Language Arts Decisions and Reviews.

It seems that if you are a homeschooler, this time of year is mainly focused on curriculum decisions, planning, organizing, and hunting for reviews for new products. It's my favorite time of the school year!!Of course, we are using mainly Angelicum Academy for our homeschool. But after having tried out their language arts curriculum for the past 3 years...I just don't like it!!

(Photo from Habits of a Happy Home blog)

Shurley English was not only torture for me to teach, but Marco totally hated it. So we ditched it and switched to Rod and Staff English. It's rigorous and boring, but I actually like that it's straightforward to teach. Marco doesn't like it, but he doesn't hate it either. I like that there's tons of review, which is important for him. Isabella used it this past year and she flew through their 2nd grade book. She loved it! But she's just that kind of student. I plan on using First Language Lessons for Anthony's 1st grade and then jumping into Rod and Staff for him too.

Well, that's grammar. But how did our year go with using Angelicum's recommendation of Hooked on Phonics for phonics instruction? I totally dislike the program, but the kids loved it. In the end, we're ditching this too. The program might get your kids reading, but it completely lacks phonics instructions. There is no explanation of phonics rules and I felt it was more like teaching word families. So in the future, when your child comes across a more difficult word, he won't be able to apply any phonics rules to learn to read it because none were ever taught!! Come on!! Even I remember learning things like "When 2 vowels go a walkin', the first one does the talkin'." HOP consists of watching a video, repeating the words they say, and then reading the same words in the workbook. Not my idea of a solid phonics foundation.

Anyways...we're switching to Saxon Phonics this year (click for a Cathy Duffy review). After reading review after review, I made up my mind and have received Saxon Phonics 1 for Anthony. It looks fabulous!!! It's completely scripted like their Saxon math program, and I love that! It has lots of review, explains all the rules, teaches coding, and comes with manipulatives. We are starting this next week!! I'm even tempted to do Saxon Phonics 2 with Isabella. She completed HOP 2, but I feel that she needs a better grasp of phonics rules.

And although Saxon Phonics covers spelling, we are still continuing with All About Spelling. It really is a great program and Anthony is doing well with it. Marco and Isabella are also moving along and enjoy the program. By the time the kids are done with Saxon and AAS, they are going to have such a great grasp of phonics and spelling!

Did I cover writing?? Well, after much consideration and back-and-forth, I took the plunge and bought the Institute for Excellence in Writing program. The IEW program always looked pretty awesome, but the price always seemed a little steep. But after hearing Andrew Pudewa speak at the homeschool conference, I was completely convinced! I bought the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style set, as well as two of their themed-based writing books: All Things Fun and Fascinating and Fables, Myths and Fairy Tales. To top it off, I'm also starting poetry memorization using IEW's Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization.

Is that all for language arts? I think so. The wonderful thing about homeschooling is finding what works for you and your children. I am completely thankful, however, that there are programs out there that lay out a plan. Most of the thinking is done for you and you know that you won't be missing on any core subjects.

Curricula Chosen. Angelicum Academy Wins!

I've finally committed! My research is done, my plans are set. We are enrolling with Angelicum Academy this year again!! I know you probably already knew this; however, I'm tweaking the system to make it work for us. The great thing about Angelicum is that they are flexible and I can borrow from not only different grade levels (as you'll notice I'm doing for Isabella), but also from outside sources. There really is no "one size fits all" curricula out there, which is why homeschooling is such a wonderful thing!

I'm sure if you've looked at what we've done in the past, you'll notice that we are not straying far from the path. My biggest failure this past year was spelling. Spelling Workout was a huge bust and Click n Spell was fun, but not producing results. After much research, I'm giving All About Spelling a go and I'll be combining Marco & Isabella together. I'm excited about using a multisensory approach, which is what I think will produce a better speller for me.

History was my biggest conundrum. Should I continue with History Odyssey or go with Angelicum's history cycle? After much thought, prayer, and back-and-forth emails with Angelicum...I decided to stay with what was working. History Odyssey (HO) is great to use with several kids and all the planning is done for me. My plans are to finish the level 1 cycle with HO and then switch over to Angelicum's cycle. But I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Language arts has been going well for us this past year too, so switching over just didn't make sense to me. Rod & Staff is a super solid grammar program that we enjoyed and I plan on keeping up with it. Writing With Ease has also been producing great results, but I am planning on doing Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) with Marco mid-year, perhaps sooner.

As for religion, we have the most fun with it! I believe that Faith & Life is a great program and combining them with Angelicum's recommended saint books has been a big success. This year Marco made his own saint book and I'm planning on having him continue with another one for this year as well as starting Isabella with one of her own (she is looking forward to it already!). Add some Catholic lapbooks on top of that, and we are set!!

I'm happy that I won't have to worry about making my lesson plans, keeping grades, or even grading some of the kids' writing. Interested in Angelicum? Check them out at www.angelicum.net You can also join the Angelicum Yahoo Group (the button is on the left bar).

