Wednesday, August 8, 2012

curriculum 2012-13 {7th and 5th}

consider this our list of homeschool goals for the year.  if we veer off the path a bit, it will be to enjoy a study of something else worthy of our time... even if to play.  that's important, too.  i should pencil that in more.

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i really want the kids to enjoy being kids... for as long as possible, you know?  extra time for simple child's play.  american girl dolls are still cool.  yo.  especially when you dress 6 of them up as king henry viii's wives.

these girlies will be rounding that corner of maturity soon enough.  *sigh*

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this year, my goal is to simp.li.fy.  of course, i may need to remind myself of this.  daily.  even after all this time, i'm still learning to not get distracted by new, bright, and shiny objects (aka, new curriculum with the shiniest of reviews). 

for the past two years, i've been trying to find a way to incorporate living books with what we're learning.  we love story of the world, but finding the recommended books has become quite the chore.  who has time to run between three libraries to find them?  not i.  so we are finally giving sonlight a go.  the organization of it all has me a tad giddy.  i've learned this mama really does best with a check-list.  aaand, they use story of the world, too.  win-win.

so here is our list, pulled together by shopping our own shelves, and splurging investing in new...

A-Nator, 7th grade

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math:  she taught herself using saxon 7/6 last year.  you know, we had to give it a go since that's what everyone else seemed to use.  she did perfectly fine, and it gave me great comfort to hear her say, "oh, i remember that from teaching textbooks." ;) she really missed teaching textbooks.  she's been skimming right along in tt7 over the summer  to make sure she didn't miss anything important to this curriculum last year.  as soon as she's done, she'll move right into pre-algebra tt during 7th grade.

science:  apologia general science

history, geography, language arts, literature: sonlight, core f.  love having everything intertwined.  we're kind of excited about this core.  it centers around a group of people often found in the media, yet not covered by most curricula.  nator will also be using wordly wise, book 7.

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Gracie, 5th grade

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math:  teaching textbooks.
finishing up grade 5 and moving on to grade 6.

science: parts of apologia zoology 3, magic school bus, and misc books.

history, geography, language arts, literature: sonlight, core d.  in nator's spare time, we hope to have her join our american history discussions.  the girls have been looking forward to studying more american history... you know, since we've been talking about ancients and middle ages for the past two years.   although, middle ages has been our favorite, so far.  gracie will also use wordly wise, book 5

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both girlies will use:

spelling
sequential spelling 
this has been collecting dust on our bookshelves.  it's just a matter of using what we already have, for now.

grammar
we did the first half last year (loved it) and simply plan to continue right along with the other half this year.

art 
ARTistic pursuits
(other resources: how to teach art to children, lives of the artists, art treasury)  

foreign language
i'll be honest, y'all.  i struggle with this one.  if i'm looking to simplify, let's just focus on english, shall we? ;)  in all seriousness, i'm looking at rosetta stone with the french (gracie's choice) and spanish (nator's choice) in 10 minutes a day workbooks to supplement.  this will be the last thing we add.

we will also revisit typing (using mavis beacon and spongebob - again, don't judge), cursive, latin roots using vocabulary vine (not to be confused with the entire language), and maybe a lil' life of fred (beginning with fractions).  all of that, combined with a few shelves of resources from presidents to composers, and i think we are set.    

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last, but not least:
our girls are passionate about a few things that have me running the mom-taxi a bit.  of course, if it were up to me, i'd have us all reading in bed together.  that just sounds relaxing, yes?  but i've come to realize that homeschool isn't always at home.  some seasons less than others.  i'm in that season now.  due to what our girls get out of their passions, i'm okay with that.  i think. ;)

1.) theater.  so far, the girls have performed in oliver, the best christmas padgeant ever, the sound of music, and (currently) willy wonka.
2.) teen dance classes.  yes, they are graduating on up with the teens.  *sigh*   nator in tap.  gracie in... everything; including competition.
3.) music.  with 2 years under her belt, nator will continue piano, gearing up for her third guild.  gracie simply wants to take guitar from her daddy.

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here's to another memory making school year!!

feel free to hop on over to the not back to school blog hop, hosted by the ihomeschool network!

Not Back to School Blog Hop

19 comments:

  1. I love your photo shoots! I always want to get my girls up, force them to wear a dress and smile. Seriously though you do inspire me to take photos of my girls. I am going to do that asap. My not-back-to-school photo shoot.

    I totally agree with your first paragraph. I am always hesitant to put in writing what our year WILL look like because if I veer off the path in favor of something else part of me feels like I have been dishonest. My list is our guide. We did not finish SOTW2 this summer. But we will finish it this fall. Who is to say that this is bad, other than myself who feels I failed at some arbitrary deadline......

    I am ready to start up again. My girls really need the rest of August to play and soak up every bit of summer sun. We will start back up again in September (although Lilah just began a biography of Shakespeare last night...)

