Spring Term 2018-2019 Wrap-Up

Much like the slow spring season this year, our 2018-2019 academic year limped to a close. We got'er done, but it wasn't pretty. Today, I'll share with you what we did and didn't do.

First, here are the lists of resources I had planned at the beginning of the year when things were shiny and new....

Year One
Year Eight
Year Nine
Morning Time

Next, you can find our Fall Term Wrap-Up here and our Winter Term Wrap-Up here.

Finally, here is a list of resources we used in Term 3 to end our year....

Morning Time

Bible: DK Children's Bible - we finished the Old Testament
Citizenship: Ourselves by Charlotte Mason - we finished Book I - Self Knowledge
Economics/Government: Whatever Happened to Justice? by Richard Maybury - finished
Literature: The Holy War by John Bunyan - finished
Tales: 50 Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin - we only got about 2/3 of the way through. I'm undecided if we will pick this up again.
Poetry: When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne - finished
Natural History: The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson, adapted by Terry Ann White - finished
Music: Classics for Children - audio CD; Peter and the Wolf; The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Nancy Willard - finished
Art: The Story of Painting by H.W. Janson - skipped
Artist Study: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artist: Paul Cezanne - finished

All three kids also participated in our local homeschool choir, as well as art classes outside the home this spring. Therefore, I dropped the Folk Song and Hymn study this term. In addition, they each memorized multiple poems this year for Recitation. They practiced them during our Morning Time.

Overall, I would say MT was a slog this year. I saw value in the books we read and yet, there wasn't much enjoyment. Many days were like pulling teeth. Sometimes, this is OK...and actually necessary. However, in the case of MT, if truth, beauty, and goodness are the goal, there must be some enjoyment or else it's hard to see the beauty and goodness of it. I will definitely be reassessing MT for fall.

Year 9

Bible

Riley finished the AO Year 8 Bible Reading Plan and continued to copy Psalms in Do You Journible?, which she finished at the end of Term 3.

History

A History of the American People by Paul Johnson - finished reading Parts 1 and 2 this year.

Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie Bober - finished

John Adams by David McCullough - finishing over summer

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis - finishing over summer

George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster - finished

The Book of the Ancient Greeks by Dorothy Mills - along with A Mind in the Light study - finished

The Children's Plutarch: The Tales of the Greeks by F. J. Gould - finished

Book of Centuries - ongoing

Literature

English Literature for Boys & Girls by H. E. Marshall - finished

Invitation to the Classics by Cowan and Guiness - finished assigned excerpts

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - finishing over summer

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - finished

True Grit by Charles Portis - finished

Spelling

IEW's Phonetic Zoo Level B - finished

Math

Introductory Algebra by Margaret Lial - My Homeschool Math Class - finished

Science/Natural History

Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper - finished spring reading

Napoleon's Buttons by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson - finished

For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin - Sabbath Mood Homeschool Part 1 - finished

A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking - finished

First Studies of Plant Life by George Francis Atkinson - finished

Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif - finished assigned reading 

Great Astronomers by Robert Stawell Ball - finished assigned reading

Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel - finished

Signs and Seasons by Jay Ryan - finished

You can see a full review with sample notebooking pages of Riley's science year here. 

Riley also finished up her participation in our local High School Community. I will post more about that in the future. 

Overall, Riley finished well! She has a couple books that she'll be working on completing over summer. She met both goals I set for her at the beginning of the year, which were: to participate in a High School Community and to begin formal composition. Her two favorite subjects this year were History and Literature. Some of her favorite books were The Last of the Mohicans, The Betrothed, The Tale of Two Cities, and she is also loving The Count of Monte Cristo, even though she's not quite finished yet. A few books Riley didn't care for this year were A Briefer History of Time, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and she is struggling to finish Founding Brothers, not because of difficult content or reading level, but rather interest level. All in all, Riley had a great year and finished strong.

