Quarterly Curriculum November 2015 - January 2016

The winter quarter is ALWAYS a quarter of half days for us. There is just too much going on between Halloween just finishing up, Thanksgiving, Yule, Christmas, and New Years ahead of us. Plus a birthday. Plus a visit from family. All of this on top of our normal activities - 4H for Optimus Prime & Bumblebee, cloverbuds for Scooby-Doo, and therapy for Scooby-Doo. And then the fact that last quarter we were all such a mess we really need a nice, shorter quarter this year.

So, here it is, our nice, abridged quarter.

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee:

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

Subjects:

Math - Addition, subtraction, time, money, multiplication, etc. 
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Disney Time & Money (Bendon), Big Workbook Second Grade (School Zone), Strawberry Shortcake Addition and Subtraction (Bendon), Disney Addition and Subtraction (Bendon), Disney Princess Addition and Subtraction (Bendon), Disney Cars: Math (Bendon), Sponge Bob Multiplication (Bendon)
Number of Pages - 3

Spelling - Spelling words & units practiced in print and cursive.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - None, just loose worksheets.
Number of Pages - 2

English - Phonics, reading comprehension, sentence structure, sentence parts, verbs and nouns, synonyms and antonyms, compound words, etc.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Big Workbook Second Grade (School Zone), Brain Quest Workbook: Grade 2 (Workman Publishing).
Number of Pages - 3

Other "Subjects":

Reading - Reading simple storybooks on their own.

Concept Weeks - I just realized I never added Concept Weeks to any of our previous curriculum. I mean, it was implied that we did them the subject just actually wasn't listed. So odd. I have no clue what I was thinking. Anyway, check out our Concept Week pages to see them.

Some final notes:

• Spelling units are still directly tied to what we are reading. This seems to work REALLY well for them
• For this quarter their Concept Weeks are exactly the same as Scooby-Doo's. We're going to see how this works. Obviously, their work will be harder than Scooby-Doo's
• Like last quarter, Optimus Prime & Bumblebee's schoolwork is diverging to better suit their needs. Optimus Prime is doing easier Math and harder Spelling and Reading. Bumblebee is doing harder Math and easier Spelling and Reading. I will no longer be holding back one child in the hopes that the other will "catch up" soon. We did that all last year and it made everyone miserable. 
• Under "Textbooks," the textbooks in red were done by Optimus Prime, the text books in green were done by Bumblebee, and the textbooks in black were done by both.
• Bumblebee did the Sponge Bob multiplication workbook twice.

Scooby-Doo:

Schoolwork on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Subjects:

Handwriting - Practicing handwriting, letters, sounding out letters and words, numbers, and counting. 
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Alphabet Learning Workbook (Bendon), Thomas and Friends Numbers and Counting Workbook (Bendon), Let's Grow Smart Alphabet (Dalmatian Press), Let's Grow Smart Math (Dalmatian Press), Comprehensive Curriculum Pre-K (American Education Publishing).
Number of Pages - 5

Logic - Same/different, mazes, dot-to-dots, etc.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Fisher-Price Little People Kindergarten Workbook Volumes 1 &2 (Modern Publishing), Sesame Street Hip Hip Hooray for Friends (Sesame Street)
Number of Pages - 4

Art - Painting, coloring, etc.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Various books.
Number of Pages - 5

Other "Subjects":

Concept Weeks - I just realized I never added Concept Weeks to any of our previous curriculum. I mean, it was implied that we did them the subject just actually wasn't listed. So odd. I have no clue what I was thinking. Anyway, check out our Concept Week pages to see them.

Final Notes:

• The local elementary school has denied Scooby-Doo all of his therapy since we will not enroll him there in pre-k. He is, however, still doing speech therapy twice a week.
• Even though Scooby-Doo is only at pre-k age he will be doing kindergarten work this quarter as well as some pre-k.
• Scooby-Doo is doing the same Concept Weeks as his brothers this quarter. His worksheets are easier. Obviously. 
• For Fisher-Price released two versions of their Kindergarten Workbooks. One was released before the other. While they are similar they are not exactly the same even though they are both labeled Volume 1. The same is true for Volume 2. So, there are actually two workbooks named Volume 1 and two workbooks named Volume 2. He is doing all four workbooks this quarter. Twice. I'm hoping the repetition will be good for him and not boring for him. 

Quarterly Curriculum: November 2014 - January 2015

I'm posting this earlier than I normally do because I'm already working on next quarter's schedule. This quarter was VERY slimmed down both because of all of the holidays and because I was adjusting to a new medicine which was making me very sleepy. So, next quarter I want to bring back our full work load. This break was nice, but I'm already ready to do more and am full of ideas! So, here is our (current) super easy holiday schedule!