Marco 3rd Grade
Religion	Faith & Life 3, Baltimore Catechism, Saint Stories, Catholic Lapbooks
Math	Saxon 54
History	History Odyssey Level 1 Early Modern Times
Literature	Good Books from Angelicum
Phonics	Hooked on Phonics Master Reader
Grammar	Rod & Staff English 3
Writing	Writing With Ease 3, IEW
Spelling	All About Spelling
Handwriting	Zaner Bloser Cursive 3rd Grade
Music	Piano, Stories of the Great Composers
Art/Nature	Misc. Art Materials/Handbook of Nature Study
Unit Studies	50 States Geography, Animals, anything fun!
Science	Apologia Astronomy with co-op
Cartography	Map Essentials 3

Isabella 1st Grade
Religion	Faith & Life 2, Baltimore Catechism, Saint Stories, Catholic Lapbooks
Math	Saxon 2
History	History Odyssey Level 1 Early Modern Times
Literature	Good Books from Angelicum
Phonics	Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read 2nd Grade
Grammar	Rod & Staff English 2
Writing	Writing With Ease 2
Spelling	All About Spelling
Handwriting	Zaner Bloser 1st Grade
Music	Stories of the Great Composers
Art/Nature	Misc. Art Materials/Handbook of Nature Study
Unit Studies	50 States Geography, Animals, anything fun!
Science	Apologia Astronomy with co-op
Cartography	Map Essentials 2

Anthony Kindergarten
Religion	Who Am I?, Saint Stories, Catholic Lapbooks
Math	Saxon 1
History	Dinosaurs, History Pockets Ancient Civilizations
Literature	Good Books from Angelicum
Phonics	Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Kindergarten
Spelling	Spelling Connections K
Handwriting	Zaner Bloser Kindergarten
Art/Nature	Misc. Art Materials/Handbook of Nature Study
Unit Studies	Anything fun!
Science	Dinosaur Study with co-op

Christian Nursery
Religion	Who Am I?
Math	The Shoemaker and the Elves Numbers 1-10, Number flashcards
Literature	Good Books from Angelicum
Language Arts	Alphabet Flash Cards, A Apple Pie by Kate Greenaway, Snow White and Town Mouse pre-writing workbooks
Art/Nature	Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella, and Pinocchio workbooks

The Final List. 2nd Grade & Kindergarten Curricula for 2009-2010.

I posted our tentative curricula a few months ago for Marco and Isabella. At that time, I was still waiting to peruse all the books at the homeschool conference. Since then, there have been a few changes made and I am now posting our final list. As you will notice, I'm combining several subjects for the kids.

If you are interested in viewing Anthony's preschool curricula for the 2009-2010 year, you can find that here.

Marco 2nd Grade
Math:
Saxon Math 3
Calculadders
MCP Math Level B (as an occasional supplement)

Phonics:
Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading (as a review)
MCP Phonics B
Varied Readers

Spelling:
MCP Spelling Workout B

Grammar:
First Language Lessons 1 & 2
Rod and Staff English 2

Writing:
Writing With Ease 1 & 2

Religion:
Faith & Life 2
St. Joseph's Baltimore Catechism (using Mother of Divine Grade lesson plans)
Books about Saints

History:
History Odyssey Middle Ages Level 1 (this program incorporates Story of the World, The Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of the World, and Hillyer's Children's History of the World)
The Old World and America (Catholic history supplement)

Geography and Cartography:
Galloping the Globe
National Geographic Map Essentials 2

Science:
Real Science 4 Kids Pre-Chemistry Level 1 /R.E.A.L. Science Chemistry by Pandia Press at co-op (these two different curricula are being combined to make course last a whole year)

Music:
Piano Lessons
Bell Choir at co-op

Unit Studies:
Human Body unit study for 14 weeks in the first semester
Animal unit study in the second semester (number of weeks undetermined)

Foreign Language:
Conversational Spanish at home
Elementary Spanish on Discovery Ed. Streaming
Latin at co-op

Art and Nature Study:
Art Adventures at Home, Level 1
Weekly nature study using Handbook of Nature Study with Outdoor Hour Challenges
*Free time with art books, crafts, and art supplies in our learning center

Isabella Kindergarten
Math:
Saxon Math 1

Phonics:
Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading
MCP Phonics A
Varied Readers

Spelling:
MCP Spelling Workout A (beginning in the middle of year)

Religion:
Faith & Life 1
Books about Saints

History:
History Odyssey Middle Ages Level 1 (this program incorporates Story of the World, The Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of the World, and Hillyer's Children's History of the World)
The Old World and America (Catholic history supplement)

Geography and Cartography:
Galloping the Globe
National Geographic Map Essentials 1

Science:
Real Science 4 Kids Pre-Chemistry Level 1 /R.E.A.L. Science Chemistry by Pandia Press at co-op (these two different curricula are being combined to make course last a whole year)

Music:
Piano Lessons beginning in September

Unit Studies:
Human Body unit study for 14 weeks in the first semester
Animal unit study in the second semester (number of weeks undetermined)

Foreign Language:
Conversational Spanish at home
Elementary Spanish on Discovery Ed. Streaming
Latin at co-op

Art and Nature Study:
Art Adventures at Home, Level 1
Weekly nature study using Handbook of Nature Study with Outdoor Hour Challenges
*Free time with art books, crafts, and art supplies in our learning center

Preparing for Preschool.

I'll be using a combination of different things for preschool. As you have seen in my previous posts, this was probably the last thing for me to settle on. Here is a list of what Anthony will be enjoying this new school year.

• Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K (HWT)
• My Father's World From A to Z Kindergarten Curriculum (MFW)
  
• Rod and Staff Preschool Workbooks (R&S)
  
• Preschool Box

This seems like a lot of material to cover for a preschooler. But here is how I'm going to break it down.

