A Stable Beginning

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

2015–2016 Plan of Study ~ 9th, 7th, 3rd, Kindergarten, & Tot School

We start school in 18 days! Whohoo, I am super excited! This will be our 7th year of home educating and I feel like I have finally hit my groove and am comfortable with the Classical method of teaching and learning. Because I am re-learning right along with these girls {and little boy} Smile

Just a few weeks ago we graduated Marie in the local homeschool convention graduation. It was fabulous! She is headed off to Liberty University in just 42 short days. We are so proud of her and know she will do so great in her Graphic Design major.
Without further ado, here is our 2015 – 2016 Plan of Study for 9th, 7th, 3rd, Kindergarten, and Tot School.

*None of the links listed are affiliate links

Wow, can you believe I am starting the high school series all over again! This time through high school will be a bit different because Madison wants to be an Astrophysicist and possibly join the Air Force, and with that comes a lot of math and science classes to prepare. Which she actually loves so it won’t be such a chore at all for her.
Last year for eighth grade Madison earned 2 high school credits, one for American History and one for Physical Science. Madison will also take the PSAT in October of this year to get a feel for the test. She normally tests extremely well, so I will be interested to see how she does.
Now, don’t be super alarmed at the amount of credits she is doing because everything will not be done every single day. She wants to hit the ground running hard so that come Senior year she can relax a bit. I can’t argue with that and we will definitely adjust the schedule if need be, especially if she starts to get overwhelmed.
Bible History, 1 cr
~ Sonlight Bible Apologetics 210
English & Composition I {Honors}, 1.5cr
~ Sonlight Literature 230
~ Rod & Staff 9/10, book 1
~ Excellence in Literature: Introduction to Literature
~ Vocabulary: 1100 Words You Need to Know
~ SAT Question of the Day
~ Revisions to novel and submit to publisher{s}
~ Current events
History, 1 cr
~ Sonlight Core 200: History of God’s Kingdom
Math, 1 cr
~Saxon Algebra 1
Science {Honors}, 1.5 cr
~ Apologia Biology with living books & movies and Red Wagon Tutorials
Foreign Language, 1 cr
~Alpha Omega Life Pac Spanish 1
~DuoLingo App
Electives
Photography, 1 cr
~Become a better photographer
Meteorology/Astronomy, .5 cr
~ Introduction to Meteorology and Astronomy
Keyboarding, .5 cr (2nd semester)
~ Typing for Christian Service
PE, .5 cr
~ Softball: Fall - Rec team / Spring –Varsity team with SCA
~ Girl Scout Senior
~ Community Service with the National Exchange Club
Total credits: 9.5credits

Mikayla is entering 7th grade this year! This year will be a bit of adjustment as we transition to her being gone most mornings for training. She will be doing some of her school work at the gym during her break time and completing the rest when she comes home in the afternoon. The beauty of this new schedule is that she will have Thursday completely OFF, yes! {Let’s just pray McKenzie doesn’t have gym on Thursday}.
For 7th grade I am going to be concentrating hard on getting Mikayla’s writing and reading up to par. Neither are her favorite things to do but both are so important in the long run. We are both going into this schedule change with some grace ahead of time because I know there are going to be days that we are both tired and don’t feel up to afternoon/evening school, but we will press on and get it done even if that means we work on Saturday. Afterall, a little Saturday school never hurt anyone, right?
Mikayla would like to be a pediatric physical therapist/sports medicine. A few years ago she hurt her elbow from all the training repetition and went to PT at the local Children’s Hospital. Her PT guy must have made a big impression on her because she is excited about going into this field and has even started talking about what colleges she would like to possibly attend.
Bible
~Alpha Omega Life Pac Bible 7
Language Arts & Composition
~ Rod & Staff Grammar 6 {second half of book}
~ Rod & Staff Spelling 7{finish}/ half of book 8
~ Hodgepodge of writing assignments
~ Current events paragraphs
~ IEW Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization {MTR}
Math
~ Saxon Math 8/7 *includes pre-Algebra
History/Geography
~ Tapestry of Grace, Yr 3 {UG/D level}
Science
~ Elemental Science Chemistry for Logic Stage
Guided Reading
~ Rod & Staff Reading 6
Art / Composer Study
~ Harmony Fine Arts Program, Opt. 2
PE
~ Level 9 competitive gymnastics team 28+ hrs/wk
Girl Scout Cadette

