Our new school year begins next week! This coming year our oldest boys will be going into 7th and 6th grade, the older girls will be 4th and 3rd, and Snuggles will be in 1st grade. Rose (3) and Bud (1) will have lots of fun with all sorts of “school time toys” and perhaps some of the Little Saints Pre-School themes. The following is a list of our curriculum plans for 2013-2014:
Captain :: 7th Grade
Math:
Saxon Math 7/6
Various Math Games for Reinforcement including: Math-It, Equate, and Speed!
Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course: A
Supplementing with: Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons
Phonetic Zoo, continue Level B
Fix It! (applied grammar – finish Tom Sawyer)
Editor in Chief B-1 (applied grammar)
The Book of Roots
Novel Inquiries: Ancient Civilizations (The Golden Goblet, Tirzah, Hittite Warrior and The Children’s Homer)
History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 1: A Guide to Salvation History
Old Testament and Ancient Cultures
- Bible History with Workbook (Core Text)
- Encyclopedia of Ancient History (Core Text)
- Old World and America (Core Text)
- Additional Literature, Family Read-Alouds and Independent Reading
Maps Charts and Graphs Level G: The World
Continue/Complete State-by-State Scrapbook
Asia and Australia Continent Study (CCM Alpha)
Science:
Concepts and Challenges in Science Book 1 (Physics & Earth Science)
and Concepts and Challenges in Science Book 2 (Metric System, Biology & Chemistry)
TOPS Learning Systems: Electricity 32 and Perfect Balance 31
Snap Circuits
Science Activities and Nature Sketching (CCM Alpha)
Latin:
Latina Christiana 1
Ludere Latin 1
Music & Art:
Lingua Angelica 1
Continue Composer Study
Meet the Masters Track A
Memory Work:
Physical Education & Other Activities:
Scouts of St. George
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| Some of our Core Texts for the year Including: Bible for Young Catholics, Ancient World, Bible History Workbook, Bible History, New Catholic Picture Bible, Encyclopedia of Ancient History, The Old World and America and Founders of Freedom |
Math:
Saxon Math 7/6
Various Math Games for Reinforcement including: Math-It, Equate, and Speed!
Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course: A
Supplementing with: Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons
Phonetic Zoo, continue Level B
Fix It! (applied grammar – Finish Tom Sawyer)
Editor in Chief B-1 (applied grammar)
The Book of Roots
Novel Inquiries: Ancient Civilizations (The Golden Goblet, Tirzah, Hittite Warrior and The Children’s Homer)
History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 1: A Guide to Salvation History
Old Testament and Ancient Cultures
- Bible for Young Catholics (Core Text)
- Ancient World (Core Text)
- Old World’s Gifts to the New (Core Text)
- Additional Literature, Family Read-Alouds and Independent Reading
Maps Charts and Graphs Level F: Eastern Hemisphere
Continue/Complete State-by-State Scrapbook
Asia and Australia Continent Study (CCM Alpha)
Science:
Concepts and Challenges in Science Book 1 (Physics & Earth Science)
and Concepts and Challenges in Science Book 2 (Metric System, Biology & Chemistry)
TOPS Learning Systems: Electricity 32 and Perfect Balance 31
Snap Circuits
Science Activities and Nature Sketching (CCM Alpha)
Latin:
Latina Christiana 1
Ludere Latin 1
Music & Art:
Lingua Angelica 1
Continue Composer Study
Meet the Masters Track A
Memory Work:
Physical Education & Other Activities:
Scouts of St. George
Twinkle Toes :: 4th Grade
Math:
Saxon Math 5/4
Various Math Games for Reinforcement including: Math-It, Equate, and Speed!
Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course: A
Supplementing with: Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons
Phonetic Zoo Level A
Fix It! (applied grammar – continue Tom Sawyer)
Handwriting
Roots of English
Additional Literature:
- Olivia and the Little Way (with discussion guide)
- Eight Cousins (One of my childhood favorites, given to me by my grandmother on my 10th birthday in 1988, which had also been given to her when she was 11 by my Great-Great-Aunt Viv on Christmas in 1940! It’s falling apart so I’ve ordered a new paperback copy for the girls to read.)
- All-of-a-Kind Family
- The Secret Garden (I have the 1987 version illustrated by Graham Rust which my parents gave me for Christmas, also in ’88 when I was 10, and the girls will be given copies illustrated by Tasha Tudor and Inga Moore this year.)