HWT
This super fun curriculum (I did this with Marco as a preschooler) will be implemented using the suggested schedule in the Teacher's Guide. The work is done daily and takes about 15 minutes. It's fun, easy, and a great way for preschoolers to learn because it is so multi-sensory.

MFW
Another great, multi-sensory program that leads the child from letter recognition to reading basic words. I'm not sure Anthony is ready to take this on all the way as a preschooler, so I am scheduling it only 2-3 times a week as opposed to the recommended full week, daily schedule. What is wonderful about this program is that it is all inclusive. It ties in math, phonics, reading, science, art, creative thinking, and character development...all in one curriculum! My plan is to take it easy and perhaps even finish this over the course of 2 years. Of course, this is all depending on how Anthony takes to it.

R&S
These are really wonderful little workbooks and I plan on using them while the older kids are doing their own school work. Once directions are given for a page, Anthony will be able to work on these on his own. This will help develop some independence and fill his own need to sit down and do serious work with the older kids. They will be a great way to reinforce shapes, numbers, colors, letters, and so much more. They really are fun books! And with 7 workbooks plus a bible story book in the set for only $20, they are a bargain!

Preschool Box

I am going to continue to use our preschool box this year. It saved my sanity many times and it is a great asset to any homeschooling family! For ideas on getting a preschool box started, visit my Homeschooling with Toddlers post. I rotate activities every week and these are all mostly Montessori inspired. (Check out my Preschool Activities post for even more ideas!) This year I am adding the MFW Preschool Package to the mix. It comes with wonderful Lauri products, as well as a handy learning activity booklet that was developed for use with MFW. Not only that, but I will also be making more preschool activity bags using the book Montessori on a Shoestring. With Christian running around, this will help me out with him as well!

I'm expecting to spend about 1 hour to 1.5 hours a day (depending on the day) one-on-one with Anthony. This won't be all at the same time either and doesn't include independent activities like his preschool box or R&S workbooks. He'll also be participating in our homeschool co-op once a week where he will participate in music, bible class, and unit studies.

Overall, he's going to have a great year!!

More for preschool??

As I continue to peruse my own stash of curriculum, I keep coming back to My Father's World Kindergarten program. I used this for Marco when he was in kindergarten himself, but stopped about half way through the program. It wasn't that it was difficult to implement or that I disliked it; but it was more about the repetition that was boring Marco. I just got tired of forcing it upon him. Now this doesn't stop this from being a solid and fun program. It just didn't mesh well with my child!

Now Isabella is going into her kindergarten year and I haven't even considered taking this program out. I'm sure she would enjoy it (as she did do it along side Marco), but since she seems to be a little advanced for now...I'm taking her in a different direction.

Anthony is my little guy who I can't get out of my mind for using MFW K, however. Although it might move a little fast for him (he is a young one), I can't get out of my head how much he would enjoy the program. So now I'm seriously considering adding this to his weekly schedule. I'm not opposed to taking it nice and slow at all...perhaps take 2 weeks to do 1 week of work (or more!). Not only that, but I know that Isabella would more than likely want to join in. It's always fun when you can have the kids do activities together!

So I will spend much of my weekend working out a schedule for Anthony...and all the other kids! I'm looking forward to my weekend away at the IHM Conference. I know it will give me the time I need to focus on creating our weekly school schedule. Having 3 kids doing school, 1 toddler, and 1 newborn is certainly going to throw me for a loop!! I hope that we are able to blend into a productive year...with lots of prayer, of course!!!

Preschool Decisions.

I'm not completely done with Anthony's preschool materials as of yet, but I'm getting there! I did go ahead with the Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K; mostly because I already had everything needed for it (I used this with Marco). I just bought him a new workbook. It is a fun program and takes such a small amount of time every day. I'm sure that Anthony will love it since we already sing the songs from the CD.

On top of that, I also purchased Rod & Staff's preschool workbooks. I thought they were really cute and simple. Enough to keep Anthony occupied for short periods of time when I need him to be nice and quiet. These workbooks introduce shapes, colors, numbers, and all the typical preschool stuff.

Of course, I am looking forward to getting him some nice, Catholic books to look through and color in. I'll be looking for these next week at the IHM Conference. For now, Anthony has looked through his books and is extremely excited about getting started with his own school. It's so much fun to see the look of pride on his face knowing that he too will be an official preschooler!

Planning for Second Grade, Kindergarten, Preschool.

Homeschool convention time is fast approaching and I'm trying to get geared up to make the most of it. This weekend I have been working on looking at what I have used this past year, what I had planned to use for the upcoming year, and reviewed anything that sparked my interest. So far, I have several things cemented as definite. But it seems like I've been changing my opinion on other things and wanting to add some new things as well.

I've been debating whether or not to enroll with Angelicum Academy once more and I'm leaning more to skipping it. I love their Good Books program for the elementary level as well as the Great Books program for the upper grades. But it seems like we are digressing from some of their recommendations and adding others. It just doesn't make sense to enroll when I'm not planning on using their grading services or all of their lesson plans.

What I am sure of, however, is that I keep coming back to my good old companion and guide...The Well Trained Mind. So far, I have not been let down by the WTM's recommendations and love the way that they cycle through the subjects. I have read the book over and over and it is definitely the way I want to teach my children.

So my choices for the upcoming year are still along the lines of what I thought they would be. I made a chart of what I'm looking into that I plan to take along with me to both the convention I am attending this weekend (the book fair part only), and the Immaculate Heart of Mary Conference in early June. The IHM conference is where I'm planning to really sit down and plan out the new year, since I will be away from any distractions.

