School Weeks 1 & 2 2012/2013

With two weeks of school under our belt, I can now begin to relax and settle back into our school routine.
I started Week 1 with just independent reading and math review for A10 and read aloud time, phonics and math review for X8.  A10 read Strawberry Girl and X8 and I read The Real Thief.

On Week 2 A10 started language lessons, spelling and American history using Dear America books. On Wednesday she started Life of Fred Fractions as well as her Smart About the Presidents journal(once a week for both). She read the book Mr. Popper's Penguins and started Listening for Lions.  X8 started his cursive workbook, spelling and independent reading(he reads his phonics readers during this time, to himself or a loud) time.  We read the book Madeline in London.

Next week we start our weekly Co op(28 weeks).  We will be adding Astronomy, Mystery of History, Writing with Ease, and of course Co op homework to our list of school subjects! Our days are going to be full, that's for sure! That's not counting orthodontist appts, now that A10 is going to be getting braces next month.

We are looking forward to a new year of Co op! The classes for this year are:

• Science/Ancient History
• Civics
• Math/Logic
• Language Arts/Literary Analysis 
• Geography
• Anatomy/Health
• Pa History
• Art/Music

Fall! here we go!!!

Our Upcoming School Year 2012 Edition Part 2

The goal for this school year, once again is to help X7 (soon to be X8!) to master the skill of reading.  He is so close, he is starting to get frustrated with not being able to read certain things, which just might be the push he needs to finally make it happen!

We are going to use the first 45 minutes of each day, while his sister is doing her independent reading time, to focus on phonics, spelling and read aloud time.  He will be doing independent reading as well, he has readers that he enjoys reading! He won't be doing 45 or even 30 minutes, but maybe 10-15 minutes a day.

All is well when it comes to math and writing.  He loves doing copywork and he enjoys math. This year we are doing Math U See Gamma, which is multiplication!

Here is what I have planned for X8 for the upcoming school year.

Five in a Row: One book a week.  Instead of a lapbook, this year we are doing simple literary responses to each book. Name of the book, favorite part of the story, main character of the story, story setting and if he liked the story or not. He gets to check either a smiley face or a frowny face for that one! He can also draw his responses.

Madeline in London
Down,Down the Mountain
The Hickory Chair
Another Celebrated Dancing Bear
The Pumpkin Runner
Angelo
The Raft
Albert
The Finest Horse in Town
Babar, To Duet or Not To Duet
Snowflake Bently
Cowboy Charlie
When I Was Young in the Mountain
Who Owns the Son
The Gullywasher
Mrs. Katz and Tush
Grass Sandals
Roxaboxen
Arabella
They Were Strong and Good
Higgins Bend Song and Dance
How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the USA  
The Hatmaker's Sign: A Story by Benjamin Franklin
One Morning in Maine
The Patchwork Quilt
The Duchess Bakes a Cake
Mailing May
The Little House
Hanna's Cold Winter
The Bravest of Us All
The Real Thief (early chpt book)
A Grain of Rice (early chpt book)
26 Fairmount Ave (early chpt book)
The World of Narnia Collection
Modern Curriculum Press Phonics Practice Readers

Lamppost Co op Reading List: One book a Month
The Cat on the Mat is Flat
Sneakers by the Sea
House for Hermit Crab
My Apron Book
Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears
Sarah Plain and Tall
A Taxi Dog Christmas
The World According to Humphrey
Westward to Home

Math
Math U See Gamma

Writing
Handwriting Without Tears: Cursive
Writing with Ease 1

Spelling 
Learning to Spell Through Copywork Book A

Phonics
Explode the Code 3

History
The Mystery of History Vol 1

Science
Exploring Creation with Astronomy
Nature Study

Our Upcoming School Year 2012 Edition Part 1

We are back from our annual Roxbury holiday!  School is right around the corner.  For the next two weeks we'll be going to doctor appointments for both the kids and myself, getting any last minute shopping done for school supplies and getting everything ready for our co op.

Technically we start school next week on the 20th, but all I'm requiring next week is reading time and math review. The reading part is for my son's benefit and the math part is for my daughters benefit!

A10 has been doing plenty of reading this summer, thanks to her Kindle she has read almost all of the Warriors book series... that's a lot of books!  I'm so happy she finally learned to appreciate reading on her Kindle!! Ironically, her Kindle broke while we were at Roxbury. She had Grampa's old 2nd generation Kindle, for some reason the digital ink just froze on the screen and then the screen went fuzzy.
When we got back home Dh searched online to see if this had happened to others, and it had.  He tried everything but nothing worked.  So, we made a decision.  I told Dh how important it is for her to have a Kindle for school.  A lot of the books she is reading for me this year were on her Kindle.  So we decided to buy her a new one.  Thank goodness Amazon now has a $79 Kindle that is perfect for her.  Yes, I gave up my allowance $ and Dh gave up half of his and we had the $ to get it for her.  She had been saving some $ as well and she happily gave it up towards her new Kindle!!

This Kindle is smaller and lighter than the one she had, so we bought her a silicon cover in case she drops it, which I have to say almost never happened with her previous one. She has always been very careful with it. I was able to download all her books on the new Kindle and now she is ready to go!

Here is the plan for A10's 5th grade year!

American History: I am going to give the Dear America books another try this year.  Last year they were a bit much for her and myself, so we switched to the My America books that we hadn't read the year before. It turned out to be a great decision. I have a feeling she will have no problems with these books this year.  She  will be doing half of the reading this time around, we'll alternate days. There is a notebooking journal that I created to go along with all the books.

Turn of the Century(1900-1920)
When Christmas Comes Again: The World War I Diary of Simone Spencer, 1917
A Time for Courage: The Suffrage Diary of Kathleen Bowen, 1917

The Great Depression(1930-1939)
Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, 1932
One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping: The Diary of Julie Weiss, 1938

World War II (1939-1945)
Early Sunday Morning: The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, 1941
My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck, 1941

Biographies- These books will go along with the Dear America books.
Who Was Amelia Earhart?
Who Was Franklin Roosevelt?
The Story of Ann Frank

These Dear America books will probably take us two thirds of the year to read, which is fine.

Civics
Smart About the Presidents (go along with the 2012 elections)

Geography
Speedy Geography by homeschool bits

Science
Exploring Creation with Astronomy
Nature Study

Math
Math U See Epsilon (Fractions)
Life of Fred Fractions

Language Arts
Intermediate Language Lessons Part 1
Writing with Ease 3
Learning to Spell Through Copywork Book B
Vocabulary from Classical Roots
Editor in Chief A1
Handwriting practice both cursive and print

5th gr Reading List (independent reading time)
Strawberry Girl
Mr. Popper's Penguins
The Twenty One Balloons
The Story of Dr. Doolittle
Call It Courage
Plain Girl
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
The Door in the Wall
The Family From One End Street
Breaking Staling's Nose
Listening for Lions 
Ginger Pye
Little House books
Roald Dahl books
We will also be doing artists studies, Tchaikovsky and Van Gogh.

Lamppost Co op Reading List
Igrane the Brave
Surviving the Applewhites
Meet the Austins
The Shakespeare Stealer
Gypsy Rizka
The Saturdays
Dealing With Dragons
The Mysterious Benedict Society
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_ Chronicles of Narnia


History
The Mystery of History Vol 1

Ancient History related read a loud & independent readers;
Discovers and Explores text and journal
The Five Chinese Brothers
Book of Greek Myths
Cleopatra
Detectives in Togas
Pompeii...Buried Alive!
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Aesop's Fables
The Book of Virtues