Month in Review: May 2015

Gonna be honest - these three posts are going to be VERY bare!

For the month of May Optimus Prime & Bumblebee worked on their reading, spelling, and cursive. Optimus Prime read a mixture of level 1 & level 2 books and he did very well. Bumblebee read level pre-1 and struggled a lot. Where Optimus Prime had to read me a book a day Bumblebee only had to read me half a book a day. He is trying but he's not as good as his brother when it comes down to reading. For Spelling we did units 37 & 38 and for Handwriting we started the cursive alphabet.

Scooby-Doo still had therapy for some of May but other than that (and reading him library books) he had no schoolwork.

As upsetting as it was to take the month off it was also a bit of a relief. I want to try some new things next quarter and this will give me time to really plan things out.

Quarterly Curriculum: May - July 2015

This quarter we pretty much took it off. I was really upset about it but we had too much going on in our lives and we were getting ready to finally, officially, move. It was a very stressful summer and taking it off was the best choice for all involved. I was very upset about it but in the end it was for the best. Even if I STILL feel guilty about it all these months later. However, all was not lost. Optimus Prime started to seriously excel in his reading and we read an INSANE number of library books. Anyway, here's our meager curriculum for that quarter:

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee:

Schoolwork on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday.

Spelling - Spelling words & units
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - None, just loose worksheets.
Number of Pages - 1

Handwriting - Cursive handwriting
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Brain Quest Workbook: Second Grade (Workman Publishing).
Number of Pages - 2

Other "Subjects":

Reading - Reading simple storybooks on their own.

Some final notes:

• After JUST dropping Handwriting it was reintroduced this quarter in the form of cursive. 
• We alternated each week between Spelling and Cursive since I didn't have a full unit for either of these.
• Reading was done every day, including Week 13 a.k.a. the week off.
• Sign Language was dropped for this quarter. There was just too much going on.

Scooby-Doo: 

No schoolwork at all.

Some final notes: 

• He did not do speech therapy during the summer.
• This was his last quarter of pre-k. It would have been his 8th quarter of it. Next quarter he'll start with kindergarten. 

Quarterly Curriculum: February - April 2015

I never realized just how far behind in my blog I was, until I realized I hadn't even posted our curriculum for February, March, & April! Holy smokes!

I had really appreciated the light workload the previous quarter, but by mid-December I was getting itching to get back to our regular schedule so this quarter we did far more.

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee:

Schoolwork on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday.

Subjects:

Math - Addition, subtraction, time, money, etc. 
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Scholastic Success With 1st Grade (Scholastic), Number Stories (Mead), Disney Time & Money (Bendon), Disney Princess Addition & Subtraction (Bendon).
Number of Pages - 1-3

English - Learning and reviewing first and second grade language and phonics concepts, etc.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Summer Link Math Plus Reading Grade 2 (Brighter Child), Brain Quest Workbook Grade 2 (Workman Publishing).
Number of Pages - 2

Spelling - Spelling words & units
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - None, just loose worksheets.
Number of Pages - 1

History/Geography - The 50 states, how humans have impacted the earth, the U. S. presidents, etc.
Days - Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Friday
Textbooks - 50 Great States (Let's Grow Smart), Down to Earth Geography Grad 1 (Teacher Created Resources), Hail to the Chief (Let's Grow Smart) .
Number of Pages - 2-3

Logic - Same/different, mazes, dot-to-dots, etc.
Days - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Textbooks - Random books.
Number of Pages - 3-4

Science - Learning about animals, the earth, the solar system, and insects.
Days - Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
Textbooks - Random books.
Number of Pages - N/A

Art - Painting, etc.
Days - Sunday, Tuesday
Textbooks - None, just projects.
Number of Pages - N/A

Religion - Current religions, mythologies, and holidays.
Days - Friday.
Textbooks - None.
Number of Pages - N/A

Other "Subjects":

Reading - Reading simple storybooks on their own.

Sign Language - Learning basic sign language to help Scooby-Doo communicate better, and to help us communicate better with him.

Some final notes:

• Handwriting has been dropped. It may be reintroduced in 3rd or 4th grade when we get to cursive, but for now it's gone.
• To begin getting ready for 3rd and 4th grade and the major changes coming then I'm going to begin phasing out workbooks and shift more of a focus to reading and writing.
• I'm also going to begin phasing Concept Weeks into our units. This quarter our Concept Weeks are the same as our weekly Science Units.

Scooby-Doo:

For this quarter I blended the last two quarters. There was be a numbers unit and a letters unit like usual, but the logic unit was be split into two - one covering just colors and shapes, the other covering everything else. The magazine unit also stayed for this quarter.

Numbers - Working on numbers 1-12.
Days - Every other day.
Textbooks - Various.
Number of Pages - 4

Letters - Working on the alphabet.
Days - Every other day.
Textbooks - Various.
Number of Pages - 4

Logic - Dot-to-dots, mazes, etc.
Days - Every other day.
Textbooks - Various.
Number of Pages - 4

Colors & Shapes - Working on colors and shapes.
Days - Every other day.
Textbooks - Various.
Number of Pages - 4

Magazines - Scooby-Doo is subscribed to a pre-k character magazine that covers letters, numbers, mazes, picture finds, reading comprehension, etc. We'll do one section a day, every schoolwork day.
Days - Five days a week.
Textbooks - Character Magazines
Number of Pages - N/A

Other "Subjects":

Story Time - Reading a book every afternoon, even on days off.

Words Review - Going over simple words with him to help his speech.  This will be everyday, even on days off.

Sign Language - Learning basic sign language everyday, even days off.

Final Notes:

• Scooby-Doo's is still doing speech therapy, however he is only doing it two days a week now.
• We're still working on sign language to help his communication.
• Scooby-Doo was just diagnosed with Autism, so things may change in regards to his schoolwork and his therapy.

That was it! I'm glad I got this out of the way!