2013-2014 Homeschool Year Review

I am often asked, "How do you know what to teach your kids?" There is a plethora of resources available for homeschooling families and its actually difficult choosing a curriculum that suits and fits your child's interests and used to help strengthen their weaknesses. Its not difficult because there are not many options, its hard because there are SO many options!

One of the beauties of homeschooling is tailoring your child's education to meet the child right where their mind and interest is at!

Here's what our 2013-2014 line up looked like & what the children were able to accomplish,
 
4th Grade

Reading (Individual Reading List):
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Five Little Peppers & How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Virginia Dare Mystery Girl by Augusta Stevenson
Whatever After If the Shoe Fits by Sarah Mlynowski
The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Projects: Developed a Flap Book on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory covering the plot, characters, etc., Wrote a report on Anne of Green Gables highlighting favorite parts of the story, Developed a scripted interview of the characters from The Five Little Peppers & How They Grew (acted out and video taped), Illustrated characters from The Borrowers & presented synopsis of story, Poster presentation & Research Book Report on the Northeastern Indians

Writing Assignments: Authored a report on Anne of Green Gables, a research paper on the Northeastern Indians, an adventure story (The Hawaiian Super Heroes), and a position paper on homeschooling.

Reading Comprehension Workbooks Grade 5 – completed the following fictional lessons, Branding Day, Dad’s Haircut, Grandpa’s Plane, The Rock Hound, The Perfect Picture. Completed the Following Non-fiction lessons, Keyboard Master: Mozart
 
Handwriting 4, Writing Jungle by Julie Bogart

Arithmetic: Math on the Level (MOTL) by John & Carlita Boyles,
Demonstrated mastery of the following areas through daily 5-A-Day math problems: Math Symbols,  One Digit Addition,  Sequencing Numbers,  Fractions: ½, 1/3, ¼, 1/8, Fractions: 2/3, ¾, 3/8, 5/8, 7/8, Add or Subtract with like denominators, Identifying and Counting Money, Telling Time, Multiple Digit Addition (no regrouping), Adding Three or More Numbers,  Vertical & Horizontal Formats, One digit Subtraction, Geometric Figures, Perimeter of a closed geometric figure,  Coordinate Plane, Addition/Subtraction Relationship, Addition with Regrouping,  Add/Subtract with Cent or Dollar, Add/Subtract with $ or decimal point, Add/Subtract with decimal point, Measuring Length, Subtraction with Regrouping, Variable for the answer, Large Numbers to Billions,  Commutative Property, Associative Property, Introducing Metric Units,  Customary Equivalent Chart,  Roman Numerals, Finding Equivalent Fractions, Multiplying Fractions,  Add or Subtract Fractions (with unlike denominators), Skip Counting or Singing Multiples, Area of a Rectangle, 1-digit Multiplication (no regrouping),   1-digit Multiplication (with regrouping),   Multiple Digit Multiplication, Comparing Fractions, Squares & Exponents,  Order of Operations, Making Change for Amounts under $1.00, Making Change for any amount, Dividing into Groups with Manipulatives, Simple Division, One Digit Division, Changing Improper Fractions to Mixed Numbers, Adding & Subtracting Mixed Numbers, Prime & Composite Numbers.

Completed varying Saxon 4/5 worksheets & tests to supplement drilling of timetables

Life of Fred Math Books (Completed Apples, Butterflies, Cats, Dogs, Edgewood, Farming, Goldfish)

Grammar: Shurley English (4th Grade)
Completed the following: Introductory Sentences, Classifying, labeling, subject noun, verb
Five parts of complete sentence,  Adverb, adjective, article adjective, four kinds of sentences,         Identifying adverbs that modify adjectives and adverbs, Complete subject, complete predicate, end punctuation, Singular Nouns, plural nouns, common nouns, proper nouns, simple subject, simple predicate, Preposition, object of the preposition, prepositional phrases, understood subject pronoun, Possessive pronouns, Object Pronouns, Helping Verbs

Science: Grade 4 Rod and Staff Science
Studied the areas of,
God Gives us Weather ( Different Climates, Wind & Weather, Clouds and Rain, Kinds of Precipitation), God Created Animals (Animals with Skeletons, God Created Birds, God Created Fish, God Created Mollusks, Animals with Strange Bodies), Unit study on Crystals ( Experiment: Grew Crystals), Human Body Unit, God gave us the Stars (Study of the Constellations), Electricity Unit (Parts of a Circuit, live demonstration on an electrical circuit)

Spelling: Sequential Spelling by Don McCabe
 
(2nd Grade)

Bible: The Life of Christ by John MacArthur

Reading/Writing/Penmanship: McDuffy’s Reader (Books 1, 2), Zaner Bloser Handwriting 2, Writing Jungle by Julie Bogart
 
Individual Reading List:
 Keep the Lights Burning Abbie by Peter Roop
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit (Individual Reading with Parent-help),  The Railway Children – DVD
Little Daisy and the Swearing Class by Ralph Bouma
James and the Giant Peach – by Roald Dahl
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
The Story of Dr Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

