Our Homeschool Plan for Kindergarten

As the local public school students are getting ready to go back to classes this summer, we are already busy racking up days in our school year, but I thought I would take some time on here and our plan for the school year. Little BBQ is reading on about a 2^nd grade reading level and he is very advanced with basic arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.) However, socially Little BBQ is energetic five year that knows no social boundaries. He has some trouble with not looking at people when talking and fidgeting. He is always moving. We also have an energetic two year old, Miss Bubbles, running around.

To accommodate his unique set of needs, I pulled resources from all over the place. Some of the texts that I chose are for much older children, but we will be working with him at his own pace. If we do not finish the advanced texts this year, then that is fine with me. We are also working on some character training. I want him to be aware of more than just himself.

English

First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise and The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease by Susan Wise Bauer: I have heard wonderful things about both of these texts from other homeschooling families, so I am going to be trying them out on Little BBQ this year. I chose not to get the work book for Writing with Ease, so I will just pick out my own copy work from other things that we are studying this year. I will also be supplementing Little BBQ’s creating writing desires with some journaling. Little BBQ loves writing stories, so I want to encourage this behavior as much as possible.

Handwriting

We are not doing a formal handwriting program. I make my own handwriting sheets, and our English curriculum offers copy work, so we will continue to practice handwriting skills with other curriculum.

Math

I will be making my own drill sheets for Little BBQ to work on increasing him math facts speed. I also do play based learning with him to teach him about money and real world problem solving. We play restaurant or grocery store to learn counting money and budgeting. I purchased a set of pattern blocks that I am waiting to come in the mail along with a Pattern Block Book for Little BBQ. We will also be working through Math for Gifted Childrengrade 1 and math analogies for K-2 students. As a real challenge we will also be using Calculus for Young People and Patty Paper Geometry. I do not anticipate finishing Calculus for Young People or Patty Paper Geometry since these are advanced texts. We will work through them over a few years.

Nature Study

This is has been one our favorite activities that I plan to continue. We keep nature journals, find plants that are in our regional field guides, and check out books from the library about nature topics that interest us. The best part about nature study is that Miss Bubbles can be involved as well. She has her own nature journal and flower press.

Music

Aaron Copeland wrote a wonderful book entitled, What toListen for in Music, which is not geared towards homeschoolers, but I find that it is a wonderful basis for a music appreciation. I will be using the Aaron Copeland book as my guide for a music appreciation class for Little BBQ. We will also continue practicing the organ. We are currently using ProgressiveOrgan Method for Young Beginners which we love. The book is written for someone with no music background. The book is brightly colored, and very simple for even a young child to pick up. We will also be working on the recorder using Essential Elements for the Recorder. This text was recommended to me by a musician friend of mine who teaches private lessons. The book is also designed for someone with no music background, and it is very easy to follow. As an added bonus, this was a very economical book. I will also be taking Little BBQ and Miss Bubbles to free classes offered through our local symphony. They cover topics like rhythm and how to bow after playing.

Science

One of the best parts about being in a homeschooling group is that other parents allow me to review their homeschooling curriculum before I buy it. One of my friends recommended Building Foundations of ScientificUnderstanding: A Science Curriculum for K-2. I have a very strong science background, so I was not looking a program that holds my hand through every step of the process. I love coming up with my own experiments, but I wanted a guide or a checklist to make sure that I am covering all the necessary topics. I loved the map that Dr. Nebel provides in his book to show exactly how things in science are layered and build on top of one another. I also love this plan allowed a lot of flexibility, so we can cover flowers during spring time or magnetism in winter time when going outside for a long period of time is not realistic. I will be supplementing our science with texts that we already own and library books. We will be doing lots of experiments as well.

Art

We will be working on Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes, and we will be studying a new artist from each of the fifty different states since we are studying the fifty states this year. The projects range from oil pastel clouds to printmaking to fabric dyeing. I am really looking forward to our art projects this year.

Sign Language

We watch Signing Time about once a week to review and learn new signs. I want to further introduce Miss Bubbles to sign language and keep Little BBQ’s sign language skills up.

Spanish

I am teaching Little BBQ Spanish words, greetings, and conjugations this year. I am not using a set curriculum for this task.

Geography and History

We are studying the fifty states this year, so I am using TheSlightly Odd United States of America by the editors of Klutz as spine text along with library books related to each state. As a review Little BBQ will be getting Snapshots Across America Game for Christmas. We plan to make a three dimensional map of each state this year to help us visualize mountains, rivers, and towns.

Practical Life

As part of our state study Little BBQ will be making one recipe from each of the fifty states. This will teach him cooking skills. We will also be working on our conversation skills with The Art of Children’s Conversation.

Character Training

I want Little BBQ to become more away of other around him, so I am loosely following Teaching Your Children Sensitivity by Lindia Eyre and Richard Eyre.

Physical Education

Little BBBQ will continue with diving team. He practices two times a week and competes in meets as they arise. We also go bowling every other week with our homeschooling group. Little BBQ is really improving his bowling skills by practicing every other week. During winter Little BBQ will work on ice skating again.

Socialization

For socialization we belong to a homeschooling group. We are very active in the group, so Little BBQ gets plenty of exposure other kids with our group.

Chinese

Our Chinese class did not happen this fall, so we are working on putting together a Chinese class for English speaking students starting in January.

Spelling and Reading

We are not doing a formal reading or spelling program. From time to time we get new vocabulary works for our other texts and focus on learning how to properly spell and use those words. We read a lot at our house, so Little BBQ has plenty of time to improve his reading skills.

Posted on Simple Lives Thursday, Somewhat Simple, Catch a Glimpse

Exploring Music and Science with a Wind Organ

I love recycled crafts especially those that cover multiple areas of study. These recycled wind organs cover music, art, and science. It took us a while to collect up enough plastic bottles because we are not big plastic users, but we finally gathered enough plastic to make this cool wind organ.

A wind organ will make music when the wind blows. Our wind organ did not make a loud sound, but you could hear it if you were standing about 1-2 feet away from the organ which was a nice treat when we were working in the garden.

We used alcohol based markers (Sharpie®) to decorate the bottles. The marker seems to be holding up well even after getting wet.

You can use these wind organs for some science exploration for your children. Some questions to ask them as they blow into individual bottles:

1.       Which bottles make a high pitch sound?

2.       Which bottles make a low pitch sound?

3.       What do you notice about the holes of the bottles with a low pitch sound?

4.       What do you notice about the holes of the bottles with a high pitch sound?

We ended up with a nice discussion on how our simple wind organ works vs  a pipe organ.

For more information on a how a pipe organ works, please visit Pipedreams® website. 

For more information on wind organs including sound files from different wind organs please visit Pastorgan. 

Materials inspired by Plastorgan

Assorted plastic bottles

Knife

Scissors

Sharpie® markers

Twine or string

Directions

1.       Have an adult cut a skinny rectangle up the side of a bottle. I did this by inserting the knife in the bottle, then using scissors to cut the rest of the rectangle. You can cut different sized rectangles with varying heights but keep the width at the top and bottom the same to make the science questions are easier to understand for little children.

2.       Color designs on the bottles with the markers.

3.       Tie the bottles to a pole using twine. I found the easiest way to tie the bottles is to tie a loop around the neck of the bottle then tie another loop around the pole that you are attaching the wind organ to.

Posted on Simple Lives Thursday