2017 Homeschool Resources

Here we are at week three of our not back to school blog hop. This week our theme is that of 'Resources'. This is generally an area that everyone is interested in. It's always helpful to see what others are using and even more so if you happen to find a new to you product that may just be what you're looking for.

Don't forget to visit the other blogs by clicking on their links in the images at the bottom of this post.

If you still need to catch up on week one, our hopes, dreams and goals for the year ahead or week two,  the way we school, then now would be a great time to do that!

I must admit this year has well and truly got a head start on me. I'm still back at January first, in many ways, to be honest. Whilst we've well and truly started back with all of our book work and most of our regular activities I'm yet to actually write up and share a list of our resources for my two younger kids (7th & 3rd grades). The days have been full and have left little time to write I'm afraid.

As soon as I get that done I will come back and edit this post. For now though I do have our resources for my 10th grader which you can see here >>>

He and I have also started a private high school blog. This is where we will record all of his learning that happens. It also includes lists of all of his resources and go to websites for him. I have started creating his assignments in a blog post too.

So far we are really liking this set up for record keeping and assignment setting. The goal will be to get to the stage where he is adding all of his own record keeping. We will also use this as a way for his over seeing school to easily look in on his work.

Be sure to read the other bloggers posts linked up below. Simply click on one of the square images.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

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10th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2017

Well here we are, at the tale end of our schooling years for my first born. Oh how bittersweet these times are!

It's so wonderful seeing him grow and flourish and gain more independence, but those times where he would curl up on my lap, or the hours we spent pouring over picture books, or when he would, completely on his own accord, offer you his very last sweet, all seem like they were only yesterday. How I wish I could have those days back, those slow, carefree, full of cuddles days.

Any how, this wasn't meant to be an all out sappy post so let's get on with it. We are doing Grade 10 officially this year. Following are the resources we have chosen. In some areas it will appear as though we are doing way too much but I am now looking at these last years as a whole, so many of them will continue to be used into next year and maybe even the following, depending on where he is at.

Family Morning Basket

*Read Alouds - his choice & mine
*Logic Of English - we are taking our time slowly working through this, it is an extra but we like it
*Rotations of - Nature Journal, Artist Study, Current Events, Character Study, You Tube Learning

Mathematics

*Math U See - Algebra 1, moving into Geometry sometime in the year
*Life Of Fred - Pre Algebra with Physics, he is continuing to supplement with LOF, keeping a little behind where he is at with MUS so that he can come back around and practice, in a different format, already learned material.
*Brainetics with co-op - full of fun math tricks

English/Language Arts

*Institute Of Excellence in Writing - Level C (with co-op)
*Word Up for Vocabulary (we didn't get to this last year)
*Logic Of English, covers spelling & grammar
*All In One High School - we are going to take a look at the English over there this year, but just working slowly on it, will see how we go with this one
*Novel Studies
*Assigned Reading
*Free Choice Reading

Science

*Exploration Education Advanced Physical Science Kit
*Engineering topics with our co-op, including a Science Fair
*We hope to look at the Physics over at All In One High School, will just see how things are going in that area.
*You Tube supplements from Crash Course Physics and Doc Schuster Physics
*I believe our co-op is looking at Joy Hakim Story of Science for later in the year
*Plus supplementary living books on physics

History

*Big History Project, we will be very much taking our time with this one
*Documentaries
*Living Books
*I believe our co-op is looking at Joy Hakim Story of Science for later in the year (history & science)

Humanities

*Australian Civics & Citizenship with co-op
*Emergency Services Cadets Program with Rural Fire Brigade

Geography

*He is still working through the Visits To Europe he began last year. This is really a supplementary course so it doesn't get looked at all that often.

The Arts

*Drama Lessons
*Musical Theatre Productions with community theatre group
*Documentary Film Making with co-op
*Art Classes with a teacher
*Art Appreciation, morning basket and/or All In One Highschool course

Technology & Design

*Wacom Drawing Table
*Coding with Raspberry Pi with co-op
*We are currently chatting to an Art teacher about the possibility of doing some Technical Drawing classes with a small group of teens.

Sport

*Sailing Lessons
*Karate Lessons

Home Econmics

*Weekly Cooking of Family Meal
*Baking
*Washing
*Household Chores
*Managing his own money

Other

*A resume is high on the list
*Studying for his Learners Permit
*Saving for a car eek!

