4th Grade Line Up~ 2013-2014

Reading about what other homeschoolers are using in their homeschool and what their plans are each school year, is one of my favorite types of posts to read.  I think one of the favorite things to do among homeschoolers is to share what we are using and doing in our homeschools.

I have a tentative list and some new ideas. Each year I evaluate as we go, I add things I want to try (not always curriculum - it could be an idea or method to do something) and I stop doing things that aren't working.

I have pretty much found a groove these last several years, so for the most part we will continue doing what we have been doing. I am doing something this year with TOG that it isn't designed for, but I haven't always followed the classical history cycle so I sort of have no choice. Noodle will be doing Year 4 and Bear will be doing Year 1. I know, it is crazy but Bear will graduate in June 2014 and then it will just be Noodle who will be right on track with the classical history cycle. Basically Bear is blazing through Year 4 this summer - and to top it off we lose 20 days to his Costa Rica trip, but I am just going with it and trusting God.  I considered having him do Year 4 at the same pace as Noodle and giving him books about the Ancients on the side with writing assignments, but I think he might disown me if I tried that.  So, it is what it is! It's only one year, it's only one year........

You can click here to see Bear's line up for Senior year.

Noodle will be promoted to 4th grade in August - the following is a list of materials and activities he will either continue doing or start doing.

Bible- Classical Academic Press Old Testament God's Great Covenant, copy work, memory verses and the Child Training Bible as needed.

Math- Saxon 5/4 Second Edition (I prefer the hardcover versions) and Teaching Textbooks 4. Additionally we will use misc products as I see fit and probably some math review products will come along.  Noodle still uses Math Rider for facts practice.

Spelling- Rod and Staff Spelling 4.  I really, really like Rod and Staff spelling and plan to use it every year. 

Grammar- Rod and Staff English 3 and finish First Language Lessons 3.  For now we will keep using both, but as much as I love FLL, I think I love Rod and Staff more.  That could change, but I think eventually I will just have Noodle using the R and S. I tend to overkill language arts.

Vocabulary- Wordly Wise 3 and Vocabulary From Classical Roots Grade 4 (when we finish WW3)

Literature - Tapestry of Grace Year 4  Student Activity Pages with various TOG literature selections and a variety of Progeny Press and Teacher Created Resources Literature Guides.

Writing- We will keep on keeping on with Writing With Ease 2 - we have been slowly doing this since the end of 2nd grade!Ugh!  I want to finish it and I am pretty sure that will be the end of our WWE journey.  I prefer the Writing Aids program from TOG. I will also start teaching him how to outline.

History- Tapestry of Grace Year 4 and continuing with Veritas Press self paced online history. We will continue to do lots of extra reading since we have lots of history freebies on the Kindle.

Texas History- I had a heck of a time tyring to figure out what to do for this and I really didn't want to do it from scratch.  I lucked out while at Half Price Books a year or so ago and I found a Texas History Text and workbook (completely unused workbook) to go with the text and it is for 4th grade.  Also, on the Dynamic2Moms Blog, Tina posted a free Texas Lapbook, so we will do that as we go through the text.

Geography- Wow, this subject makes me crazy. We are going to continue with learning about the states and I may have him start a State Notebook. Also, we will start World Geography, but just some gentle activities.  Tapestry of Grace Geography will be front and center, but continued memory work and locating places on the map and globe will continue to be a big part of Noodle's geography work. Plus, we still have Road Trip USA that we haven't finished.  I might just go through it and pick out some activities that really grab me.

Fine Arts- In addition to TOG fine arts activities, Noodle will continue with Artistic Pursuits.  I love, love, love Artistic Pursuits.

Health- Continuing with Abeka Health 3 and then moving on to Health 4. I am overly ambitious, but there are some health lapbooking/notebooking activities I am hoping to squeeze in, but we will see. Abeka Health is 6 or 9 week course - but we are still doing it. Sigh.  There just aren't enough hours in the day.

Latin- Continuing with Prima Latina and then moving on to Latina Christiana with the DVD instruction.

Memory Work - We are doing some of the Classical Conversations plus some misc memory work and working it in to our subject work.

~Mountains
~Rivers
~Famous Landmarks
~State Abbreviations
~Continents and the countries on them
~Grammar and Literary Terms
~Vice Presidents and First Ladies (he already memorized the Presidents and he will continue to recite them for review)
~Various Science Terms

After reading through the list it seems crazy, as it does every year when I get everything down in print.  I remind myself that we never attempt to do everything everyday, that we school year round and that scheduling too much is better than not scheduling enough. I am okay with not getting to everything and I know when a huge goal is missed a smaller one is achieved.  I'd rather miss a high mark than hit a low one. 

