Hall of Science again yesterday. Yeah, we can't get enough of that place. It was great because a lot of homeschool moms met up there and I got to meet a bunch of new people. Most of the kids were W's age, so he got to hang out and play with new and old friends. They had the new Magic exhibit which was really cool. Here's some pics (The Body-less Head, the Levitating Chair, and the regular exhibits like The Green Screen, How Fast is Your Baseball?, and The Rock Climbing Wall):

















Ok, so I finally received all the books for the new Ambleside year we're gonna have. It feels weird to actually follow a set schedule with set books, but I'm game for anything. I wrote everything out that we're planning. It's written out in a way I can keep track. This one is for W. Are you ready? Ok, take a look at this:

Science
Scheduled readings and research will include these books:

Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock
James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot
The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
The Burgess Seashore Book for Children b Thornton Burgess

And a focus on mammals, birds, and wildflowers. Will also include nature study, nature notebook, readalouds, sketching, painting, observations, collections, experiments, and projects.
The year will also include field trips to various science museums, attractions, and events.

Language Arts
Phonics work will include the Total Reading Grade 2 workbook
Poetry (readalouds, memorization, copywork) will be from:

A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne
When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne

Scheduled readalouds with oral narrations will be from:

The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter
Tales from Shakespeare by Charles Lamb
Parables from Nature
The Blue Fairy Book
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

Additional reading will include:

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
King of the Golden River by John Ruskin
Peter Pan by James M. Barrie
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
Fairy Books by Andrew Lang

Also will include scheduled copywork from various sources (Classic lit, Bible, Poetry), weekly spelling tests, typing, handwriting, and foreign language: Spanish and Latin.

Mathematics
Will include the Total Math Grade 2 workbook.
Will also include consumer math, banking, budgeting, use of manipulatives, and hands-on calculations in context.

Social Studies
U.S. and World History will include Patriotism and these books:

Our Island Story
Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin
Viking Tales

History Biography will include these books:

Benjamin Franklin by Ingri D'Aulaire
George Washington by Ingri D'Aulaire
Buffalo Bill by Ingri D'Aulaire

Geography will include these books:

Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling
Tree in the Trail

The year will also include the creation and continuous updating of a wall timeline, projects, and field trips to various ethnic and historic neighborhoods, history museums, attractions, and events.

Visual Arts
Will include Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes

Plus various art tools including: watercolor, acrylic, and tempera paints, charcoals, colored pencils, sculpting clay, pencils, canvasses, crayons, felt, chalk, oil pastels.

Methods include: still life, nature sketching, sculpting, painting, collages, holiday crafts, photography, and computer graphics.

Handicrafts will include: sewing, knitting, soap carving, finger weaving, and various Cub Scout activities.

The year will also include several field trips to various art museums, attractions, and events.

Music
This year will include wide exposure to all forms of music, with emphasis on traditional, folk, and classical music and composers. Unstructured piano, recorder, and guitar practice.

Physical Education
Will include participation in weekly/semi-weekly youth tackle football (May to December), weekly basketball clinic (February to April), weekly circus arts classes (Sept to May), and free indoor and outdoor play.

Health
Continued discussions, reading, websites, and projects including: Personal cleanliness* Dental hygiene* Basic food groups * Communicable diseases* Preventive measures against disease* Neighborhood safety.

Am I out of my mind? Maybe. The kids are so ready. Me? Not so sure. I bought all the books used (1 cent, 3 cents, eighty cents, etc). It sure looks good on paper. J's is even more cool looking. I'll post hers next time. We'll be starting this very soon - maybe this week. Tomorrow B is taking the kids out to my mom's and I'll be home all by myself to finish moving furniture and getting this place back together after losing a living room and creating 2 more bedrooms. Once we're up and running again (and dh's dresser is out of the durn dining room, lol) we'll have the area to do tablework, an uncluttered couch for readalouds, and the kids can relax and read in privacy in their own bedrooms. I'm curious how this year will pan out. We'll see.