Tag Archives: AO

Kid Uno’s Year 4 Course of Study

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Here’s what I planned for Kid Uno:

She will be almost totally independent this year, although I may read something aloud with her because she and I both enjoy it, and it would be sad to give that up completely. We are waiting till next year to begin Plutarch, and probably two more years for Latin (I want to cover some English grammar first). (??) means I’m still waffling among options:)

Bible/Spiritual Reading: She reads and does oral narration

Joshua, Judges, Mark

The Great Divorce (??): We could read 4 pp. per week and discuss this together. It might be a good fit for her spiritual journey. It’s written in first person, which Kid Uno hates, so that might be a drawback.

Memorize and Recite one Bible passage per term

History/Biographies/Geography/Cultures: Theme for the year is world history and geography with a focus on exploration. She will read, map, and write narrations. I help her enter people and events on her timeline every three weeks–she’ll start either a Book of Centuries or a new timeline this year.

Our Island Story: Finish reading the book with written narrations for each chapter.

Builders of the Old World, Medieval Days and Ways, Makers of the Americas: We spent the last two years covering world history by me reading aloud from CHOW. This year she will cover most of world history by reading these three books herself. They include a fair amount of social history, which is more engaging to her than battles and politics. There are some good discussion questions at the end of each section. I would like to move away from narrations which are mainly re-tellings (who, where, what) and move toward deeper discussions of why, how, and ought.

Landmark and other biographies about Vikings, Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, Zheng He, Columbus, Balboa, Magellan, Cortez, Pizarro, Raleigh, Hudson , Cook, Livingston, Perry, Amundsen/Scott ??, Himalayas [Everest].She’ll spend 2-3 weeks reading each book, filling in blank maps of their journeys, and writing a brief narration at the end of each book. I’d also like to supplement with some travel or cultural documentaries so she can see the places she’s reading about, but I may wait till next year when she reads Halliburton’s Marvels. Instead, I might assign her Maya Quest and Africatrek since they are short but vivid.

Nature Study/Science: This year, I am revamping how we use Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. I used volume two to organize Kid Uno’s science readings. These are mostly books from the Let’s Read and Find Out series. I may also use some books from the All About… series or the First Book of …. series, which are a little more (or a lot, depending on the book) advanced. The Body and Building books also tie into these themes. We will read, and discuss (rather than narrate), and I hope to incorporate projects, experiences, and some documentaries. We may do some of this with another family.

BFSU Topics for this year: Term 1–How Things Fly; Center of Gravitiy, Balance, Wobbling Wheels; Energy in Motion: Momentum and Waves; Mechanics: Levers and Discovery of Underlying Principle; Inclined Planes, Pulleys, Gears, and Hydraulic Lifts   Term 2–Electricity: Electric Circuits, Switches, Conductors, Non-conductors; Static Electricity, Sparks, Lighting; Parallel and Series Circuits, Fuses, Ground Wires, Light: Basics of Light and Seeing  Term 3–Cells, Microscopes, Observation of Tissues, Cell Theory; Cell Growth, Division, Differentiation, Introduction to Reproduction; Integrating Cells and Whole-body Functions; Cause and Effects of Seasonal Changes; Water Cycle and Its Ramifications

The Human Body : this is a great age to study some anatomy! She will read one chapter per week, and narrate or discuss.

Ultimate Building Book: a lot of this ties in with BFSU, so she will read and discuss. There are plenty of projects to do, so this will be one of her art options.

Nature Journal: draw assigned topic every week. I’ll probably line up the topics with BFSU  or outdoor explorations as much as possible

Literature: read and narrate orally or with drawings

Shakespeare: I’m still waffling. Leaning toward watching one play per term. But maybe listening to the audio. Or both?? We are not going to actually read them yet (although I have the Complete Works so if she listens to the audio she could follow along).

Mythology: probably Bullfinch, according to the AO schedule. Although I also have Hamilton, which looks like easier reading.

Gilgamesh trilogy: these are short and easy, and will be scheduled at the same time she’s reading about the ancient world.

Arabian Nights: These are scheduled while she’s reading Medieval Days and Ways, and after Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta

Robinson Crusoe

Treasure Island

Short Stories: one per week during Term 3. Rip Van Winkle, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, To Build a Fire, Thank You, Ma’am, Gift of the Magi, Gold Bug, Tell-tale Heart, Lady or the Tiger, Three Questions, Sound of Thunder, Fun They Had. These might be good read alouds to do together. I might introduce a bit of literary analysis.