As always, this list is subject to change and probably will.

What are you doing with your 4th graders?

Senior Year Line Up - 2013-2014

Bear's senior year won't be light like many homeschoolers I read about. He has a lot he wants to accomplish so it is going to be another busy year for him. He will be starting college applications soon and taking the SAT in a couple months.

Math - He won't be finished with Saxon Algebra 2 before August. He already completed Algebra 2 from My Math Lab, but he really wants to be stronger with it. He will also complete a Consumer Math program, but I haven't decided which one yet - I am deciding between the AOP LifePac and Math U See Stewardship.

English and Literature- He will take English 1302 through dual enrollment at the local community college as well as do Tapestry of Grace literature. In addition to the TOG Lit selections there are still several books on my reading wish list for Bear before he graduates. Luckily he enjoys reading, but I still don't know if we will get to them all before graduation next year. Additionally, he will finish The Art of Poetry and do some Grammar review throughout the school year.

Vocabulary - Vocabulary From Classical Roots and various SAT Prep practice.

Writing- He will have plenty of writing assignments in the English 1302 course, but he will also continue with Tapestry of Grace Writing Aids assignments.

Philosophy- He will continue the TOG Philosophy readings and assignments.

History and Geography- Bear hasn't done the Ancients since elementary (Abeka) so as I stated at the top of this post, for Senior year he will do TOG Year 1 History and Geography assignments. Also, because it is what I do, I will throw in some misc things from various resources.

Russian- He is continuing with Russian using various sources including Live Mocha.

Physics- Last year he did science with co-op and used BJU. He really didn't like BJU, so this year he is going back to Apologia. I may buy him the DVD instruction, but I haven't decided for sure on that yet. I am also considering having him watch this lecture series on Yale's Open Courses if he wants to.

Anatomy and Physiology - For a half credit, he will complete a one semester course as an additional science credit. He will use Walch's Top Shelf Anatomy and Physiology along with some coloring/labeling sheets, programs on Netflix and possibly a related field trip.

Astronomy- For a half credit elective he will complete a one semester Astronomy course. I am piecing this together with various sources, using An Idiot's Guide to Astronomy as a spine, and Astronomy: A Self Teaching Guide.  Also included will be programs on Netflix and possibly a trip to NASA in Houston. Khan Academy also has Astronomy videos. Lastly, because I think he will enjoy them, he will watch this series of lectures on Yale's Open Courses.

Physical Anthropology - For 3 College Credits he will take a one semester class through the dual enrollment program at the local community college.

Texas State and Local Government - For 3 College Credits he will take a one semester class through the dual enrollment program at the local community college.

He will be taking one other dual enrollment course through the community college, but we don't know which one yet. We are trying to decide and are debating on it. I want some sort of Art History or Art Appreciation course for him and he would rather eat nails. Time will tell!

Keeping Kindergarten Simple

Daddy and Noodle reading a snakes book for fun - Kindergarten year.

One question I see a lot on homeschool forums and groups online is a variation of the question, "What should I use to homeschool my Kindergartner? I don't have a lot of money."  The questioner is then bombarded with dozens of different answers, most of which don't meet the problem of "I don't have a lot of money."  I could probably write a whole post on my irritation about posters not answering the question they were asked, but I won't.

First let me say that yes, there are some fancy and popular Kindergarten curriculum out there, but they are going to be $175 plus and in my book that is expensive.  I used My Father's World K and Winter Promise Animals and Their World with Noodle and altogether it did cost me about $500 - we did K for two years.  They were good programs but I didn't even use all that was in them. Money was wasted even though we had fun. If I could do K again, I definitely wouldn't invest so much money because I discovered that Noodle learned and was most receptive when he was playing or doing something fun.

Kindergarten can be done very frugally and that is one thing I hope to show you with this post.  Also, Kindergarten need not take hours and hours a day to complete.  In my not so humble opinion Kindergarten should be no more than 2 hours a day - in fact 2 hours would be the maximum and that is too long for some little ones. The focus of Kindergarten should be 1) learning/beginning to read and 2) numbers.

Math U See Primer - Kindergarten year.

My suggested book purchases:

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading - find it used anywhere from $10-20

Math- Any of the following: Saxon 1, Abeka K or 1, Math U See Primer or just print worksheets from the hundreds of free sites online - but don't be random about it - be methodical.