Year 8

Character

Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz - finished

History

Rainbow Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers - finished

What in the World?, Vol. 3 by Dianna Waring- finishing over summer

Literature

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith - finished

Little Britches by Ralph Moody - finished

True Grit by Charles Portis - finished

The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien - 2nd time reading - finishing over summer

Science/Natural History

The Lay of the Land by Dallas Lore Sharp - finished

Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather by Eric Sloane - Sabbath Mood Homeschool - finished

Math

RightStart Mathematics - switched mid term to MCP Mathematics and began tutoring at local Christian School - will continue over summer

Ruben had a very difficult winter and spring after his farm accident last November! He was laid up for several months, really until April, and had many doctor appointments to attend. Through it all he was a real champ and made tremendous progress in his academics. He also met each goal that I set for him at the beginning of the school year: 1) increase science; 2) focus on math; and 3) increase independent study. Ruben completed three different Sabbath Mood Homeschool science studies this year and he read most of his books independently, creating notebooking pages or giving an oral narration after each reading. We started the Fall Term very strong with math, but that is one subject that fell by the wayside after his injury. However, in April, we picked back up again with a tutor. She helped Ruben to gain some ground that he lost over the Winter Term. Math is an area we will continue to focus on in the upcoming year. Ruben LOVED his all his Literature books this year, in particular, Rifles for Watie was a favorite and seemed to leave a lasting impression. He highly recommends it!

Year 1

Phonics & Reading 

First Start Reading by Cheryl Lowe/Memoria Press - continuing

Literature

Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne - finished

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater - finished

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White - continuing over summer

Math

Rod & Staff Beginning Arithmetic 1 - continuing

History/Science & Enrichment

A Mind in the Light Natural Worlds 1 - finished parts and pieces

Memoria Press's Kindergarten and First Grade Enrichment - continuing

Levi was such a trooper this year! He started the year very excited about "school". Unfortunately, things faded after the First Term when Ruben had his accident. Being completely dependent on my teaching, his academics took a sabbatical while I tended his brother. We did pick back up in the Third Term with some sense of regularity. However, we have taken a break now in June. I do plan to begin again with him over summer to make up for lost time, but it will be light as I do want him and I to have some free time to recoup and refresh before fall. Levi did meet the goals I had set for him at the beginning of the year to start formal academics and begin reading instruction. I feel like we finally have a great phonics and reading program in place and it will be easier to carry on. 

If I focus too much on my beginning plans, I feel a little deflated that I wasn't able to carry them out. However, when I look at the big picture, I see so much positive! My children are alive and well. Each and every one of them met the academic goals I set. They all showed tremendous growth, not only academically, but physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I am so thankful the 2018-2019 academic year is behind us....and, I am looking forward to planning the new year. My biggest takeaway this year is that sometimes God's plan isn't my plan. :)

This post does contain affiliate links. 

Winter Term 2018-2019 Wrap-Up...

As the grass begins to green outside my window, I can look back at this photo from mid February and see the beauty. However, setting an all time record snow total of 54" for the month of February was not beautiful at the time. As a matter of fact, many days were just pure survival mode. More than 30 cows freshening throughout a month of subsequent blizzards was interesting to say the least. We even ended up with a couple calves in the basement for a short period of time. It was a 6-year old's delight! There were many snow forts and tunnels to be had.

But, this was absolutely not the case for anyone able to shovel.

Then, the week before the Vernal Equinox, the barn that stood for a century, fell under the weight of the rain. Coupled with existing ice and snow, it was just too much to bear. Fortunately, no one was injured and nothing of great value destroyed in the collapse.

All of the weather phenomena, along with Ruben continuing to recover from his accident, made for an interesting Winter Term. In spite of it all, we did persevere with academics and we did manage to finish some books.

First, here is a preview of the resources I had scheduled....

Year One
Year Eight
Year Nine
Morning Time

Next, you can find our Fall Term Wrap-Up here, which will give you some perspective on how we proceeded with the Winter Term.