*SSRW = Sing, Spell, Read & Write
*SOTW = Story of the World
*MCP = Modern Curriculum Press

Marco 2nd Grade

Subject	Curriculum	Supplement
Math	Saxon 3	MCP Math B & Calculadders
Phonics	SSRW	Varied Readers
English Grammar	Seton English, Rod and Staff English 2 or First Language Lessons	None
Spelling	Spelling Work Out	None
Writing	Writing With Ease (Finish 1 and continue with 2)	Narrations and copy work through history, science, etc.
Handwriting	Zaner Bloser Book 2M & 2C	None
History	History Odyssey or SOTW with Activity Guide	Library Books, Discovery Streaming Videos, and Add a Century Timeline
Geography/Cartography	Map Essentials & Galloping the Globe or other	Include Saint Studies
Religion	Faith & Life	Baltimore Catechism & Faith Formation Classes
Foreign Language	Prima Latina, English from the Roots, Spanish	Latin at Co-op, Discovery Streaming Videos
Reading	Good Books from Angelicum	Library Books for fun
Science	Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry Pre-Level 1	Science Lab at Co-op
Art & Music	Piano Lessons, Bell Choir, Art Classes	Bell Choir & Art at Co-op

As you can see, I'm doing lots of supplementing through our awesome co-op! This takes a big load off of my schedule since the teaching is done by someone else.

It's overwhelming to see so many subjects, but as many veteran homeschoolers know, many subjects take less than 20 minutes (mostly language arts!). I'm excited to start looking through books and putting a schedule down on paper. Since we homeschool year round, our transition from 1st grade to 2nd grade will most likely occur in the summer. This is especially so because of the new baby arriving mid-August.

For Isabella, things are easier to plan because she will be sitting in for some of Marco's lessons and having free play time for when she is done with her own work. It's funny that since I've been through this stage before, I feel more confident in scheduling her work.

Isabella Kindergarten Grade

Subject	Curriculum	Supplement
Math	Complete Saxon Math 1, continue with 2	MCP Math A
Phonics	Finish SSRW 1, continue with 2	Readers
English Grammar	First Language Lessons?	None
Spelling	Spelling Work Out in 2nd semester	None
Writing	None?
Handwriting	Zaner Bloser, repeat K or 1?	None
History	History Odyssey or SOTW with Marco	Library Books and Discovery Streaming
Geography/Cartography	Map Essentials & Galloping the Globe or other with Marco	None
Religion	Sit in with Marco	Faith Formation Class, Baltimore Catechism
Foreign Language	Spanish	Discovery Streaming Video
Reading	Good Books from Angelicum	Library Books for fun
Science	Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry Pre-Level 1	Science Lab at Co-op
Art & Music	Music at Co-op, Crafts at Home	None

This only leaves Anthony. He will be a true preschooler this fall, with his 4th birthday coming in September. Although I should know hands-down with what to do with Anthony, I am totally undecided. He is definitely will be a young 4 year old in the maturity level, so I want to make sure to choose a program that will be gentle. He likes to sit in with the big kids for read alouds (even the bigger books!), religion, and crafts.

This year we did Before Five in a Row and it was a big hit with him! But I don't want to continue with it because I want something that will already be mapped out for me. I don't mind adding extras, but I want the core of what he is going to be doing to already be laid out. Colors, numbers, alphabet & sound recognition...these are the basics I want to focus on. Just a typical preschool program.

Preschool Contenders:
Little Hands to Heaven (from Heart of Dakota)
Handwriting Without Tears Preschool
Letter of the Week Preschool Program
OR Make my own program with workbooks, crafts, and activities.

A positive is that preschool at co-op will give Anthony a lot of the playtime with friends that he needs, as well as structured learning time.

Perhaps after I visit the book fair this upcoming weekend, I'll come with a whole new set of ideas! I'm hoping that these lists will help narrow down my search, however, and I can go and browse each curriculum before committing to one.

History!!!

So you will probably get tired of me blogging about what is interesting me for next year's curriculum. I guess it's just that time of year! Recently, I've been doing a lot of thinking about history. Should I do a 3 year cycle? A 4 year cycle? It's all very confusing!

Of course, my first source of educated opinions comes from the boards over at The Well Trained Mind. I've been on those boards for about 3 years now! It's an excellent source of information. Of course, lurking on a homeschool board is only going to give you new ideas, new temptations, etc. Lucky for me, when I do lurk...I have specific things I look for. Lately, it's been history.

Today I came across an interesting post that mentioned History Odyssey. I've heard about it, but was never interested since I've been using SOTW. Well, it turns out that History Odyssey uses SOTW as a spine! Not only that, but they also use A Child's History of the World as well as Usborne's Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History. These are all excellent and I like that they offer different view points.

So my history curriculum research has begun! Here is what I have gathered about PandiaPress's History Odyssey curriculum. These are the main reasons as to why I'm even considering it.

• The program uses several books as spines. This gives a broader perspective on each topic being discussed. Because you have 3 different books to reference, the need to add additional books from the library is minimized (although you still have a book list to add to the reading if you wish).
• History is still being taught chronologically, but with a twist. Instead of jumping from country to country, you spend more time on a particular topic before going to the next. For instance, you would study all of ancient Egypt before moving on to ancient China and so forth. This could be good if you want to actually delve into the country without having to worry that you'll be studying something entirely different the following week.
• The program is heavy on literature, writing, notebooking, outlining, researching, and timelining...especially as you progress through the levels. For me, this is really important so it's a big plus!
• Lessons are made out for you, so all you have to do is check off assignments as they are completed. This includes which activities are recommended, maps, coloring, readings, etc.
  

