2011-2012 Curriculum

I don't know why, but this year has been the hardest to plan so far!  I've been dreaming of the day I would have my very own Kindergartner, and now that it's here I feel like a first year teacher again.  That's the fun thing about homeschooling I guess, every year you ARE a first year teacher!  (Yikes, hadn't really thought about this before.)  Even though they are your children, you have most likely not had the exact same combination of ages, personalities, and circumstances as the year before.  Woohooo!  Nothing like a challenge.

Anyway, here is our current curriculum plan for the year with my 4 year old PreK and 5 year old Kinder:

Bible: 

-Grapevine Studies Old Testament Beginning Book

-Learn OT book names

-Memory Verses

-Hubbard’s Cupboard verses recorded by Matt

-Steve Green’s Hide Them in Your Heart

Language Arts: 

-Zoophonics (dot 2 dot, Level A sentences/Coloring page)

-Picture Dictionary

-Heidi Songs color/shape books

-Starfall

-You Can Read by 1+1+1=1

-Word Family Minibooks by Hubbard’s Cupboard

-Hooked on Phonics

Writing:  

-Kidwriting at every opportunity

-start Mrs. Meacham’s mini-lessons mid-year

-Science Journals

-Thankful Journals

Math:

-Pattern Block Books

-Marcy Cook (Early Skillboard, Math Tiles)

-Workjobs

-Number Journals by Hubbard’s Cupboard

Science:

-Animal Investigation Binders (add Zoophonic’s animal friend every week)

-Habitat theme, one per month (add spanish vocab. in calendar)

-Science with Sid, weekly theme and experiment

Art: 

-TLC Alphabet Book

-Monthly directed drawing

Note:  I hope to go through and explain how we use some of these components over the next few months.  I will add a link on this blog post everytime I make an update.

Jungle School Fall Schedule 2010

Here is our Jungle School Fall Schedule.

The week number corresponds to the lesson plan covering that character trait at the Hubbard's Cupboard website.

For the Dictionary column, I listed the animal friend we will be working on, then left space for you to write down your friends and family that start with the letter.  See the Prayer Dictionary post for more info.

Note for Panamanian Jungle School participants:  I wrote down the date we would be meeting to introduce the lesson.  For example, August 20 would be the introduction day to week 2 (Attentive, Samuel, Bubba Bear), then you would continue week two the following Monday through Thursday.  In the our home, we will be ending the week with our Friday session, that way I can work out the kinks and post the weekly blog the weekend before you would begin.  Make sense?   

2010-2011 Curriculum

It is finished!!  Well, for now anyway.

I got great inspiration and started planning on May 1st, thinking to myself "Wow, at this rate you'll have the whole year done in a week."  Then came June, then July, lots of family visiting, vacation, graduation, exhaustion, and when I finally got to sit down at the computer...ZERO creativity!  Just when I was about to throw in the towel, it came.  Mostly when I laid my head down to sleep at night, but I'm not complaining.  At least the inspiration came!

I have been working on a two-year multi-level plan that I could just rotate through from ages 3-6.  I want the main focus to be on the bible and memorizing God's word, while integrating all other aspects of learning into that.  I also understand that math and language arts need to be taught at each child's instructional level...so how do I put it all together for children of various ages?!?!  Whew, I did!  (I think...hehe)  All right, enough commentary, here's our plan...

Bible:  Every week we will be focusing on a character trait, Bible story, and memory verse from the Joyful Heart Character curriculum at Hubbard's Cupboard.

Language Arts:  Picture Dictionary with friends and family, Kidwriting, Zoophonics, Sight word and Alphabet readers

Math: Math Their Way activities, Workjobs, Pattern Block books, Number Journals

Everything Else:  Will be integrated into our monthly themes.  I would like to focus on a different habitat per month (Forest, Ocean, Arctic, Rainforest, Farm, etc.) going deeper into our zoo friends that live in that habitat along with some super fun science and art activities.

Bible Review, Part 2

Scholastic Read & Learn Bible $14.99

My favorite for ages 5 and up!

Again my criteria included: 1) number of stories included, 2) quality of illustrations, 3) age appropriate language, and 4) text size.

1) Although this is a “story bible” (meaning a collection of stories rather than the complete text of the bible) it is a rather complete collection of 102 stories. I only found 2.5 stories not included from this year’s curriculum (Elijah listening to God’s voice, the Wise and Foolish Builders, and the half because David celebrating in front of the ark is barely covered.) 

2) The illustrations are simple, yet very culturally and historically relevant. Great for the primary age group as it is still very colorful and inviting, yet the more realistic illustrations give it a non-babyish look.

3 & 4) The print is large, making the text easy to read and understand.  It is paraphrased specifically for young readers using the CEV and KJV. I appreciate how they tried to give accurate accounts and not edit out key details. Instead, they highlighted words in bold, then explained or gave interesting information about them in a text box at the bottom of the page. This is a double bonus as it helps children develop skills to read informational text, and at the same time sparks interest in and a deeper understanding of God’s word.

Another bonus is a 40 page section at the back of the book, encouraging parents to share the Word with their children through 20 lessons on understanding topics of the Christian faith like worship, prayer, etc.

Love the price too!

Note:  Be careful searching for this online.  If something comes up at $29.99 it is probably the computer game...NOT the bible!

Bible Review, Part 1

I spent this summer reviewing Children’s Bibles to use for the Joyful Learning curriculum. At first it was overwhelming, seeing an entire wall stocked with “Children’s Bibles,” but as I started looking through I was less than impressed by many. My criteria included: 1) number of stories included, 2) quality of illustrations, 3) age appropriate language, and 4) text size. After hours of clicking through online reviews, then sitting on the floor of the Christian bookstore scrutinizing the finalists…I found a couple that I really love!

My favorite for 2-4 year olds is...

Read and Share Bible by Gwen Ellis: $14.99

1) There are more than 200 bible stories

2) Every story has one or two delightful illustrations.

3) The stories chosen give a good chronological overview of the bible in simple, yet accurate language that preschoolers can understand.

4) The text is large and clear, making a nice transition for preschoolers who are becoming interested in recognizing letters and sounding out words.

A bonus feature is a little box at the end of each story commenting or making connections to a preschooler’s life.

Another huge plus for this bible is that you can buy it on DVD! The stories are not presented in order, there are four volumes each containing multiple stories using the same illustrations and language from the bible.

Note: I see that they just put out a toddler version in July. I would NOT recommend the toddler version for our purposes, as it only has half of the stories along with parent activities integrated after each story. Also, they have Christmas and Easter specials which are basically just the stories extracted from the bible and DVD and packaged together in a holiday theme. (I would save your money since it would just be repetitious, but it would be a great gift idea.)