Supplies you can find at Walmart or a dollar store:

Kindergarten lined paper (or if you'd rather invest in copy paper and ink there is this)
Pencils and pencil grips
Construction paper
Kid scissors
Glue in bottle and/or glue sticks
Crayons
Markers (Crayola washable)
Copy Paper
Ink
Playdough (or make your own)

If you aren't on a tight budget then add tempura paints, paint brushes, cray-pas and pastels to your list of supplies.

Utilize your library for:

Art/Craft books
Geography - beginner/basic books
Leveled Readers
Poetry
Picture books on whatever your little K is interested in
Story Time and any program they offer for free

I mainly want to say to you, don't complicate Kindergarten by investing in expensive K only curriculum. Don't suck the fun out of learning by throwing your K in to a busy, academic overloaded schedule. Have fun. Let your K play with playdough, sand, dirt, bugs and whatever else is available.  Play outside, go to the park and observe nature - point to things and ask your K if he knows what they are.

One thing I did with Noodle was make murals - his favorite was our Rainforest mural. He got to paint and he loved identifying the animals that lived in the different layers of the Rainforest.  Technically this was science, but it was also art and playtime for Noodle.

All the fun aside, the first thing your child really needs academically is to know how to read. Without knowing how to read he won't be able to do anything else well as he promotes throughout the grades.  Using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading will take anywhere from 10-20 minutes per day. You will be tempted to do more or move more quickly, but don't. Keep it simple.

Math, if you do it with your child (which at K you should) should be another 10-15 minutes.  Instead of spending money on manipulatives, use beans or rocks for counting. Go outside and count trees or leaves on a plant.

If you have older kids you are homeschooling, all the more reason to keep Kindergarten simple because your older kids probably need more of your guidance.  Your Kindergartner will no doubt glean nuggets of information just by being around when you are educating the other children. They can sit in on read alouds - and you may be surprised by what they pick up.

Bottom line, have fun with your K, let him learn mostly through play and don't drop hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a program.

Prima Latina by Memoria Press - Schoolhouse Review

 

Memoria Press is another one of those homeschool publishers whose catalog I always salivate over. I had already planned on using Prima Latina with Noodle, so when I got the chance to the do the review and get the set for free I was overjoyed! 

For the purpose of this review I received a student book, teacher manual, flashcard set, pronunciation CD and Instructional DVD (set of 3).  The retail value is $90.90 and it is suggested for Grades 2-4.
       

   

I didn't have to do very much prep work before starting. I basically read over the intro in the teacher manual and the rest was watch, open and go. A lesson takes about 5 days to complete, but sometimes we went a little faster. There are 25 lessons total and a review every 5 weeks.  For the first lesson, we took five days. Day 1 was watching the DVD and then days 2, 3, 4 and 5 Noodle completed the workbook exercises. Before doing the exercises each day we reviewed vocabulary with the flash cards (Latin on one side and English on the other) and the pronounciation CD.  If I had anything resembling a complaint it would be that I wish the flashcards came already in a stacked bundle.  It was not fun breaking them apart. In fact, I haven't broken all of them apart yet. I separated out the ones we have used so far with Prima Latina. A nice thing about these cards is they will go with Latina Christiana I as well.

Before doing Prima Latina, Noodle completed a different Latin program from another company and that curriculum used a different Latin pronunciation, so there were some words he needed to "re-learn" the pronunciation for - like "salve" - in his old program the v was pronounced like a w and with Prima Latina it is pronounced with the v sound. I was surprised to learn there were two ways to speak Latin!

Noodle really likes the DVD instruction and so do I. We watch together. The lessons aren't too long and aren't vague - they are just right. The instructor (Leigh Lowe- the author) has a pleasant appearance and voice, she speaks clearly and she gives simple to understand explanations.  She also repeats and speaks slowly at the times when that is helpful. I really enjoy her southern accent too! Before getting this review I had planned on using Prima Latina without the DVD, now I can't imagine doing this course with Noodle, without it.  I LOVE the DVD! It is a must have for this homeschool mama. If you are on a tight homeschool budget you can still do this program without the DVD, but just know you will probably have to do each lesson before you teach it so you already know proper pronunciation etc. There is no script in the TM - so you would need to read over the lesson with answers and listen to the CD.

 

 

The workbook exercises are just right for Noodle.  There are only 5 (on average) vocabulary words in each lesson. So far he hasn't been overwhelmed by too much writing and he hasn't been frustrated by any of the assignments, which makes me happy. I can tell he really enjoys learning Latin because he loves to quiz me on vocabulary!

The Teacher Manual is mostly an answer key, but there are some general teaching guidelines as well as tests and answer key. There is a Vocabulary Drill page for those who have students that don't mind writing, but we didn't use it since I like to pick my writing battles with Noodle.