Poetry: read aloud together daily, one poet per term, memorize and recite one poem per term

Tennyson, Dickinson, Paterson and/or Lawson

Maths:

Ray’s Intellectual, Practical, and Test–daily: Mostly fractions this year. I explain, assign, and check her work.

Strayer Upton Red book: second half. Probably alternate with Ray’s

Miquon–2-3x per week; she can do this mostly independently and will finish the series this year

Reading

McGuffey’s Fourth Reader: she reads aloud to me 2x per week

Non-fiction: she does not love reading fiction (prefers fiction), so I will have her choose one book from several non-fiction options to complete about every four weeks

Writing

Prepared Dictation: this will be our first year, so I’m not sure how it will look. I think I will choose a literature passage, she will read it, then study it, then I will dictate it to her and she will copy it from memory. All that is spread over 4-5 days. I may do dictation one week, and grammar the next.

Grammar: this will be her first year with formal grammar, and she’ll start at the beginning of Rod&Staff 5. It  is very thorough, so I won’t assign everything. I’ll probably alternate grammar weekly with dictation, or daily with handwriting.

Handwriting: Pentime Grade 7, then 8. When she finishes those books, she can begin keyboarding.

Art

Drawing: She will pick an area to practice and do a bit daily. Probably fashion drawing, though I haven’t found a good book yet.

Art Project: Alternate between Private Eye and Ultimate Building Book every four weeks. I want to emphasize continuity, and working at something over a period of time.

Handicraft/Skill: work on a project or skill every week. I have a feeling cooking/baking will continue as a favorite 😉

Picture Study: one artist per term, one painting each week, Leonardo da Vinci, and two others ??

Music

Violin Lessons: weekly

Hymn (T): three hymns/worship songs each term, sung together 2-3x per week

Appreciation: 3 genres ?? per term to listen to 2-3x per week

Sport/Physical Activity: probably weekly, depending on her interests this year. Probably ballet.

Foreign Language: Duolingo languages of her choice or Salsa Spanish (T) episodes, a little bit every week.

Outdoor Exploration: at least monthly. This is usually a family activity, like camping or playing in a stream or visiting a farm or zoo…

Cultural Event: at least monthly. This is usually a family activity like attending a ballet or concert, visiting a museum or art show…

Service:at least monthly. This is usually a family activity like community service with our church, doing something kind for a neighbor, visiting a nursing home…

And that is….a lot! We’ll see how it turns out.

Here’s what Kid Uno and I thought of how it actually  turned out:

https://charlottemasonmodern.com/2017/06/17/year-4-wrap-up-for-kid-uno/

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Year 1 Wrap Up for Kid Tres

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Average weekly time: Together (5), Kid Tres alone (5), Total hours (10ish)

 

Rate each book (like, neutral, dislike).

Add a few comments (my comments are italicized).

Any changes for next child?

Bible/Spiritual Reading

AO Selections

Neutral. Some was good and some was bad. I liked the part where Saul pooped in the cave where David was.

Dislike. It’s good to cover Bible highlights, but these are stories any churched kid will get at some point, so I would rather read other parts of the Bible.

James & Philippians

Dislike. Cuz it’s very boring.

Like. Kids Dos and Tres didn’t like this much, but I liked combining them (in the interest of time), and reading books of the Bible kids aren’t usually exposed to.

More Saints

Dislike. Because I’m always the one who has to tell you about it first and it’s very boring.

Neutral. I think the first book was more engaging. A lot of these saints were very recent, and I’d rather cover older saints and martyrs, but this was a decent multi-cultural assortment.

Psalms with Daddy and other kids

Neutral. Some of it’s very fun and some of its very bad.

Like. I really appreciate DH reading a Psalm with the kids in the evenings.

History/Bios

50 Famous Stories

Like. I love it! There’s lots and lots of fun stories.

Like. I schedule all of them. Short and well-done.

Viking Tales

Like. Very, very, very, very good. Cuz it’s all fun.

Like. I think Kid Tres got into this book much more than Kids Dos or Uno did. He learned the geography well, too.

