2014-2015 Summary
Alyse-7th grade
Lexi- 5th grade
Alaina-3rd grade
Layla-1st grade
Morning Devotional/Religion:
We began our school day with a read aloud story or two from The Classic Stories from the Lives of our Prophets complied by Leon R Hartshorn.
Somedays we also read poetry or from James Heriot’s Treasury for Children
or from William J. Bennett’s The Children’s Book of Virtues.
Math:
I discovered Life of Fred
Math Books are not a complete curriculum on their own. I like the A-M books supplemented with
another curriculum that does more review, practice, and drill. I love the LOF books and will probably always
use them through Pre-Algebra, but will always using something else with
them. We used Miquon Math Lab to
supplement; they work, but I wouldn’t rave about them. I do really like LOF Fractions and Decimal
books because they have the practice (one book per subject) that the other
books lack. I do not like LOF Algebra
1. I think it would work great as an
Algebra review, but is not enough for learning Algebra for the first time. I found that it just assumes you know many
basic algebra principles. Alyse switched
to Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 in Feb. and it is working much better for
her.
Writing:
I got The Writer’s Jungle last fall and
implemented parts of it this year. I
love it and highly recommend it! It was
a way different approach to writing than public school does. It has a way better approach! My kids liked writing much better this
year. I plan to reread it this summer
and add more writing in next year.
The kid’s favorite form
of writing is writing letters to friends and family. With the fun of getting a response back, it
encourages them to keep writing!
History:
We learned about the
1800’s… expansion of the US, the Oregon Trail, the gold rush of 49, the Pony
Express, the Underground Rail Road, and the Civil War.
We read aloud American
History Stories Volume 4 by Mara Pratt, which I liked most of the
stories. We also read aloud The
Civil War 1861-1865 by Jay Wertz, which would have been better as
individual reading than read aloud. Unspoken
by Henry Cole is a beautiful wordless story about the Underground Rail Road
with beautiful pencil drawings.
We did some of Time
Travelers: The Civil War in America
by Homeschool in the Woods. I like the
handwriting pages, the timelines, and some of the activities.
Individual History Reads
More History Read Alouds
Individual History Reading
A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840 by B. Greenwood
Science:
Nature was our focus this
year.
I read aloud The Story
Book of Science by J. Fabre, a living book about 87 different science
topics (mostly nature topics). We watched some great documentaries. My favorite was Planet Ant-Life Inside the Colony by BBC which can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhGno2BltsO.
We subscribed to the
Nature Friend and Lexi and Alaina enjoyed reading each monthly magazine.
We each started nature journaling and loved it! We used
Keeping a Nature Journal- Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World
Around You by Leslie and Roth, Nature Anatomy- The Curious Parts &
Pieces of the Natural World by Rothman, and Farm Anatomy- The Curious
Parts & Pieces of Country Life by Rothman for inspiration.
We read aloud Minn
& The Mississippi by Holling, but I have to say I was disappointed in
it.
We explored these awesome places!
And as always, Scott has
great science conversations with the kids about all kinds of science
topics. He teaches them about what he’s
learning about like limb regeneration, nutrition at the cellular level,
chemistry, genetics, October’s lunar eclipse and more!
Music:
Music is a core and a
priority around here. Alyse continued
violin and piano lessons. Lexi continued
violin lessons and will start piano lessons this summer. Alaina started cello lessons. They each did beautifully and made great
progress!! Alyse participated in Youth
Symphony and Lexi in Junior Strings in the fall semester. Alyse and Lexi love to play violin duets
together or Alyse playing piano accompaniment to Lexi’s violin. I love how they love music! Practice is a priority every day on their
individual daily To-Do lists.
We read about Mozart for
our composer study.
Art:
I came across a Norman
Rockwell book at a thrift store and it became a favorite to us all. It has 102 of his paintings with a few
paragraphs about each. We did this
during snack time for the first semester and loved this time! I need to find another book like this on
another artist for next year.
We also read Come Look
With Me: Exploring Landscape Art with
Children. It has a picture with
questions and info about each picture, enjoyable.
We tried our hand at creating
a few!
I read aloud A Nest for
Celeste by Henry Cole, a cute story about a mouse with beautiful pencil drawings.
And of course, we
continued to produce mass amounts of arts & crafts, being crafty people
here! Lexi bought a book on learning how
to knit, and taught herself how to knit!
Alaina bought one on learning to crochet and with some help from me and
Grammy she has learned to crochet. Alyse
took a liking to embroidery and produced a lot of perfect tiny stitches! Layla is the master of drawing and coloring. She started embroidering this spring and is
learning to master her stitches and she is trying to get the hang of
crocheting. They have no problem keeping
their hands busy during read aloud time!
We enjoyed art, baking,
and crocheting time with Grammy!