Projects: Poster presentation & Research Report on the Northeastern Indians

Reading Comprehension Workbook (Individual).    Completed the following non-fiction lessons (2nd grade book), Animals of African Savanna, South American Rain Forest, Animals of Australia, Animals of Southern Asia, Animals of North American, (3rd grade book) Tom’s Great Idea (adapted from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer), Enjoy Your Blessings (adapted from Little Women)

Arithmetic: Math on the Level by John & Carlita Boyles – 2nd grade
Demonstrated mastery of the following areas through daily 5-A-Day math problems: Math Symbols, One Digit Addition, Sequencing Numbers,    Fractions: ½, 1/3, ¼, 1/8, Fractions: 2/3, ¾, 3/8, 5/8, 7/8, Add or Subtract with like denominators,    Identifying and Counting Money, Telling Time,  Multiple Digit Addition (no regrouping), Adding Three or More Numbers, Vertical & Horizontal Formats, One digit Subtraction, Geometric Figures,   Perimeter of a closed geometric figure, Coordinate Plane, Addition/Subtraction Relationship, Addition with Regrouping, Add/Subtract with Cent or Dollar, Add/Subtract with $ or decimal point, Add/Subtract with decimal point, Measuring Length, Subtraction with Regrouping, Variable for the answer, Large Numbers to Billions, Commutative Property, Associative Property, Multiple digit multiplication (no regrouping)

Completed varying Saxon 2 worksheets to supplement MOTL concepts

Life of Fred (Completed Apples, Butterflies, Cats, Dogs)

Grammar: English for the Thoughtful Mind by Mary Hyde
Completed the following areas:
The Sentence, Statements, Oral Composition Exercises (Fable: “The Wind and the Sun”), Picture Lesson (“Soap Bubbles” by P. Wagner), Commands, Oral Composition (Fable: “The Dog and His Shadow”), Exclamations, The Paragraph, Nouns, Writing Peoples Names, Given Names and Surnames, Writing Initials, Using the word, “I”, Names of Cities and Streets, Composition (Writing about Cities and Capitals)


Phonics (A Beka)
Completed the following areas:
-        Short vowels, consonants, blends, one-vowel rule, long vowels, two-vowel rule, Use of ll, ff, or ss at the end of a word, Use of a u with q, Use of k or c before a vowel, Use of ck or ke at the end of a word, Rhyming words, Syllables: parts of words, Beginning sentences with a capital letter, ending sentences with a period, definition of a sentence, suffix –s can say “s” or “z”, Root words and suffixes, Compound words, Opposites
-        Days of the week, At beginning of a word, a usually says “u”, word division: between double consonants/root words and suffixes/a vowel and a consonant, Months of the year, Word division: between two consonants that are not alike/two vowels, Alphabetical order: cat, lion, rooster, doubling the final consonant, Using ‘s to show ownership, Question mark, contractions, prefixes
-        Dropping the silent e, alphabetical order: bat, bed, box, bat, big, cot, exclamation point, changing y to I, capitalizing word I, using words correctly (sit, sat, set, two, too, to), capitalizing names of persons/pets
-        Using words correctly (may, can, teach, learn, right, write, blue, blew), capitalizing names of holidays and special days, recognizing singular and plural spellings of words 

Completed the following areas (Shurley Grammar):
Alphabetizing,  Synonyms, Antonyms, Nouns, Verbs, Classifying Sentences, labeling, subject Noun, Verb, Five Parts of a Complete Sentence, A/An Choices, Adjectives, Parts of Speech, Three Kinds of a Sentence, Singular and Plural Nouns, Common & Proper Nouns,  Writing – Finding a Topic, Supporting and Non-Supporting Ideas and Sentences, Simple Subject, Simple Predicate, Complete Subject, Complete Predicate

Penmanship
Completed learning Lower and Upper Cursive letters (A-Z)
Science: Grade 2 Rod and Staff Science
The Seasons, Seeds, Trees, The Plants We Eat, Farm Animals, The Zoo, Pets, Mammals in Winter, Winter Birds, Insect Homes, The Weather, Crystal (Incl. Experiment: Grow Crystals), Lifecycle of the Butterfly (experiment growing butterflies), God gave us the Stars (Study of the Constellations), Unit on Electricity
 
Spelling: Sequential Spelling by Don McCabe

Additional Lessons taught in the following: 9 yr old - Violin, 7 yr old - Singing Lessons

Bible (2nd & 4th Grade):