Montana is moving full steam ahead into 3rd grade. She is excited and looking forward to being a third grader, mostly because she now enjoys reading for fun. She is also excited to start learning American History. It is my favorite history time period and since we live on the East coast, I look forward to taking many fieldtrips to historical sites over the next two years. Montana’s reading is starting to take off and that makes this Mama happy since she struggled in the beginning.
Bible
~ Sonlight Bible Core D {part of MTR – morning time recitation}
Language Arts
~ Rod & Staff Grammar 3
~ Rod & Staff Spelling 4
~ A Reason for Writing, C
~ IEW Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization {MTR}
~ Memoria Press Recitation {MTR}
~ Copywork, selected pieces from American History Through Copywork and Dictation
~ Sonlight’s Readers 3
~Reading lists
Math
~ Saxon Math 3
~ Simply Charlotte Mason Your Business Math Pet Store
History
~ Tapestry of Grace, Yr 3 {LG}
~ USA Geography and US President study
Science
~ Elemental Science Chemistry for Grammar Stage
Music
~ listening to classical music
Art
~Art projects for Kids
PE
~ Softball: Fall and Spring ball
~ Girl Scout Brownie

My baby girl McKenzie is officially going into Kindergarten! We opted her out of Kindergarten last year because her birthday is very close to the cutoff date. However, she did do Kindergarten level work and learned to read, YES! This year she will officially be a Kindergartener for School Board records.
This year I want to focus on her reading and phonics. We found out a few weeks ago that she could not see, hence the struggle I had getting her to read without complaining. She will do math all.day.long, but with reading it was like pulling teeth midway through a lesson. Now she is the proud owner of not one, but two new pairs of glasses. However, the novelty of wearing glasses wore off within a few days Smile

Bible
~ Sonlight Bible A {MTR}
Language Arts
~ Memoria Press K recitations {MTR}
~ IEW Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization {MTR}
~ Explode the Code, books 1 & 2
~ A Reason for Writing, Book A
~ Sonlight Readers 1
~ Memoria Press First Start Reading with Classical Phonics
~ Ready 2 Read, Level 2
~ Reading list – reading good books working her way up to 30 minutes independently.
Math
~ Saxon 1
~ CTC Math
Music
~ listening to classical music
Art
~Art projects for Kids
PE
~ Pre-Team gymnastics, 5 hours/ week plus 2 hrs of Pre-TOPs
~Girl Scout Daisy

It’s going to be a great year!

I will be linking up with the Not Back To School Blog Hop curriculum week hosted by iHomeschool Network and with Trivium Tuesdays.

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Friday, July 10, 2015

2015-2016 Plan of Study ~ 3rd, K & Tot School

Welcome back! Today I want to outline what our plan of study is for my Grammar stage girls. We are going to be switching back to a four day school week for Montana and McKenzie to give me that extra day to really focus with Mikayla and Madison on Thursdays. Now, they will have little things to do to keep learning, but it won’t be super structured that day.
They are both looking forward to having a weekly play date with their friend, Miss H., while I teach General Science. I am looking forward to also returning to our year around schedule of 6 weeks on / 1 week off. It will give me time to recharge my batteries so to speak.

Micah is the perfect age to start Tot School now. He is so inquisitive and eager to learn and play. I am going to keep things simple, yet fun for him this year. I especially would like to work on getting him on a better napping schedule so that will be apart of his learning too.
~ Tot School
~ Flowering Baby – One to Two Years
So, that’s it! Our 2015-2016 choices are ready to go and we are ready to begin in the next few weeks. Be sure to check out what my older girls are doing for 9th & 7th grade too. I will be linking a central post up with our complete plan of study next week with the Not Back To School Blog Hop hosted by iHomeschool Network.

It’s going to be a great year!