Habit Training:
We started Laying Down
the Rails for Children Book 1 last fall and completed 1 unit on
manners. We like it and I believe in it,
just somehow slipped from the “morning basket” and never got taken up
again. Plan to get into next year.
Book Journals:
For Alyse and Lexi, I
require a book journal entry on each book they complete. It’s a simple one page format listing the
title, author, date completed, setting & time period, main characters,
short summary, about any character that stands out as great and how they felt
inspired by them if it applies, and then they select a question from a list of
ideas to write about.
Copy Work/Handwriting/Memory Work:
Alyse, Lexi, and Alaina select something daily
to copy into their copy work notebooks.
Usually they pick a poem to write out, quotes from history heroes, something
from a read aloud book, or something to memorize. They place what they have written to memorize
on their bathroom mirror and read through it each time they use the bathroom
and while they are brushing. When they
have it memorized they repeat it to me and then select something else to
memorize and write it out for copy work. They do some in print and some in
cursive. Their handwriting tends to be
much neater on the printed handwriting forms in the handwriting binder than in
their notebooks! For Layla I write out a few lines from the book she has been
reading. She traces my writing and then
writes it on her own. 
Typing:
Alyse used Typing
Instructor for Kids for 20 min. a day and is getting typing proficient.
Geography:
Lexi did a semester of
geography. She read Childcraft’s Places
to Know. It has a page or two about
incredible places around the world. Some
of the info like the tallest building is outdated and the first picture I tore
out of the book. She read a chapter, found
and labeled the places onto a set of maps, and then narrated about the chapter
to me.
Map work:
I made a Map Binder that has in page protectors
a labeled map with blank maps behind it.
They study the labeled map for a while and label a blank map from
memory. They repeat each map until they
feel they have it mastered and then move onto the next, and repeating mastered
maps occasionally to keep them memorized.
In the back of the binder is a divider for each to keep their own
labeled maps. http://printablemaps.net/ is a great site to print labeled and blank
maps. As we read, we locate the places
we come across on the map.
Reading:
Our Read Aloud List
Little People Who Became Great by L. Large
-A Lantern in her
Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich
The Fields of Home
by Ralph Moody
-The Cabin Faced
West by Jean Fritz
-By the Great Horn
Spoon by Sid Fleischman
-Moccasin Trail by
Eloise Jarvis McGraw
-**Seven Alone by
Honore Morrow
A Nest for Celeste
by Henry Cole
Homer Price by
Robert McCloskey
-Riders of the Pony
Express by Ralph Moody
*A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Jacob T. Marley by
R. William Bennett
The Life of Our
Lord by Charles Dickens
-Meet Abraham
Lincoln (Landmark) by B. Carey
-Freedom Train by
Dorothy Sterling
-Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
-Cyrus Holt and the
Civil War by Anna Gertrude Hall
**Swiss Family
Robinson by Johann Wyss
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum
**Shaking
the Nickel Bush by Ralph Moody
Audio
Books
Work and the Glory Vol 1 by Gerald Lund
Work and the Glory Vol 2 by Gerald Lund
**Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott
Lots of John Bytheway talks
** Extra favorites!
-History read alouds
I would recommend
every one of these books.
Individual Reading Lists:
Alyse (a Voracious reader):
Princess Academy #2 by S. Hale
Banner in the Sky by J. Ullman
The Hollow Tree by J. Lunn
The Woods Runner by G. Paulsen
The Golden Road by L.M. Montgomery
The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit
Rumors of War by D. Hughes
The Penderwicks on Gardam St. #2 by J. Birdsall
Prelude to Glory #2 by R. Carter
Prelude to Glory #3 by R. Carter
Since You Went Away by D. Hughes
Far From Home by D. Hughes
When We Meet Again by D. Hughes
Prelude to Glory #4 by R. Carter
Prelude to Glory #5 by R. Carter
Little Lord Fauntleroy by F. H. Burnett
Magic for Marigold by L.M. Montgomery
Prelude to Glory #6 by R. Carter
The Hoosier Schoolmaster by E. Eggleston
Emily of New Moon L.M. Montgomery
Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery
Emily’s Quest by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
Mormon Scientist by H. J. Eyring
Prelude to Gloyr#7 by R. Carter
Lexi:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling
Where the Red Fern Grows by W. Rawls
The Middle Moffat by E. Estes
Ginger Pye by E. Estes
Amos Fortune by E. Yates
The Twenty One Balloons by W. Pene du Bois
The Penderwicks by J. Birdsall
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by J. Bridsall
The Journeyman by E. Yates
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by K. Wiggin
Little Lord Fauntleroy F.H. Burnett
Caddie Woodlawn by C. Brink
Marry Poppins by P.L. Tavers
Thunder on the Tennessee by G. Wisler
Alaina:
The Indian in the Cupboard by L. Banks
Peter Cottontail by T. Burgess
Meet Kirsten by J. Shaw
Kirsten’s Surprise by J. Shaw
Kirsten Learns a Lesson by J. Shaw
Happy Birthday Kirsten by J. Shaw
Kirsten Saves the Day by J. Shaw
Changes for Kirsten by J. Shaw
Meet Addy by C. Porter
Addy’s Surprise by C. Porter
Happy Birthday Addy by C. Porter
Addy Saves the Day by C. Porter
Miracles on Maple Hill by V. Sorensen
The Return of the Indian by L. Banks
The Dear Old Briar Patch by T. Burgess
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch, and
the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
What I have been
reading:
Educating the Whole Hearted Child by C & L Clarkson
Every Living Thing by J. Heriot
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
Gift from the Sea by A.M. Lindbergh
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by M. Twain
The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn by M. Twain
The Read-Aloud Handbook by J. Trelease
A Bride Goes West by Alderson and Smith
Red Scarf Girl by J.L. Jiang
Amos Fortune by E. Yates
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by H.B. Stowe
Little Lord Fauntleroy F.H. Burnett
Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie P. Hinckley
The Wednesday Letters by J. Wright (got to see him!)