D’Aulaire Bios: Pocahontas, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Buffalo Bill

Like. Buffalo Bill was very interesting, and BF was neutral, GW was fun, P was fun.

Neutral. I can never decide whether or not to schedule these. Kid Tres loved them; I think the childhood parts are more interesting and understandable than the adult parts. And I get tired of the inherent racism, but since I’m reading aloud I can edit on the fly.

Little Duke

Neutral. At first I didn’t like it, and then I loved it.

Neutral. It’s not worth reading for the history, but I think the character development is good. If I am stretched for time, this is droppable for future kids, at least in YR 1 when so much goes over their heads.

Geography

Tree in the Trail

Like. I loved it, cuz it was very, very interesting.

Like. We spent a little more time looking at the maps than I did with Kid Uno, and that makes it more worthwhile as a geography book.

Seabird

Neutral. I liked when the boy dived in the water and saved Seabird. Did not like when the guy threw Seabird in the water.

Dislike. I still don’t understand why this is scheduled as geography. It’s hard to follow the 4 generations, and I may sub or drop this for future kids.

Science

One Small Square: Backyard, Rainforest, Swamp

Like. I love it! Very, very, very much.

Like. These are always fun and interesting.

Among the People

Like. I loved it, all those nice fun stories, about tree frog and the frog thought herself sick.

Like. These are keepers.

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding

Neutral. Some I didn’t like and some I loved.

Neutral. I spent a lot of time planning and using BFSU to organize science readings and demonstrations, and not nearly as much time implanting it. It’s just not easy to use. Now that I have the whole Let’s Read and Find Out Series and a lot of other good science books, I may just read through those in future years. And if I have time and motivated kids, BFSU can be a good resource for additional discussions and projects.

Nature Journal

Dislike. Cuz it’s very boring drawing.

Like. It’s fun to watch his observations develop. I liked making a list of options for the kids to pick from at the beginning of the year.

Literature

Shakespeare

Dislike. Very boring.

Neutral. It’s worth reading. Several plays are quite confusing. I made drawings for Comedy of Errors, and that helped us keep people straight.

Understood Betsy

Like. I loved it! Very, very fun stories.

Like. Love this book.

Robin Hood

Like. Except for in the ending cuz he died.

Like. Very time consuming, so I scheduled it in winter.

Wind in the Willows

Like. Very much. Very fun stories…when Toad got captured, and the police station, and when Toad said, “I need a doctor”.

Like. Some of it went over his head, but he understood the main bits.

Poetry

Dennis Lee

Like. I love it.

Like. I was surprised how much Kid Tres loves poetry! These were fun books to start YR 1 with; much better than Stevenson.

AA Milne

Like. I love all of my poetries.

Like. Milne is great.

Book of Poems

Neutral. Some are not very fun, and some are very fun.

Like. Good assortment of poetry, nice illustrations.

Math

Rays Primary

Dislike. It’s so boring and stuff.

Like. Simple and effective.

I Love Math

Neutral. I don’t really like it and I like it at the same time.

Like. Worthwhile.

Miquon (Orange and Red)

Neutral. Some’s really fun like evens and odds. And the bad part is some are very hard.

Like. I spent time doing it with him, and I think that helps make it less frustrating.

Writing

Printing

Neutral. Some was very hard for me (I was like 5 that time), and some was very easy, like Bs.

Like. Quick and efficient.

Pentime 2

Dislike. It’s very boring and hard and stuff.

Like. Also quick and effiecient.

Reading

100 EZ Lessons

Like. It was very fun, and short stories, and stuff.

Like. This was so easy with Kid Tres! He flew through it.

McGuffey Primer

Dislike. They’re very short stories.

Like. I intended to start with Phonics Pathways after he finished 100 EZ lessons, but it was packed deep in the garage for our basement construction, so we started McGuffey instead and it has been good practice.

Foreign Language

Salsa Spanish

Neutral. I don’t know what they’re saying, but I also like it when they’re like crying and stuff.

Neutral. The kids pick up some Spanish vocab by watching them, and they are free and short.

Art

Drawing

Neutral. Some is very hard and I cry about ‘em.

Like. Kid Tres is a perfectionist and very hard on himself, so when he starts crying over a short drawing lesson, I have him take a break or do it the next day. His drawing is very nice.

