Gah! September is just around the bend, and that means it's time to get going on lessons. I think I've got it ironed out for Charlie and his second grade year. Not so much for the older boys, though. I'm quite certain I will come up with a cohesive middle school year for Will, as well as a high school Freshman course of study for Ben, in the next hour-and-a-half or so. But I'll write this blog post first. Yep. I put the "pro" in procrastination ladies and gents.
But just looky what I have done! Here is what Charlie can look forward to come September:
Charlie will be using Horizons Math 2, book 2. From there we'll move on to Teaching Textbook 3. Life of Fred as a supplement.
Charlie started with Spelling Power at a 4th grade level last year, and we will continue with that this year.
We'll pick up with First Language Lessons in level 2. I will skip or condense many of these lessons to work for our style.
Writing with Ease will be our guide for Narration and Copywork, although I do plan to have Charlie make a History notebook of narrations and illustrations as well, so we may drop WWE if it becomes redundant. Just love her book selections, though!
Charlie will also work on Cursive Handwriting this year with worksheets I've bound especially for him. After every few pages of work, there is a fun project page for him to do with me or on his own.
Regular Tea Time Poetry will continue once a week. Charlie's focus poet this year is Robert Frost. Unless I decide to do Lewis Carroll. Either way, we'll use the Poetry for Young People offering. Love this series. Plus I'll pull some fun seasonal poems from Poetry Speaks to Children and Favorite Poems old and New.
Some classic read alouds for this year will be Charlotte's Web, The Great Brain, Thimble Summer, Little House in the Big Woods, and Farmer Boy. We'll also get into some American Tall Tales as presented by Mary Pope Osborne to go along with our American History study.
Going the easy route with Science this year and implementing R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey, Life science Level 1 from Pandia Press.. It looks very good and thorough. It is on my shelf. We'll get started with that this month. Bingo!
For Nature Studies, Charlie has enjoyed being a part of a group this summer that Will has been a part of for a few years now. The WISE kids meet on a weekly basis July through August for 3 hours at a time, and deeply explore our nearby state park and surrounding areas. So far this summer they have:
*Hiked various park trails. All types of terrain, rain or shine.
*Canoed the St. Croix River from St. Croix Falls to Osceola.
*Taken a fish hatchery tour (rainbow trout) and participated in a raceway cleaning service project.
*Heard historical stories of the St. Croix River from St. Croix: Midwest Border River by James Taylor Dunn.
*Listened to the book If You Find a Rock.
Shared rock collections and told stories of personal "memory rocks".
Charlie brought in Madeline Island rocks, and some Wishing Rocks, which
were mentioned in the book.
*Created personal photo journals from various hikes.
*Took part in a Tree study with a local naturalist.
And we still have a few weeks left!
In the winter, Charlie will attend a different program (Nature Story Time) at the same state park. He'll probably be too old for the program after this winter, and it will be a sad, sad day when we no longer attend. This is a program that Ben (now 14) started when he was Kindergarten age. Lots of years invested there.
Nature reading this year will come from:
Paddle to the Sea and Minn of the Mississippi -H. C. Holling and Clara Dillingham Pierson's Among the Pond People and Among the Night People.
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| History |
Nope. Still haven't firmed up history plans. Moving on....
Music Appreciation-Weekly listening time during breakfast or lunch. This is the same schedule carried over from first grade as it *somehow* fell to the wayside. : )
Carnival of the Animals
Peter and the Wolf
The Magic Flute
The Composer is Dead
The Composer is Dead
Picture Study-Look at one picture weekly, 5 to 10 minutes
Art in Early America
American Indian Art
Art-
Undecided. ????? We'll probably just "wing it"
Fun Ideas stored here-Pinterest
Artistic Pursuits K-3 book 1
Drawing with Children
2 comments:
Looks like your 2nd grader has a great year ahead of him!
We really like the Horizons books for practice. I used to cut them up and give my kids a problem or two as a warm-up before lessons. A couple of teeny, colorful squares was less groan-inspiring than a worksheet, for some reason!
Hmm...will have to take a look at Among the Night/Pond People. Sounds intriguing! Anything animal-related is popular around here!
We read Paddle to the Sea last year! And we read Minn this summer! We're slowly working our way through the Beautiful Feet geography pack. It's a fun way to learn map skills and North American geography.
Have fun learning with your kids!
I did the Beautiful Feet Geography with my older boys a few years back. It was so enjoyable! I really should dig out my guide; thanks for reminding me! And great idea on using the Horizons books as a daily warm-up...I do like how thorough Horizons, is and this may be the perfect way to keep it in the mix without adding too much.
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