Seems like such a huge year when it is all typed up like that, but even with all of this I am still pleasantly surprised with just how relaxed most of our weeks are. He and I have chatted about ramping things up a little for this year, but mostly it's more about ensuring that whatever he chooses to do he gives it his best shot. As is always the case with each year, we are very fluid. We always have a plan but we are always open to plans changing.


Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

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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

2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Picks

Previously I shared the resources we will be utilising for our son's 9th Grade and our daughters 6th Grade home schooling year. Today I wanted to share with you what we have chosen to use as our base curriculum and resources for my 7 year old who is entering his 2nd grade year.

I must point out though that we DO NOT USE STANDARD GRADES in our home school. We simply meet each child where they are at and do the next thing. We are also a better late then early family when it comes to academics so please be aware that not everything on the list below is actually aimed at a 2nd grader according to standard levels, they are simply programs/books that we have chosen to use this year.

So without further ado here they are.

Morning Basket:

Daily Notebooks: Quick practice work to reinforce learning
Family Read Alouds
Art Appreciation
Nature Study

Math:
Math U See Alpha > Beta
Math Games (online and board style)
Visual Perceptual Skill Builder

Phonics:
Fitzroy Reading Program
Explode The Code
Sight Word Work from TPT
Plus lots of reading aloud


Grammar:
Fitzroy Reading Program

Spelling:
Spelling You See Level A

Literature:
COAH Literature Units
Aussie Book Adventures
Schoolhouse Teachers

Writing: Daily Journals

Science: Units via co-op (see below)

History: Renaissance & Reformation from Homeschool In The Woods

Geography: Map Reading & Units via co-op (see below)

Art: Art Teacher and via many of our other units 

Health & PE:

Cooking & Home EC Skills
Body Awareness
Bike riding
Running around with friends
Swimming
Boogie Boarding
Surfing
Bowling
Sailing
Just generally being active
Horse Riding during the winter months

Technology & Design
Safe Internet use
Robotics with a tutor
Lego Construction

Micro-School Learning

Once or twice a week, four times a year we meet with what I have coined our micro-school because in reality that is what it is. We only plan term by term but so far he will be completing a unit using the book If The World Were A Village, exploring Australian Flora, traveling the globe with some cultural round the world units and spending some time learning about Famous People of the world.

Co-op Learning

Once a week in six week blocks, four times a year we will meet with our co-op group. This is a little more relaxed and we have a larger number of families that participate in this group, plus the families are fluid with not all of them coming along all year. Again we tend to only plan per term and so far we have scheduled Art classes, Robotics and some Engineering workshops.

Extra Curricular Activities

Once again this year he will participate Surfing (during summer), Horse Riding lessons (during winter) and we are looking at the possibility of Karate or Little Athletics but need to take a visit to each before making any decisions. He decided earlier this year that at the moment drama classes weren't for him. I'm not sure if he will want to give them a go next year, but I will leave that up to him. He is trying out drumming with a 6 week block of lessons so will see what he thinks of that and what my ears think of it!!

I believe he will make leaps and bounds this year also, his reading is really starting to come together so looking forward to a great year 2!

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

6th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Recently I shared the resources we will be utilising for our son's 9th Grade home schooling year. Today I wanted to share with you what we have chosen to use as our base curriculum and resources for my 11 year old who is entering her 6th grade year.

I must point out though that we DO NOT USE STANDARD GRADES in our home school. We simply meet each child where they are at and do the next thing.

This is very apparent with my beautiful girl whom has greatly struggled with her reading over the years. We know and understand that these issues are in the family and have deliberately chosen to move slowly, at her pace with this.

During the past year we have seen much progression YAY! I believe mostly due to maturity on her behalf and a real desire to be reading. So please be aware that not everything on the list below is actually aimed at a 6th grader according to standard levels, they are simply programs/books that we have chosen to use this year.

So without further ado here they are.