Art Treasury

Neutral. Some I love, and some I hate.

Like. This is such a good book with plenty of variety.

Youtube Videos

Like. I only like the robots.

Like. Letting him pick some instructional drawing videos is a nice way to mix up art lessons.

Picture Study

Caravaggio

Dislike. Hate. I have to tell you all about it.

Like. I think it’s funny that he dislikes picture study.

Escher

Dislike. I hate all picture study.

Like. I thought he would like this, but I guess not.

Van Gogh

Dislike. Not at all.

Neutral. Not my favorite artist.

Music

Hymn

Dislike. I don’t know.

Like. We have all learned some good worship music.

Classical Kids CDs

Like. I like all of them, they’re all very interesting and fun.

Like. I think the Magic Flute is the best. Kid Tres and the other kids listen to these for fun A LOT!

Memorization/Recitation

Bible

Dislike. Cuz I have to memorize it, and I never get it memorized.

Like. The Isaiah passage I picked was a bit too long and hard for everyone, but the rest have been manageable.

Poetry

Like. Only snowy day and jelly belly ones.

Like. Short and easy and cute at this age.

Handicraft/Skill

Pudding, Grocery Shopping, Building Chicken Coop, Meal Prep, Paper Dolls, Pumpkin Carving, Tie Dye, Paper Snowflakes, Making Lunch, Legos, Glue Gun, Boat Building, Snap Circuits, Building Snow Fort, Painting Mugs, Weaving, Kiwicrates, Puzzles, Painting, Cooking, Move Concrete, Gardening, Replacing Batteries

Like. Like, like, like, like!

Like. He’s very motivated to do most of this on his own.

Outdoor Exploration

Hiking Cecret Lake, Peace Garden, Perseid Meteor Shower, Pineview Reservoir, Ensign Peak, Thanksgiving Point Farm, Millcreek Canyon, Uintas Lofty Lake, Cross E Ranch, DC Arboretum, DC Rock Creek Park, Jordan River—Rain, Muskrats, Beaver, Ducklings, Alantic Ocean, Indian River, Fishing, Florida Zoo, Tulip Festival, Gilgal Sculpture Garden

Like. Like all of them except Peace Gardens.

Like. Including the Peace Gardens. Gilgal was weird, as were parts of Thanksgiving Point.

Sport/Physical Activity

Running, Swimming, Playgrounds, Roller Blading, Biking, Hiking, Sledding, 5k, Boogie Boarding, Kayaking, Sledding, Jump Around, Ice Skating, Snowboarding, Basketball, Bowling, Tennis, Baseball

Like. All of them.

Like. What he said.

Horseback Riding at Luki Arabians

Neutral. I want to take bowling instead of horseback riding. And horseback riding is fun but hard.

Like. Not sure if he will continue or not.

Cultural Event

Parade, Bees Game, Summer Olympics, Bluegrass Concert, Tuacahn Plays, Memorial Service, Weddings, State Fair, DC trip, Museum of American History, Nutcracker, Discovery Gateway, Indian Restaurant, Polynesian Food, Ash Wednesday, Leonardo, Paquita Ballet, Coppelia Excerpts Ballet, Orthodox Church 

Like. Except for stuff I didn’t like. I hated the Orthodox church, the Ash Wednesday service, the DC trip, and Polynesian food.

Like. I don’t think he really disliked DC though.

Service

Hosting Friends for Dinner, Babysitting, Hosting Housechurch, Taking Food and Flowers to Friends and Neighbors, Sunday Serve, VOA with Housechurch, Helping Mommy after surgery, Pioneer Park w/ Rescue Mission, Visiting Grammy

Like. All of those I like.

Like. I think we could do more, but we were more intentional than last year, so that was an improvement.

Overall evaluation: Kid Tres is a super-sweet kid to work with. I combined him with Kid Dos for several readings to reduce my workload. They are pretty close in abilities at this point. I was a bit concerned that it would be too hard/too much for him, and I think Little Duke, Seabird, Robin Hood, and Wind in the Willows were tougher for him than they would have been next year, but he really did well. The year began with single word or phrase narrations and he grew a lot over the year in his descriptions and comprehension. He loves stories, and I’m looking forward to doing the Year 1 readings like Aesop and James Herriot with him next year. He was so easy to teach for reading lessons; it was a relief! Kid Tres is also fairly self-motivated with projects, especially if they involve figuring out how things work. We started strong with all the readings this year, but it got hard in the middle with my unexpected surgery, and toward the end with basement construction. I pared down some reading in the middle of the year. We had so much travel and so many activities—it’s been a very full year! There’s not a lot I would change for future children; I feel like the books and all our activities are enjoyable and well-rounded…it’s just a matter of fitting in so much good stuff.

