We will be starting Ambleside Online Year 3 in a couple of weeks. The following schedule is what we're shooting for:
2-3 AO Readings (Daily) - w/oral, written, & creative narrations
Map work (With most readings)
Timeline/BOC (With history readings)
Silent Reading (Daily)
Spelling/Vocab (Daily)
Math (Daily)
Poetry (Daily)
Copywork (Daily)
Simply Grammar (1-2x a week)
Writing Strands (1-2x a week)
Spanish (2x a week)
Nature Study (Weekly)
Artist Study (Weekly)
Dictation (Weekly)
Composer Study (Weekly)
This should take about 2.5 to 3 hours per day with each subject taking about 10-20 minutes each (more for nature study). We'll begin at around 8:30am-9am and finish up before noon. W asked if we could spend less time on reading and math and more time on science and history - and that's what we'll do. I will always believe that allowing kids to choose their own educational path keeps them excited about learning. My girls did this. They chose to homeschool and how they went about homeschooling. They decided to try public high school and they actively chose which high school to attend. W has always chosen his educational path as well. It gives kids ownership. It works.
Here are some of the books we'll be using:
History/Geography:
An Island Story (Marshall)
This Country of Ours (Marshall)
A Child's History of the World (Hillier)
Michelangelo (Stanley)
Bard of Avon (Stanley)
Landing of the Pilgrims (Daugherty)
Who was Marco Polo? (Holub)
The Complete Book of Maps & Geography
Basic Series Map Skills (Grades 6-8)
Basic Series World Geography (Grades 6-8)
Basic Series US Government, Economics, & Citizenship (Grades 6-8)
Everything You Need to Know About Geography Homework - Grades 4-6 (Zeman)
American History Homework Survival Guide - Grades 4-6 (Kantor)
Science:
Science Lab in a Supermarket ((Friedhoffer)
The Story of Inventions (McHugh)
The Handbook of Nature Study (Comstock)
Secrets of the Woods (Long)
ScienceSaurus (Houghton-Mifflin)
Science Homework Survival Guide (Dylewski)
Basic Series Science (Grades 4-5)
Basic Series Life Science (Grades 6-8)
The English Language:
Simply Grammar
Writing Strands
Spelling Skills 5
Word Study & Phonics 5
Basic Series Grammar & Usage
Literature:
American Tall Tales (Stoutenberg)
Tales From Shakespeare (Lamb)
The Heroes (Kingsley)
The Princess and the Goblin (MacDonald)
Children of the New Forest (Marryat)
The Jungle Book (Kipling)
Various selections from the AO Year 3 "free reading" list
Poetry: William Blake, Sara Teasdale, Hilda Conkling, & Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Nature: Reptiles, Flowerless plants, Crops, Fish, Amphibians
Artists: Fragonard, Bierstadt, Rockwell
Composers: Mozart, Mendelssohn, Bartok, Hindemith
Math: Teaching Textbooks 7, LOF Fractions (maybe)
Spanish: Instant Immersion Spanish
Art: Drawing with Children (Brooks)
We will also include lots of (afternoon) field trips and classes - using them as areas for more focused research (rather than for just a get-together). W will continue with Boy Scouts and CCD classes and he's trying to decide between basketball, soccer, or karate for this year.
So this is the goal. We may not even come close to the plan, but it's nice having it as a guideline to follow.
This is a cool site. Beautiful shots of NYC:
Aerial Views of New York City
Monday, August 22, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
It's Almost Autumn!
Camp and dance and work. Same stuff. Sorry we're not being that interesting lately, lol.
J's physical therapy is now at the end of its 3rd week and J's knee is feeling pretty good. She has no more pain during dance, but she's still afraid to do any grande plies. She's been good about doing her exercises at home, too.
She's going to try and get those summer reading books done before summer is actually over.
I'm going to try and get to Target and Staples and see if there's any back-to-school sale stuff left. I never made it there in July when I should have went.
I've added more field trips to our fall schedule. I'm so excited to get to places we haven't visited yet. Expect lots of photos in the fall.
J turned 15 last week. She had a big co-ed sleepover at my mom's house. 15 kids. I'm still exhausted, lol.
K starts college classes in 10 days. Damn. She was just 3 years old in her princess dress asking me what preschool would be like.
W has 10 more days of camp. Then we can really start getting ready for the new year. We're changing things up a little this year. He's going to love what's in store.
IHIP is going out this week. I'm using my regular old worldbook format. Keepin' it simple.
J's physical therapy is now at the end of its 3rd week and J's knee is feeling pretty good. She has no more pain during dance, but she's still afraid to do any grande plies. She's been good about doing her exercises at home, too.
She's going to try and get those summer reading books done before summer is actually over.
I'm going to try and get to Target and Staples and see if there's any back-to-school sale stuff left. I never made it there in July when I should have went.
I've added more field trips to our fall schedule. I'm so excited to get to places we haven't visited yet. Expect lots of photos in the fall.
J turned 15 last week. She had a big co-ed sleepover at my mom's house. 15 kids. I'm still exhausted, lol.
K starts college classes in 10 days. Damn. She was just 3 years old in her princess dress asking me what preschool would be like.
W has 10 more days of camp. Then we can really start getting ready for the new year. We're changing things up a little this year. He's going to love what's in store.
IHIP is going out this week. I'm using my regular old worldbook format. Keepin' it simple.
Friday, August 05, 2011
Runner's Knee
J has been diagnosed with "patello-femoral syndrome", also knows as Runner's Knee. From kidshealth.org, "Runner's Knee happens when the kneecap (patella) tracks incorrectly over a groove in the thighbone (femur) known as the femoral groove when you bend and straighten your knee. In healthy knees, the patella rests in the femoral groove and slides easily up and down when you use your knee. But when the patella is out of place, it can irritate the femoral groove and wear away the cartilage beneath the patella, leading to knee pain." She's had this since February or March. Neither one of us thought that much of it but then it started getting worse and she had to sit out of classes.
In June we went to the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries and that's where she got the diagnosis. They gave her a bunch of exercises and stretches to do, but she didn't do them often enough. Now that it's August and her knee still hurts, we got a new prescription from Harkness and J began Physical Therapy this week. She needs to go 2x a week for 8 weeks. According to them she should be good as new at the end. She has a new stack of papers with a new bunch of exercises she has to do 2-3x a day. Getting her to do them is the tricky part.
Nothing else really new going on around here. We're just continuing the same old summer stuff we've all been doing: Camp, Dance, & Work. I'm counting down the days til the end of August when W and I can get started on our new schedule. I'm part of a new local homeschool group and already started filling up my calendar with awesome trips and classes for the fall.
In June we went to the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries and that's where she got the diagnosis. They gave her a bunch of exercises and stretches to do, but she didn't do them often enough. Now that it's August and her knee still hurts, we got a new prescription from Harkness and J began Physical Therapy this week. She needs to go 2x a week for 8 weeks. According to them she should be good as new at the end. She has a new stack of papers with a new bunch of exercises she has to do 2-3x a day. Getting her to do them is the tricky part.
Nothing else really new going on around here. We're just continuing the same old summer stuff we've all been doing: Camp, Dance, & Work. I'm counting down the days til the end of August when W and I can get started on our new schedule. I'm part of a new local homeschool group and already started filling up my calendar with awesome trips and classes for the fall.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)