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee:

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

Subjects:

Magazine - We have some character magazines that cover handwriting, basic math, art, logic, and reading comprehension. We'll do one magazine a week.
Days - Everyday.
Textbooks - Character magazines.
Number of Pages - N/A

Spelling - Spelling words & units.
Days - Everyday.
Textbooks - None, just loose worksheets.
Number of Pages - 2

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:

• I got none :)

Scooby-Doo:

Schoolwork 2-3 days a week on any day

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 other schoolwork day.
Days - Five days over two weeks
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.

Quarterly Curriculum November 2013 - January 2014

It's that time of year again where I start working on next quarters curriculum.  So I repost this quarters as a post for my records so I can move on and clean up the "Optimus Prime & Bumblebee" page (and, ultimately the "Scooby-Doo" page as well) to get it ready for next quarter.

This quarter's schedule worked out real well.  I really liked the layout, I liked not having 9 classes a day, I liked not covering everything everyday.  I almost feel like I struck gold.  I only have one (minor) complaint.

Just to give you some background, we always tackle three subjects at once.  When we covered nine subjects that meant three at a time, three times a day.  Now that we are doing seven a day I figured we could do three then four and just do two schoolwork chunks.  No, my kids were not having it.  Three is their magic number.  So, that's the one complaint.  We would do three subjects then our snack, followed by three more subjects and lunch, followed by three subjects - with lots of playtime thrown in to really break up the schedule.  Now we do three subjects then our snack, followed by three more subjects and lunch, followed by one subject... then nothing but lots of complaining because they had to stop playing just to do Spelling.

So, I'm thinking next quarter will be almost the same, but I'm going to have to figure out some nine and six subject days.  So, just a bit of tweaking, that's all.

We'll also stick to just one Concept Week a month, for the first week of the month.  I was thinking about doing Concept Weeks ever other week, but not for this quarter I think.  Maybe next one.

Anyway, here is our current schedule along with all of my observations and notes (half of which somehow got listed above).

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee:

Schoolwork Friday & Saturday, Sunday off, schoolwork on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Thursday off.

Letter Practice - Practicing handwriting, reviewing the alphabet, etc.
Days - Friday & Monday
Textbooks - Total Reading Kindergarten (American Education Publishing), Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills Grade K (American Education Publishing).
Number of Pages - 2 1/2

Number Practice - Practicing handwriting, working on counting to 100, etc.
Days - Saturday & Tuesday
Textbooks - Total Math Kindergarten (American Education Publishing), Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills Grade K (American Education Publishing.
Number of Pages - 2 1/2

Science - Learning about different animals (broken into units) with some reading comprehension thrown into the mix.
Days - Friday & Tuesday
Textbooks - The Complete Book of Animals Grades 1-3 (American Education Publishing).
Number of Pages - 1

Spanish - Practicing Spanish vocabulary (broken into different units) and comprehension.
Days - Monday & Wednesday
Textbooks - The Complete Book of Starter Spanish Grades PK-1 (American Education Publishing).
Number of Pages - 2

History/Geography - Map reading, directions, land-forms, continents, etc.
Days - Saturday & Tuesday
Textbooks - Beginning Geography Grades K-2 (Evan-Moor), Scholastic Success With 1st Grade Workbook (Scholastic Teaching Resources).
Number of Pages - 2

Art - Coloring, painting, activities in coloring books, etc.
Days - Monday & Wednesday
Textbooks - Cheap coloring books from the dollar store of their favorite cartoon characters, as well as cheap paint with water books.
Number of Pages - 2

Sight Words - Learning the sight words to help with solo reading.
Days - Friday & Tuesday
Textbooks - Sight Word Fun Grade 1 (School Zone).
Number or Pages - 1

Reading Comprehension - Learning to read, as well as some reading comprehension & activities with some short stories.
Days - Saturday & Wednesday
Textbooks - Listen, Read, & Learn Grade 1 (American Education Publishing), Total Reading Kindergarten (American Education Publishing).
Number of Pages - Will vary from day to day.