Morning Time

For the most part, our Morning Time moved forward as planned. One change was that we did Morning Time in the evening. There is much darkness here in WI in the winter months. My people love the daylight and need daylight to do chores. There was not only the shoveling I referred to above, but checking and feeding cattle, making sure we had ample firewood, and I needed to have plenty of food ready to feed these working people. Evenings were our down time when we would gather round. It was much easier for the kids to focus on the readings and the atmosphere felt more relaxed at that time. More often than not, we headed off to bed after great reading and thoughtful discussion. It was a good way to end the day.

Regarding books used in Morning Time, I ended up swapping The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos for DK The Children's Illustrated Bible by Selina Hastings, which is a Veritas Press recommendation. We will pick up the Vos bible again in the fall. In addition, we finished In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. Other books listed under the Morning Time link above were continued into Spring Term.

Year 9 - RileyAnn

RileyAnn continued to move forward with her plan. She finished reading The World of Captain John Smith and picked up George Washington's World, both by Genevieve Foster. In addition, she began reading Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie Bober and John Adams by David McCullough. For science in the Winter Term, Riley finished The Chemical History of the Candle by Michael Faraday with lectures and Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. She also completed The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper and Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen as part of her High School Community.

Year 8 - Ruben 

Ruben also made progress in his plan while recovering. The first six weeks of the Term were hard! Initially, Ruben had tremendous pain and was unable to focus. In addition, he had so many appointments that it was difficult to find time for academics. Once healing began and he could concentrate for periods of time, Ruben really took off on his reading. He managed to complete The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis & Clark by Gail Langer Karwoski, The Boy of the Alamo by Margaret Cousins, Riders of the Pony Express by Ralph Moody, and the Landmark book Gettysburg by MacKinlay Kantor during the Winter Term. Ruben and I worked together to finish Secrets of the Universe by Paul Fleisher along with the Sabbath Mood Homeschool Physics Study Guide.

One area we fell short was math. His RightStart Mathematics lessons were intermittent and we didn't make as much progress as scheduled. I will explain more about where we landed with math at the end of our Term Three Wrap-Up, once we finish our school year.

Year 1 - Levi

Oh my dear Levi! I ended up shuffling his books yet again in the second term. Due to the care and appointments needed after Ruben's accident, my time was even more limited than before. I had to find something that I could put on autopilot in order to ensure it would get done. In my Fall Term Wrap-Up post, I mentioned switching to RightStart Math and Alpha-Phonics. They are both excellent programs, but because there is no lesson plan, you just do what comes next. This made it very hard for others besides me to implement if I was gone. Therefore, somewhere around Week 22, toward the end of our Winter Term, I switched to Memoria Press's First Start Reading and I LOVE it!! I already had the Teacher Guide, which I found at a thrift sale for 25-cents so just needed the Student Workbooks. It's straight up phonics with a plan. :)

I actually went back to the Kindergarten level because I wanted Levi to start from the beginning. I also felt their reading lessons were a bit advanced, especially since we chose not to do Kindergarten at age five, but rather, waited to begin formal lessons until age six. I bought the Curriculum Guide, which is amazing and was worth the money to me. As a matter of fact, I purchased the K, 1st, and 2nd grade Curriculum Guides so I could see the progression of the program. I had been using some of Memoria Press's Art, Music, and Enrichment anyway. The Curriculum Guides also lays out a plan for teaching those subjects.

We have since changed math to Rod & Staff Beginning Arithmetic 1, which is also recommended by Memoria Press, and Levi loves it! It's funny how each kid learns so differently, even when birthed from the same womb. Ruben struggled so much with workbooks due to dyslexia, that it prompted me to find another way. This is what led me more toward Charlotte Mason's methods. However, Levi really likes workbooks and doesn't care for manipulating objects. I have always been intrigued by Rod & Staff math. I think it's because it's the way I was taught math and I feel it worked. The sequential mastery approach is very appealing to me.

