OLD HOMESCHOOLERS NEVER DIE . . . THEY JUST WRITE CURRICULUM


"Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants."

Deuteronomy 32:2

Courses of Study

To view the Course of Study for each grade level, you can click on the "Course of Study" label
or "Search This Blog" for the specific grade level you wish to see.
To date, I have courses of study completed for kindergarten through fourth grades.

Newsletter Articles

In 2013 the Lord started me producing a newsletter for the homeschool group we are a part of. Every other month I write an article on a topic the Lord has put on my heart. I've decided to add these articles to this blog. I hope you will find encouragement through some of my ramblings. You can click on the label "Newsletter" to find the articles.

Sunday, January 30

Kindergarten, Reading, Week 1

Monday through Thursday we read from our textbook. I read ahead in the text and wrote questions on post-it notes (one for each day) and stuck it on the first page of each story. Here are examples of some of the questions:

Before Reading:
  • Look at the picture on page #, what is the family doing?
  • Look at the picture on page #, what meal are they eating?
During Reading:
  • What does, "Turn off the lights and colors die" mean?
  • Where is Joy?
  • What color is Joy's sleeping bag?
  • On page # what is Toby doing?
  • What kind of pal do you think Toby will find?
  • Why should Toby get away from the bear and buck?
  • What do you think Sal will do with the mitten?
Silent Reading:
  • Read this page silently and tell me what Dad had.
We talked about words I didn't think she knew and got their meaning from the context.

Monday was a poem about colors having a story, so we each told a story about a color and we colored pictures.

Kindergarten, Writing, Week 1

We are continuing the practice of writing capital letters.
  • This week was R and K.
For Small Muscle Developement:
  • Tuesday we pasted shapes into their outlines
  • Friday she played with playdoh
For Writing Development:
  • Wednesday we had a Story Map (see Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye)

Kindergarten, Math, Week 1

Monday we worked on Ordinals (1st - 6th) and Shapes.
  • I wrote the words (first, second, etc.) on pieces of paper and cut out 6 shapes (square, rectangle, triangle, circle, oval, and pentagon).
  • First we put the words in order.
  • Then I had her put a shape in a specific place. "Put the square second" K. would put the square under the word "Second". We did that a couple times.
  • Next, I took the words away and told her which shape to put first, second, etc.
Tuesday I introduced the concept of Symmetry.
  • I cut out shapes and showed her that some are the same when you fold them in half. If both sides are the same, we say it has symmetry or is symmetical. If both sides are not the same, then it is not.
  • We looked at a few shapes and had her decide if it was symmetrical or not.
Wednesday we worked on Shapes again.
  • We played Shape Lotto (see Games for Math by Peggy Kaye).
Thursday we worked on Ordinals again.
  • I took 6 cans out of the cupboard. Each had different contents (corn, beans, tomatoes, etc.).
  • Because on Monday I discovered that K. really had a good grasp on this I didn't use the words, but just told her which can to put first, second, etc. We did this a couple times.
  • Next I mixed up the cans and lined them up and asked her which was third, sixth, second, etc. Then I mixed the cans up and we did it again.
  • Last, I stacked the cans and asked her which was second, fourth, first, etc.
Friday we worked on the concept of Same Shape.
  • I made a matching game to play (it had 20 matches = 40 cards).
  • Some of the shapes were similiar, for instance:
    • Stars that had 4 points, 5 points, 6 points, and 8 points.
    • Smiley faces - one had empty circles for eyes and one had darkened eyes
    • Right triangle and an equalaterial triangle

Saturday, January 29

Kindergarten, Science, Week 1

This week we were learning about the planets. K. already has a basic understanding of the planets from watching the Magic School Bus video about the planets.
  • Monday we looked at a pamphlet I had about the planets. It gave a few details of each planet and I picked out one fact for each planet for us to remember.
    • Pluto - the darkest planet (yes, I know Pluto is no longer classified as a planet, but in the video it is, so at this point I didn't want to confuse her)
    • Neptune - high winds (up to 1,300 mph)
    • Uranus - coldest temperatures
    • Saturn - ring and many moons
    • Jupiter - largest planet
    • Mars - radiation
    • Earth - where we live
    • Venus - lots of clouds
    • Mercury - smallest planet
  • Tuesday and Wednesday we made a project to help us remember these facts. I glued 2 pieces of white construction paper together to make 1 long piece.
    • We glued on a black button to represent Pluto
    • We glued a circle of gold glitter to represent Neptune
    • I cut a jacket shape out of felt a glued a button on it to represent Uranus
    • We used a button with a paper clip around it to represent Saturn
    • I cut a large circle out of felt to represent Jupiter
    • We found a red button for Mars
    • We colored a wood heart green and blue for Earth
    • We glued a piece of cotton ball over a button for Venus
    • We found a small button for Mercury
    • We glued 10 yellow pompoms on for the sun
  • Thursday we talked about the planets spinning and orbiting. We pretended to be planets and spun and orbited the coffee table in the living room. Then with the project we had made, I used string to show the "orbits" of Pluto, Earth, and Mercury so K. could see that some orbits are longer than others.
  • Friday we cut out some pictures of planets and glued them to the #1 (see this post).

Kindergarten, History, Week 1

This week we:
  • Read Genesis chapters 1 through 4.
  • Looked at and discussed pages 4 and 5 of Ancient World.

Kindergarten, Bible, Week 1

This week in Bible we:
  • Memorized Psalm 139:1 - each day we read it through 5 times (with K. keeping track with tally marks), then on Friday we each quoted it without looking and then I wrote each word on a piece of paper and K. put them in order.
  • On Wednesday I introduced Catechism #1 "Who made you? God made me." and we looked up the verses Genesis 1:27 and Job 33:4.
  • From My Picture Story Bible we read stories #1, 2, and 3.
  • We read a missionary story from Missionary Adventures by Carol Allison.
  • We read The Princess and The Kiss by Jenny Bishop.
  • We read Who Holds the Brush in Short and Sweet Volume 2 by Katherine Loop and talked about how God has a plan for our lives and even if we don't understand what He is doing, or we think we have messed up our lives, God is still painting a beautiful picture.