Checking Progress and Curriculum
Our curriculum and progress report-
Okay, we only have just really gotten into the swing of things since we had a later start to our year because of the move. But here is what we are using curriculum wise (subject to change without notice as I see fit, or A gets bored with, which happens quite a bit LOL)
Language Arts/ReadingFor reading we are using 2nd grade Abeka books...not all of them, just some I picked up for 50 cents here and there. She is currently reading on a 3rd grade 1st month level, but can sound words out that are well above that....she can read our books, just not quite fluently, But fluently at a beginning 3rd grade level. This is a 6 month jump in reading level in about a month and a half!
She is independently reading Henry and Mudge Books and Level 3 books from our library. She can also independently read The Magic Tree House books, Mercy Watson Books, Ivy and Bean books, however she gets tired easily still so she will read a bit of those and then I take over.
We are occasionally doing language arts worksheets and lessons from the following books....
-Vocabulary Fundamentals- Grade 1 (Evan-Moor)
-Grade 2 Reading (Kumon)
-1st Grade Language Arts Success (Sylvan)
-Read, Think, Cut, and Paste- Grades 1-3 (Evan Moor)
-Building Fluency Grade 1 (Evan Moor)
Science
This is A's favorite subject I think. Although she says she likes reading the most, she seems infatuated with Science and is always begging to do it.
We are finishing up...
-Daily Science Grade 1 (Evan Moor)We only have this unit on matter to finish up and then a unit on forces. Each unit is supposed to take 5 weeks, but around here they take 3 or 4. And we skip days too, LOL. I always have to make her stop as she would do the whole 5 weeks worth in one afternoon if I let her.
We will be starting once that is completed...
-Daily Science Grade 2 (Evan Moor)
I just have to say how highly I recommend these books for part of a science curriculum. It fits A so well.
For experiments we use...
-Little Labs, Stepping into Science kit.
It comes with an instruction book and almost every thing you need to complete the experiments.
-http://archive.cyark.org/education-lesson-plans
These could be science or history, however I think they are a great way to tie science into history and social study lessons.
We are starting a unit on Egypt this coming week as A has currently been obsessed with mummies for sometime now, and we will be building a sugar cube pyramid, and the doing a science experiment about erosion. These lessons plans are for older elementary and middle school age but can be adjusted quite easily to lower elementary level with teacher involvement. You have to sign up for an account, but it is free and you just have to say why you want to have access. I said I was homeschooling and I was accepted. AWSOME site which I am still exploring
our other science books include...
-The Magic School Bus Series
-Storytime Discoveries Grade 1-3. Read Aloud Stories and Demonstrations About Biological Science. (Teaching and Learning Company)
-101 Science Poems and Songs For Young Learners- Grades 1-3 (Scholastic)
-and various other books checked out from the library to supplement.
GeographyThis is not a main focus of our curriculum, yet A has always seemed to have a good grasp of the subject. She has always understood maps and globes, and has told many many times that she has a "map inside my head. Not a real one mom, don't worry. But it is there, and I can open it up and pull it out of my head and look at it, and I can see where we are, where we have been, and where we are going if I have been there before. If we are driving there, I can see our car driving and there is a star on our home. When I am done and don't need it anymore...wooop, I push it back in my head like this." And she proceeds to demonstrate. I am guessing this is why she is AMAZING at directions and getting places LOL. I had that gift to when I was younger and many times as a small child I was able to tell my mom where to go when she herself would be lost. I just don't think I ever had the ability to explain how it happens so precisely LOL.
Anyway.... we are using montessori materials and activities as well as...
-Beginning Geography-Grades k-2 (Evan Moor)
Bible
We read from both A's children's Bible and my Bible. A usually wants to hear the story from my Bible after I have introduced one through hers.
We are also using the following resources
-Big Book of Bible Story Fun- Ages 6-12 (Gospel Light)
Math
Currently we have just been using a lot of hands on activities and incorporating math into our everyday activities but I am ordering
-RightStart Math level B this week. I hope it is a good choice.
A can count to 100 by ones, fives, and tens, is learning to count by 2s. She can do simple addition in her head. The other day I gave her 3 candy corn which she promptly ate. The she asked for more. The following conversation ensued...
Me- "How many did you just eat?"
Her- "3"
Me- "If I gave you 2 more to eat then how many would you have?"
Her- Without a moments hesitation "5!"
She can do addition and subtraction by 1 in her head as well, and is able to do addition and subtraction very firmly with manipulatives. My hope with RightStart is to help her develop tools for mental math, something I never was, nor am I now, firm at. In fact I am AWFUL at it.
She can read time on a digital clock accurately with about 95% accuracy, can tell time on an analog clock to the hour and half hour and we have begun to work telling time to the 5 min. interval.
History
As of this week, we will be exploring history using the Magic Tree House series. We will be starting with Ancient Egypt since this is the period of time A is most interested in at the moment. We will not be going in order, but will just be studying eras. Next year we will focus more on the order of how things fit together.
Handwriting
While A has been writing for sometime now, she needs to correct some bad habits such as starting at the bottom of many letters...thus we have started...
-Handwriting without Tears, grade K.
That's about it. As I said subject to change at any moment LOL.
