Language Arts In Our Homeschool

Have you all seen the Virtual Curriculum Fair Posts over the last couple of years?

A great bunch of homeschool bloggers all get together and create, via their blogs, a virtual curriculum fair.

Looking for new curriculum resources?

Then be sure to check out all of the fair links to see what others are using in their home schools.

So let's take a look at what we do around here for the Language Arts component of our home school.

Phonics ~ Learning To Read

Fitzroy Reading Program -  This is what I would call the spine of our learning to read program. All
three of my children have either used this or are currently working their way through the program.

The Fitzroy program is made up of a large set of leveled readers, which they have now converted to be used as an App. This makes them a fabulous portable tool and a much more affordable option.

Each set of 10 readers also has a go along workbook, this covers the phonics that is being learned in the readers, along with spelling, grammar, composition and vocabulary. Although I personally don't feel that this is enough for a complete program, it does give you good starting off points to cover these in more detail.

Explode The Code ~ We supplement with E.T.C. These are very simple, methodical workbooks that focus on phonics. What I love about them is that once the child has mastered the first few lessons they know exactly what to expect from future lessons. Whilst they will be learning new sounds or combinations of sounds the layout of each lesson is exactly the same.

Easy Read System ~ My daughter has struggled with her reading. Late last year we were introduced to the Easy Read Program, which she has been using and is coming to the end of her lessons. We've seen a vast improvement using this program, in combination with her regular language arts lessons.

Logic Of English ~ We've also been introduced to L.O.E this year so have been working on a way to get that it into the mix. So far I am very impressed with what I've seen. It is an extremely thorough program that works on teaching the phonograms and how that all relates to reading and spelling. It also contains a grammar portion for those that wish to use it.

Handwriting ~ Penmanship

Penmanship is covered to some extent within both the Fitzroy and the Explode The Code programs. We also use copywork as an added penmanship tool.

Writing

Cover Story Writing ~ my eldest is just over half way through the Cover Story Writing program. He's not a writer and this is not something he enjoys doing so I am thankful that Cover Story introduces various writing types and concepts in different ways.

Narrations ~ narrating is what helped my eldest to really take off in his writing so it is something that we try to do when we can. We use oral narrations, with myself as scribe for younger non writers.

Here To Help Learning ~ the younger two, along with our small family group micro school are working their way through this writing program currently. I have a full review to post shortly on this program but in a nutshell we are loving it!

Grammar

The grammar that is provided in The Fitzroy Program is more than enough for the younger kids and I don't really worry too much about it until they are reading and writing well. Then they can actually see a use for what they are learning.

My eldest uses the Grammar component in Cover Story Writing (which they only have two lessons left) and has just started with the grammar in Logic of English. When we have time we also very slowly work our way through the book we have from IEW's Fix It grammar series.

Reading

We read aloud daily, myself to the kids and then they also read aloud books to us as a group. They also have their own personal selection of books, most of which they choose themselves, to read.

They are part of a small, casual Roald Dahl Book Club, where slowly the group is making their way through his books. We gather to discuss the book, work on a few fun activities and if possible watch the movie.

This year for my eldest we've started a teen book club, this term we are reading John Marsden, Tomorrow When The War Began. We meet each week with a group of teens to discuss the book and undertake various activities together. I have been very pleasantly surprised to see how much they are all enjoying the book club.

It seems like such a lot when I list it all out here, so please don't feel that we use all of this every single day, because we don't. We mix it up so that everything does get utilised over the course of the week though.

Not relying solely on one program works for us. We aren't getting bored using the same thing day in and day out and from past experience no one program covers it all anyway.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

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This year the Virtual Curriculum Fair is hosted by Laura @ Day by Day in Our World, Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses and Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset. Language Arts: Words Make the World Go Round by  Laura @ Day by Day in Our World The Language Arts in Our Homeschool and Everything Relating to it   by Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory Teaching Elementary Latin by Yvie @ Gypsy Road How to Learn ASL & Spanish in 20 Minutes a Day by Rochelle @ RochelleBarlow Classical Word Study by Lisa @ GoldenGrasses Language Arts Means and Methods by Laura @ Four Little Penguins Sprechen Sie....  by Jennifer King @ A Peace of Mind The Art of Eloquence  by Jennifer King @ A Peace of Mind Love Languages by Jennifer King @ A Peace of Mind 3 Reasons You Don't Have To Be Afraid To Grade That Essay - And It's Free @ LJSkool High School Language Arts by Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break Words, Words, and More Words by Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses Finishing Strong - Starting Gently by Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset

NBTS Blog Hop - Our Curriculum

We are back again with the second installment of the All Aussie Not Back To School Blog Hop. Did you stop by all the other blogs during the first week?