- Various other books as time allows…
History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 1: A Guide to Salvation History
Old Testament and Ancient Cultures
- Bible for Young Catholics (Core Text)
- Ancient World (Core Text)
- Old World’s Gifts to the New (Core Text)
- Additional Literature, Family Read-Alouds and Independent Reading
Maps Charts and Graphs Level D: States & Regions
Continue 50 State-by-State Study with Baking and Notebook Pages
Continue American Girl Unit Studies (as time allows)
Asia and Australia Continent Study (CCM Alpha)
Science:
Focus on Middle School Chemistry with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher’s Manual
Focus on Middle School Biology with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher’s Manual
Behold and See 4: Human Anatomy and Health
Science Activities and Nature Sketching (CCM Alpha)
Latin:
Latina Christiana 1
Ludere Latin 1
The New Baltimore Catechism No. 1
Faith & Life 4 – Jesus Our Guide
Rare Catholic Stories
Saint Stories
Music & Art:
Lingua Angelica 1
Continue Composer Study
Meet the Masters Track A
Memory Work:
Physical Education & Other Activities:
Piano Lessons
Irish Dancing
Sewing Classes and Sewing With Saint Anne
Chiquita :: 3rd Grade
All About Spelling – Level 3 and Level 4
Wordly Wise Book C
Handwriting
Additional Literature Including:
Latin:
History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 1: A Guide to Salvation History
Old Testament and Ancient Cultures
- New Catholic Picture Bible (Core Text)
- Usborne Time Travelers Core Text)
- Founders of Freedom (Core Text)
- Additional Literature, Family Read-Alouds and Independent Reading (including some of these)
Maps Charts and Graphs Level C: Communities
Continue 50 State-by-State Study with Baking and Notebook Pages
Continue American Girl Unit Studies (as time allows)
Asia and Australia Continent Study (CCM Alpha)
Focus on Elementary Chemistry with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher’s Manual
Focus on Elementary Biology with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher’s Manual
Science Activities and Nature Sketching (CCM Alpha)
Religion:
The New Baltimore Catechism No. 1
Faith & Life 3 – Our Life With Jesus
Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls
More Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls
Physical Education & Other Activities:
Irish Dancing
Sewing Classes and Sewing With Saint Anne
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| Our Historical American Girl Lap Books – many are still in progress |
Snuggles :: 1st Grade
Saxon 1
Language Arts:
Primary Arts of Language: Writing and Reading
All About Spelling Level 1 and Reading Level 1
Supplementing with Explode the Code
History & Geography:
Connecting with History Volume 1: A Guide to Salvation History
Old Testament and Ancient Cultures
- New Catholic Picture Bible (Core Text)
- Usborne Time Travelers Core Text)
- Founders of Freedom (Core Text)
- Additional Literature, Family Read-Alouds and Independent Reading (including some of these)
Maps Charts and Graphs Level A: The Places Around Me
Asia and Australia Continent Study (CCM Alpha)
Science:
Focus on Elementary Chemistry with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher’s Manual
Focus on Elementary Biology with Laboratory Workbook and Teacher’s Manual
Science Activities and Nature Sketching (CCM Alpha)
Apples, Bubbles and Crystals: Your Science ABCs (with our Alphabet Path)
Religion:
First Communion Preparation
St. Joseph First Communion Catechism
Memory Work:
Classically Catholic Memory: Alpha
Continue Along the Alphabet Path *If time allows – We only completed Aa, Bb, Cc and part of Dd last year. As the other children get older, and their school work is more demanding, it is definitely more challenging for me to find the time for all the fun activities for my younger ones! Apparently there is just only so many things I can add before some things have to go… 😉 I am really hoping we can at least continue this year. We’ll see! In the meantime, Snuggles loves loves LOVES PAL (Primary Arts of Language). It is such an excellent program, very solid and yet complete with lots of fun and games too!
