Year 1 school plan (2012-2013 age 6)

June 2012-June 2013
Age 6 (public school grade 1)

Overview

Grammar
Because we were enjoying The Story of the World so much, we have been using Bauer's grammar curriculum as well: First Language Lessons. We use the instructor books only because the workbooks use such huge lines for writing and Calvin already writes in a standard notebook just fine, so we use standard notebook paper. He also writes way more fluidly than I think she expects for children of his age, and that's my only complaint: this curriculum is painfully slow and, in that way, somewhat belittling. We have been using it at our own pace, which is probably three times the rate she expected. Plus we didn't really take the summer off so I suspect that we will fly through the entire series in no time at all and will be looking for soemthing new this time next year.

Math
We started with the Math-U-See back in the pre-school or kindergarten age and it has served us well. The curriculum makes great use of visual aids and continually builds on and reviews previous topics. We will likely continue through the entire curriculum.

History
As with so many others in the homeschooling community we are using The Story of the World to guide us through our history study. I make good use of her book reocmmendations with each chapter, and we often take extra time to go off on long tangents through civilizations. For each civilization we study we also go into details about their mythology, their origin stories, and usually seek out examples of early (very early) literature traditions as well.

Science
We are using Building Foundations and loving it. We started with this curriculum (really more like a book of suggested lesson plans) not too long ago and have really been enjoying it.

June 2014-June 2015
Age 8 (public school grade 3)

Details:

Grammar
First Lessons for the Well Trained Mind Level 1 (complete in Sept)
First Lessons for the Well Trained Mind Level 2 (complete in Feb 2013)
First Lessons for the Well Trained Mind Level 3 (begin Feb 2013)
Spelling Workout Level C (finish in Oct 2012)
Spelling Workout Level D (Oct 2012 - Feb 2013)
Spelling Workout Level E (begin February 2013)
Supplementary:
A Walk in the Woods cursive handwriting practice workbook
Journaling
Reading, both alone and aloud, choice and assigned from a long list of classical books

Math
Math-U-See Gamma (complete in October)
Math-U-See Delta (begin in October)

History
The Story of the World, Volume 2
The Story of the World, Volume 2 Activity Book

Science
Building Foundations in Scientific Understanding, Volume I, Grades K-2

Art
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series, by Mike Venezia

Music
Piano Adventures Level 2A series (complete in Sept)
Piano Adventures Level 2B series (begin in Sept)

Learning tools: reading

Reading as a skill is hot button topic. Back in the days when we were shopping for schools, before we decided to homeschool, it seemed that every preshool in twon was advertising their success in early reading training. Where kindergarten used to be about learning your letters, today it's about hard core reading drills. In many programs kids are expected to be independent readers before they enter the first grade. The push for early reading skill development is strong.

I think reading is one of the most important skills a child can master. Just thnk of all the doors that open up for a child who is reading on his own, a child who can seek his own information and follow his own dreams and desires. But it's because of this that there is so much pressure placed on educators and kids surrounding the reading topic, and the stress has drained it of enjoyment. Flashcards, computer programs, audio programs, workbooks, easy readers, high demands, outrageous expectations...when the most important tools we have are simply a library card, and patience.

Where my unschooling plans have failed in other subjects, they have succeeded with flying colors here. Reading is a huge passtime in our house; we are readers ourselves and have created a culture of reading in our home. We read to Calvin many books, many times a day, beginning on day one before we were even home from the hospital. Instead of toys he has always had only books on the shelves in his room. When he showed an interest in reading I provided him with a selection of the Bob books and lots of my time, but I also also got him started on keeping a journal, with which I credit much of his reading success. Calvin is now an advanced independent reader who sees reading the way other kids see video games or TV, and my biggest job now is to make sure he has lots of quality reading material available to him, the operative word being quality.

So what does reading education look like in our house? What are our greatest tools?

Books, of course. Lots and lots of books. But where do we get them and how do we pick them? Library checkouts—as soon as he had memorized his home phone and address and could write that information legibly I took him to the library to get his own card, and that card gets a workout. But we also hit up used book sales, particularly library used book sales.

And it looks like reading together and out loud. It looks like journal keeping, and illustrating. It looks like listening to books while illustrating them ourselves.

It looks like a life revolving around reading.

Ancient Civilzations: Egypt (resource list)

Ancient Egypt, from ~3000 bce to ~1000 bce, the beginning of the Old Kingdom to the end of the New Kingdom (April-May 2012)

Topics of focus:
Timeline of Ancient Egypt and its Kingdoms
Names and dates of some pharaohs
Architectural contributions
Mummies
Mythology and religious beliefs
Writing and hieroglyphs

Books:
Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, by Henry Barker (fun list with pictures, easy reader)
The Egyptians (Crafts from the Past)
Encyclopedia Mythologica Gods and Heroes (Sabuda, a beautiful pop-up book, not just Egyptian)
Gods of Ancient Egypt (Dover Coloring Book, fun coloring plus great information)
I am the Mummy Heb-Nefert, by Eve Bunting (beautiful story and illustrations)
Life in Ancient Egypt (Dover Coloring Book, fun coloring with great information)
Ms. Frizzle's Adventures in Ancient Egypt (Magic School Bus)
Mummies and Pyramids (Magic Tree House Fact Tracker)
Mummies in the Morning (Magic Tree House)
Mummies Made in Egypt, by Aliki (wonderful children's book on the mummification process)
Pharaoh's Boat, by David Weitzman (wonderful picture book)
Senefer: A Young Genius in Old Egypt, by Beatrice Lumpkin (loved this, and it's also a living math book)
Tutankhamun (Usborne)