You can always Google History Odyssey and you'll come up with so many sites that offer reviews to this program. I particularly like Cathy Duffy's review. Being Catholic, she made sure to point out that the SOTW volume 2 is the only book with a Protestant slant and all the others are strictly secular.

So there is the latest curriculum review that I'm obsessing about. I'm sure that I'll end up purchasing the e-book version of it just to be able to review it myself without going off of all the wonderful things I hear about it! If you are interested, check it our here. They have a wonderful option where you can actually preview the first 10 lessons for free!!

Language Arts.

Today I received Writing With Ease (WWE) by Susan Wise Bauer. I'm very excited about this writing program and I think it looks wonderful!!! Language arts has lately been the number one priority in our house. Between working on phonics and fluency, I have felt for the past few months that I need to concentrate on having fluent readers before moving on to grammar and such. Of course, deciding that the best course of action was for me to ignore most other subjects and just focus on reading was an extremely difficult decision. But I feel that we are definitely moving in the right direction!

With the arrival of WWE, I feel like we can start preparing to add more language art components to our routine. Besides phonics, we've been focusing on spelling. I haven't been using any additional material besides Sing Spell Read & Write, but although the program has spelling integrated into it... I feel like it isn't working for us.

So here is what is up for review in regards to components to add to our current language arts schedule:
Shurley Grammar
Seton English 1
CHC's Language of God Level A (a grammar program)
Spelling Workout
CHC's My Very First Catholic Speller or My Catholic Speller Level A

Although I know that some of these books are at the first grade level and we'll be entering into second grade soon, I don't feel like it really matters much. I have the freedom to move through them quickly if I have to. I would hate to start at a more advanced level and encounter problems. I also feel like it's really important to start with a good, solid foundation.

We'll see where my research on grammar takes me. I am giving myself plenty of time to look through materials before making a decision. I would hate to start something only to leave it half way because I didn't find it was working for us. Although I realize that sometimes you don't know what will work until you try it.

Choosing Curriculum for a 3 year old.

I know. A 3 year old should not have a curriculum. They are young, they need to explore, play, discover, etc. But after taking a good look at what our schedule is going to look like this new school year, there is no way that Anthony is going to have free play time ALL DAY LONG. He needs a little more structure to his day and I feel like I need to start introducing him to the alphabet, math, and reading. Sitting in on our read alouds will also not be sufficient anymore, especially since we'll be moving on to more difficult and mature material.

The programs I'm considering are BFIAR (Before Five in a Row), Little Hands to Heaven, Little Saints, CHC Preschool, and Letter of the Week. I'm really not sure at this point, but I'm looking for something that is more literature based with some crafty components. I also can't dedicate all day to it, but rather an hour or so a few times a week. I think that would be more than enough for a gentle introduction to "school."

Considering I own BFIAR and CHC Preschool, I will be considering those first. I'm planning on sitting down tonight and looking them over again. BFIAR worked with Marco when he was little, so I might consider that again. CHC was not a good fit for us back then, but it might work now. I'm hoping that there will be a preview of Little Saints at the IHM Catholic Conference next week, since the program looks really attractive as well.

In all, I would like to *ideally* make a decision as soon as possible. Since we'll be starting on our new schedule next week (hopefully), I want to have something ready for Anthony to do so he can feel like he gets special time with me too. He also needs a little more order and discipline to his life. He functions so much better when we have our routine and schedule in place.

Any suggestions out there are welcome!!

"Good Books" Literature Schedule.

It seems like I have 16 "Good Books" to go through for both kindergarten and first grade. How do I accomplish this without overkill? I DON'T KNOW!! But what I'm planning is to split up the reading time throughout the day. I'll do 1 hour total for both grades with 30 minutes in the morning for first grade and 30 minutes in the afternoon for kindergarten. I actually don't think that 16 books is too much to do in the course of one year. This is especially true since some of the books on our list are only compilations of stories.

For these compilations, such as the fairy books by Andrew Lang, I'll just be picking a few stories from each book. We are pretty familiar with so many fairy tales and nursery rhymes that I don't think the kids will be missing out on anything.

I created the following table as a simple way to keep track of what books we are reading when. It will serve as a very basic schedule. Since I don't know how long it will take us to get through any particular book, I decided against setting deadlines. I want to make sure that we take our time, especially since we'll be doing book reports on each book (simple narrations on what the book is about) as part of the Angelicum lesson plans.

Kindergarten	First Grade
Perrault's Complete Fairy Tales	Crimson Fairy book
Favorite Uncle Remus	Just So Stories
Orange Fairy Book	Water Babies
Wind in the Willows	Grey Fairy Book
Household Stories	Jungle Book
Brown Fairy Book	Aesop
Green Fairy Book	Alice's Adventure in Wonderland
Pinocchio	Free Reading
Treasury of Mother Goose	Free Reading

Angelicum Academy. The Decision.

I'm sure many of you have seen my curriculum and schedules. Well, things are ever changing at our little Classical Academy! After much prayer, I decided that I will be doing kindergarten with Isabella and first grade for Marco using the lesson plans and material from Angelicum Academy.