Morning Basket:

Daily Notebooks: Quick practice work to reinforce learning
Family Read Alouds
Art Appreciation
Nature Study

Math:
Math U See Gamma
Timez Attack
Multiplication Games & Manipulatives

Phonics:
Fitzroy Reading Program
Explode The Code
Easyread Learning System

Plus lots of reading aloud


Grammar:
Fitzroy Reading Program


Spelling:
Easyread Learning System
Spelling You See


Literature:
COAH Literature Units
Aussie Book Adventures
Schoolhouse Teachers

Writing: Daily Journals

Science: Units via co-op

History: Renaissance & Reformation from Homeschool In The Woods

Geography: Units via co-op

Art: Art Teacher and via many of our other units 

Health & PE:

Cooking & Home EC Skills
Body Awareness
Bike riding
Running around with friends
Swimming
Boogie Boarding
Surfing
Bowling
Sailing
Just generally being active
Horse Riding during the winter months

Technology & Design
Safe Internet use
Mavis Beacon Typing Tutor
Robotics with a tutor

Micro-School Learning

Once or twice a week, four times a year we meet with what I have coined our micro-school because in reality that is what it is. We only plan term by term but so far she will be completing a unit using the book If The World Were A Village, exploring Australian Flora, traveling the globe with some cultural round the world units and spending some time learning about Famous People of the world.

Co-op Learning

Once a week in six week blocks, four times a year we will meet with our co-op group. This is a little more relaxed and we have a larger number of families that participate in this group, plus the families are fluid with not all of them coming along all year. Again we tend to only plan per term and so far we have scheduled Art classes, Robotics and some Intro To Engineering workshops.

Extra Curricular Activities

Once again this year she will immerse herself in Drama, Surfing (during summer), Horse Riding lessons (during winter) and we are looking at a series of Self Defense Lessons also.

I have a wonderful feeling that this is going to be a big year academically for this young lady. Can't wait to see it all unfold.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2016

Today I wanted to share with you what we have chosen to use as our base curriculum and resources for my 14 year old who is entering his 9th grade year.

I couldn't possibly fit pictures of everything into the collage image so please be sure to read through the full post for all of the details.

I must point out though that we DO NOT USE STANDARD GRADES in our homeschool. We simply meet each child where they are at and do the next thing. So please be aware that not everything on the list below is actually aimed at a 9th grader according to standard levels.

So without further ado here they are.

Morning Basket:

Family Read Alouds
Quick Daily Math

Math:
M.U. S Finish off Pre Algebra & Honors, then move to M.U.S Algebra I,
Khan Academy or Maths Is Fun as a supplement when needed or wanted
L.O.F Decimals & Percents (he is working on LOF work already covered in MUS but likes to use this as a review and a different way of working with already learned material)

Vocabulary:
Word Up by Compass Classroom
Supplemented with:
Vocab app by Mind Snacks
Interactive Vocabulary Notebook

Grammar:
I.E.W Fix It
Cover Story Writing Grammar Lessons

Writing:
Cover Story

Spelling:
Spelling You See

Literature:
Reed Novel Studies exact titles still to be chosen, These cover a wide range of language arts skills.

Science:
The Story of Science, Joy Hakim with workbook
Plus any units with co-op

History: Earlier this year we weren't sent a copy of Renaissance & Reformation from Homeschool In The Woods to complete and subsequently share our thoughts with you all. However, life simply got in the way this year and it just never happened. We did make a start and once we had everything planned out we seemed to enjoy the unit so I'm looking forward to moving forward this.

Geography: I've had the Visits To Series on my radar for a couple of years now. I like that it can be worked on independently, and that it covers mapping and the more cultural aspects of geography. So I figured this year was as good as any for us to give it a go. We are yet to decide on the exact book to start with but I'll leave that up to him.

He will continue to read through The Adventurous Mailbox books we have here.

We are also taking a family holiday to New Zealand in early 2016 which will provide many opportunities to delve deeper into all aspects of geography.

Art:
Artistic Pursuits
Classes with an Art teacher

Technology & Design
Safe Internet use
Mavis Beacon Typing Tutor
Robotics with a tutor
We are looking at Film Making and/or Photography with a tutor
Self Guided Exploration of Google Sketch Up

Health& PE:
Cooking & Home EC Skills
Body Awareness
Bike riding
Running around with friends
Swimming
Boogie Boarding
Bowling
Sailing
First Aid practice with SES Cadets
Just generally being as active as possible
Horse Riding during the winter months

Micro-School Learning

Once or twice a week, four times a year we meet with what I have coined our micro-school because in reality that is what it is. We only plan term by term but so far he will be completing a Science Unit (exact topic to be decided), continuing to work through Cover Story Writing and they will continue to work on their Artistic Pursuits program together.