For now, Levi's math comes in fits and spurts, which I am not worried about. After reading the Benezet experiment, along with other delayed formal math research, I'm OK with waiting on math until the child is developmentally ready. It's a subject that's easy for Levi at this time so we do it more for fun than academic reasons. He also plays with math in the day to day and gains much of his math knowledge that way.

After beginning the Beautiful Feet Books Early American History Primary level, it was soon apparent that Levi wasn't quite ready. I used this study with Riley and Ruben when they were 3rd and 4th grade, which I feel is a much more appropriate age, even though Beautiful Feet recommends it for Kindergarten - 3rd grade. The D'Aulaire books are amazing at any age, but I feel it's better to wait until the student can fully grasp the stories presented in them in order to better appreciate them. Also, Levi is a young 1st grader, with a summer birthday so the writing/notebooking proved to be too much. Instead, we have read many picture books together on a variety of topics, including science and history.

For now, my focus with Levi is phonics and reading. He continues to participate in Morning Time. We also finished reading Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, and began Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater in the way of chapter books this term.  Overall, the changes made have been working and academics are actually getting done!

Fall Term 2018-2019 Wrap-Up

Oh, the beauty of fall seems long ago as I look out the window and see the earth covered with snow. However, according to the calendar, it is technically still fall until the end of the week...and what a fall it has been!

We wrapped up a very busy Term One in mid November, allowing us a scheduled week off for Thanksgiving and WI deer hunting season. A week of what I hoped would be filled with much needed rest and relaxation after our crazy start to the school year. Unfortunately, it began with some unplanned appointments and ended with a near tragedy when Ruben was pinned between a wagon load of round bales and the tractor, after the brakes failed, causing the tractor to roll back on him. Thankfully, angels were watching over him that day. I have no doubt that God's strength gave The Farmer the ability to move that 8-10,000 pound tractor up hill, allowing Ruben to fall from it's grip. After numerous tests, scans, and x-rays in ER, the doctor proclaimed Ruben's life a miracle. He said any man would have been killed under that kind of pressure, but because of elasticity in growing bodies, Ruben was spared. We are ever so grateful!!

Even though there were no organs punctured or bones broken, Ruben's body was badly swollen and bruised from being squeezed so hard. He had tremendous pain and walked with a walker the first couple of weeks, requiring a great deal of care. We've been administering a variety of therapies to aid in his healing since. Ruben is making great progress and slowly recovering. Our lives are gaining some sense of regularity and there is rhythm in our days. Hence the reason I am able to come back and blog about our Fall Term.

First, here is a preview of the resources I had scheduled....

Year One
Year Eight
Year Nine
Morning Time

Next, let's break it down and see what we accomplished in real life because a plan is only good if you are able to implement it.

Big Picture

Overall, we're getting through most subjects in spite of the chaos. As usual, some subjects are more joyous than others. I've had to drop a few books this term in the essence of time and over scheduling, but for the most part, the kids are getting the work done, even though some of it is hard. I don't typically drop books due to whining. (Check out Brandy's post, Don't Drop the Book.) However, if time is truly the issue, I do drop an occasional book. This was the case this term.

Morning Time has been a greater challenge this year with my age gap. I've made a few adjustments and it seems to be going better. I also let Levi come and go, depending on the book we are reading. I think it's necessary to choose a variety of books for Morning Time. Some should be geared to the older kids and some to the younger. I usually start with easier books or books geared for the youngest child. Then I let little ones go or play quietly while I continue with books for the older kids. Of course, the younger kids learn by osmosis and if they are quiet, I encourage them to stay if at all possible.

One book I dropped from Morning Time was our Geography read, Longitude by Dava Sobel. It's an AO Year 9 book that none of us were enjoying, including mama. I had to cut something because our Day 3 reading was too long. Longitude got the ax. We are continuing everything else at this point.