The other really nice thing about Prima Latina is that it is christian in nature.  I really, really appreciate that and it is another reason Memoria Press products appeal to me so much.
 

I plan on Noodle finishing Prima Latina by Halloween or so and then starting with Latina Christiana I. After that the plan is to go to First Form Latin, also published by Memoria Press. I am impressed by the quality materials offered by Memoria Press and I look forward to incorporating more of them in to our homeschool.

For those of you who wonder. "Why Latin?" or think learning Latin is unnecessary I say re-think your position.  The connections that Noodle (and myself as well) have made so far to English, science and lots of other words we know has been fascinating.  I have not doubt that as Noodle gets older and reads more and more higher reading level books, that he will have a great understanding of what he is reading because of his Latin knowledge. Here is a great article written by Cheryl Lowe that explains it better than I can: Why Study Latin? I would say for those of you who have dreams of college for your children, scoring higher on the SAT would be the best reason for your student to learn Latin.

If you don't already receive their catalog/magazine "The Classical Teacher" go to their website asap and sign up for it - it's free! You won't be sorry.

           

New E-book from Homegrown Learners

Mary at Homegrown Learners launched her new E-book today - SQUILT Vol 1* - check it out!

Click here to visit Homegrown Learners.




*This post contains affiliate links.

Math Mammoth - Schoolhouse Review

   

   

I first heard of Math Mammoth several years ago, but I had never tried it in our homeschool. Math Mammoth offers Math curriculum for Grades 1-12.  When the opportunity to review it came along I took it.  This review is for four titles from the Blue Series which are by topic - Fractions, Geometry, Division and Clock. The are several other topics and grade levels to choose from, but these are the four I chose for Noodle.

 

 

I chose these four topics because I think they are the topics Noodle could have used some additional practice with.  The first thing I did was print them out and bind them with my Pro-Click.

 

     

The Division 1 book started out making groups, it then covers a multitude of other division problems including word problems and dividing with remainders.  Geometry started out with basic shapes and also covers angles, symmetry, perimeter, and area. The Clock book starts with whole and half hours, covers AM and PM, moves on  to minutes, quarters, how much time passes and so much more - including the calendar topics. Finally, the Fractions 1 book covers halves and quarters, mixed numbers, comparing fractions, equivalent fractions and adding, subtracting and multiplying fractions.

 

 

 

I found the explanations to be thorough and there are more than enough problems to work.  If I have any complaint, it is that there are too many problems of the same type, however that may be exactly what some other kids need.  Noodle is third grade and all the topics I chose were 1-3rd grade so they were on the easier side for him, but I didn't want to choose the higher grade and have him be too frustrated.  Because we chose the 1-3 grade he flew through the intro pages pretty quickly and to my satisfaction the problems did become more challenging. Take not that the Blue Series is not spiral because each book is by topic. 

 

 

During the review period I had intended for Math Mammoth to be our sole math curriculum, but it ended up being more supplementary which worked out better for us.  I liked that I could target specific areas to practice while continuing with our regular curriculum which keeps providing practice for previously covered material.  The individual books in download format from Math Mammoth are so affordable that I could easily continue providing them to Noodle for supplementary practice.

Clock

 

For those parents out there with concerns about Common Core, some of Math Mammoth products  align, but the Blue Series by topic does not.  You can find more about Common Core and Math Mammoth here.

There are a total of 39 Blue Series books that can be purchased as a package for $95 as a download or $100 on a CD.  Just the 1-3 grade Blue Series books (19 books) can be downloaded for $38 or the 4-6 grade Blue Series books (20 books) can be downloaded for $57.  Answer keys come with all formats.

 

Purchases cannot be made at the Math Mammoth website - Math Mammoth downloads can be purchased at Currclick and Kagi.  Math Mammoth CD's and/or print versions can be purchased at Rainbow Resource.

         

Free and Frugal Memory Work

I have received a few email inquiries this year about how we do Memory Work.  I like free or cheap whenever I can come across it - so here is my list of favorite free or cheap resources we use for memory work.

Learning the 50 States and Capitals:

YouTube Video- Wakko's 50 States and Capitals

State Flash Cards ($1 at Target)

Learning Landmarks:

Landmark Flash Cards ($1 at Target)

Memorizing Grammar and Literary Terms:

Quizlet.com - seriously  you can find almost any list there and there are multiple options for printing.

YouTube Video - The Preposition Song w/Sign Language

Memorizing the Presidents:

President Flash Cards ($1 at Target) - names and facial recognition!

YouTube Video