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| My crate of file folder games for with PAL – Yes, I used black file folders. I think they look so much prettier than regular manilla file folders, plus I have a whole case of them! 😉 |
- Celebrating the Liturgical Year (as always)
- Connecting with History Volume 1: A Guide to Salvation History
- Classically Catholic Memory: Alpha
- Continue Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization
- Meet the Masters Track A
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| Z is for Zeus: A Greek Mythology Alphabet and Greek Blocks |
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| For those who don’t want to spend the money on the complete set (though I do think it is worth the cost!), the Teacher Text would be a great place to start and a large portion of the program (minus the Geography and Timeline – though I suppose one could make their own set of timeline cards) can be completed with just this text. |
I have my Catholic Daily Planners all ready to go as well as my current Saints Calendar and Planner (you can purchase the new 2013-2014 version here). I also have a few binders filled with all my lesson plans and checklists. I use the actual lessons plans that come along with the Student Writing Intensive and Continuation Courses. (I keep all the handouts with the lesson plans and give them to the children as they need them.) Another binder has all the new daily lesson plans for Connecting with History! (I am so excited about these! The hardest part when we last used this program was trying to figure out what to do each day. These will be so helpful to use as a guide.) And my third binder (my pretty Black Damask Martha Stewart binder) contains all the color-coded checklists!
Are you SURE you want us to come along next week and mess up all your plans at the very beginning of the year – the first week even!?!! YIKES!!!! 🙂 Looks like you are ready to go and are very organized!!
"Z is for Zeus" was BY FAR one of my daughter's favorite books last year for Ancient History! I really love the wooden building blocks for the Parthenon!
Have you done snap circuits before? We just got it at the beginning of the summer for my son's 10th birthday and we are loving it! I am so impressed with it!
Scouts of St. George! Love this. They have formed a very large group in the North Dallas area – at least 40 boys. And the chaplain, a young priest at one of the parishes, will be having Sunday morning Mass at the camp outs. The boys are pretty excited. I'll need to check out that Ablaze book. I've volunteered to teach the 2nd year, 8th grade Confirmation class at our parish religious ed. Anything that will help these youth on their journey of faith will be a great help!
Doesn't it feel GREAT to have it all mapped out?! I'm still in-process with our plans, but the end is in sight.
Wow! This is quite a list of materials. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed just looking at it. I was looking through the first grade materials and it looks like some excellent books! Do you wait to start the formal education till first grade?
I was also curious if you had an email address?
Flexibility – one of the many benefits of home-educating! We are all so excited that you are coming to visit!
I purchased the Snap Circuits last year, but we haven't used them yet. I have heard great things about them and the boys are very excited to try them out. 🙂
We love all the Sleeping Bear Press Alphabet books, so of course we had to add this one to our plans. 🙂 The blocks are going to be a fun addition too!
We are so excited about the Scouts of St. George!! Rascal's Godfather is stating our troop and Sean will help. It's going to be great! What a blessing to have such a large group of boys and even a chaplain down there in TX! Sounds awesome!
I love seeing other families' plans for the school year; thank you for sharing!
I also have been using the Faith and Life series and see that you have it listed along with the St. Joseph Baltimore catechism… I have been wondering what others do with this. Do you have your students memorize the questions/answers directly from the catechism, or do you use the ones in the Faith and Life book? I am noticing that some questions in F&L repeat or overlap and just get progressively more in-depth answers each year… I have the Baltimore catechism but we just haven't used it. In first grade, my daughter memorized from the St. Joseph's First Communion catechism, and last year from F&L 2… but F&L 3 has much more as far as the questions go! So, I am curious what other families do for catechism!
Classically Catholic Memory looks wonderful! I am interested to hear how you like it!
Golden goblet is one of our favorites! Another good book is Mara daughter of the Nile.
We got those for our 7 year old for Christmas. He loves it too!
You are Amazing with your Lesson Choices, Thank you for sharing your New School Year plans with us all…A Joy to look at..Blessings to you and your Beautiful Family….
[email protected]
This all looks great! My kids loved the Childrens' Homer last year. I hope you will post more about your Scouts of St. George experiences as the year progresses. And yay for more Irish dancing!
Looks like our 3rd graders are doing a lot of the same things. We are planning to do Little Women this year. Samuel is hoping to do Blue Knights with a couple of friends. I heard about the Scouts of St George, I'm interested to see how that goes for you. I don't know of a group around here but I know there are people who would be interested. Just hoping someone decides to start a group, I don't want to be the leader this time.
Have a great first week–I am so nervous!!
We are hoping Scouts of St. George gets going here in Wichita, KS.I am hoping it takes off.
Yes, same here! We have MANY of the Sleeping Bear Press books and they are so wonderful!
Your plans look great and I always am interested to see what Snuggles and Chiquita are doing since my daughter is right between the two of them – "2nd grade" this year (although we school year-round so that we can spread it out over twelve months instead of nine – makes the day-to-day a bit lighter and we can take days off when the weather is nice or at a certain time of year for holidays/special occasions, etc).