-        Completed lessons on the following:

o   Anticipating the Lord Jesus Christ (Jesus Christ – the Preexistent Creator and Savior, The Fall of the Human Race into Sin, The Curse Upon Creation, Mankind’s Need for a Savior, The Promised Seed of Abraham, The Coming Messiah as Prophet and King, The Coming Messiah as the Suffering Servant)

o   The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Introducing the History of Jesus Christ, The Royal Lineage of Jesus Christ Through Joseph, The Physical Lineage of Jesus Christ Through Mary, The Coming of Christ’s Forerunner, John the Baptist, Gabriel Announces the Coming of Jesus Christ, Mary Rejoices with Elizabeth, John the Baptist is Born, Jesus’ Miraculous Birth Explained to Joseph, The Messiah is Born in Bethlehem, Shepherds Pay Homage to the Lord Jesus, Jesus is Presented in the temple, The Magi Pay Homage to Israel’s True King, The Flight into Egypt and Return to Nazareth, Jesus Visits the Temple at Age Twelve)

o   The Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry (John the Baptist Begins His Ministry, John Baptizes Jesus, Jesus Is Tempted in the Wilderness, John Further Testifies about Jesus, The Disciples of John Meet Jesus, Jesus’ First Miracle: Water into Wine)

o   From Passover AD 27 to Passover AD28 (Jesus’ First Cleansing of the Temple, Jesus Meets with Nicodemus, Jesus’ Ministry Supersedes John’s, Jesus Meets a Samaritan Woman at the Well, Jesus Evangelizes the Village of Sychar, Jesus Heals a Nobleman’s Son, Jesus Is Rejected at Nazareth, Jesus’ First Call of the Four, Jesus Heals in the Synagogue in Capernaum, Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law, Jesus Ministers Throughout Galilee, Jesus’ Second Call of the Four, Jesus Heals a Leprous Man, Jesus Heals and Forgives a Paralytic, Jesus Calls Matthew to Follow Him, Jesus Answers the Disciples of John)

o   From Passover AD 28 to Passover AD 29 (Jesus Heals a Lame Man on the Sabbath, Jesus Defends His Equality with the Father, The Disciples Pick Grain on the Sabbath, Jesus Heals a Man’s Hand on the Sabbath, Jesus Withdraws to the Sea of Galilee, Jesus Appoints the Twelve, Sermon on the Mouth: True Righteousness and Divine Blessing, True Righteousness and External Morality, True Righteousness and Practical Religion, True Righteousness and Mundane Things, True Righteousness and Human Relationships, True Righteousness and Salvation, Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant, Jesus Raises a Widow’s Dead Son)

Reading (Group Reading) (2nd & 4th Grade together):
Stories from Shakespeare by Geraldine McCaughrean, Romeo and Juliet – Video
The Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
 
(2nd & 4th Grade together)
Co-operative Group (once a month):
Studied the countries of Ethiopia - November, US (Alaska) - January, Brazil – October, India – September, France - February, Korea - March

History (2nd & 4th Grade together)
Read & discussed the following books for the topics that included, Early Explorers, First Settlement- St. Augustine Florida, History Mystery – Roanoke’s Lost Colony, On to Jamestown, Pilgrims, Puritans, Native Americans (Focused on Northwest Indians and Northeast Indians), Completed a unit in February on African American History; focused on Slavery:

Leif the Lucky by Ingri D’Aulaire
Christopher Columbus – Video
The Discovery of the Americas by Betsy Maestro
Leif Erickson, the Lucky by Malcom C. Jensen
Where Do You Think You’re Going, Christopher Columbus by Jean Fritz
Columbus by Ingri D’Aulaire
Cabot by Robin S. Doak
De Soto by Ann Heinrichs
Henry Hudson by Jeff Young
John Cabot by John Malam
Juan Ponce De Leon by Gail Sakurai
Sir Walter Raleigh by Nancy Ward
The First Thanksgiving Feast by Joan Anderson
Giving Thanks by Kate Waters
Jamestown: The Beginning by Elizabeth Anderson Campbell
On the Mayflower by Kate Waters
Squanto’s Journey by Joseph Bruchac
Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness
The Virginia Colony by Dennis Fradin
William Bradford – Video
American Indian Stories – Video
John Winthrop by Marc Aronson
Thirteen Colonies by Dennis Fradin
The Native Americans – VHS
The Story of Marquette and Jolliet by Conroad R. Stein
Marquette & Jolliet by Alexander Zelenyj
Despite all Obstacles by Joan Goodman
The Northeast Indians by Janeen Adil
Eastern Woodlands Indians by Mir Tamim Ansary
If you Lived with the Indians of the Northwest Coast by Anne Kamma
A History of Slavery in America - VHS
Bound for America The Forced Migration of Africans to the New World by James Haskins
African-Americans in the Colonies by Jean Kinney Williams
Despite All Obstacles La Salle and the Conquest of the Mississippi by Joan Goodman
Marquette & Jolliet Quest for the Mississippi by Alexander Zelenyj'
 
-        Developed a timeline highlighting specific events from the topics discussed from the historical books.

Field Trips:
Mariner’s Museum – Explorers Exhibit (Newport News, Va)
George Washington Birthplace
Fredericksburg Area Museum & Cultural Museum
Jamestown (Williamsburg)
Local Animal Control
Black Wax Museum (Baltimore, MD)
Richmond Science Museum (Richmond, Va)
Tour of the United States Capitol Building
Maymont Park & Nature Center

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