The Proper Role of Government by Ezra Taft Benson
Miracles & Moments of Grace by N.B. Kennedy
The Family that Nobody Wanted by Helen Doss
Washington Irving’s Sketch Book
Little Lord Fauntleroy by F. H. Burnett
I enjoyed them all but my top for favorites, 1st
through 4th were Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Red Scarf Girl, Every Living
Thing, and The Family that Nobody Wanted.
I had more time to read the first semester when Alyse was in symphony
and I had 2 almost uninterrupted hours every week while I waited for her! (First time in over 12 years!) Otherwise, it’s pretty much after the kids
are in bed. Scott does homework and I
snuggle up with a good book!
Our Schedule:
I tweaked our schedule a
few times in the first semester, trying to find the right flow. I so resisted switching read aloud time to
the afternoons. I thought doing our
together stuff first and then dividing to individual work would be better. I finally gave in and switched that up and ta-da! In the morning as the kids get there
individual work done, I can take care of the littles, work with Layla, read
story books to Layla, Landon, and Audrey, read my next scripture lesson, and am
available to check math and copy work or help as needed and then in the
afternoons, while Audrey is sleeping we can read aloud in peace! Audrey isn’t screaming or trying to get the
girls art stuff. It works, it flows, and
I’ll keep it!
Morning
Devotional: Prayer, read a story or two from The Classic Stories from the
Lives of our Prophets, read aloud poetry or value story
Individual
Work
Lunch
Read
Aloud from the “morning basket”
This Year’s Challenge:
Audrey. 17-22 month old
Audrey. Need I say more! Homeschooling with a fussy demanding trouble
finding toddler is hard. Table time does
not work with Audrey, period! I know, I
know, just embrace the stage and know that it won’t last forever, but still it’s
just HARD!
Two Great
Things I Implemented This Year:
1.
The “Morning
Basket”
This is our basket that holds our current read aloud books, we
don’t read from every one every single day, but frequently. It has worked very well for us.
This simple implement was life changing! It helps our day to flow smoothly and be intentional! This web post explains this process http://amongstlovelythings.com/spiral-notebooks/ (I agree with everything Sarah says about it)
We started this our 2nd
semester and it was a wonderful much needed change! The girls love being able to see what they
need to do each day without asking me for each next step, being able to choose
what order they want to do things, and they love being able to check it off as
they finish! I love not having to remind
each kid what they need to do next! Lexi
loves to get done what she likes doing least first and saving the “good parts”
like reading for last. Alyse like doing
what she likes doing first and saving the dreaded, like math, for last! The best part is that Alyse and Lexi, as soon
as they wake up, start on their list.
Most days, when I go to wake them up they have their 30 min of reading
completed, sometimes Lexi is even up early enough to get math and copy work
done and then they get time to play before lunch.
This Years Inspiration Sources:
1. 4 amazing women that live in Wesier that have so much more experience and wisdom than I!
2. simplycharlottemason.com/
3. amongstlovelythings.com/read-aloud-revival-the-podcast/
4. amongstlovelythings.com
5. wildflowersandmarbles.com
Overall:
It’s been a wonderful year!
I have truly been amazed to see each child’s progress; I enjoy that, but
even more so, I have truly been amazed to see the relationships strengthen and
soar between each of my children! I am incredibly thankful for the blessing
homeschool has been in my life, my children’s lives, and to our whole
family. Not every moment is easy and
smooth, but it is so much more peaceful than our public school life ever
was! It’s hard to describe in words but
since homeschooling I have felt
peaceful, content, and whole!
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