Year 9 - RileyAnn

Riley's been holding her own. Because she had several heavy readings, I did drop From Dawn to Decadence by Jacques Barzun. We also haven't completed The Iliad by Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore  and The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore using The Epics by Roman Roads Media as scheduled. We watched the first couple of lectures of The Epics. Wes Callihan is phenomenal! I just didn't have time to sit with Riley and complete the classes. Of course, she's capable of completing it independently, but I really feel strongly that it would be beneficial to do in a group or with a buddy. Therefore, we have set it aside for now. I would love to come back to it at some point!

We are behind in Introductory Logic by Canon Press Series. Again, this is my fault for lack of time to sit with her and complete the course. However, we will definitely continue this for her Logic credit in the coming weeks.

Year 8 - Ruben

Ruben's plan is fitting best of all three kids. I feel like we've finally found balance and he's hit his groove. The only subject that proved to be a bad fit was Introductory Logic by Canon Press Series. I have dropped Logic from his schedule this year as I just don't think he was ready for it. We will pick up some sort of Logic in his high school years, but I'm not sure which book at this point.

Ruben also struggled through astronomy using The Planets by Dava Sobel along with the Sabbath Mood Homeschool guide. He did finish it, but I must confess, the book was terrible IMHO. I find it hard to believe there wasn't a better resource out there for middle school astronomy. There were several readings I omitted because I didn't feel the content was appropriate or necessary for a 13-year old boy. I ended up pulling from Album of Astronomy by Tom McGowen and The New Astronomy Book by Danny R. Faulkner. Both of which proved to be excellent resources and complementary to most of the big picture of the Sabbath Mood Homeschool guide.

Year 1 - Levi

I was way too ambitious in planning Year One. We've been home educating since 2007 and this is my my third go around with 1st grade. You'd think by now I would have a better sense of time and ability. However, each child is uniquely created and there is no one size fits all. Therefore, the best laid plans sometimes don't work. Term One was a testament to that.

A Mind in the Light Year One - The Complete Guide by Lisa Kelly is a wonderful resource, particularly for a home educator who doesn't quite have her feet under her, but wants to educate classically using Charlotte Mason's methods. It is structured and laid out in an easy to follow format. Unfortunately, I just didn't have time to do all the things. Fortunately, having experience, I was able to cull and pull what worked for us. We have completed all the Literature and Poetry so far, most of the Science suggestions, and the Arts that I put in Morning Time. The most significant changes I made to the program were to History, opting to instead read the D'Aulaire books reprinted by Beautiful Feet Books and scheduled in their Early American History Primary guide. This is proving to be a better fit for Levi. 

I also switched up his math. We began with Charlotte Mason's Elementary Arithmetic 1 by Richele Baburina and Simply Charlotte Mason, but changed to RightStart Level B. I really did enjoy the Math Immersion Retreat I attended in October and Richele clearly has a heart for mathematics using Charlotte's methods. I simply didn't find time to research supplementary problems. When I did have time, my brain wasn't in a place to create math lessons. Instead, I opted to switch to a program that was scripted. I expect teacher intensity at this level so RS is not a problem in that regard. 

Lastly, we began using Alpha-Phonics by Samuel L. Blumenfeld. I love All About Reading Level 1 by Marie Rippel. However, this particular child was not loving the letter tiles. He prefers a movable alphabet and was able to progress a bit more quickly than AAR was moving. I have not ditched AAR completely, but instead have been going between it and Alpha-Phonics. This seems to be a good combination. 

The changes noted above have allowed us to have smoother days. We are now beginning our fourth week of Term Two and things are going better. By shuffling a few books around, there has even been room for Christmas picture books, but that's for another post...