I will be curious to know how both Snuggles and Chiquita like their Saxon Math – we're doing Saxon 2 this year (we switched from MCP). We're through Lesson 22 so far and I think it's a lot better, even though it's VERY INTENSIVE for us time-wise and mom-wise! But, hopefully that will pay off in the long run!
Blessings for a GREAT year for you all!
Patty – I am close to the North Dallas area. Would you mind emailing me the info? [email protected]
My husband travels 90% of the time and cannot start a group, but we very much something like this for our boys. Thank you!
Hi Jessica!
I've got a 'what would you do question' for you?
I've been back and forth with what science to use this year for 'Max' and 'Rose'. Last year we started but didn't get to far with Noeo Science (biology). We thought we'd back to it eventually; never happened. I was gifted a copy of Concepts and Challenges in Science book 1 last year and that is what I thought we would do for this current year for both kids; adding Behold and See (4) for Rose. But, I'm stuck that I never finished the Noeo Science.
I like that Concepts/Challenges hits the major areas of science; something that is more important now for a 7th grader to get into. But, I'm SO stuck that I have this barely used science curriculum and kits! I should just get over it, right? Just forge ahead with the Concepts/Challenges?
I noticed last year for religion you used Living My Religion series but are not using again this year. What is your opinion of the series? Thanks, and God bless!
Jessica,
Have you read Ablaze? I find that some of the newer books are written more for schooled kids who are more "worldly," for lack of a better term. I'm wondering if that book is similar.
Thanks for sharing your lesson plans.
God bless,
Kristen
We are doing many of the same things you are this year. Do you have any hands-on projects planned for your oldest? Any lapbooks?? I am planning right now and I am trying to make up my mind what I want to do.
Hi Jessica,
Thank you for all the resources! I am curious-would your book choices for religion look any different if it was your daughter being confirmed? Do you have any favorite books from childhood when you were getting confirmed? Also, I appreciate all of your book recommendations from your childhood. I have discovered some gems for my girls! God bless!
Hello Jessica,
I am so happy to have finally made the decision to use Connecting with History and would like to know if you use The Bible Timeline: Story of Salvation series that they suggest since the curriculum is built on it. I thought it would be good to have until I saw the price. Now I need to know if it is worth the cost to incorporate it.
I appreciate your insight.
Thank you,
Kristi
Jessica, Do you have blank planner pages that you fill in with the weeks assignments or do do you only use the assignment sheets. I guess I'm askingfor a how you use the sheets post. I'm doing something wrong and making more work for myself I think.
Jessica, Do you have blank planner pages that you fill in with the weeks assignments or do do you only use the assignment sheets. I guess I'm askingfor a how you use the sheets post. I'm doing something wrong and making more work for myself I think.
Jessica, I had my husband read a couple of your posts on your lesson planning and then had him look at what I was doing. My tendency to make things harder then they need to be was my problem. For some reason I had decided I still need to fill out a lesson planner with the weeks assignment, thus adding unnecessary time & effort to my planning! All of my assignment sheets are done and I can see why you do this, and I am not sure what to do with my newly found free time. 😉 Just wanted to let you know so you didn't have to do any extra typing to explain your system to me! 😉
So far Snuggles and Chiquita are LOVING the Saxon Math. I think it is going to be the perfect Math program for them.
No, last year Snuggles began Kindergarten. You can see an overview here. Basically we worked on Math, Reading, and incorporated other fun activities and picture books throughout the year.
My email address should be listed on my profile page, as well as linked in the little "envelope" button at the top of the right sidebar. I must warn you though that I have a very difficult time keeping up with responding to emails, though I do read them all. 🙂
Yes! It sure does! I feel so much more prepared for this school year now that this is completed. 🙂
I'm still waiting to hear the details and plans for our local Scouts of St. George. I'm hoping and praying that it all comes together!
My husband teaches the children their formal catechism classes on Sunday afternoons following Mass using the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechisms. I've added in the F&L this year since the books were given to us and thought they would make a nice supplement for the children to read throughout the year.
I am not familiar with Noeo Science, but I completely agree that Concepts and Challenges Book 1 would give a great introduction to all the major areas of science, which is why I switched to it for my boys last year, also not using all of the science kit I had purchased for Exploring Creation. I don't regret the switch at all! Good luck with your decision!