Web and other technology:
Ancient Egypt for Kids (web reading)
Britannica for Kids: Ancient Egypt (iPad app)
Explore Ancient Egypt (the British Museum online)
Explore Ancient Egypt (the Children's University of Manchester online)

Videos online:
The Egyptian Creation Myth (from The Big Myth, on youtube)
History of Egypt Part I (Stephen Shifflet via neok12 online)

Videos via Netflix or Amazon:
Building Pharaoh's Ship (Nova via Amazon)
Egypt: Engineering an Empire (The History Channel via Netflix, this was our favorite)
Empires: Egypt's Golden Empire (PBS via Netflix)

 
Crafts and activities:
Africa and the Middle East puzzle (GeoPuzzle)
Making a book of the dead
Draw like an Egyptian (website/art)
Making a pyramid out of Legos
Keeping a weather chart comparing weather here to weather in Egypt
Making an Egyptian feast (recipes)
Making a mummy and mummy case (clay and paper mache)

Ancient Civilizations: Mesopotamia (a resource list)

Ancient Mesopotamia, from ~3000 b.c.e. to ~1000 b.c.e. (February-March, 2012)

Topics of focus:
Civilization—why it happened, its unique opportunities and problems
Geography
Inventions
Laws
Mythology and religious beliefs
Sumerian cuneiform
Timeline of events and rulers
Ziggurats

Book/reading resources:
Archaeology for Kids (Richard Panchyk)
The Epic of Gilgamesh (pdf)
Gilgamesh the Hero (Geraldine McCaughrean)
Gilgamesh the King (Ludmila Zeman)
The Last Quest of Gilgamesh (Ludmila Zeman)
The Revenge of Ishtar (Ludmila Zeman)
The Story of the World (Susan Wise Bauer)
The Story of the World Activity Book (Susan Wise Bauer)

Websites
Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids (mrdonn.org)
Cooking ancient recipes (Archaeology.org)
The Egyptian creation story (The Big Myth)
Explore Mesopotamia (The British Museum)
Sumerian cuneiform alphabet (Calligraphylearn.com)
Sumerian cuneiform numbers (itstlawu.edu)

Videos online
Ancient Mesopotamia: A Timeline (YouTube)
Ancient Sumerian Civilization, animated (YouTube)
Ancient Ur, part 1 (YouTube)
Ancient Ur, part 2 (YouTube)
The Epic of Gilgamesh, animated (YouTube)
People and Places: Mesopotamia (National Geographic Kids online)


Videos via disc or streaming
Legacy: The Origins of Civilization, Episode one: Iraq (Michael Wood via Netflix)
Michael Wood: In Search of Myths and Heroes, Episode One: The Queen of Sheba  (PBS via Netflix)

Activities/crafts
Building a Ziggurat out of Lego blocks
Geo Puzzles (Africa and the Middle East)
Enjoying exhibits at nearby museum (DIA)
History Pockets: Ancient Civilizations (Evan-Moor activity book)
Making an ancient Mesopotamian feast
Making cuneiform clay tablets
Reading, coloring, reading, drawing, reading, writing, and more reading

Learning tools: creativity

What about creativity? What about throwing convention to the wind? I don't encourage it as often as I should, in part because I don't feel confident in my own creative abilities and it's not the first thing that comes to my mind when I'm thinking of ways to spend an afternoon. To combat this, we cleared out an extra bedroom in our home and turned it into Calvin's "offce", where he has his own art table and access to a variety of tools and materials. We do create together sometimes, or Calvin will create while I read to him, and we try out suggested crafts pretty often, but some of Calvin's best creative moments happen when he disappears into his office and goes to town with whatever he finds there.

So, what do we keep at his disposal?

glue (of varying types)
pencil sharpner
protractor
Modge Podge
ruler
scissors
staples/stapler
string
tape (of varying types)
hole puncher (single and triple)

boxes
clay
cork
odds and ends (leftover packaging, scraps, etc.)
pipe cleaners
Play doh

cardboard
cardstock
construction paper
fabric
paper bags
poster board
scraps of just about anything
stickers
tissue paper
tracing paper
water color paper

chalk pastels
charcoal pencils
colored pencils
crayons
markers
oil pastels
pastels
stamps
tempera paint
water colors
water color pencils

blocks
Legos
lined music composition paper
sandbox and tools
the whole outside

And creativity occurs elsewhere as well, and need not be confined to the tangible. Improvisation at the piano, building with Lego blocks, designing a garden, building a rock sculpture in the yard, writing a story in a journal, acting out a story, or any make-believe play. It's all creativity. Creativity isn't the creation you end up with, it's what happens in the process of creating.

For more on creativity check out this post at OLM.