Angelicum Academy is a Catholic, classical, homeschooling program based on the Great Books Academy. I have looked at this program for the past year and never made any decisions. But after revisiting time and time again, I've decided to try it out for a year. My reasons? I'd be using much of the same curriculum anyways! This program is very similar to The Well Trained Mind and has a heavy focus on literature and the Good Books (which I love). The only downfall I saw that I really don't like is the history. They follow a chronological approach, but only cycle through history twice. I really like the 3 cycle approach because it gives me an opportunity to go through it again and again as all the kids get older and start sharing subjects. But I think this is easy to overcome by simply implementing my own history.

First Grade (Marco).

• History: Story of the World 1
• Language Arts: English from the Roots Up; Shurley English Grammar 1; Sing, Spell, Read and Write Level 1
• Math: Saxon Math 2
• Literature: Great Selections such as Aesop, Just So Stories, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Water Babies
  
• Religion: Faith and Life along with many other supplemental reading
  
• Art: Draw, Write, Now
• Cartography: Map Essentials by National Geographic
• Foreign Language: Prima Latina
• Philosophy: Elfie
  

Art, cartography, foreign language, and philosophy are elective materials and not part of their core curriculum.

Kindergarten (Isabella).
This has been a difficult decision as Isabella would be considered preschool age this upcoming year. Starting her in kindergarten would mean skipping her preschool year. I've decided to go this route after analyzing all the things she is doing. Although her handwriting is not at all good, she is advancing faster than I thought. She also has placed into Saxon 1 and is well into reading beginner Bob books. My thoughts are to start her in kindergarten and just take it at her pace. For all other reasons, she'll still be called a preschooler.

• History: Dinosaurs, Starting Point Science
  
• Language Arts: Sing, Spell, Read and Write
• Math: Saxon 1
• Religion: Everyday Graces, Bible
• Literature: Fairy Tales, Uncle Remus, Wind in the Willows, and many more.
  
• Art: Draw, Write, Now
• Foreign Language: Prima Latina
• Philosophy: Elfie

I'm planning on sitting the kids together for history, literature, foreign language, art, science (not part of their curriculum, so we'll be doing on our own), and language arts (SSRW only).

The only thing left to do now is get all the lesson plans for Marco (I already purchased kindergarten). I won't be enrolling the kids in the program as of yet, since I feel that I don't need the testing and record keeping. That will come as they get closer to middle school, I think.

So there it is!! Another change in plans, but not so dramatic. We're still following the classical model. One thing we will continue in doing also, is nature studies. That will be more of a fun, relaxed thing; more like a supplement and not ever graded. But that will be a post for another day!

Lapbooking and Notebooking.

I have had a great time creating lapbooks with the kids this past year. Now that 1st grade is upon us, we'll be adding to our lapbooking by starting with notebooking. Don't know what either one of these things are? Here's the scoop!

Lapbooking: "an inexpensive portfolio or collection of mini-books, flaps, and folded display material, that provides interactive space for drawings, stories, graphs, graphics, time lines, diagrams, and written work, from any topic, unit study, book you choose, gathered, glued, and creatively displayed in a coloured standard sized cardboard folder, often folded in a “shutter-fold”..., that fits in your lap." http://lapbooking.wordpress.com/1-whatis/

Lapbooking is great in that you can do it with a 2 year old or a 17 year old. The difficulty of the project is up to you! Our best use of lapbooks come when we are doing unit studies. It's a handy little way to wrap up all the stuff your kids learned into one handy area. It's also easy to save since they don't take up a lot of space.

If you are just getting started, I highly recommend Dina Zike's "Big Book of Books." Here, you can learn all kinds of folds to include in your lapbook. Another great book is "The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook." This one also teaches you the folds and includes some lapbooks you can do. They make great reference books if you plan on using lapbooks as part of your curriculum.

If you are interested in getting more detailed information, free resources, free lapbooks, samples of lapbooks, and just about anything related to lapbooks...here are some websites that I often visit when I start planning a new lapbook.

Lapbooking on Squidoo
Homeschool Helper (free lapbooks!)
Lapbooking 101 (great resource)
Lapbook info on Jamin's blog (another great resource!)
Lapbook Lessons (Lots of links, how-to's, and info)


Notebooking: this is probably self-explanatory. It is, basically, creating a notebook and falls along the lines of scrapbooking. Notebooking can be as simple as you want it to be with information being put into 3-ring binders. These notebooks can be made per subject and include maps, reports, narrations, science experiments, project results, drawings, worksheet pages, timelines, and just about anything else that is considered relevant work by the student.

Notebook is probably the easiest way to gather your child's work and notebooking pages are among the easiest to create on your computer (and find for free on the Internet!). If you are a scrapbooker, you'll find that creating an elaborate notebook is as enjoyable as putting together a scapbook page. Notebooking, much like lapbooking, can also be done with a preschooler or a high schooler. The older the child, the more their involvement in creating pages for their notebook.

Since we are embarking on a classical homeschooling journey, narrations and nature studies will be a large part of what we do. Notebooking is going to be the method of choice for collecting our work. Each subject will receive it's own notebook and the complexity of how they are put together will depend on how we are feeling at the time. The great thing is that you can always come back to alter your notebook at the end of a unit or chapter. It's a great way to review!

Still want more info? Here are some great sites that I've been visiting lately to get me ready for a new year.

