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Thursday, January 29, 2015

Social Studies Timeline for Homeschool from Elementary through High School

After reading about the "Story of the World" curriculum and about the benefits of going through history chronologically from the beginning, I decided we would start prehistory and Ancient Civilization studies earlier then what is usually recommended in the learning outcomes. The Story of the World Curriculum is adaptable over approx. 3 grade levels, so both my kids will be doing it together. The second time we cycle through it I will have to use the adult history books by Susan Wise Bauer or find other material to fit the same time period, as my daughter will be going through it twice.

Homeschool in The Woods: http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/recordoftime.html


"Story of the World" includes Biblical history as well, wherever it fits in chronologically. Once we get into the Middle Ages and Modern Times I think it would be interesting to keep learning about Church History up until the current time, as we go through the timeline to the beginning of time until the present time.

Our schedule will look something like this:

2014 - 2015  Kindergarten and Grade 3
Ancient Civilizations 
(Story of the World Volume 1: From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor)
Including Old Testament History.

2015 - 2016 Grade 1 and Grade 4
World Civilizations 500 - 1600
(Story of the World Volume 2: The Middle Ages: From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance)
Including Early Church History and the development of other religions over the world at this time.

2016 - 2017 Grade 2 and Grade 5
Early Modern Times, Exploration, Aboriginal Cultures, Canada: Colony to Country
(Story of the World 3: Early Modern Times)

2017 - 2018 Grade 3 and Grade 6
Canada and The World
(Story of the World 4: From Victoria's Empire to the end of the USSR)
Potential Supplements for the Canada portion:
"Outlooks 5: Connections Canada" (Oxford Press)
'Outlooks 6: Global Citizens" (Oxford Press)

2018 - 2019 Grade 4 and Grade 7
Ancient Civilizations
She will cycle through Story of the World Volume 1 a second time.
He will use "Outlooks 7: Ancient Worlds" (Oxford Press) and "The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome" by Susan Wise Bauer as his spines.

2019 - 2020 Grade 5 and Grade 8
World Civilizations
She will cycle through Story of the World Volume 2 a second time.
He will use "History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade" and "The History of the Renaissance World: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the conquest of Constantinople" by Susan Wise Bauer as his spine.

2020 - 2021 Grade 6 and Grade 9
Europe and North America 1500 - 1815
She will cycle through Story of the World Volume 3 a second time.
He will use "Crossroads: A Meeting of Nations" (Pearson) with supplements.

2021 - 2022 Grade 7 and Grade 10
She will cycle through Story of the World Volume 4 a second time.
He will use "Challenge of the West: A Canadian Retrospective from 1815 - 1914" (Oxford University Press) with supplements.

2022 - 2023 Grade 8 and Grade 11
She will use "History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade" and "The History of the Renaissance World: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the conquest of Constantinople" by Susan Wise Bauer as his spine.
He will choose from electives.

2023 - 2024 Grade 9 and Grade 12
She will use  "Crossroads: A Meeting of Nations" (Pearson) with supplements.
He will choose from electives.

2024 - 2025 Grade 10
She will use "Challenge of the West: A Canadian Retrospective from 1815 - 1914" (Oxford University Press) with supplements.

2025 - 2026 Grade 11
She will choose from electives.

2026 - 2027 Grade 12
She will choose from electives.




Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Grade 1 Curriculum Plan 2015 - 2016

Reading
All About Reading

Phonics
Explode the Code

Spelling
All About Spelling (start halfway through the level 1 of All About Reading)

Creative Writing
"Write About Me" by EPS

Math
Singapore Primary Mathematics U.S. Edition
Manipulatives from Learning Resources

Handwriting
"Handwriting Without Tears" first, "A Reason to Handwriting" after if more practice needed.

Science
"Let's Read and Find Out Science" series

Geography/Mapping Skills
Apple Press "My First Mapping Book"

Fine Arts
Art projects from Deepspacesparkle.com

Music
Piano lessons - Little Mozarts Vol. 2

Poetry
"The Llama Who Had No Pajama"
"Talking Like the Rain"
Poetry Tea Parties

Bible Devotionals
"The Bible for Little Eyes" by Kenneth Taylor
"Read N Share" Bible DVD series

Read Alouds
Various choices from Sonlight.com reading lists, award winners, etc.

Nature Study
Charlotte Mason style nature journals.

Logic & Critical Thinking
"Building Thinking Skills" from Critical Thinking co.

Fitness
Swimming
Ballet
Gymnastics


Grade 3 Curriculum Plan 2014 - 2015

Our plan for Grade 3:


Reading (Structured):
All About Reading






Phonics
Explode the Code workbooks




Spelling
All About Spelling











Creative Writing
"Just Write" by EPS
(ended up not using this... we don't do creative writing till upper elementary)
















Math
Singapore Math Primary U.S. Edition
Manipulatives from Learning Resources
(We ended up switching to CLE Math which we've stuck with for the last couple years! Love it!)





Handwriting

Handwriting Without Tears - Printing Power,

(Why 3 different ones? HWT is the easiest but not quite enough practice, I like the style of cursive in ARFH better and it's extra practice. The Scripture verses are a nice touch. Draw. Write. Now. is just a fun addition and doesn't even feel like work, it also doubles as credit for art.) **We ended up switching to Zaner-Bloser which I prefer for Grade 2 and 3.








History
Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times
with supplemental books, videos & activities. This was the highlight of our year.






















History Through the Ages: A Record of Time - Binder and figures











Science

Originally I was planning on doing Apologia but after going through several of the books I decided to stick with something written by actual scientists.

Unit Studies, some I'll put together myself and some I'll use from Eclectic Homeschooling.

"Elementary Science Education: Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding" by Nebel  ***Update: We ended up not doing this, though we did read some of the books on the book list. My son was accelerating so quickly in science that nothing I could find was appropriate. If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely choose Mystery Science for grade 3. We tried it this year with my kids and it was a big hit.


























Geography/Mapping Skills

Canada Map Book 1 by Apple Press

















The Complete Book of Maps and Geography
























Social Studies


I bought "Canada, My Country" by Donna Ward but I don't like it. We'll read some of the books listed but that's about it. I found free printable's about each Province from Crayola Canada online and he is learning about the flags, Provincial birds, etc. that way.
















Our Communities Outlooks 3 by Oxford Press
(If I can get a hold of a copy, if not then I'll just put together a unit study this year or use the "Let's Discover Canada" workbook from Apple Press. The Ontario textbook "Discovering Communities" is also available at our local library but I'd prefer the B.C. curriculum).

























Computer Skills
Keyboarding Without Tears (this was a bust, it had too many glitches!! Not a good program. Ended up getting the MAC Typing Instructor app in Grade 5 and that has been working very well).












Fine Arts
"Drawing With Children" Monart Method drawing course






















Music
Piano Lessons - Little Mozarts 4 and Faber 1


Poetry (for "Poetry Tea's" and Unit Study)
"A Child's Introduction to Poetry"


















"The Llama Who Had No Pajama"























"Talking Like the Rain"

























Languages
Song School Latin (this is meant for younger kids, but for my kids it was not a good fit until later grades. I regret selling this a couple years ago)

















Bible Study

"What's in the Bible?" with Buck Denver DVD series #1 - #7



Bible Devotionals
Kenneth Taylor books
























Read Alouds
Various choices from Sonlight.com, "The Well Trained Mind", Ambleside Online, Veritas Press, etc. Preference given to award winners, books that correspond with our history lessons, and biographies.



Extra's

If time and money allow I'd love to get started with an Astronomy software like Starry Night.