3rd Grade/Kindergarten Reading List Part 1

Last quarter was a bit of a bummer for our reading list. After reading 32 in our Spring Quarter I was hoping to at least meet that goal in our Summer Quarter, but no such luck. We were just too busy. It really was a good thing we only did spelling and reading - we had no time for anything else! This quarter we'll just have to try and do better! And at least we did met the goal I set last quarter...

Anyway, onto reading goals:

• Optimus Prime is reading a mixture of level 1 & level 2 books. Mostly level 2 books but I did buy some new level 1 books. I decided to move our schoolwork away from so many worksheets and focus more on reading so we needed new books anyway. Plus, Bumblebee will need them for when he finally gets to level 1 & level 2 reading. Next quarter we should certainly be on chapter books if I could just find what I'm looking for...
• Bumblebee is still reading level pre-1. We did tackle some level 1 books at the end of last quarter but he still wasn't ready so I switched him back to level pre-1. HOPEFULLY we can get him up to level 1 by the end of this quarter. 
• Scooby-Doo has some reading goals too! Since I've decided to start him in kindergarten this upcoming quarter (as I was writing up his schedule I started thinking maybe he's becoming bored with pre-k schoolwork...) I decided it was time to make him a reading list as well. He and I are going to be reading a lot of short stories and poems, one a day, every day, even on days off.

Now, our reading list. Last quarter I set a goal of 19 and we read 23. This quarter I'm setting a goal of 19 again. I'm worried of a repeat of last quarter:

• My Little Pony: Fluttershy and the Fine Furry Friends Fair
• My Little Pony: Applejack and the Honest-to-Goodness Switcheroo
• My Little Pony: Pinkie Pie and the Rockin' Ponypalooza Party!
• My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell
• My Little Pony: Rarity and the Curious Case of Charity
• My Little Pony: Rainbow Dash and the Daring Do Double Dare
• The Haunted Library
• The Haunted Library: The Ghost in the Attic
• Magic School Bus: Dinosaur Detectives
• Magic School Bus: Expedition Down Under
• Magic School Bus: Electric Storm
• Magic School Bus: Butterfly Battle
• Magic School Bus: Food Chain Frenzy
• Magic School Bus: Fishy Field Trip
• Magic School Bus: Color Day Relay
• You Choose: Can You Survive a Zombie Apocalypse?
• You Choose: Can You Survive a Virus Outbreak?
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Pirates
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Twisters and Other Terrible Storms

Month in Review: July 2015

Final summer quarter post! Yay!

I have their curriculum planned out for the next three months but I won't get into that here. It'll all be up on their respective Quarterly Curriculum pages soon.

Optimus Prime has been doing great. So far no luck on finding chapter books for him so I think instead our fall quarter we will work on harder level 1 & 2 books. I'll have to buy some new ones. Bumblebee is still struggling so next quarter we'll jut keep with the level pre-1 books but we'll try out the harder ones. Hopefully that won't blow up in my face... They did their final two spelling units and finished their cursive handwriting unit. I think next quarter I'll combine cursive, spelling, and reading all into one unit. We'll see how that works.

Scooby-Doo is getting antsy to get back to doing schoolwork. I was worried he'd refuse to do it since he was enjoying his summer off so much but he's gone back to asking to do it. He's now jealous of his brothers again.

I can't wait to start our new quarter! It'll be nice to get back on track!

Month in Review: June 2015

Like I warned you in the May post, be prepared for some skimpy information and a distinct lack of goings ons!

So, Optimus Prime & Bumblebee continued to work on their reading. Optimus Prime is doing really good. I want him to start chapter books next quarter but I'm hitting a wall. I want ones that are easy enough for him that have large print, lots of pictures, and very few words each page. Also, preferably something that we have read before. The he could do a chapter or two each day. But I'm having a hard time finding what I want. Bumblebee is still struggling. My goal was to get him up to level 1 by the end of the summer quarter but I'm thinking that is not going to happen. We have some harder level pre-1 books. Maybe we'll do those next quarter? Spelling was units 39 & 40 and for Handwriting we still worked on cursive. The more I look at Optimus Prime's handwriting the more I think I might have to bring that subject back full-time... but just for him. Bumblebee's handwriting is very nice for his age and I think a Handwriting course would bore him to tears.

Scooby-Doo is enjoying his summer off being a kid. He's not even jealous that his brothers are doing schoolwork and he isn't.

More at the end of next month! I'm looking forward to going back to a full schedule!

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!

Hiatus

I know there has been a lack of posting lately. Truth is, after writing up a summer schedule we decided it would be best to take the summer off. Lately it had seemed like things were just pilling up too much and trying to stay on top of it was just too hard. In the end we figured a summer off wouldn't hurt the boys so we took it. Optimus Prime & Bumblebee still had to do their reading and spelling, while Scooby-Doo got the whole summer off.

We've started school work again. Actually, we started it last month. I'll fix the post about our summer schedule and post our new one in a few days here. And I'll get around to updating all of our pages and posting what is going on as well. It's just going to take a bit of time to get the blog back on schedule!

As for Scooby-Doo's therapy, I have no idea what is going on there. We somehow seemed to have gotten into a fight with the elementary school because we are choosing to homeschool instead of sending him there. They are now denying us services. I'm a bit confused. All along they knew we were homeschooling and they said it was no issue. Now all the sudden it is. Wednesday when my husband picked him up from therapy he was given an ultimatum about enrolling Scooby-Doo in Pre-K (which, Scooby-Doo is currently homeschooling in Kindergarten). He opted not to enroll our son. Later that day I received an email from them saying our son now no longer qualifies for therapy. I'm a bit confused, and I'm not entirely sure if it is legal. However, all of this is for another post after I get everything with them straightened out. 

So, we have quite a bit going on in our lives right now so posting will be a bit spotty for this quarter. However, I will try to get everything up and get this blog back on track by the end of October.