2015-2016 Curriculum

The choices have been made and ordered. I cannot wait for everything to come in and get it all sorted into the 6 learning periods. I really do love what we do!

Language Arts

Reading Comprehension - Once again we are using the Literature Units from Confessions of a Homeschooler. These are the 6 books we will read and study together

Spelling - Spelling Power 

This will be done together using separate spelling words for both Sage and Aurora

Grammar -  Wordly Wise 3000 

Aurora will be doing this independently

Science - Evan Moor Daily Science and weekly experiments

Sage and Aurora will do this independently and then we will do the experiments together

 Social Studies - Expedition Earth

This will be done together. We really love Confessions of a Homeschooler Curriculum

Math - Math in Focus

Sage and Aurora will each do this independently with one on one help from me if needed

Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears

Aurora is wanting to learn cursive.

Sage is being homeschooled full time but he will be participating in Occupational Therapy one day a week and in a STEM class twice a week. Aurora will be homeschooled full time this year and participate in fun enrichment classes one day a week.

We are so grateful for an amazing Charter School has helps our family learn in a way that is fun and best allows our children to grow as life long learners.

Living Reference Books

In addition to our Social Studies and Science Curriculum we will be using what we call "Living Books" to help us review and study more about each subject.

 Social Studies

Our Fifty States- National Geographic

United States of America Talking Puzzle- Melissa and Doug

Science

The Incredible Machine- National Geographic

Atlas of the Human Body- Robert's College Anatomy Book

2012-2013 Curriculum

I finally had time to sit down and pick out Sage and Aurora's 2012-2013 curriculum. I'm really happy with this years choices and cannot wait for the school year to start.

Sage will be doing regular Homeschooling again this year with me at home. I really love the one on one time this gives us and he really thrives off of it.

Sage's Curriculum 

Math

Singapore Approach Math

Language Arts

Excursions Anthology

Science

Science in a Nutshell

Aurora will be participating in the A.I.M Program which means she'll go in two days a week from 8:30 - 2:30 and do all of her Language Arts, Math and Science with an actual class. It will be really good for her to be with the other kids since she is such a social butterfly and she needs the structure.

Aurora's Curriculum

Math

Singapore Approach Math

Language Arts

Excursions Anthology

Science

Science in a Nutshell

Both Sage and Aurora will be doing Social Studies at home. This year we will learn about the Native Americans and focus on one Tribe a month.

Social Studies

It's going to another great year of Homeschooling and we are all looking forward to it!

Beautiful Butterflies!

Aurora received a butterfly garden kit for her birthday so we sent off for the caterpillars and for Science we spent 22 days watching and observing them grow and make their chrysalises. It was definitely an amazing experience and one I hope they will never forget.

After 10 days the butterflies started emerging from their chrysalises. It took a total of 4 days for all 5 of them to hatch. It was a beautiful experience to watch one of God's many miracles.



The best part is that it counted for Science curriculum for both of the kids schooling!

Goop!

For science last week we made goop. We gathered all of the ingredients and set to work.

Mix 2 parts water to 1 part borax, used 2 Tbsp. water and 1 Tbsp. Borax, stir and set aside. In a new bowl mix 1 Tbsp. Water and 1 Tbsp. white glue and 1-2 drops of desired food coloring.

We made green and blue goop and the kids played all week  with it.

I love that it's a liquid and a solid and will even bounce when rolled into a ball, let it sit and it melts in a pile of goop.

States & Planets

Today we started our day like we do everyday. We go out on our deck where our flag is flying and we say the Pledge of Allegiance then we go in and learn about U.S. Geography. Today we learned about New Jersey.

Sage loves crossword puzzles so I was lucky to find a great website that has puzzles with cities in that state

Lately, Sage has been obsessed with outer space so we made a planet display and started learning about the Sun.

We talked about what the sun is made of and how it creates shadows. went out in the driveway and traced the kids shadows.

All in all it was a great day. Homeschool is GREAT!

Chemical Reactions

Sage is obsessed with Science so I came up with this super easy science lesson about chemical reactions.

What you need:

glass pan

milk

food coloring

dish soap

toothpick

We poured milk into the pan and put some dish soap in a cup.

We then put a few drops of food coloring in the milk. Next, take the toothpick and dip it in the dish soap and then touch the middles of each food coloring area with the soap and watch what happens.

Sage informed me that this was the best science experiment ever! Homeschool is GREAT!

Lava Fossils

We made fossils last week and we are just now getting around to painting them so they looked like cooled lava. We learned about Mt. Vesuvius and and how it destroyed and preserved the ancient civilization of Pompeii, Italy.

   {dinosaur and leaf fossils}

The kids for once are taking a real interest in learning and I couldn't be happier. They are responding better than I thought they would to the Homeschool lifestyle.

Baking Soda Experiments

We decided as a family that even though it was Summer Vacation that we would still learn and prove to the kids that learning can be tons of fun. A few weeks ago we were watching television as a family and there was this idea for making a baking soda volcano with your kids. Sage was mesmerized by the idea and we finally got around to it today.

We started with making colored "lava" in small cups so each kid could get a chance to do it on their own.

Sage did green

Aurora did red

Gabby did yellow

and Sage did the blue for me since I was taking pictures.

We then decided to make a bigger volcano



Sage and the girls had a great time learning about volcanoes and lava. We ended the day watching a video of a volcano erupting.



Next week we are going to learn more about Mt. Vesuvius and fossils.