This week is all about sharing some of those resources we plan on using over the course of the year. For some of us that is easy, we have our year all mapped out and know exactly what we will use for each subject area and when we will use it.

For others it simply isn't like that, for others life is learning in the truest sense of the word. I do hope we have some of our Australian unschoolers join in this week as I'm sure there are many of us that would love to see how they go about planning for the year ahead.

We here, at Our Worldwide Classroom, often seem as though we are simply just doing our thing. We do use planned curriculum, unit studies and the like but we never ever allow them to own us. There are no schedules or sheets with lists of do this lesson next, or next week on Tuesday we are going to be learning about XYZ. Oh no that simply doesn't work here, far too inflexible for us. Now sometimes I wish it would work but I think it is far better to embrace what doesn't and to go with what does, rather than fighting an uphill battle.

We are very relaxed in our approach and allow equal amount of downtime/own time/free time as we do more formal structured learning. We've ditched many a curriculum because we simply weren't all that into it! If it doesn't move us, engage us and want to keep us coming back then most generally out it goes! We're kinda picky like that.

Anyway, if I keep rambling this is going to be one very long post. I guess what I am trying to get across is that we invest (and I spend a great deal of time researching) in good quality materials and resources that we make work for us and not the other way around.

Let's get on with it shall we.

Mathematics

You could say that we right in the thick of Math U See these days. This is our preferred mathematics curriculum. With three kids, all very different ages and very different ability levels we are utilising a large portion of the MUS range.

I'm not sure if we've ever had a year where one of the kids has started a book from lesson 1 and completed the book at the last lesson by the end of the year. Like I said earlier that's not how we roll. We simply pick up where we left off the next time we do math or maths depending on where you live right now!

So I have one child finishing off Zeta (decimals & percents) and about to begin Pre-Algebra, another in the middle of Beta (multiple digit addition/subtraction) and may or may not get to Gamma (multiplication) later this year and one coming to the end of the Primer and will start Alpha some time soon.

As a supplement to the MUS range, things to do together, on the computer, in the book basket or when we simply want a break from MUS.

We have on hand Targeting Maths Lab PC games and activities, Life of Fred, Skwirk Maths, various mathematical puzzle type books and we are going to give these Geometry books a whirl this year. These were gifted to us and are definitely old school, but some of the activities look pretty cool. So will see how we go.

Finally I always include mathematical picture books as part of our book basket morning routine, these vary depending on if I am trying to introduce a concept, help solidify a concept or to simply read just for fun. Arithmetic Village will probably get a good work this year with my youngest.

Language Arts

With two children still heavily working with phonics, learning to read makes up the bulk of our Language Arts time. We use a variety of resources, websites, computer games, board games but there are certain staples that we use consistently.

They are The Fitzroy Reading Program, Bob Books, Explode The Code, and we are really enjoying Julia Donaldson's range of readers. They really don't feel like readers at all.

***Apology for the remainder of the post as there are no more images to follow. One of my children broke their arm on Thursday and so I haven't had time to complete this post in as much detail as I had planned.***

Other resources we are also using for Language Arts include (these are across 3 kids so not everyone is using each of the items listed):

Logic Of English - phonics, spelling, grammar
Fix It Grammar
Spelling You See
Grade Spelling
Cover Story Writing - my eldest will complete this with a small group of kids his age, should be lots of fun working through this together.
Reading/Writing Response Activities - the youngest two will do these activities with our co-op
Writing With Skill
Skwirk English Lessons

Plus we always read aloud every day, me to them, them to me, audio books and we spend time on quiet independent reading.