Okay, we only have just really gotten into the swing of things since we had a later start to our year because of the move. But here is what we are using curriculum wise (subject to change without notice as I see fit, or A gets bored with, which happens quite a bit LOL)
Language Arts/ReadingFor reading we are using 2nd grade Abeka books...not all of them, just some I picked up for 50 cents here and there. She is currently reading on a 3rd grade 1st month level, but can sound words out that are well above that....she can read our books, just not quite fluently, But fluently at a beginning 3rd grade level. This is a 6 month jump in reading level in about a month and a half!
She is independently reading Henry and Mudge Books and Level 3 books from our library. She can also independently read The Magic Tree House books, Mercy Watson Books, Ivy and Bean books, however she gets tired easily still so she will read a bit of those and then I take over.
We are occasionally doing language arts worksheets and lessons from the following books....
-Vocabulary Fundamentals- Grade 1 (Evan-Moor)
-Grade 2 Reading (Kumon)
-1st Grade Language Arts Success (Sylvan)
-Read, Think, Cut, and Paste- Grades 1-3 (Evan Moor)
-Building Fluency Grade 1 (Evan Moor)
Science
This is A's favorite subject I think. Although she says she likes reading the most, she seems infatuated with Science and is always begging to do it.
We are finishing up...
-Daily Science Grade 1 (Evan Moor)We only have this unit on matter to finish up and then a unit on forces. Each unit is supposed to take 5 weeks, but around here they take 3 or 4. And we skip days too, LOL. I always have to make her stop as she would do the whole 5 weeks worth in one afternoon if I let her.
We will be starting once that is completed...
-Daily Science Grade 2 (Evan Moor)
I just have to say how highly I recommend these books for part of a science curriculum. It fits A so well.
For experiments we use...
-Little Labs, Stepping into Science kit.
It comes with an instruction book and almost every thing you need to complete the experiments.
-http://archive.cyark.org/education-lesson-plans
These could be science or history, however I think they are a great way to tie science into history and social study lessons.
We are starting a unit on Egypt this coming week as A has currently been obsessed with mummies for sometime now, and we will be building a sugar cube pyramid, and the doing a science experiment about erosion. These lessons plans are for older elementary and middle school age but can be adjusted quite easily to lower elementary level with teacher involvement. You have to sign up for an account, but it is free and you just have to say why you want to have access. I said I was homeschooling and I was accepted. AWSOME site which I am still exploring
our other science books include...
-The Magic School Bus Series
-Storytime Discoveries Grade 1-3. Read Aloud Stories and Demonstrations About Biological Science. (Teaching and Learning Company)
-101 Science Poems and Songs For Young Learners- Grades 1-3 (Scholastic)
-and various other books checked out from the library to supplement.
GeographyThis is not a main focus of our curriculum, yet A has always seemed to have a good grasp of the subject. She has always understood maps and globes, and has told many many times that she has a "map inside my head. Not a real one mom, don't worry. But it is there, and I can open it up and pull it out of my head and look at it, and I can see where we are, where we have been, and where we are going if I have been there before. If we are driving there, I can see our car driving and there is a star on our home. When I am done and don't need it anymore...wooop, I push it back in my head like this." And she proceeds to demonstrate. I am guessing this is why she is AMAZING at directions and getting places LOL. I had that gift to when I was younger and many times as a small child I was able to tell my mom where to go when she herself would be lost. I just don't think I ever had the ability to explain how it happens so precisely LOL.
Anyway.... we are using montessori materials and activities as well as...
-Beginning Geography-Grades k-2 (Evan Moor)
Bible
We read from both A's children's Bible and my Bible. A usually wants to hear the story from my Bible after I have introduced one through hers.
We are also using the following resources
-Big Book of Bible Story Fun- Ages 6-12 (Gospel Light)
Math
Currently we have just been using a lot of hands on activities and incorporating math into our everyday activities but I am ordering
-RightStart Math level B this week. I hope it is a good choice.
A can count to 100 by ones, fives, and tens, is learning to count by 2s. She can do simple addition in her head. The other day I gave her 3 candy corn which she promptly ate. The she asked for more. The following conversation ensued...
Me- "How many did you just eat?"
Her- "3"
Me- "If I gave you 2 more to eat then how many would you have?"
Her- Without a moments hesitation "5!"
She can do addition and subtraction by 1 in her head as well, and is able to do addition and subtraction very firmly with manipulatives. My hope with RightStart is to help her develop tools for mental math, something I never was, nor am I now, firm at. In fact I am AWFUL at it.
She can read time on a digital clock accurately with about 95% accuracy, can tell time on an analog clock to the hour and half hour and we have begun to work telling time to the 5 min. interval.
History
As of this week, we will be exploring history using the Magic Tree House series. We will be starting with Ancient Egypt since this is the period of time A is most interested in at the moment. We will not be going in order, but will just be studying eras. Next year we will focus more on the order of how things fit together.
Handwriting
While A has been writing for sometime now, she needs to correct some bad habits such as starting at the bottom of many letters...thus we have started...
-Handwriting without Tears, grade K.
That's about it. As I said subject to change at any moment LOL.
Comments
I'm going to look back at this when JC and I are ready. I have yet to test her on a grade specific curriculum but my guess is that JC is on the first grade level on most things. We haven't done too much academic work lately.
I love Ansley's comment on getting a map from her head! So visual! Does she have photographic memory?