I was wondering this as well…
We've owned the Living My Religion series for years and they are beautiful books, originally published in the 50's. Last year I thought that if I added them to our plans we'd actually start using them… We only made it through a few Units of each grade level. It was just too much for me to complete all the activities from the Teacher's Manual with all the kids.
Since my husband teaches the children their formal catechism classes each week using the St. Joseph's Baltimore Catechisms, and since I already incorporate religion into so many of our other subjects, it was easy to let this go. What I should have done was just assign the reading to the children and not worried about the activities and quizzes.
I considered doing that this year but ended up leaving the decision up to my husband. I showed him both books (the Living My Religion Series and the Faith & Life Series we had been given) along with the rest of the curriculum plans I have for this year (including Bible History, Classically Catholic Memory, Saint Stories, etc), and left the decision up to him. He originally was leaning towards the Living My Religion, but ended up deciding on F&L.
The Living My Religion series seems excellent, but it also seems very tailored towards a class room setting. In our situation, and with all our other curriculum plans, the Faith & Life books seemed like the best option for additional Religion reading/reinforcement for our children.
I know what you mean! I often think the same about so many of the newer books and this book gave me that same impression when I saw the cover… It had excellent reviews and so I purchased it anyways. I do like the layout of the book and have read through some of the "Saintly Challenges" which I liked. There are a few for each saint so if one doesn't apply to you another can be chosen (for example one of the options for St. Dominic Savio is "Dominic means 'of the Lord' and Savio means 'wise.' Do a little investigation to find out what your own name means." My plan is to read it along with my son and discuss it if necessary. (I also plan to ask my husband when we get to the chapter on St. Maria Goretti and we'll decide at that time whether to have him read the story depending on how it explains the circumstances of her martyrdom. Our children are, I suppose more "sheltered" than most, and some of the "teen" topics might be a bit advanced for our boys, at least at age 13. It is a short book but I am hoping that it will work as a spine for some mini Unit Studies on the Saints – for St. Dominic he will also read "Ahead of the Crowd" and possibly watch St. John Bosco: Mission to love … For St. Teresa of the Andes we will watch St. Teresa of the Andes, etc.
if you have any great compilations of Saint Stories to suggest for teens, I'd love to hear about them! 🙂
Oh, great to hear that Saxon is going well for Snuggles and Chiquita! Math for my daughter is her toughest subject overall. Saxon is A LOT of time each lesson – I am having to come up with some other creative ways to teach her some of the Math concepts that she finds difficult (in light of developmental delays).
However, she is LOVING the Classical Catholic Memory program! We are using the Beta Year as that corresponds to our history block this year (Vol. 2 in CWH). We've been working on "Week 1" and she's got it all memorized and ENJOYS IT A LOT (we're not doing the timeline or Great Words sections, however). Can't thank you enough for bringing this curriculum to our attention this year!
Yay! I'm glad you were able to simplify things for yourself! 🙂
No, I have not spent the money on The Bible Timeline. I do have A Quick Journey Through the Bible, which we haven't started using yet either… I actually just started reading Walking with God: A Journey Through the Bible which RC History recommends as an affordable alternative to The Bible Timeline DVD program by Jeff Cavins for Teacher Preparation.
Probably. I'll have to think about that… I would love to hear about the gems you have discovered for your girls! 🙂
The boys are still working on their WWII Lap Books. They didn't get very far over the summer. And they do want to continue their State Notebooking Pages. Other than that I did not make any concrete plans. They have made so many lap books these past years that I think they are ready for a break. I do hope to incorporate some additional hands-on-projects with History especially, I just haven't decided what they are going to be yet 🙂
My decision was made for me when a friend let me know she had C&C's Book 2 with the MODG syllabus. Having both books and tons of science kits on hand, how could I resist!
So far it's worked out great!
🙂
Thank you so much! I asked my bookworm (16 now) and he said, "Louis deWohl books." I said I thought your son had recently turned 13. My son asked, "Has he been home schooled all his life?" I replied that he had. He said, 'He won't have any problem them, Louis deWohl books." I know that doesn't help much with US history, but it's something to keep in mind. If he thinks of any others, I'll let you know. God bless!
Hi Jessica,
Would you be willing to post a new daily schedule that you have use for your family now? This is my first year homeschooling. Right now I am teaching 4 of my seven children with the 8th due in the spring. I could use the help with scheduling.
Thanks 🙂