World History

We are covering the Renaissance period this year. After one day of history we knew we had to do things differently around here, even though we had chosen new world history programs for the year we realised very quickly that they just weren't rocking it for us!

I was so excited when Homeschool In The Woods agreed for us to show you all around their Project Passport pack, after completing the Knights LapPak last year I'm very confident that DS 13 will enjoy using this. So stay tuned for more on this resource, I am busy printing and sorting it all out now.

For the younger two I am considering doing our own thing probably with a focus on Famous People of the Renaissance, but I'm still processing all of that given that we only made the decision the other day to not use the program we had intended on. They will also join in on any appropriate activities from the Project Passport pack.

Australian History

We will be exploring this with our co-op family this year. The older crew have their plans all laid out by one of our very clever teacher mums and the younger ones will be exploring the history of Australia via picture books and hands on activities.

We will also utilise Skwirk here.

Geography

This is another co-op subject for us this year. Our co-op worked so well in 2014 we were all keen to ramp things up a notch this year.

Science

You guessed it, co-op again,! We are covering Chemistry this year. Although DS 13 will be studying Physics here at home, we are doing our own thing and have chosen not to buy a program. We have a great Encyclopedia and will use that as our spine.  Skwirk will come into play again with science.

The Arts

We will be covering some art and art appreciation with co-op. We also have a lovely art teacher coming to us this term for an 8 week block of art lessons, general art for the younger kids and perspective drawing for the older ones.

We will continue to keep up our morning drawing challenges and when the kids want to they will participate in Sketch Tuesday. We've also begun Art Journals this year, let's hope we can keep them up.

Drama is on the list again this year, which involves weekly lessons and participating in plays at the theatre. We always see live productions throughout the year.

Everyone let go of keyboard but we may have an opportunity to start that up again, will just have to wait and see.

Technology & Design

With the amount of Lego in this house I am never concerned about this subject area. There are always plenty of opportunities here and I am sure DS 13 will continue to keep up with some coding fun. The kids are all building superbly creative worlds in minecraft these days and we will take a closer look at one of the sites available for homeschoolers and minecraft.

Gee, did you make it this far? You did really well, thank you for reading. You know it really seems like a lot but because we are joining forces with 3 other families this year we won't even realise how much we are covering until we get to the end of 2015 and look back over the year.

What about you? What resources do you have planned to use this year. Link up your posts below.

Be sure to stop by and visit Every Bed of Roses, our joint host for this years blog hop.

Happy Homeschooling
Kylie

2010 Curriculum, Thoughts and Plans

Well it’s that time of year again, time to get organised for the beginning of a new school year.

We have lots of new Montessori Materials that we are all excited about using. I’ve been printing and reading my new Teacher Manuals that I got from Montessori R & D. Gee those little Monti kids are definitely streets ahead of public school kids aren’t they. We have no rush and are just going to enjoy the materials, as I know the kids will.

B especially will get a quick overview of all of the basics so that he can move ahead with the Montessori curriculum, K will fit more nicely into the 3 – 6 program and little C is the perfect age to get some real Tot School fun happening.

So even though we are going into Montessori in a big way this year I never utilise just one curriculum and/or one school of thought. I still believe in using the best of everything available and when I say best, I mean the best things that work for us. After 2 and a half years at this (and finally listening to myself and my kids, instead of everyone else) I can say that we are actually starting to get there with what works and what doesn’t.

For the most part it will be flexible, with lots of choice available for the children. We will have two main areas that we will spend our time in when at home (apart from the back yard). Our Montessori room and our ‘messy’ room (the garage), where things like science experiments and art and crafts will be completed. The messy room will still be set up in much the same way as a Montessori space, with activities set out ready to go, but allowing the children to make their choice on any given day.

B and I have been talking considerably about choosing work that is appropriate and at times even challenging for him. Last year he opted on the side of always choosing the easy stuff and things that were far below him, which granted from time to time is ok but not with each and every choice he makes from the shelf. So that is one area I will need to monitor closely.