Co-op Learning

Once a week in six week blocks, four times a year we will meet with our co-op group. This is a little more relaxed and we have a larger number of families that participate in this group, plus the families are fluid with not all of them coming along all year. Again we tend to only plan per term and so far we have scheduled Art classes, robotics and a book club for the high school group.

Other Extra Curricular Activities

Once again this year he will immerse himself with the Emergency Services Cadets program and Drama classes at the local theatre. He absolutely loves both of these and has gained so much from them, they are a very important part of his week.

He also plans to partake in various forms of work experience this year, and has just begun exploring the options of gaining part time employment, but we still need to do more research on both of those.

I can really feel the clock ticking for me, in just a few years the home ed journey with this guy will all be over. I am beginning to experience the gamut of emotions and at times all of them all at once LOL!!

I'll be sharing our choices for my other children over the coming weeks, be sure to keep an eye out for those posts.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

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

Thoughts On Our First Day Back

So we are starting our first week back after having six weeks off. Oh wow where on earth did those weeks go! The first day of a long holiday break I always feel as though it is so much time.  

For me, it’s time to create an endless list of things to accomplish whilst we are taking a break from the books. Although I did read a few books that I enjoyed during the holiday break. I never did complete my list, every year the start of school comes round all too quickly and this year I feel it even more so. Geesh, I’ve only just finished packing away our Christmas decorations!

We were so gratefully blessed to spend two separate weeks away on two very different vacations  over the break so I know that reduced my time at home to accomplish all I wanted but I wouldn’t change that for anything. Spending that special time with the ones you love is the most important thing of all.

And so here we begin with a fresh new year upon us. It's week one, day one and my plan is to ease us into things gently. This is as much for me as it is for the kids.

So our plans for the week ahead are>>

Get ourselves organised to be up, out of bed and ready to tackle the day at a reasonable hour. I'd really like us to get to the stage of having started our school day by 8:00am, 8:30am at the latest, we are slow movers here in the morning but rather than push things into the afternoon it simply makes us rushed, so by starting earlier  we should get ourselves at the very least an extra hour every day.

We will begin our new read aloud. I'm going for an Australian Classic here and one I'm not even sure that I've read. Seen the movie several times so I know the story but I really couldn't say if I have read the novel or not. I need to arrange the movie to watch after we've completed the book.

We also have a regular, kids read aloud session. During this time they can choose anything they wish to read to us. It is used purely as a reading aloud exercise.

During our read aloud time we always draw, paint or the like. It's pretty much anything goes here but they do enjoy me giving them drawing challenges or placing still life items on the table for them to draw. Each of us just uses a simple A4 spiral sketch book which we keep in our book basket.

We have tried in the past to keep up with Sketch Tuesday and whilst I love the prompts we've never been that great at doing them weekly. Oh well I guess all that really matters is that we are drawing and painting on a regular basis.

You might have noticed that SKWIRK are sponsoring us this year. This was perfect timing as I spent some time towards the end of last year looking for an online program that I could supplement the kids with.

I am sure it will take a bit of getting used to in regards to

understanding the navigation but the plan is to have my youngest spend some time on SKWIRK whilst I work one on one with my middle child. Then they will swap or vice versa.

They have also promised me a fabulous discount code to share with you all so be on the lookout for that and more posts showing you around SKWIRK itself.

My youngest is already in full swing with reading lessons. He has been begging me the entire holiday break to get started, so a few days ago we lay out on his bed together, cuddled, laughed and enjoyed his very first real reading lessons.

I think I'm going to truly enjoy the process of this with him. He's way smarter than what he ever lets on and surprises me each and every time with what he knows and he's just so damn cute. So of course they will continue this week, using the Fitzroy Reading Program.

This is the first year where I am splitting the kids and truly, it is going to be one of the hardest things I've done in our homeschooling. I always saw us doing things together, around the table or on the couch, chatting, brainstorming, note booking, reading, what have you. I've always had this idea in my mind that sending the kids to their own quarters to complete certain work would be isolating and it was just something that I was never going to do.

Currently we each have our own desk in our study, because of course they are all on different levels with math and language arts, but everything else we do together, generally at the dining table. I can no longer continue to do that though and provide what each of the kids needs right now, so I've been warming myself to the idea the entire holidays.

Now that my eldest is in high school he needs and begs to be challenged more so it is not fair to him to have him plod along with the younger two and neither of them are able to be pushed ahead, so splitting them is really the only option.