2018-2019 Grade 1 Curriculum Preview

It's been a few years since I've taught 1st grade in our homeschool....seven to be exact! Truth be told, I was a little more anxious about it than beginning high school again this year. There's so much more to choose from now. It's almost overwhelming. I have pinched, pulled, and tweaked along the way, pouring over a variety of resources. It's going well so far, but we are still settling in.

Today, I'm going to share the resources we are using at this point for 1st grade. It does not include the Morning Time list, which you can see here. You can also check out our 8th grade and 9th grade plans to get an idea of the big picture happening in our home.

Bible and Character

The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos - See Morning Time plans
Polite Moments by Gary and Cathy Maldaner

A Mind in the Light Year One - The Complete Guide by Lisa Kelly - You will find the complete list of books used at her website. I will simply list the books I am personally using here. Some are suggested in her guide and some are books I've chosen.

History and Geography

A Child's History of the World by V. M. Hillyer - We started this book, but have since decided to hold off and will most likely be starting Beautiful Feet Book's Early American History Primary over the next couple of weeks, since it is the same time period as my older kids. I found that I don't like having everyone in a different period. For this reason, we will not be reading the other AMITL suggested history books this year, but will wait until we go back to Ancients.

Regarding the geography books listed below, I will use the ones I own or can easily find from the library. I also plan to begin using Beautiful Feet Book's Around the World With Picture Books as a substitute for our Morning Time Geography read. I will post more about that at another time.

The Nile River by Allan Fowler 

How We Learned the Earth is Round by Patricia Lauber 

The Seven Continents by Wil Mara 

Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney 

Earth by Alfred Leutscher -OR- Soil by Christin Ditchfield 

Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean by Arthur Dorros 

If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche 

Geography from A to Z by Jack Knowlton

Science and Nature Study

One Small Square: Woods by Donald Silver

One Day in the Woods by Jean Craighead George 

Wild Life in Woods and Field by Arabella Buckley

Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons 

Down Comes the Rain by Franklyn M. Branley

What Makes Day and Night by Franklyn M. Branley

Clouds by Anne Rockwell 

Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros 

The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder by Mark Cassinoo 

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin 

Sunshine Makes the Sun by Franklyn M. Branley

Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll by Franklyn M. Branley 

Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons 

What Makes a Shadow? by Clyde Robert Bulla  

The First Book of Bugs by Margaret Williamson 

The First Book of Bees by Albert B. Tibbets

Literature and Poetry

Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne - AO Year 1
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost  - Five in a Row
When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne - AO Year 1
The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Andersen by Jane and Dennis Yolen
Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson
The True Story of Peter Rabbit by Jane Johnson
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams - AO Year 1
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White - AO Year 1
Andersen's Fairy Tales by H. C. Andersen
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder- AO Year 1

Tales of Peter Rabbit and Friends by Beatrix Potter - Five in a Row
Aesop for Children by Milo Winter - AO Year 1
Tales from the Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater - AO Year 2
C. W. Anderson’s Billy and Blaze books:

     - Billy and Blaze

     - Blaze and the Forest Fire

     - Blaze and the Mountain Lion

     - Blaze and Thunderbolt 

     - Blaze Shows the Way

The Arts - Will be done in Morning Time

Classics for Children - audio CD 

Meet the Orchestra by Ann Hayes

The Carnival of the Animals by Jack Prelutsky - book + CD 

Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf illustrated by Peter Malone

The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Nancy Willard 

The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers 

Edgar Degas (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia 

Mary Cassatt (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia 

Paul Cezanne (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia

Phonics/Reading

All About Reading Level 1 by Marie Rippel

Explode the Code 

Penmanship

Cursive First by Elizabeth FitzGerald

Math

Charlotte Mason's Elementary Arithmetic 1 by Richele Baburina - Simply Charlotte Mason

Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades by Ednah Anne Rich

This may look like a long list for 1st grade. However, many of the readings are broken up into small parts. Some of the literature reads, I do at bedtime. This allows for short lessons, as we are still grooming the habit of attention. It doesn't feel heavy in the day to day. 