We will also continue with a small amount of bookwork, this is, I admit mainly to satisfy me and my worries of showing what the kids actually do with their time. Even though I know that they learn more from everything else we do, but I am not prepared to give up on bookwork all together. I am big believer in everything in moderation.

I don’t make resolutions but there are a few things that I really want to do more of this year.

• Spend time in Nature: I hope to do this weekly and not just park visits either. I know this won’t happen every week, but I am scheduling more time in nature. Ideally I really would like for us all to start Nature Journals, (we have done so before but never filled more than a few pages) but I’m not going to force that. Being in nature is more important than the journaling of it, so if it happens it happens. I have been considering joining one of the Nature McLinkys but dearly would love something Australian if anyone knows of anything please point me in the right direction.

• Spend more time Cooking: With the kids I mean. Even if it is only cookies, spending more time together in the kitchen is a priority.

• Spend more time Reading: We do read aloud every day but again I’d like to increase how much reading aloud we actually achieve in a week. I may even consider keeping a log of sorts to monitor how we are going.

• Circle Time: Well as close as you can get with 3 children. But I love reading how other families have that time together at the start of the day and am working on what I would like to include in our Circle Time. I think I will need to start off slowly and add in more as the routine gets set in place. I think it will ground us though, give us that together and the children will know exactly what is coming up for the day.

• Chores and Responsibility: I am working on a ‘What Next Chart’ so everyone knows what is happening in our day. I don’t do schedules, they just don’t work for us and I don’t want to be tied to a schedule anyway. However having a basic plan for the day should hopefully make our day run more smoothly. The What Next Chart will also include chores, now that they are 8 and 5 I think the time has come for the children to be more productive around the house (without overloading them with household duties).

So those are my main ‘goals’ for the year and even if I only achieve half it will still be an improvement on last year. What’s the saying, Aim for the stars and you may just hit the moon.

We will also be continuing on with our fabulous Homeschool Group and the extra curricular activities that the kids get involved with there. We love our friends and the social aspect of the group is an integral part of our homeschool. For the beginning part of the year the kids are doing:

Mixed Sports
Gymnastics (very excited about this)
Art Classes

These are weekly classes (all held on the one day) and this time around we have roughly 30 children participating in some way or another.

Once a month we also have:

Book Club
Bunnings (think Home Depot) Workshop
Art Gallery Workshops
Playground and Swimming Meet ups

These are a lot of fun and all free, which is a bonus.

We are also aiming to have more quiet one on one (as in one other family) play dates, as soon as our ‘messy room’ is functioning well I will start to put those in place. It is the one on one time where true friendships are made, well in my opinion anyway.

I will post in more depth on each of these areas as I get underway with them, with pictures and more details, and I’ll probably even have some questions for you.

Looking at the Curriculum side of things for 2010 has been fairly straight forward. We don’t do grade levels, but roughly B is doing Grade 3, K is in Prep (kindergarten in the US) and C will turn 2 halfway through the year so lots of Tot School fun for him and lots of mess….hence the implementation of the ‘messy room’.

I’m going to break down what we plan on using for each level, more for me than anything else.

2010 Curriculum, Plans & Thoughts for B (turns 9 in October)

Mathematics

Qld Targeting Maths Year 3
Math U See Finishing Alpha, Beginning Beta
Various Math Software Titles
Math Living Books
Montessori Math Manipulatives

Language Arts

Fitzroy Reading Program (continuation)
Explode The Code (continuation)
Various Software Titles
Montessori Language
Journaling: Book Journals, Poetry Journaling (also copywork) Nature Journal
Creative Writing: Write Shop

Science

Montessori
Various Science Kits we have on hand
Nature and Nature Journaling

History

Story of the World: we are restarting this, unfortunately with a baby in the house history got put on the back burner last year. We just weren’t getting to it enough so I decided to shelve it all together. Even if all we do is use it as a read aloud/read alone it will still be far more history than B would get in a public school environment.

Geography

Montessori: I love their geography materials and again they offer so much more than what the average child learns in geography. I think B will really enjoy the Montessori geography materials as he loves map work.

Technology

Momma Snail is creating an online ‘work at your pace’ course for homeschool kids that I plan on introducing B to this year.

