Obviously this works better for some subjects than others so for now this time consists of Calendar, Bible, History, Science/Nature Study, Music/Composers, Art/Artists, CC memorization (another post on that another day), and a great selection of books to read aloud as a family. Most of these we get in our daily together time, the first stop in our schedule. But others are just once a week....life just isn't always predictable, no matter how many beautiful laminated schedules I create.
Calendar- This is the first week I'm actually focusing on the calendar in our learning time. Previously its been very gentle and the girls just sort of know the month, season, etc. When my oldest had her short stint in our neighborhood school she learned a few songs that my others picked up. So this morning, during our routine switch we began with the calendar. The girls will take turns putting the new day on the calendar and we sing our little songs for months/days. Then we practice our address and phone numbers before heading into our Bible section.
Bible- Because we are using the My Father's World "Adventures" curriculum this year we have a pretty structured Bible reading and memorization schedule. Honestly I don't always follow it but I use it as a guideline. Every 2 weeks there is a new scripture verse to memorize and the girls can color it and add it to our chart, but I regularly forget to do this. (Just today I found one we'd forgotten so that means they each get to color tomorrow morning!)
The teaching this year focuses on the names of Jesus. I'm loving the little Bible we read. Its fantastic to transition my older ones to read easily in their own Bible. So far we've learned about Jesus as the Light of the World, the Bread of Life, the Rock, the Giver of Living Water, and Way. Each day we read the passages and ask some processing questions. Middle Mary is my wiggliest one by far but she has shown depth and insight in her processing. Its such a gift to see each of them growing and a joy to hear them open our day in prayer. Little Mary joins us for this as well until her carpool comes for her and she heads out for preschool a couple of days a week.
Also, as for Scripture memory, our CC community is memorizing Psalm 139 to go along with our science component. Its 24 verses to go with our 24 weeks of CC. Its been a great pace for us to master just one verse a week.
History- This year I intentionally selected American History so it would coordinate with our Classical Conversations cycle 3 memorization. We are focusing on key figures and learning how faith in God played a vital role in the development of our country. We are using several living books to add to our Story of the US, the framework for our history topics. The girls have memorized the states and capitals and now we are learning other natural features. I'm quick to eliminate the fun projects due to time but most of the time we persevere. We've made the ships of Columbus, Poor Richard's Almanack, our own Declaration of Independence, and we are approaching lots of state projects. The girls love history because its mostly me reading and a little coloring. I'm thankful to see how they begin to make connections and see relationships forming through our stories.
Science- Most of our Science curriculum comes from the MFW package. We are studying stars, weather, plants, birds....The girls have Nature Journals that we aren't very regular in using but we are striving to use them more. Its been fun to watch the seasons change and sit across from our home, sketching the same tree every 3 months to watch for changes. CC Cycle 3 science covers the anatomy and physics. We've just finished studying the human body and all of many of the organs and systems. The girls have memorized facts about the digestive system, circulatory system etc. This week, our final for the fall semester, the girls will glue their colored organs onto the butcher paper life-size cutout of their bodies. Honestly, I don't love science experiments. They stress me out- mess, etc. I love reading about science but I know I need to grow to do more easy science experiments.
Music/Composers - We are studying Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" this fall/winter and this spring we will move into American composers. I'm really hoping all the Marys can find a great Nutcracker ballet in town. My littlest one has never seen it except for the PBS special- Both of the bigs were learning music theory at CC this go around via the tin whistle- I'll go on record and say its not my favorite instrument....or in my top 20 instruments. I focused a lot on tempo and time signature. There was a lot of "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge" and "FACE" action going on as well.
My mom made me take piano lessons for 3 years and I also sang in choirs at school. That morphed into a love for broadway musicals and the Indigo Girls. Go figure. So now I play guitar, the banjo and the drums. (not the piano, did you catch that?). But, M1 began piano lessons this spring and is working hard improving. She has a natural ear and an impatient heart! She's motivated thankfully. We'll see how this goes. She also participated in our church's children's Christmas choir and loved it!
Art/Artists- Again, CC is our foundation for many of the art we cover, but that these American Artists lessons do not begin until mid January. In the meantime, I regularly check out great art books from the library. The big Marys, for a CC presentation, were required to choose an artist from 1400 to 1800. We chose Michaelangelo, read some great books, looked at some fascinating (and educational, whew!) pictures. Then the girls, with the help of my husband model magic'ed their own Davids.
Veritas Press carries a great collection of Fine Arts Primers that I go back to year after year. Titles include The Boy Who Loved to Draw, Katie Meets the Impressionists, Katie's Picture Show, Henri Matisse: Drawing with Scissors, Degas and the Little Dancer, Van Gogh and the Sunflowers, Leonardo and the Flying Boy, The Life and Work of Michelangelo, Rembrandt and the Boy Who Drew Dogs, and Suzette and the Puppy. Each of these work to bring the child into the artist's mind and we've attempted to emulate the art we see in the pages.
Read Alouds- I was not a big reader growing up....oh how I wish I were! Now I'm getting the chance to catch up on all that I missed! I greatly consider our homeschooling venture a success based solely on the books we've read as a family and how that has transformed my girls in to story-lovers. They sit and listen to books on CD from the library and love to cuddle up on the couch to listen to books. My littlest Mary even has learned to sit near us while listening to great books. This year many of our books are from our American History time period but we are also reading some that we just chose for fun...
Remember the Shoe Books from You've got Mail? We're reading a few this year. A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Stuart Little, Gooney Bird Greene, Understood Betsy just to name a few.... selecting these books are at the top of my list of homeschool planning. There are just so many incredible books to enjoy.
So, 3 days later......that's our family learning component. Its not always on schedule. Its definitely not every subject everyday. But its our goal- to live within the pages of great books and find out more of the world and its Creator.
Soon, a post on our individual learning choices!
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