Thursday, July 9, 2015

2015-2016 Plan of Study ~ 7th and 9th grade

We start school in 25 days! Whohoo, I am super excited! This will be our 7th year of home educating and I feel like I have finally hit my groove and am comfortable with the Classical method of teaching and learning. Because I am re-learning right along with these girls {and little boy} Smile

Just a few weeks ago we graduated Marie in the local homeschool convention graduation. It was fabulous! She is headed off to Liberty University in just 42 short days. We are so proud of her and know she will do so great in her Graphic Design major.
Today I want to tell you about our choices for our 9th and 7th graders, Madison & Mikayla.

*None of the links listed are affiliate links

Bible History, 1 cr
~ Sonlight Bible Apologetics 210
English & Composition I {Honors}, 1.5cr
~ Sonlight Literature 230
~ Rod & Staff 9/10, book 1
~ Excellence in Literature: Introduction to Literature
~ Vocabulary: 1100 Words You Need to Know
~ SAT Question of the Day
~ Revisions to novel and submit to publisher{s}
~ Current events
History, 1 cr
~ Sonlight Core 200: History of God’s Kingdom
Math, 1 cr
~Saxon Algebra 1
Science {Honors}, 1.5 cr
~ Apologia Biology with living books & movies and Red Wagon Tutorials
Foreign Language, 1 cr
~Alpha Omega Life Pac Spanish 1
~DuoLingo App
Electives
Photography, 1 cr
~Become a better photographer
Meteorology/Astronomy, .5 cr
~ Introduction to Meteorology and Astronomy
PE, .5 cr
~ Softball: Fall - Rec team / Spring –Varsity team with SCA
~ Girl Scout Senior
~ Community Service with the National Exchange Club

Total credits: 9 credits

Mikayla is entering 7th grade this year! This year will be a bit of adjustment as we transition to her being gone most mornings for training. She will be doing some of her school work at the gym during her break time and completing the rest when she comes home in the afternoon. The beauty of this new schedule is that she will have Thursday completely OFF, yes! {Let’s just pray McKenzie doesn’t have gym on Thursday}.
For 7th grade I am going to be concentrating hard on getting Mikayla’s writing and reading up to par. Neither are her favorite things to do but both are so important in the long run. We are both going into this schedule change with some grace ahead of time because I know there are going to be days that we are both tired and don’t feel up to afternoon/evening school, but we will press on and get it done even if that means we work on Saturday. Afterall, a little Saturday school never hurt anyone, right?
Mikayla would like to be a pediatric physical therapist/sports medicine. A few years ago she hurt her elbow from all the training repetition and went to PT at the local Children’s Hospital. Her PT guy must have made a big impression on her because she is excited about going into this field and has even started talking about what colleges she would like to possibly attend.
Bible
~Alpha Omega Life Pac Bible 7
Language Arts & Composition
~ Rod & Staff Grammar 6 {second half of book}
~ Rod & Staff Spelling 7{finish}/ half of book 8
~ Hodgepodge of writing assignments
~ Current events paragraphs
Math
~ Saxon Math 8/7 *includes pre-Algebra
History/Geography
~ Tapestry of Grace, Yr 3 {UG/D level}
Science
~ Elemental Science Chemistry for Logic Stage
Guided Reading
~ Rod & Staff Reading 6
Art / Composer Study
~ Harmony Fine Arts Program, Opt. 2
PE
~ Level 9 competitive gymnastics team 28+ hrs/wk
Girl Scout Cadette
Be sure to check back tomorrow when I list what my Grammar aged students will be learning. I will have curriculum choices for 3rd, K, and Tot School. I will be linking a central post up with our complete plan of study next week with the Not Back To School Blog Hop hosted by iHomeschool Network.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

CursiveLogic ~ a TOS review

Learning to write and read cursive writing is an important skill to have. Not only because it enables you to be able to sign your name, but also because it looks professional and most historical documents are written in cursive.

Over the last six weeks we have had the opportunity to review a cursive writing program called CursiveLogic Workbook from CursiveLogic. Let me tell you a little about it.