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    1. we 'do' put a lot of pressure on ourselves, don't we? play time in august sounds wonderful. our girls gave their summer to willy wonka... so far, there's been no regrets. but mama is tuckered out. ;)

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  2. oh lady i do love your pics... Someday when we are both not busy will you teach me... :0) Yes!

    Your school year looks great! Kate and Matt are doing General Science too so Maybe they can collaborate (spell that) a little....

    you look like you are going to have a busy.. but things will be learned, and hearts will be molded, and little girls will grow! So it is a win, win.. right!

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    1. you make me *blush*, girl.

      i just arrived home from 6 hours of willy wonka... please don't ask me to spell anything. thank god for spell check! ;)

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  3. It all looks great!

    I found your comments about Saxon math interesting. My daughter is taking a Saxon 7/6 math class this year through our local homeschool group - the class only has three kids in it and the teacher is wonderful. I'm hoping this puts us on a good math track.

    Have a wonderful year!!

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    1. if the teacher is wonderful, it can only put her on a great track, mary. ;)

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  4. The pictures just make the post! Jessica, I hear you on the arbitrary deadline failure!

    Your year looks great H-Mama. It seems like you guys go and go but I guess you do have days where you just stay home and do school. Otherwise, do ya'll school on the road or at the theater? You should do a post about schooling in other places!

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    1. thanks, brenda. it does seem like we are constantly on the go... seems rather ironic, since i'm a bit of a homebody. i suppose i keep sane by telling myself that there are hs moms who actually do and outsource more. hard to believe, right? ;)

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  5. First of all GREAT pictures. I always love your photo shoots. A couple of years ago I sorta borrowed..stole your 'picture frame' idea. :) We are doing General Science too. Keilee has done it 2 days and really likes it 'so far'. Things always seem to be easier the first few weeks..days..minutes. ;) Email me if you find any great online FREE resources for it and I will do the same. We used Saxon for a couple of years and used TT last year. Keilee wants to go back to Saxon so we are doing Pre Algebra. She much prefers books she can hold! She doesn't like to read on my iPad even. I think she was the only kid in the homeschooling world who didn't like Fred. She didn't think he was 'cute' she thought he was kinda 'dumb'. Her words.. Sonlight has ALWAYS looked wonderful to me but too pricey for us.

    Now to my favorite part of the post...the first 2 paragraphs. AMEN and AMEN! I want Keilee to stay a little girl too. She is maturing in so many ways but her heart and soul are still young. She loves playing with her dolls and doesn't care who knows it. She likes to hold my hand when we walk.. All sweet, lovely things that just delight me.

    Here's to a wonderful year! Can't wait to 'read' all about it.

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    1. we are fans of real books here, too. so sad that generations from now may not appreciate the turning of a page, yes? but... i am thankful for electronics, too. ;) we haven't officially 'met' fred yet - it's an 'extra', so since we're simplifying... well, i can't guarantee that he'll get used. ha! yay for young girlies who enjoy being young... still. (((hugs)))

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  6. Sounds great! We are using a lot of what you are for your curriculum. We love Sonlight and TT. My oldest loved core f...hope you do too!

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    1. jenn, i'm just bracing myself for some of the more heart-wrenching stories of core f. my girlie is quite tender-hearted. but i've heard many say that this was one their faves. ;)

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  7. Sounds like you have a great year ahead of you!

    I know what you mean about using what you have...Sequential Spelling (and several other things) have been collecting dust here, too. Not that I don't like it, but there is only so much time in the day...and it's easy to get overloaded with all the great resources out there.

    Awesome photos of your girls! I have a 7th and 5th grader, too! Hoping to do some cute back-to-school portraits...but my kids desperately need haircuts first!

    Have a wonderful year of learning together!

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  8. Simplifying is my goal this year, too. We are going to do history in the fall and science in the spring, because of exactly what you said...I just don't ahve time to find all those extra books and things when we are doing EVERYTHING else. I plan to brush the dust off Writing Strands, which was our fave writing program and also sometimes just let the history notebooking be their writing.

    Your year looks great! I hope it goes well! How do you divide your time between the girls since they are doing different things? I am just curious because I may end up doing that at some point.

    Aaaaand...I LOVE your photo shoot! Love, love, love...what did you use to edit the photos, if you don't mind my asking. You always have such a great old-fashioned look to your photos!

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    1. dividing time between the two? nator really helps with that... she's pretty good at learning independently, when needed. ;)

      thank you, theresa. :) my go-to editing program is Photoshop. there's so much to it - i still have much to learn!

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  9. Love the pics of your sweet girls! Looks like you have a great year ahead of you!

    If you are interested in connecting with other Apologia users, check out the Apologia Blog Roll that I host here:

    http://myjoy-filledlife.blogspot.com/2012/07/apologia-blog-role-2012-2013.html

    Blessings!

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  10. LOVE the photos. Your girls are beautiful! Have a beautiful and blessed year!

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