In preparation for this school year, I purchased Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, believing that a pre-packaged curriculum would be best for us since we would have a new baby in the house. While I really love this curriculum, I didn't take into account the fact that Husband would be gone more than home, and that we wouldn't be able to stay on track everyday in every subject. Also, we really haven't had time to cover every subject laid out in the guide, so I've just cut some things out. Someday the baby will be older, and Husband won't travel anymore, and then we'll have time to do everything I'd like to do. Until then, I'm living in the real world. While we still use the resources from the curriculum, I've tweaked them to work for us.
This first group of subjects the kids do separately, on alternating days. Well, except math. Lately we've been doing math everyday. QL does her lessons on "pink" days (M, W) and IW does his on "blue" days (T, Th).
Math: Singapore 1A
We follow the lesson plans from Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory. IW works at a faster pace than QL.
Phonics (QL): http://www.phonics.net.au/
This is a FULL phonics curriculum, online, for FREE. There is an option to order it and have it sent to you, but it comes from Australia (I believe), and shipping is steep. You could just print the worksheets, but I opt to write everything out on the whiteboard and make my own flashcards. Because of this, we don't do the scrapbook. She practices writing on the whiteboard and by doing copywork pages. We also use scrabble letters. I have bought some of those PreK and Kindergarten workbooks from Walmart, and every once in a while she'll do worksheets out of those, but only when she wants to.
Reading: They each read to me from books of their choice out of a selection that is appropriate for their reading levels. IW has read several of the Magic Tree House series, and I'd imagine we'll work our way through most, if not all of them. QL switches out books often. She really wants to read some books that are just too hard for her, but her reading level has really jumped recently, as she reads these by herself in her free time.
This next group of subjects we do together. We alternate science and history, doing each 2 days a week. Bible stories, devotions, character quality and copywork happen daily (in a perfect world).
Science: God's Wonderful Works, The Creation in Six Days
This is the science text that came with BLHFHG. We are just working our way through the book. We do the activities throughout, and I also add some that I find online, in 106 Days of Creation Studies from Simply Charlotte Mason, or in one of the science workbooks I have picked up over the years. The kids notebook what we've studied about each day. We really like science around here, so we watch a lot of science-y shows and read a lot of science-y books. I feel like we are way more than covered in this area.
History: Again, we are using the resources that came with BLHFHG, but we're doing them at our own pace, and in our own way. We read the passages in the order that they are laid out in the guide, then I have the kids narrate back to me. I also got some Dover coloring books about the Pilgrims, which they color while I read. We are going to take a break, back-track, and make a "My America" book, as laid out at charlottemasonhelp.com. I wish we had been doing this from the beginning.
Bible: Right now we are reading through The Jesus Storybook Bible, which we all just love. This is our second bible story book, so I think next we may read through the Bible using Penny Gardner's plan. I really try to not make this a "schoolish" thing. Our faith is a part of our daily life, and why we are who we are. Therefore, we talk about God, the Bible, and faith any time it comes up. QL particularly likes to read her bible, so we do so regularly.
Character Quality: Achieving True Success, The Power for True Success, Kids of Integrity, and Quest Club badges.
Basically, I choose a quality to focus on, and we look at the 4Ws and H of it. WHAT is the quality, WHY is it important, WHO should we apply this quality to, WHEN/WHERE should we apply this quality, and HOW should we put on this quality (not necessarily covered in that order). We have just begun doing this, and the plan is not without it's flaws, but I figure flubbing it a little is better than not doing it at all. We focus on both spiritual and practical applications.
Copywork: We notebook for science, and will begin notebooking for history soon, so that covers copywork for those days. We also copy the definition of our character quality, and a bible verse that instructs us about the quality.
This is what we do for now. I have an art curriculum that I would like to start doing on Fridays, but right now that's just not happening. We also have recorders for the kids to learn to play, but when we got them all they wanted to do was make horribly loud ruckus, so they've been put up for a while. Aaaand, I'd love to do a nature walk every week. These are goals to work toward. We're going to be schooling year round (for a myriad of reasons) unless we move, so I plan to implement more of these fun subjects into our routine.