2018-2019 Year 8 Curriculum Preview

Ruben's 2018-2019 academic year is off to a great start! He is in 8th grade this year. We are six weeks into the year and the majority of his resources are working very well for him. Below is a preview of the books I chose for him this year. The list does not include things like Bible, Geography, Economics/Government, Poetry, and Fine Arts because they are covered in our Morning Time, which you can learn more about here. This lists simply includes subjects Ruben works on independently.

Character & Citizenship

Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz

History

The Rainbow Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers - This book was republished  in 2012 by Beautiful Feet Books as A Child's First Book of American History.

What in World?, Vol. 3 World Empires, World Missions, World Wars by Diana Waring - audio CD's

Language Arts

As with last year, Ruben's Language Arts ties in with his history. He is using IEW's U.S. History-Based Writing Lessons, which has a suggested literature list to accompany the study. Ruben has previously read a couple of the books listed so I will sub books where appropriate. As of now, his tentative reading list looks like this....

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - He finished reading and loved!
Landmark The Explorations of Pere Marquette by Jim Kjelgaard - He is currently reading.
America's Paul Revere by Esther Forbes
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
(book on Lewis & Clark or Daniel Boone - still deciding)
Riders of the Pony Express by Ralph Moody
Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson -OR- Little Britches by Ralph Moody
Journey to Topaz by Yoshida Uchida - AND/OR - Landmark Air Raid-Pearl Harbor! by Theodore Taylor

I may add other books on topics after WWII, depending on time. I would also like to add a spelling program at some point in the year. I'm trying to decide between How to Teach Spelling by Rudginsky and Haskell and IEW's Phonetic Zoo. The first was a resource used by Ruben's tutor at the Children's Dyslexia Center. The second option is one that has been used by RileyAnn successfully over the past couple of years.

Natural History

The Lay of the Land by Dallas Lore Sharp

Science

Term 1 Astronomy - The Planets by Dava Sobel - along with Sabbath Mood Homeschool guide
Term 2 Physics - Secrets of the Universe by Paul Fleisher - along with Sabbath Mood Homeschool guide
Term 3 Weather - Look at the Sky by Eric Sloane - along with Sabbath Mood Homeschool guide

Math

Ruben is finishing up his current RightStart Math level from last year and has only a week or two left. I'm not sure if we will begin the next level or switch to something different. I'm slightly modifying RS and focusing on concepts rather than a particular scope and sequence. I'm heading to a Math Immersion retreat by Richele Baburnia in a couple weeks and will make a more concrete decision after that time.

Logic

Introductory Logic - Canon Press Series - The original plan was to have Ruben work through this with Riley, but I have since scratched this from his list as it was not a good fit him.

Fine Arts

In addition to the Artist Study, Composer Study, Hymns, and Folk Songs in our Morning Time, Ruben will take a private art class in the spring taught by another local homeschool mom.

Ruben also works for several neighbors in the area. He has a regular three hours per week position on a horse hobby farm. In addition, he picks up extra hours periodically for other neighbors doing misc. handy man jobs. He is learning a great deal of hands on skills through these interactions and is developing a solid work ethic. His handicrafts involve mechanics, wood cutting, and farm maintenance. Ruben also enjoys hunting and fishing in his free time. I schedule our academic book work four days per week to give him free time to pursue these other endeavors. 

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2018-2019 Year 9 Curriculum Preview....

As we begin our fifth week of the 2018-2019 academic year, I thought I'd share with you RileyAnn's Year 9 curricula and book choices. These are items Riley is working on either independently, in High School Community, or with me. They do not include our Morning Time reads, which I shared with you last week. Things like Geography, Economics/Government, and Fine Arts are covered there.