Thank goodness for our small family co-op where they all get plenty of opportunity to collaborate with others in a small group setting.

So, for History this year we are trying Pandia Press History Odyssey. We've enjoyed their science

programs and have felt somewhat disillusioned with Story Of The World for some time so we will see how this goes.

We are up to Early Modern Times, the eldest will be using Level 2, which has loads of literature and plenty of writing exercises and the other two will work their way together through Level 1. So they are all on the same time zone and at times we can no doubt still do things together.

The other area where my high schooler will be going things alone is with Physics. This is the science he loves and so he will work through this at his own pace. I will share more at a later date on how we are tackling Physics with him this year.

I hope to get a good head start on History this first week and aim to tackle it every day, which should get us all in a nice routine for that subject matter.

I'm also trying something new this year in regards to record keeping, which I totally suck at. See I'm the kind of gal that just enjoys the doing. I don't see the need for records I think they are a waste of time. The bit of blogging I do is more than enough for me to look back and see what we have and haven't accomplished.

However, now that we are entering high school territory I need to change my attitude with that and get a little more serious. So I've spent the holidays playing with Evernote and you know what I love it! Not just for recording keeping, but for organising my life. I'm sure you will hear more about Evernote in the months to come.

Well that was one big brain dump and if you made it this far, thanks for listening.

I had best get up and get started with our first day of the new school year. Wish me luck!

Happy Home Schooling,
Kylie

2013 Plans & Curriculum

I know here we are in March already and I'm only just now sharing with you our plans for the year. Oh well, that's just how I roll. This is not a complete detailed list of resources, just an overview that includes the core parts of each subject area.

Lego Lover  11 years

Language Arts: Growing With Grammar, All About Spelling, Institute of Excellence in Writing, Evan Moor Daily Paragraph Editing, Reading both Independent & Assigned

Maths: Australian Curriculum Maths and Math U See

Outside Activities: Dancing includes, Jazz, Hip Hop & Musical Theatre. Drama Group at local theatre

Fairy Princess 8 years

Language Arts: Explode The Code workbooks, Fitzroy Reading Program, Montessori Pink, Blue, Green Series work, FIAR Literature Program, Aussie Book Adventures Literature Units

Maths: Australian Curriculum Maths and Math U See

Outside Activities: Gymnastics. Drama Group at local theatre

Little Surfer Dude 4 years

Language Arts: All About Reading Pre Level, Explode The Code– Before The Code, Montessori Activities, FIAR Literature Program, Aussie BookAdventures Literature Units, Preschool Fun Drawers & Letter of the Week type activities

Maths: Fun Activities that I find or come up with. Australian Curriculum Prep book that he works in when he feels like it.

*** Absolutely no pressure for this little guy, he really does what he pleases. I just make a variety of things available to him.

Outside Activities: Gymnastics

All Together

Five In A Row: we are using this program with our Learning Circle group, so it is mainly for the younger two, however where I can fit it in I do have Lego Lover participate in some way. For example when we rowed Caps For Sale he did some Monkey research for his Animal Kingdom Notebook. When we rowed The Glorious Flight he rowed it in his own time as he took a great deal of interest in that particular topic.

Aussie Book Adventures: quite simply we use the FIAR concept but work with Australian books.

History using Story of the World: this poor program has been picked up and put back on our shelves a few times now. This year we are using it with our Learning Circle Group, reading a chapter at home, we come together for a group discussion, notebooking, map work, time lines and a hands on activity. It’s working really well that way.

Science using Real Science 4 Kids: again using this program with our Learning Circle in the same format we are using STOW.

Geography/Social Studies: We are covering via Country Themed days such as the one we completed at the end of last year on Japan. Lots of hands on activities with a lapbook to compile all that we do.

Art: I have purchased Harmony Art Year 1 program, just waiting on one more book to arrive before we start. We will also be making some use of this book throughout the year. A large portion of unit studies include art and craft activities also.

Nature Study: This is one area that is dear to me but one area that I’ve just never been able to make consistent time for. I’m considering grabbing another family and trying some nature study that way. It seems when I lock in with others I am much better at doing what needs to be done. I visit and enjoy reading all of the Outdoor Hour Challenges, hoping we can try and give these a go at some point during the year.

Learning Circle Group: We’ve joined with a small group of families (11 children in all) to work on some of our subjects collaboratively. During this time we cover Writing (non writers doing FIAR), History/Science (alternates each term), Music (keyboard), Practical Life Skills and a Newspaper study. The Learning Circle meets once a week, during school terms.