 

Year 4 Wrap Up for Kid Uno

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Average weekly time: Together (4), Kid Uno alone (16), total hours (20ish)

 

Rate each book (like, neutral, dislike).

Add a few comments (my comments are italicized.

Any changes for next child or next year?

 

Bible/Spiritual Reading

Joshua, Judges, Romans

Dislike. It’s boring.

Like. I liked the consistency of one whole book per term, rather than jumping between bits of OT and NT narratives. She drew illustrations to narrate Joshua and Judges, and narrated Romans orally.

My Path to Heaven

Neutral. It’s boring but I like looking at the pictures.

Neutral. A bit dry, some theology I disagree with, but some interesting discussions.

Psalms with Daddy and other kids

Like. It’s fun to listen and to think of things to say.

Like. Love how the kids (usually) respond to DH reading a Psalm with them in the evening.

History/Bios

Builders of the Old World

Dislike. Boring—it doesn’t have stories. I don’t like telling things back to you.

Like. Kid Uno doesn’t like narrative history, but I think these three books (Builders, Medieval, Americas) are very well done, interesting, and similar to CHOW but good for independent reading. They would be awesome spines for a more in-depth study of history. I just wanted to her to do an independent survey of world history, so that’s how we used them this year.

Medieval Days and Ways

Neutral. Some of it was dislike. Most of the parts told about interesting things, but some were boring, just telling about things like churches and where they were found and stuff.

Makers of the Americas

Dislike. It didn’t tell about anything I’m interested in.

Our Island Story

Like. Sometimes it had stories, most of the time it didn’t. I liked writing narrations in the book.

Like. I still haven’t read more than the first several chapters, but I think having Kid Uno reading it to herself in YR 3 and 4 was more appropriate than me reading it in YR 1. Will continue with future kids.

Timeline

Neutral. I didn’t really like thinking of people I’d read, but some of the people I googled were interesting, more interesting than in the stories I’d read about them.

Like. I actually didn’t even look at her timeline till the end of the year…she had nice entries and seemed to enjoy looking up people on Wikipedia.

Geography

Biographies of World Explorers: Vikings, Marco Polo, Ibn Bttuta, Zheng He, Columbus, Balboa, Magellan, Cortez, Pizarro, Raleigh, Hudson, Cook, Livingston, Perry, North and South Poles, Himalayas (Everest)

Neutral reading them. Dislike mapping them.

Like. These are all good biographies. Kid Uno is more familiar with the globe now, although she focused on the storyline and paid minimal attention to the geographical aspects of the books and had to do some re-dos.

Where the Flame Trees Bloom

Like. It was fun hearing about the little stories of what her grandma did, living there, especially the lightning part.

Like. Easy reading about Cuban culture.

Maya Quest and Africa Trek

Dislike. Boring to read about, nothing interesting, and I dislike mapping them very much. I hate mapping stuff!

Like. Maya Quest is mostly pictures. I think she was more interested in these two books than she sounds in this evaluation, although she does dislike mapping.

Science

Ultimate Building Book

Dislike reading it. Like doing the projects.

Like. Architecture for kids.

Human Body Book

Neutral. Some lessons were interesting to learn about; most of them weren’t.

Like. Good overview of anatomy, nutrition, and health.

All About Electricity

Dislike. It was boring and I didn’t like learning about it.

Neutral. Good, but dated (written in the 50s), so newer electrical stuff isn’t covered, but still covers basic info.

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding

Neutral. Ugh. I put a lot of time into using BFSU to organize science themes, and it’s such a good resource, but I just don’t get around to the discussions, projects, or even videos…Maybe next year. Or I may just use it to organize all the science books we have and which years we read them. Or just to brush up on my own science knowledge for Q and A with the kids.