In regard to History, I'm trying something different this year in that Riley will study two streams of history throughout high school. In the past, I had my high schooler complete one full cycle of history chronologically over four years. However, since Riley just completed a cycle of Ancient History in 7th grade and a cycle of Medieval History in 8th grade, I didn't want to go back and begin again with Ancients, and neither did she. Instead, I have opted to spread a thread of Ancient History alongside a thread of American History over three years. The plan will look something like this....

9th grade - Ancient Greece & American 1500-1800
10th grade - Ancient Rome & American 1800's to Civil War
11th grade - Medieval, Renaissance, Reformation & American Post Civil War to Current

This plan will afford us time in 12th grade for possible dual enrollment, to focus on a particular history study of interest, to extend the Modern study or catch-up if need be. So far, it's going great! Riley is happy to be back in American History, as well as working toward her Ancient History credit. Overall, her books look as follow...

Bible, Character, Citizenship

Ambleside Online Year 8 Through the Bible Reading Plan
Continue copying Psalms in Do you Journible?

History

A History of the American People by Paul Johnson - AO Year 9
From Dawn to Decadence by Jacques Barzun - We decided to drop this book for now. I'm not sure if we will pick it back up in the future.
The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster - Beautiful Feet Books
George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster - Beautiful Feet Books
Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford - select chapters
A variety of historical documents - AO Year 9
John Adams by David McCullough - AO Year 9
Abigail Adams by Natalie Bober - AO Year 4
Founding Fathers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis - AO Year 9
The Book of the Ancient Greeks by Dorothy Mills - along with Classical Lessons....by Lisa Kelly of A Mind in the Light

Natural History

Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper - AO Year 8

Science - many selections from AO Year 8

First Studies of Plant Life by George Francis Atkinson - select chapters
Napoleon's Buttons: 17 Molecules That Changed History by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson
Adventures with a Microscope by Richard Headstrom - select adventures
Great Astronomers by R.S. Ball - select chapters
The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman
A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking 
The Microbe Hunters by Paul De Kruif - select chapters
Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy by Jay Ryan - select chapters
For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin - along with Sabbath Mood Homeschool Physics 1 study guide

Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel

English - Literature, Poetry, Composition, Penmanship, Spelling, Shakespeare, Recitation

The History of English Literature for Boys and Girls by H. E. Marshall - continued from last year
The Iliad by Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore - The Epics by Roman Roads Media
The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore - The Epics by Roman Roads Media
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni - AO Year 8
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas- AO Year 9
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - AO Year 9
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - AO Year 9
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - AO Year 9

Riley's poetry will be in conjunction with our High School Community study, of which I'm using portions of Janice Campbell's Excellence in Literature American Literature for the base of the study. She will also study A Midsummer Night's Dream and one other Shakespeare play with her High School Community, as well as Recitation and Current Events. She will write various narrations throughout the year on a variety of readings and will write a handful of papers based on lit readings from the High School Community. For practice in penmanship, Riley will complete PreScripts Poetry from Classical Conversations. She will continue IEW's Phonetic Zoo for Spelling.

Math

Introductory Algebra online through My Homeschool Math Class

Logic

Introductory Logic - Canon Press Series

Fine Arts

In addition to the Artist Study, Composer Study, Hymns, and Folk Songs in our Morning Time as well as Handicrafts, Riley is taking two private art classes this year. One is a two hour weekly study on drawing and painting and one is a one hour weekly study, in which she will learn the art of print making. Both are taught by local homeschool moms.

Overall, things are going well so far. To some, this may look like a lot of books. However, you must keep in mind that they are spread out with short, slow readings throughout the year. Also, many of the science books are a continuation from last year or will be continued into next year, so she is not reading the entire book at one time. On average, Riley spends approximately 4-5 hours per day on her studies with some days being a bit longer and some a bit shorter.

I try to build margin in my kid's lessons by scheduling book work only four days a week. This allows time for extra-curricular and outside activities, as well as added time for leisurely reading. Riley has many interests outside of academics and I believe it's important for her to have time to develop those interests.


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