The Homeschool Mom (great info and links!)
Notebooking A-Z
Free Notebook Pages and Printables
Notebooking on Squidoo (we love Squidoo!)
Free Notebooking Pages on Homeschool Helper

I hope the links I provided are enough to get you started on your journey into lapbooking and notebooking. They are both wonderful tools to add to your homeschool!

What a Deal!

I have been blessed today! As I have been pondering over purchasing Sing, Spell, Read, and Write, I found a wonderful opportunity to buy it used. Luckily, my good friends from our co-op have been following my journey in search for a curriculum and forwarded me some information on someone who was selling their "like new" SSRW K/1st grade combo kit.

After meeting at a science museum, I came away with a very new phonics curriculum (most everything still in shrink wrap) AND some Angelicum lesson plans. All for a unbelievable price! I am thankful to my friends for putting me in contact with the right person and I think that God is helping me along in my homeschooling journey.

Now that I have the phonics kit, I will be pouring over the material and getting Marco started. When we got home and opened the box Marco asked me what it was. I told him it was his new reading program. He was so excited with all the stuff in the box that he begged me to start right away! I told him that I would have to prepare for the lessons first and he was bummed out about that, but now he has something to really look forward to. His reaction to having to wait? "I can't wait until I do fun school!"

My favorite part of the day is hearing that from my kids..."fun school." It's what they call everything we do that is fun and part of school. Lately, fun school is everything except phonics. I'm lucky that my kids get excited about doing lessons. Even math isn't the big chore I thought it was going to be. Now that I have this new program, maybe we'll change our name to "Holy Family Classical Fun School."

Phonics Switch.

Lately I've been suffering quietly over our phonics instruction. I have been using Phonics Pathways this year and believe me, it has been a very, slow year. Teaching Marco to read has gone from easy and fun, to difficult and frustrating. He is no longer responding to the text and complains at every opportunity. Our best selections have been the Nora Gaydos books, which he loves and finds extremely funny, and Explode the Code. Other than that, reading is just not fun anymore.

I have tried so hard to turn our lessons into something to look forward to. But I am failing. So now I am giving up on our text and moving on and looking for something better. In the past we have also tried The Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading, but that was even worse. I'm starting to think it all has to do with the bland text. Black and white is boring. Nora Gaydos readers are fun and colorful; Explode the Code keeps his interest with the writing portion. So I'm thinking that I need to appeal to the visual part of Marco.

Overall, I've been feeling a bit guilty about switching around with this so much in my mind. I've kept Marco with Phonics Pathways because I want to be consistent until I find something good. I wonder if all homeschoolers deal with these problems early on. I'm hoping to accept that it's ok to change a program while in the middle of it. If it's not working, why use it...right?

So my conclusion? With all my research and reviewing, I think I'm taking the plunge into Sing, Spell, Read, and Write. It's a bigger investment than I would want, but if it works it will be well worth it. I hope this is the solution I've been looking for. The good thing is that I'm planning on enrolling with Angelicum Academy in the future and this is the program they use for phonics. If it doesn't work, I guess I'll have a phonics program for sale!

Literature Schedule.

Following my previous post, I thought I would break down our use of Literature Pockets and the VP First Favorites. I'm planning on being EXTREMELY flexible with this as I don't want overkill. We'll have enough to do with our core subjects! With that being said, I have compiled a very loose schedule. I haven't dated the weeks that we are doing anything, since we school year round and things change. I am listing what we are doing on the left, and how long we are spending on that particular thing on the right. For the most part, I plan on spending 1 week on things. Also, I'm noting that we do these for fun (especially the Literature Pockets). The kids do not view this as school in any way, shape or form; so it is possible that we might do something like this year round, all the time.

*LP = Literature Pockets

*VP = Veritas Press

I Caught A Fish Alive (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
Pease Porridge (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
Rub-a-Dub-Dub (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
Sing a Song of Sixpence(LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
To Market, To Market (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
Curious George (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
Caps for Sale (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
Corduroy (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
Blueberries for Sal (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
The Little Engine That Could (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
Floss (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
A Chair for Mother (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
Harry the Dirty Dog (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
Billy and Blaze (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
Bread and Jam for Frances (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
Dr. DeSoto (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
Frog and Toad are Friends (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
Frog and Toad All Year Long (VP)	1 week, daily 20 minutes
The Little Red Hen (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
The Three Little Pigs (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
Goldilocks and the Three Bears (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
The Gingerbread Man (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
Little Red Riding Hood (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
The Three Billy Goats Gruff (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes
Too Much Noise (LP)	1 week, 3x, 20 minutes

Literature.

I've been thinking a lot about our literature selections for this upcoming first grade. I want to make sure that we turn more of our time into read aloud time…something I think we've strayed from these last couple of months. I haven't been blinded by what my children are capable of doing and what they are incapable of doing as well. I know that Marco is NOT into story times, but Isabella is. So I'm thinking of starting off slowly with this and growing so that we are doing more and more reading as time progresses.

Currently, we read for about 30-45 minutes a day (not in one sitting). This is mostly picture books and bible stories. Marco recently rediscovered an old favorite and we are re-reading My Father's Dragon. I hope to find other books similar to this that will capture his imagination. It seems like such an arduous task to find chapter books to his liking that are fiction. I have no problems getting him to sit through non-fiction books, so I'm hoping that he'll enjoy our new set of books based on Greek mythology for first grade.