The CursiveLogic workbook is a 97 page spiral workbook that teaches cursive in an unique, logical way. The program emphasizes the following 5 steps to teaching anyone, young and old, to learn the valuable skill of writing in cursive.

Letters grouped by shape ~ Four basic shapes make up the entire alphabet. CursiveLogic teaches all of the similar letters into one lesson, making learning the letters a simple process.

Letter strings ~ Rather than teaching letters individually, CursiveLogic teaches all of the letters that share a common shape in a connected string. This allows the letters to reinforce each other and it means that students are writing cursive right from the beginning.

Color coding ~ Each letter string has a color theme that helps students remember the particular shape.

Catch phrases ~ CursiveLogic uses “verbal task analysis,” or saying an action verbally as it is performed manually. This helps to aide the development of muscle memory and give students a mnemonic they can repeat over and over.

Real words ~ Since CursiveLogic teaches a group of letters in a single lesson, students start writing real words at the end of the first lesson. A huge motivator for struggling or reluctant students.

I have three students who write in cursive and Montana is working her way there to full time cursive writing. It was great to review the letter writing process with her and this program. Not only did the the “process” make more sense to her, but her writing improved as she gained confidence! That makes this Mama happy!

I would recommend this cursive writing program for anyone looking to learn how to write in cursive. It’s simple and to the point and gives great motivation throughout. I love that the student starts writing words right from the beginning.

Be sure to check out what my CrewMates thought of this program by clicking the banner below.

Company ~ CursiveLogic

Product ~ CursiveLogic Workbook

Price ~ $29.00

Ages ~ 7 through adult

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Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Big boy haircut

When my hubby arrived home from his recent business trip last week he declared that Micah was in need of a haircut. Initially, I was in agreement because I didn’t think he would really do it. Boy was I wrong!

Last Friday afternoon, Mr. M got out his clippers and set Micah in his high chair for a cut. Now, Micah loves getting his hair brushed, so he just sat there happy as a peach with his toy in hand.

My baby boy turned into a little boy as the clippers chopped off his baby curls and mohawk. Sigh!

The new do is growing on me each and every day and Micah is still the sweetest little boy I could ever ask for.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

SmartKidz Media ~ a TOS review

Aside from being avid football fanatics we don’t watch much TV. I limit the girls TV choices to a select few shows on select channels. So, I was eager to try SmartKidz Media Library for Homeschoolers from SmartKidz Media.

We received a full year subscription to review. The site is jam packed with videos on almost any topic you can think of. Most all of the media is delivered through video format, however, there are some items available in study guide formats. These are some of the main topics:

World of Discovery

Music and Fine Arts

Baby Signs Programs

Quick Find Study Guides

Learning Special Needs

Living Skills Program

Within the main topics there is a huge selection of subjects covered including:

Animals & Wildlife Collections
Documentaries & Culture Collections
Health & Fitness
History Titles
Lifestyles & Cuisine
Science
Travel & Adventure: World Wide Discovery Collections
Cooking Instruction
Classical Music Collections
Cultural Music Collections
Cultural Music: Vol 2
Jazz and Blues Classics Collections
Relaxation Music Collections
Mighty E-Book Collection
Sign Language Collection
Special Needs Learning
Living Skills
Singing
Fun Zone

With so much to choose from you just need to make sure you have a reliable internet connection and you will be set. You can view the media on any type of device from computers to tablets so this makes a great resource for on the go learning too!

This is a secular site with the mention here and there of evolution. I did not find this as a detractor from the media offered as I previewed the material that the girls were able to view ahead of time. I do love that the girls can browse the media ad free, that is a huge plus for me! Montana and McKenzie were on this site a lot so that was nice to not have to worry about them seeing anything questionable.

Montana normally stuck to viewing the media about the animals and McKenzie would be on the Mighty Ebook section and the fun zone. We all enjoyed the media on how to make Japanese food, especially making Sushi. I personally enjoyed the Classical music selections the most. I like to have music playing in the background while we are working on school. This content gave us access to new and old media alike.

I definitely think you should check out this amazing product for yourself! I know we will be utilizing it for the rest of our subscription and more! Be sure to check out what my CrewMates thought of this product by clicking the banner below.