Other: We attend regular park meets, excursions and play dates with other home schooling families.

So in a nutshell, that's us for the year ahead.  We are nearing the end of the first term already and I'm very happy with the direction we are headed in.

Our Plans For 2011 - Not Back To School Sharing

Following are our plans for all 3 kiddos. I'm very flexible on our plans though, nothing is set in stone. If something isn't working we change it around, move on or forget it altogether (for now at least).

This year I will have Bambino Academy in full swing, with C turning 3 mid year. He is also getting a double whammy of fun this year. His very lovely Grandma has decided to have 'Grandma's Garage Kindy' (because they will have everything set up in her garage and she is early childhood trained YAY!!) day with C and his cousin L (who is 9 months older than him) on most Monday's throughout the year. Hopefully I will have some photo's of those days to share too.

B is technically doing 4th grade and K is doing 1st, although please know I really dispise the use of grades and labelling the kids in that way. I know it is easier but it is very rarely accurate, all kids are different and are generally at various levels across the subject areas and not always working at their grade level. For the most part they will each have their own Math and Language areas to work on, but we combine everything else.

For example with History, K simply listens in and only completes what she chooses (I do not require her to narrate or produce written work). However B will generally narrate and complete a notebooking/lapbooking piece.

You will also notice that I mention "EC Days" under our subject areas. Our 'registered school' runs special days for the children (4 or 5 per term) where they do loads of extra curricular activities. We also have a very active support network that runs weekly classes and activities and those are also listed under the appropriate subject areas.

So without further ado here are plans for the year ahead.

2011 Plans and Goals

C:  2.5 – 3.5 years

Montessori Inspired Activities to cover:
•    Practical Life
•    Sensory
•    Math
•    Language
•    Culture
•    Science

Themed Based Letter of the Week Style Activities:

•    C is for Caterpillar for example

Overall aims and goals for this year:

Math:

•    Rote count to 20
•    1:1 counting to 10
•    Recognise numbers 1 – 10
•    Exposure to simple addition
•    Introduction & exposure to the elements of a calendar, including weather, days of the week, months of the year, seasons
•    Exposure to Australian money
•    Exposure to clocks, o’clock time and half past

Language:

•    Memorise 8 Nursery Rhymes
•    Learn basic colours (red, blue, green, yellow, black, white, pink, orange, purple, brown - he knows several already)
•    Learn basic shapes (square, triangle, circle, rectangle, star, oval, diamond, heart - knows the majority already)
•    Recognise his name
•    Exposure to letters and letter sounds
•    Make books and stories together

Science & Social Studies:

Covered via themed based letter of the week activities, sitting in on the bigger kids fun & life in general

K: 1st Grade

Language Arts

Phonics:

•    ETC (complete) Primers and Book 1 (will move ahead as she is ready to)
•    Montessori Pink Series Works
•    Progressive Phonics? This will depend on how she goes with what we already have.
•    Bob Books, moving into Fitzroy Readers
•    Happy Phonics? Considering this as I have heard good things, not sure I need to invest in more phonics stuff though.
•    Software on hand
•    Finish Initial Sound Crafts & Activities

Sight Words:

•    On Track Reading Sight Word Program and Readers (Australian)

Penmanship:

•    Handwriting Without Tears

Spelling:

•    All About Spelling Level 1 (begin in later half of the year)

Writing:

•    Connect The Thoughts Creative Writing Program
•    Writing With Ease (will consider for 2nd half of year)
•    Copywork
•    Use of Writing Centre (post coming) – Poetry, Letters, Notes, Cards, Scrapbooking

Grammar:

•    First Language Lessons (will consider for 2nd half of year)

Math:

•    Mathletics Online
•    Math U See Primer/Alpha
•    Montessori Math Activities

Science:

•    EC Days Science Classes
Pandia Press REAL Science – Earth & Space (am trying this out with their free trial download)

•    Weather & Seasons 
•    Water Cycle
•    Earth’s Interior and Surface
•    Minerals
•    Rocks & Rock Cycle
•    Erosion & Soil
•    The Earth/Moon
•    The Solar System
•    The Planets
•    Stars, Comets, Meteroids & Asteroids

History:

•    The Ancients, Story of the World as spine. Still considering Pandia Press History Odyssey. Supplement with living books and activities