Nature Journal

Neutral. Sometimes I liked the projects, sometimes I wished I could do other projects (that weren’t listed).

Like. I liked making a list of options at the beginning of the year. She is old enough to do longer projects now, too.

Literature

Shakespeare (Arkangel Recordings)

Neutral. I could barely figure out the story, and it was basically just people talking. I liked Midsummer Night Dream because there was a story to it. I liked the videos much better, like the Romeo and Juliet we watched.

Neutral. I haven’t listened to any of them so I can’t comment on quality. I didn’t want to emphasize Shakespeare this year, so I think they were a good, quick way to cover a play each term. I meant to have her watch the plays after listening, but never got around to it. Maybe over the summer.

Robinson Crusoe

Neutral. It was fun hearing how he lived but some parts were a little bit boring.

Neutral. I read the first 2/3 and need to finish it. It was better than I thought it would be.

Gilgamesh Trilogy

Like. I loved those.

Like. Good picture book mythology. Wish I’d had them for one of my college anthropology classes!

Bullfinch’s Mythology

Like. I love it. Because it has awesome stories in it and I got to hear you read it…you almost never read books to me anymore because I’m not a little kid.

Like. Kid Uno knows the myths better than I do (maybe from Hawthorne and Magic Treehouse?); I enjoy reading these aloud with her. We skip Bullfinch’s commentary and poetry references at the end of the chapters.

Treasure Island

Dislike. It was sort of hard to understand; I didn’t really like the way the story went. Didn’t bring the characters to life the way other books do.

Neutral. I liked the beginning but it was kinda anti-climactic. I agree about flat characters.

Arabian Nights

Like. Most of the stories were fun.

Like. I’ve read about half the book so far–another one I need to finish.

Short Stories

Like. They were all different. And I liked guessing which door in “The Lady or the Tiger”. Those were fun.

Like. I had fun picking 12 famous short stories, and it was a nice switch from a novel for a term.

Poetry

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Emily Dickinson, Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson

Neutral. I don’t really like poetry. I only half do and I half don’t.

Neutral. I liked the Australian poets better than Dickinson and Tennyson, but Tennyson was better than I anticipated.

Math

Ray’s Intellectual, Practical, and Test

Dislike. Hate. It’s so hard and boring, and it doesn’t have good problems and I hate it so badly.

Neutral. I still think Ray’s is effective and so good for mental math. But she hates it. I’m considering making SU the main curriculum, or switching to Singapore. Or keep it…dunno yet.

Strayor Upton Red (2nd half)

Like. It often has very fun things, except when I have to do all those boring non-word problems and I don’t get to do a test.

Like. Although I think it’s a bit below grade level, it’s really perfect for Kid Uno to do independently since it’s written to the student.

Miquon (finished)

Dislike. It’s so hard and I don’t like doing it. I like SU.

Like. And I’m glad she finished it after 3.5 years!

Writing

Pentime (finished grade 8)

Like. Loved it, love it, love it. I love doing cursive, and seeing the pretty ways it loops and twists.

Like. She will be moving into typing for YR 5, and I will probably just have her do some cursive copywork once a week or so to maintain good handwriting skills.

Reading

McGuffey’s Fourth Reader

Dislike. Most of the time doesn’t have stories and it’s really boring to read.

Dislike. This is the worst of the four readers as far as subject matter and quality writing. But I will have her finish it because it’s excellent for pronunciation and vocabulary. She only reads 2x per week.

Grammar

Rod & Staff Grade 5

Neutral. Most of the time it’s fun. I like doing stuff orally but not written.

Like. Solid and super easy for me to use with the teacher’s guide. We do a lot of it orally to save time. She’s about halfway through after doing 2-3 lessons per week.

Dictation

Various passages from poetry, lit, Bible

Dislike. It’s not fun.

Dislike. Time consuming and Kid Uno always has tons of mistakes. I’m not sure if I’m doing it the most effective way possible. Need to read up/video up over the summer.

Foreign Language

Duolingo

Like. It’s very fun because I get to learn a new language [Spanish], but I’m thinking about doing a different language now.

Like. Great free resource.

Salsa Spanish

Neutral. It’s fun to watch it, but it’s hard to understand because I don’t know that much Spanish yet. I’m only 39% fluent.

Like. Short and fun once in a while.

