickled slowly.

Sir Gawain called shenanigans, which wasn't nice,

The green knight just laughed, and gave a look.

Revealing himself to be the lord of the house,

Knew of the belt, of which he took.

To this he said, as quiet as a mouse,

'You broke the rules, now go back to your nook.

Go back to your town, you cheating thief,

Live in shame you lowlife crook.'