Geography:

•    Introduction to Continents & World Geography
•    World Wide Wanderings – Countries of Europe

Social Studies:

•    Aboriginal Unit (mini unit)
•    Valentines Day – read alouds & crafts
•    St Patricks Day – read alouds & crafts
•    Easter – read alouds, crafts & activities
•    ANZAC Day – read alouds
•    Christmas – read alouds, crafts & activities

The Arts:

•    Classes with home school group Art Teacher
•    Art Lessons & Crafts as they relate to unit studies
•    Art Appreciation/History & Artists study as they relate to unit studies
•    EC Days Art Classes
•    EC Days Dance & Drama Classes

Music:

•    Children’s Music Journey Keyboard Lessons
•    EC Days Music/Singing Classes

Sport:

•    EC Sport Classes
•    LHEN Sports (swimming)
Private Dance Classes

Languages Other Than English

Spanish – weekly group lessons, revision at home using
•    Spanish for Children, McGraw Hill
•    Digital Dialects Games
Japanese – weekly group lessons, (trialling in term 1)

Main educational aims and goals for this year:

•    Reading simple readers fluently
•    Complete Level 2 of On Track Reading Sight Word Program
•    Build confidence to independent writing, regardless of spelling ability
•    Complete single digit addition and subtraction problems with ease

B: 4th  Grade

Language Arts

Phonics:

•    Fitzroy Readers
•    Software on hand
•    Reading, free time and read aloud during school

Sight Words:

•    Finish Off Fry’s 1000 Sight Word List

Reading:

•    Drawn Into The Heart Of Reading – Comprehension Program

Penmanship:

•    Handwriting Without Tears Cursive

Spelling:

•    All About Spelling Finish Level 1→Level 2 (possibly begin Level 3)

Writing:

•    Connect The Thoughts Creative Writing Program
•    Writing With Ease
•    Copywork
•    Use of Writing Centre  – Poetry, Letters, Notes, Cards, Scrapbooking

Grammar:

•    First Language Lessons 1,2,3 depending on ease of levels

Math:

•    Mathletics Online (Grade 4)
•    Math U See Beta/Gamma (we have just gone back to MUS so is slightly behind, but breezing through the work, will be finished Beta by Easter)
•    Montessori Math Activities
•    Times Attack Online Game
•    Other games where appropriate

Science:

•    EC Days Science Classes
Pandia Press REAL Science – Earth & Space  (trying with their free trial download)
•    Weather & Seasons
•    Water Cycle
•    Earth’s Interior and Surface
•    Minerals
•    Rocks & Rock Cycle
•    Erosion & Soil
•    The Earth/Moon
•    The Solar System
•    The Planets
•    Stars, Comets, Meteroids & Asteroids

History:

•    The Ancients, Story of the World as spine. Still considering Pandia Press History Odyessy. Supplement with living books, activities, notebooking and a timeline

Geography:

•    Introduction to Continents & World Geography
•    World Wide Wanderings – Countries of Europe

Social Studies:

•    Aboriginal Unit (mini unit)
•    Valentines Day – read alouds and crafts
•    St Patricks Day – read alouds and crafts
•    Easter – read alouds, crafts & activities
•    ANZAC Day – read alouds
•    Christmas – read alouds, crafts & activities

The Arts:

•    Classes with home school group Art Teacher
•    Art Lessons & Crafts as they relate to unit studies
•    Art Appreciation/History & Artists study as they relate to unit studies
•    EC Days Art Classes
•    EC Days Dance & Drama Classes

Music:

•    Children’s Music Journey Keyboard Lessons
•    EC Days Music/Singing Classes

Sport:

•    EC Days Sport Classes
•    LHEN Sports

Languages Other Than English:

Spanish – weekly group lessons, revision at home using
•    Spanish for Children, McGraw Hill
•    Digital Dialects Games
Japanese – weekly group lessons, (trialling this term)

Technology/Multimedia:

•    Across all subject areas as appropriate, digital camera and claymation work
•    Activities from Internet for Kids
•    Activities from Multimedia Projects

Main educational aims and goals for this year:

•    Proficient and Confident in reading at a standard 4th grade level
•    Writing paragraphs of at least 5 – 6 sentences (from scratch) with ease (regardless of spelling)
•    Addition & Subtraction to 7 places
•    Multiplication Facts to 144