I'm getting ready to order Little Hands to Heaven for Em. I don't necessarily think I NEED a plan for preschool, but I do know for sure that having a guide to go to every day will increase the odds that Em will get that one-on-one time with mom, which is really the goal. I'm not sure if we're going to stick with Heart of Dakota curricula going forward, or if we'll move toward a more CMHelp or AO plan. I'm going to rely on Husband's suggestions and wait and see what circumstances we find ourselves in when the time comes to decide.
This first group of subjects the kids do separately, on alternating days. Well, except math. Lately we've been doing math everyday. QL does her lessons on "pink" days (M, W) and IW does his on "blue" days (T, Th).
Math: Singapore 1A
We follow the lesson plans from Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory. IW works at a faster pace than QL.
Phonics (QL): http://www.phonics.net.au/
This is a FULL phonics curriculum, online, for FREE. There is an option to order it and have it sent to you, but it comes from Australia (I believe), and shipping is steep. You could just print the worksheets, but I opt to write everything out on the whiteboard and make my own flashcards. Because of this, we don't do the scrapbook. She practices writing on the whiteboard and by doing copywork pages. We also use scrabble letters. I have bought some of those PreK and Kindergarten workbooks from Walmart, and every once in a while she'll do worksheets out of those, but only when she wants to.
Reading: They each read to me from books of their choice out of a selection that is appropriate for their reading levels. IW has read several of the Magic Tree House series, and I'd imagine we'll work our way through most, if not all of them. QL switches out books often. She really wants to read some books that are just too hard for her, but her reading level has really jumped recently, as she reads these by herself in her free time.
This next group of subjects we do together. We alternate science and history, doing each 2 days a week. Bible stories, devotions, character quality and copywork happen daily (in a perfect world).
Science: God's Wonderful Works, The Creation in Six Days
This is the science text that came with BLHFHG. We are just working our way through the book. We do the activities throughout, and I also add some that I find online, in 106 Days of Creation Studies from Simply Charlotte Mason, or in one of the science workbooks I have picked up over the years. The kids notebook what we've studied about each day. We really like science around here, so we watch a lot of science-y shows and read a lot of science-y books. I feel like we are way more than covered in this area.
History: Again, we are using the resources that came with BLHFHG, but we're doing them at our own pace, and in our own way. We read the passages in the order that they are laid out in the guide, then I have the kids narrate back to me. I also got some Dover coloring books about the Pilgrims, which they color while I read. We are going to take a break, back-track, and make a "My America" book, as laid out at charlottemasonhelp.com. I wish we had been doing this from the beginning.
Bible: Right now we are reading through The Jesus Storybook Bible, which we all just love. This is our second bible story book, so I think next we may read through the Bible using Penny Gardner's plan. I really try to not make this a "schoolish" thing. Our faith is a part of our daily life, and why we are who we are. Therefore, we talk about God, the Bible, and faith any time it comes up. QL particularly likes to read her bible, so we do so regularly.
Character Quality: Achieving True Success, The Power for True Success, Kids of Integrity, and Quest Club badges.
Basically, I choose a quality to focus on, and we look at the 4Ws and H of it. WHAT is the quality, WHY is it important, WHO should we apply this quality to, WHEN/WHERE should we apply this quality, and HOW should we put on this quality (not necessarily covered in that order). We have just begun doing this, and the plan is not without it's flaws, but I figure flubbing it a little is better than not doing it at all. We focus on both spiritual and practical applications.
Copywork: We notebook for science, and will begin notebooking for history soon, so that covers copywork for those days. We also copy the definition of our character quality, and a bible verse that instructs us about the quality.
This is what we do for now. I have an art curriculum that I would like to start doing on Fridays, but right now that's just not happening. We also have recorders for the kids to learn to play, but when we got them all they wanted to do was make horribly loud ruckus, so they've been put up for a while. Aaaand, I'd love to do a nature walk every week. These are goals to work toward. We're going to be schooling year round (for a myriad of reasons) unless we move, so I plan to implement more of these fun subjects into our routine.
I'm getting ready to order Little Hands to Heaven for Em. I don't necessarily think I NEED a plan for preschool, but I do know for sure that having a guide to go to every day will increase the odds that Em will get that one-on-one time with mom, which is really the goal. I'm not sure if we're going to stick with Heart of Dakota curricula going forward, or if we'll move toward a more CMHelp or AO plan. I'm going to rely on Husband's suggestions and wait and see what circumstances we find ourselves in when the time comes to decide.