We are also big fans of Evan Moore's Literature Pockets. We have worked on them throughout the year and the kids love them! It has helped us in memory work…something I really enjoy and think beneficial to kids. I plan on continuing the use of Literature Pockets as well as the Veritas Press First Favorites Vol.1. The latter is a comprehension guide intended for children who are new readers. The books included in the guide are Curious George, Caps for Sale, Corduroy, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, Blueberries for Sal, The Little Engine that Could, Floss, A Chair for Mother, Harry the Dirty Dog, Billy and Blaze, Bread and Jam for Frances, Dr. DeSoto, Frog and Toad are Friends, and Frog and Toad All Year Long. For each book there are activities geared towards comprehension that include things like crafts and copywork. Although I don't think that Marco is able to do all of the reading alone, I think we can tackle it together.

As for additional reading, I've always let the kids pick their own books when we go to the library. I think we'll have more than enough to read with the new year and our new curriculum. I do want to add a bit more fairy tales before bed, but I'm not going to push it. Slowly, slowly, slowly.

Book Mania!

I really enjoy this time of year! Easter and spring are upon us; the temperatures are warming up; our bird feeders are slowly getting more visitors; and, of course, new books are the norm!! I love greeting our mailman, especially when he has several packages tucked under his arm! This past week I've been slowly adding to our collection of first grade materials. It is very exciting and I can tell that science is going to be a hit around here! Our science living books are becoming most popular and the kids are enjoying looking at all the pictures.

I'm also on a personal quest for knowledge. This means that I'm adding to my collection new parenting books, homeschooling references, and family-themed books as well. Interested in what we've gotten? Below is my list. This list is without a doubt, going to grow in size as I order more books for the new school year. I've still haven't received them all, so I'm anticipating to receive them within the next week or two. I'll update my list as I add to it.

• A Charlotte Mason Companion
  
• For the Children's Sake
  
• Apes and Other Primates (Eye View Book)
  
• Outside and Inside Snakes
  
• Eagles (Lets Investigate)
  
• Mr. Carey's Garden
  
• Elephant (Eye Witness Book)
  
• Giant Panda (Welcome Book)
  
• The Life and Times of the Ant
  
• Fantastic Frogs! (Hello Reader)
  
• Are You a Snail? (Backyard Book)
  
• Discipline That Lasts a Lifetime: The Best Gift You Can Give Your Kids
  
• Penguin Chick (Lets Read and Find Out)
  
• Snakes are Hunters (lets Read and Find Out)
  
• A Mother's Rule of Life: How to Bring Order to Your Home and Peace to Your Soul
  
• Science with Plants
  
• What Happens to Your Food?
  
• Stokes Beginners Guide to Birds: Eastern Region
  
• Identifying Trees: An All Season Guide to Eastern North America
  
• Kids Love North Carolina
  
• Seton Religion 1 For Young Catholics
  
• Miracles of Jesus (St. Joseph Picture Book)
  
• The Holy Spirit (St. Joseph Picture Book)
  
• Mary My Mother (St. Joseph Picture Book)
  
• Jesus and I
  
• Coloring Book about Angels
  
• Here We Come/This is Our Home (Faith and Freedom Readers)
  
• This is Our Family (Faith and Freedom Readers)
  
• These Are Our Friends (Faith and Freedom Readers)
  

Science Schedule

Following is a table that breaks down the order in which we have planned our science units.

If we were to follow the lessons as they are in the curriculum lesson plans, we would have 45 weeks of science study. Since that goes a little over what we want, we turned a few of the animal lessons into 1 week studies and incorporated them with Harcourt materials. We also decided to combine the human body units of study with the Harcourt corresponding unit. Of course, we can always just omit what we want.

Science is not a big deal in terms of grading, so our main objective is to fulfill the needs of the kids. They are big science buffs (as is DH) and we want to be able to satisfy their curiosity in a fun way while getting them to learn along the way. The great thing is that I feel like we are being completely flexible with our schedule. We are not committing to this many units, but I know that with DH teaching science, it will probably all get done.

To put things in perspective. We school year-round and we will be starting with this first grade science plan within the next couple of weeks. Maybe if time permits, I'll make a list of all the books we will be using to go along with each unit.

LLB = Living Learning Books

*= Units to shorten or omit

Whales (LLB)	2 Weeks
Elephants (LLB)	2 Weeks
Snakes (LLB)	2 Weeks
Ants (LLB)	2 Weeks
Eagles (LLB)	2 Weeks
Butterflies (LLB)	2 Weeks
Primates (LLB)	2 Weeks
Leaves and Roots (LLB)	2 Weeks
Growing Things (LLB)	1 Week
Flowers (LLB)	1 Week
Trees (LLB)	1 Week
Carnivorous Plants (LLB)	1 Week
Pandas* (LLB)	1-2 Weeks
Frogs* (LLB)	1-2 Weeks
Penguins* (LLB)	1-2 Weeks
Harcourt Intro	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.1/Lesson1	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.1/Lesson2	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.1/Lesson3	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.1 Review/Links	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.2/Lesson1	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.2/Lesson2	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.2 Links	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.3/Lesson1 Exploring the Five Senses (LLB)	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.3/Lesson2 Sight (LLB)	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.3/Lesson3 Hearing(LLB)	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.3/Lesson4 Touch (LLB)	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.3 Links Smell (LLB)	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.3 Review and Activities Taste (LLB)	1 Week
Harcourt Chp.3 Activities Digestion (LLB)	1 Week
Muscles & Bones (LLB)	1 Week
Respiration (LLB)	1 Week
Skin (LLB)	1 Week
Immune System (LLB)	1 Week