Logic - Same/different, patterns, opposites, mazes, dot-to-dots, word searches, crosswords, etc.
Days - Friday, Saturday, Monday & Wednesday
Textbooks - Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills Grade K (American Education Publishing), generic 1st grade logic workbooks.
Number of Pages - 2 1/2

Math - Addition, subtraction, fractions, etc with a big emphasis on time and money.
Days - Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday
Textbooks - Spectrum Math Grade 1 (Spectrum), Total Basic Skills Grade 1 (American Education Publishing), quite a few Addition, Subtraction, and Time & Money books from Dollar General and Target.
Number of Pages - 2

English - Learning the difference between vowels and consonants, learning how to sound words out, synonyms, antonyms, compound words, rhyming words, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, sentences, punctuation marks, etc.
Days - Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday
Textbooks - Scholastic Success With 1st Grade Workbook (Scholastic Teaching Resources), Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills Grade K (American Education Publishing), and some English workbooks from Target & Dollar General.
Number of Pages - 2

Spelling - Spelling words & units
Days - Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday
Textbooks - Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills Grade 1 (American Education Publishing), Total Basic Skills Grade 1 (American Education Publishing).
Number of Pages - 1

Some final notes:

• Why the schedule shake-up?  We don't want this to be boring, here.  Homeschooling is supposed to be fun - not stagnant and boring - and varying the schedule helps keep it that way.
• No more quizzes, book reports, or Quiz Days; Wednesdays will now be a regular schoolwork day.  This stuff may all come back, it may never come back, or maybe part of it will come back - who knows.  I wrote up the schedule deciding that we needed a break from this stuff and didn't tell my kids.  Then on our second to last Quiz Day Bumblebee had a freak out because he "doesn't want to do quizzes anymore."  I was surprised - he usually gets 100% (which just goes to show that he really didn't need it anymore) and the quizzes don't stress him out or anything.  So I told him he only had 2 more days of quizzes then we would be done.  He was relived, and I was glad I had already decided to drop them.
• The first week of each month will just be our "core" subjects (Logic, Math, English & Spelling) and our Concept Week.  Trying to tackle "core" classes, "secondary" classes, and a Concept Week all in one week was too much.  When they were in kindergarten it was no big deal to add on a Concept Week since they only had 4 subjects a day, so every day was a half day and asking them to do a little extra was no big deal.  But we have 12 subjects (granted, not all are covered everyday), and tacking on an extra class with a book and a project was too much. 
• Still no gym class!  Football is going on right now, they are still worried about catching butterflies and beetles in the backyard, and once our obligatory one day of snow comes along they'll be out there making snowballs.  No gym class, just fresh air.
• I came to a decision about mythology during our last Concept Week (Ancient Egypt).  The last thing we need is class #13, so instead we'll just tackle some mythology each quarter in one of our Concept Weeks.  I'm thinking Norse mythology this class.  We'll see.
• I'll start doing one-on-one time to help Optimus Prime & Bumblebee out with learning how to read and anything else that they need help with.  I wanted to start it last quarter but our schedule was too packed.  That's another part of the reason for our current slim-down.

Scooby-Doo:

Scooby Doo isn't preschool age yet, but he loves watching his older brothers do their schoolwork, and he likes to feel involved so I decided to start doing schoolwork fairly regularly with him.  When Optimus Prime & Bumblebee were three we did one page (front and back) of schoolwork everyday.  Since Scooby Doo isn't three yet I'm not going to go with such a set schedule but I do have some rough goals for us to work towards (but not necessarily meet).

• We'll keep doing "Colors & Shapes" workbooks.  We have a rough goal of one page (front and back) everyday.
• We're going to start some "Alphabet" workbooks with the same rough goal of one page (front and back) everyday.  We'll also work on him learning his alphabet song.
• The other day he surprised me by counting to 11.  I was surprised since numbers is something we've never really worked on before.  He further surprised me by pointing to the correct numbers as he was counting.  That might of been a coincidence, but it might not.  I had already decided to do the alphabet with him, and had unpacked those workbooks instead of numbers, so I went through a big internal debate over what to do.  I didn't want to do numbers and letters at the same time when we were already working on getting our colors down (and shapes too, as a secondary goal) so should I repack the alphabet workbooks and pull out the numbers ones?  In the end I decided to stick with the initial plan of working on our alphabet, but we'll also work on counting to twelve everyday.  Then thirteen, then fourteen, etc.
• We'll keep coloring in our coloring books.  Some days he love it, some days he doesn't.  But like I said, these are rough goals.
• Doing three board books with him a day was a big success.  He loved getting read books his level instead of books like The Berenstain Bears all the time, and he loved the "us time."  But lately he's been bringing me harder and harder books to read to him.  Books like Dr. Seuss, Scooby-Doo Readers, The Berenstain Bears, etc. so I'm thinking our new goal will be to read one of those a day instead.

*all page number refer to the front and back of one page.  Example, 1 page means the front and back of one page, 1/2 page means just the front (or just the back) of a page, etc.