Hello, Hello, Hello!!

Did you miss me?  Did you think I was gone forever?  Well, none of you are getting rid of me that easily.  ;-)

I did not intend to be away so long but I am sure you are all aware of how easily life gets in the way and somethings end up shoved in the linen closet.

School is almost over here.  In fact, there are only eight days left and I could NOT be happier.  Bryce's current school given me a new reason to homeschool on a weekly basis for the last month or so.  Letters of intent to homeschool are typed up and ready to go!

Yesterday, I completed the summer curriculum for the older kids.  I think they will enjoy it.  This week I want to finish the outline for Noah and Abbie's curriculum and get at least the details of the first week panned out for both.  My hope is to stay about two weeks ahead so that come the end of summer I will have a few weeks where I won't have to plan which will allow me to work on our actual school year curriculum.

Here's what I have planned out.  Let me know what you think.

Everything is planned for 1 week (unless it says otherwise) but I can adjust things according to what the kids need.

While I am not going to make an actual lesson plan for Grammar and Spelling, they will be emphasized through everything else.

Language Arts:
Runaway Ralph (2 wks)
James and the Giant Peach (2 wks)
Mr. Popper's Penguins (2 wks)
The Cricket in Time Square (2 wks)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (3 wks)

Math:
Geometric Shapes
Points, Lines, Segments
Fractions
Charts and Graphs
Intro to Multiplication
Intro to Division
Multiplication and Division as Inverse Operations
Predicting Outcomes
Multiplication Facts
Time to the Quarter Hour and elapsed time
Problem solving
Math Review

*I will also be doing bell ringers for the kids.  They will be a mix of what they already know and what they are learning.  Week 11 will be review of everything they learned during school and during the summer to prep them for the start of the school year.*

History:
The Constitution
The War of 1812
Our Journey West
The Oregon Trail
Native American Territory
Civil War (2 wks)
A Nation of Immigrants
Civil Rights (2 wks)
The United States
The Great Lakes

Science:
What is Weather
Seasons
Climate
Water Cycle
Air and Atmosphere
Planet Earth
Rocks
Exploring the Sun and Planets
The Moon
The Stars
Space Exploration

I will be doing a "word of the day" with the kids as well.  They will be words like; "Integrity", "Respect", "Honor", etc.  We will spend time talking about what the kids think they mean, the actual definition and examples of how to project these things in everyday life.

I am going to try to plan at least 3 field trips related to the topics we are covering.  We will definitely be doing crafts/lapbooks related to some of the topics.
Lessonpathways.com was my source for the curriculum layout.

Happy Homeschooling.