Discoverylearningacademy’s Weblog

I figured I might as well start preparing for the fall . . . okay really I started preparing back in January.  But I have really kicked it into overdrive this past week:

• The craft room has been reorganized for the third or fourth time since moving in a year ago, and I finally think everything is in the right place.  The back quarter of the room is *my space* for my “teacher’s” desk, shelving and metal cabinet.  Everything has been sorted, labeled and put neatly away with enough room so that I don’t have to dig to the back to get what I want.  I would like to report that I filled two black trash bags and a large “donations” box during this undertaking.  I should post that on FlyLady.  There are long shelves for baskets, I plan on placing different activities in each basket depending on what we are working on (flashcards, manipulatives, experiments, etc.).  I also decided to place the table in the center of the room to make all sides available.  Emma will be spending short bits of time with us in the school room, and Isaac’s cousin Cody may be spending the occasional lesson day with us.
• I have been trying to narrow the options for social outlets down to a select few that Isaac (and the rest of us) will actually enjoy attending this year.  The first was the CHESS homeschool organization here in town.  That one was shot out of the sky because the class I was planning on putting Isaac in is for 5-7 year olds.  Not happening with a 4-year-old.  The second was the Union Colony Children’s Music program for either of the kids.  Isaac did not particularly LOVE it last year, and while I think that Emma would love it, her class is basically the same thing offered at the library for free.  So that was the second door shut.  The next activity is karate.  The only academy here in town charges $60 PER MONTH for one day per week.  We are going to do a two-week trial so see if Isaac is even really interested because it is certainly NOT worth the money if I have to drag him every week.  So while a lot of doors seem to be closing, I am okay with that because it means less committments and more time to focus on homeschooling and me going to college (UNC here I come!).

So with all the decisions, things are falling into place.  We are planning a playdate weekly with Cody and Noah, either switching kids or older/younger or just being all together which will be nice to have a consistent plan for that.  The other thing I have been working on is deciding what materials I will be using for each subject area.  Here is my plan so far, but certainly not set in stone:

• Art Appreciation:
  • A Brief History of Art: The World’s Greatest Art – I purchased this on clearance last year at Borders and we started working our way through, just one page at a time.  This has a picture of a famous work of art and a short paragraph about the artist.  It is divided by time periods, starting in the Gothic period and moving up to Modern art.  We looked at the picture, read the paragraph and then talked about the colors, lines, shapes, etc. that made that piece really good.  Then using the same colors and sometimes technique, Isaac made his own version of the artwork.  NOTE: This is just art appreication, learning about the history of art.  Isaac has lots of opportunities for unstructured free-art as well.
• World History/Geography/Science:
  • 106 Days of Creation Studies by www.simplycharlottemason.com – This is the greatest curriculum I have ever seen because it was exactly what I was going to build from the ground up by myself, so $10 for all that work was great!  I added a lot of materials and activities from books I have, and a lot of related Montessori materials as well so our version is more like 165 Days of Creation Studies.  It starts with Genesis 1:1 and goes through creation so the student(s) can learn about literally everything!  Adding the Montessori materials turned this from a mainly science-geared curriculum to incorporate world history, geography, life skills, etc. and the best part is, obviously, it is God-centered which is the most important!
• American History:
  • Isaac learned several US states and their capitols, as well as several US presidents and a neat fact about them last year.  I think I would like to continue with those – they were from Crayola workpads that I got on clearance last year after the Back-to-School chaos calmed down at Target.  We are also going to be using The Complete Book of Presidents & States by American Education Publishing.  It is for grades 4-6 so there will be a lot of modifying and simplifying but because of Isaac’s freakish photographic memory, I want to get this stuff in at least as a foundation now.  This workbook has maps and flashcards and lots of activities that I can either use, adapt, or get ideas from to help make these US facts stick in fun ways.  I also recently discovered the Cornerstones to Freedom set from 1965 at many garage sales.  I have only the Statue of Liberty and the Declaration of Independence as of right now, but those will also serve as supplements to The Complete Book.
  • I also plan on setting aside time for national holidays and detouring from our main American History lessons to learn a little about these holidays and the history behind them.
• Math:
  • This is where I struggle because math is NOT my thing.  I get it up to a certain point (probably about 6th grade) and then I am lost.  So I am totally buying materials to work on for this, we are doing workbooks and pre-ordered materials and I am going to leave it at that.  I have found a great manipulative method called Math-U-See.  The manipulative set is a relatively minor investment as it lasts the student through high school I believe with optional additional manipulatives, and the workbook is purchased each grade level.  Isaac will be starting in the basic level, the Primer.  We also plan on working on telling time to the hour, and learning about money.
• Music:
  • I have not totally decided how much time I want to devote to this area.  Like art appreciation, I would like to simply learn about the famous composers and musicians through history.  I also have a few Montessori materials to help with learning the instruments and musical notes.   This will be a new subject to Isaac so I will have to test the waters to see how far I want to take it.
• Piano:
  • We started with super basic lessons last year but did them inconsistently.  I plan on starting over and introducing one very basic concept each week and then allowing Isaac for the most part to experiment with music.  I played violin and was relatively successful, not because of talent, but because of my drive for perfection.  Pete is the opposite – he is successful because of his free spirit and ability to experiment.  Isaac has a little talent (hopefully) from each of us, and I want it to come out naturally if the interest is there.
• Reading and Writing
  • I will be using many different materials for these areas.  Isaac loves free journaling and drawing on his own, so I will continue to encourage that in all forms.  I also have a couple dry-erase spelling and writing books, the New England Primer, and Montessori materials.  My mom has shown me many easy reader books, techniques and ways to explain the English language to beginners.  I will continue with at least two leisure reading times each day, as well as Bible verse memorization and reading, and informational reading relating to our current topics.  We also have many different materials to encourage writing, drawing, spelling and reading – stencils, window markers, chalk, dry erase, coloring books and activities, magnetic letters and words, etc.  We have lots of LeapFrog materials that Isaac enjoys as well.
• Spanish
  • I picked up Espanol: Primer grado Recortable at a garage sale.  It is basically a book full of flashcards teaching everything from letters to nouns to verbs and adjectives.  It has children’s stories translated to Spanish and the last section is sentences.  My sister is also going to help me in this area since she has about 5 years or so of Spanish under her belt (I only have French, but I am surprised at how much I can stumble through simply because of the similarities).  We are just going to take this as slowly as needed, but I know Isaac will pick it up quickly with manipulatives like the ones in this book.

EMMA

• Ah yes, sweet, darling Emma.  I haven’t forgotten her.  I plan on reading lots of books with her for the most part.  I will also introduce the LeapFrog Fridge Phonics to her as Isaac picked up the alphabet at 18 months with this.  She will be included in activities that will hold her interest, but part of Isaac’s school time will be during her roomtime, her naptime, and her movie time.  I plan on spending one-on-one time with her to read lots of books, talk, and follow where her interests take us.  I am finding that since I have been-there-done-that for the most part with Isaac, I am much more confident and relaxed this time around with Emma.  She is so much more a free spirit probably partly because of this as well, that I know she will do better simply pursuing a current interest until she is done and ready to move on.  Because of her interest in animals, this will probably be a big part of the “school” year for her – learning about animals!

I think that is all for now.  Just getting my thoughts written down.  I may come back and add more, or take things away as time goes on.  While Isaac is ready for Kindergarten-level materials, he is still very much a preschooler physically and emotionally and I don’t want to overwhelm either of us with frustration.