Human Society and its Environment

Nature Journaling, Montessori Cultural work and I have plans to begin a Comparative Religion study (brief overviews) but after writing all of this out, wow I’m beginning to wonder where we are going to find the time!

The Arts

Art Classes with Homeschool Group, Montessori Artist Study, Free Access to art supplies and more structured activities in the ‘messy room’. He has been talking about learning an instrument, tossing up between guitar and keyboard, but I need to find someone to come to the house. We also always get to a few productions throughout the year and will continue doing that. Drama has also been on the list of things to try.

Personal Development, Health & Physical Education

Mixed Sports and Gym with homeschool group. Soccer starts at the end of term 1 also. There is always lots of free time spent playing outside or at a playground. B will also be working on more responsibilities around the home, including care of oneself and one’s belongings. We also aim to attend the annual homeschoolers sports day that a nearby group organises each year and our own group is hoping to organise our very first camp this year, which is very exciting.

We also enjoy putting together lapbooks, they are a great way to showcase the learning experiences that we have taken together. In the past we have enjoyed the Before Five In A Row series as well and although we really could not possibly fit another thing in I am considering looking at FIAR to do during the holiday breaks as this would also encompass our lapbooks in some way shape or form. If only you could do it all!!!

B is slightly behind his schooled peers with his reading as we have taken a very stress free, work at his pace approach to reading. That doesn’t mean that we haven’t been working on reading we have, but we DO NOT move ahead until he is ready, even if that means staying in the one place for weeks, or taking breaks where needed. I know at school he would be attending some kind of reading recovery program and I just shudder to even think of that. How awful for any child, not only are they struggling with reading they are also removed from the class for extra reading practice.

No thanks!

Thank goodness we have all the time in the world for this. I want a son that loves to read not one that was forced to learn and finds reading a chore. We have already started back with small amounts of school work (I like to ease the kids back into it after a big break) and I was pleasantly surprised at his fluency, he will be moving ahead another level come the first week back of official school.

If you follow my blog you will probably also notice that the Montessori works that are made available for him will be beneath his years, in terms of how Montessori place the children. In one part this will only be for a short time, as he becomes familiar with the materials and on the other there are many components of Montessori that are streets ahead of public schools, Geography is one example of that. I don’t think I even know a 3rd grade child here in Australia that has done even half of the Geography work that a Montessori 3 – 6 classroom does. The more I look, read, handle and play with the materials myself the more I know the children are going to flourish.


2010 Curriculum, Plans & Thoughts for K ( 5 turns 6 in July)

I had slowly eased K into ‘school time’ last year so she is well aware of what is expected of her this year. Even though she is only doing Prep, I think she is ready for more, however she is the sort of child that will not be pushed into anything and so again this is where I feel that the Montessori components of her work will really allow her to move ahead in leaps and bounds. I also do not need to meet all of the KLA’s until K is 6 and 3 months but I have still listed them so that I can come back and read this at anytime if need be.

Mathematics

Singapore Preschool Math (continuation)
Montessori 3 – 6 Math
Math U See Primer (I’m not actually sure if I will use this but I have it if needed)
Various Math Software Titles
Math Living Books


Language Arts

Montessori 3 – 6 Language Program
Reading Eggs Software
Explode The Code (will begin Book 1 when can read initial cvc words)
Journaling: Book Journals, Poetry Journaling (also copywork) Nature Journal (these will mainly be picture journals with some scribing by mum)
Creative Writing: Write Shop (she is on the lower end of the age bracket for this but it is a very gentle program and she loves to make up stories so I am going to give it a go with her)

Science

Montessori 3 – 6 Science
Various Science Kits we have on hand
Nature and Nature Journaling

History

Story of the World: (see B’s note above) She will sit in on this read aloud but I will not require any more from her unless she wishes to.

Geography

Montessori 3 – 6 Geography

Technology

Mostly from life, basic computer use, building and constructing with Lego and recycling, things like that.

Human Society and its Environment

Nature Journaling, Montessori Cultural work and if we do make a start on our Comparative Religion study (brief overviews) she will sit in on that.

The Arts

Art Classes with Homeschool Group, Montessori Artist Study, Free Access to art supplies and more structured activities in the ‘messy room’. I plan on setting up Mister Maker type activities and taking ideas from the Usborne Art Books for Kids. We also always get to a few productions throughout the year and will continue doing that. For example she is off seeing her first ballet production as I type with her Grandma. Drama has also been on the list of things to try.

Personal Development, Health & Physical Education

Gym with homeschool group. K is also very active outdoors and spends a great deal of her free time on the trampoline, climbing frame and swings. She has briefly mentioned that she would like to play soccer although I’m not sure how serious she is about that. K will be joining in on working on more responsibilities around the home, including care of oneself and one’s belongings. We also aim to attend the annual homeschoolers sports day that a nearby group organises each year and our own group is hoping to organise our very first camp this year, which is very exciting.

I am excited about this year with K to watch her grow and develop and see how she takes to all of the fabulous materials. She helped me unpack most of the Montessori order when it arrived and was very intrigued with everything.


2010 Curriculum, Plans & Thoughts for C ( 1 turns 2 in July)

LOL Curriculum, that’s funny!!

He will be right into Tot School and in fact the ‘Messy Room’ was inspired by him. Not because he’s messy but because I want him to have a space where he can be. Where he can do all of those things that toddlers love to do, paint, collage, play dough and just generally make a mess without messing up the house and the school room. I have already set up the art/craft studio corner but have a long way to go with the rest so photo’s on this area may be awhile away. We will still use the space it just isn’t up for ‘showing off’ just yet, if you get my drift ;-)

I also knew that there was no way I could have him with us in the Montessori Room, he is far too young to understand, don’t touch and quite frankly I don’t want to be saying that to him every second for 2 – 3 hours every day. So for now we are revolving around him and his sleep.

The mornings we are at home we will spend part of in the ‘messy room’ where C will have all of his Tot School activities and the bigger kids will have the opportunity for some free play, messy science experiments, art and crafts. After lunch, when he goes down for his nap the 3 of us will spend that time in the Montessori Room. The plan his that C will continue napping until he is 3…..yes yes I know even the best plans can fall by the wayside but at least by age 3 he will then be old enough to join us in the Montessori Room and we can all enjoy that space together. In the meantime once he becomes ready for the first materials he will use them in the ‘messy room’ or in the lounge room.

Ideally I want to start having activities prepared for C also. Not that we have to do them but if they are ready to go it is so easy for me to grab them off the shelf and get started.

I love how Mozi Esme has structured her Tot School around the Alphabet, you can read her approach here and this is something that I would like to do. Anyone got a few spare hours they could give me so I can spend some time getting organised? Pardon? Oh yeah I didn’t think so!! LOL

So that’s our year, or how it looks in my head at the moment anyway.

Did you make it this far, gee that was a lot and too think I only have 3 kids. I really take my hat off to you mummy’s with lots of kiddies running around, truly I do.

I’m going to keep this as a quick link so that I can check on it regularly, especially if we fall off the bandwagon so to speak. Although falling and still learning isn’t always such a bad thing now is it. This post will also give me the opportunity to assess part way through the year and see where we need to make any adjustments. Come the end of 2010 it will provide the opportunity for reflection.

I’m looking forward to this year, having a baby is just a gorgeous time but newborns (and under 1’s) take up so much of it (even if it is only spent staring at them and cuddling them) thatwe just didn't get through as much as I would have liked to last year.

Preschool Activity Bags

Preschool Activities in a Bag has been on my must purchase list for some time now. My only problem is finding the time to create all of the activities, which is why I haven't as yet purchased one of the e-books. (yeah slack I know)

However, Teaching My Little Bookworm is giving away one of each of the EBooks. I guess if I won one, which would be fabulous, I'd have to get off my b%$ and put together the activities. hehehe

These would be great to do as a group swap, as they suggest on their website. Must make a note to talk to the girls in our homeschool group to see if there is any interest in doing a swap like this. If any of you are reading this let me know what you think.

Anyway, if you would like a chance to win a copy of one of these, jump on over to Teaching My Little Bookworm.