Art

Colored Pencil Drawing, Drawing Workbook, Drawing the Head & Figure, Fashion, Fourth Year Drawing.

Dislike. I don’t like drawing. They’re boring and I don’t get to draw what I want. But I like the fashion book.

Like. But I don’t think she is being challenged enough.

Ultimate Building Book projects

Like. They’re fun to do.

Like. Plenty to pick from!

Photography, Computer Animation, Nature Art

Dislike. I didn’t really do anything, and couldn’t figure out how to put in color.

Neutral. They were good ideas, but I didn’t execute them well, except for Nature Art since we have some good books for that.

Choice of Medium: Origami, Oil Pastels, Watercolors

Like. Fun to do. Especially watercolors and origami.

Like. These worked well.

Picture Study

Frida Kahlo, Peter Paul Rubens, Leonardo DaVinci

Dislike. All of them. They’re not exactly the pictures I’d like to study.  I’d like to study the covers of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty [illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft].

Like. I’m surprised she disliked Rubens, since Craft reminds me of Rubens.

Music

Hymns

Dislike. I’d like to have more exciting, fun songs.

Like. Good for us all.

Wagner, Harpsichord, Buena Vista Social Club, Grieg, Arabic, Blues, Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Didgeridoo, Slim Dusty, Mendelssohn

Neutral. I can listen to them while I’m doing stuff. I’d like to have one each week and be able to pick which ones.

Like. She actually liked some of these (Wagner, Arabic) more than she remembers.

Violin Lessons

Like. I’ve grown to like it more and more. I think I’d like to continue. I think practicing in the basement helps.

Like. We are at a natural break, so we’ll need to see about continuing.

Memorization/Recitation

Bible

Dislike. I don’t like memorizing Bible.

Like. And she is capable of more.

Poetry

Neutral. Sometimes it’s fun. I’d like to do something really long through all three terms.

Like. And I think her idea for next year is great.

Handicraft/Skill

Baking, Grocery Shopping, Building Chicken Coop, Fairy House, Meal Prep, Paper Dolls, Pumpkin Carving, Tie Dye, Paper Snowflakes, Making Lunch, Hand Sewing, Snap Circuits, Building Snow Fort, Painting Mugs, Weaving, Kiwicrates, Bead Jewelry, Origami, Cooking, Moving Concrete, Gardening

Like. Cuz they’re fun—except for move concrete!

Like. A lot of variety this year.

Outdoor Exploration

Hiking Cecret Lake, Peace Garden, Perseid Meteor Shower, Pineview Reservoir, Thanksgiving Point Farm, Millcreek Canyon, Uintas Lofty Lake, Cross E Ranch, DC Arboretum, DC Rock Creek Park, Jordan River—Rain, Muskrats, Beaver, Ducklings, Alantic Ocean, Indian River, Fishing, Florida Zoo, Edible Plants, Tulip Festival, Gilgal Sculpture Garden

Like. They’re fun, and it’s interesting, especially Cecret Lake.

Like. I love outings.

Sport/Physical Activity

Kids Community Ballet at Missio Dei

Neutral. I’d like something higher technique, and harder and more advanced. But it was fun being with my friends and dancing.

Like. Mainly for the relationships this year.

Running, Swimming, Playgrounds, Roller Blading, Biking, Hiking, 5k, Boogie Boarding, Kayaking, Sledding, Jump Around, Ice Skating, Basketball, Bowling

Like. Especially kayaking, swimming, boogie boarding.

Like. Lots of variety.

Ballet at SLC Ballet

Like. Love, love, love. It’s so fun, and I make new friends, and it’s hard, and I love performing and huge performances, and dancing there.

Like. She loves it, and it seems to be the best studio for her right now.

Cultural Event

Parade, Bees Game, Summer Olympics, Bluegrass Concert, Tuacahn Plays, Colorado Christian University trip, State Fair, DC trip, Museum of American History, Nutcracker, Weddings, Discovery Gateway, Grand America Tea, Indian Restaurant, Sleeping Beauty Ballet, Ash Wednesday, Leonardo, Paquita Ballet, Coppelia Excerpts Ballet, Orthodox Church 

Like. Love, love. They were very fun, especially the ballet, state fair, wedding, Grand America tea.

Like. These were all good.

Service

Hosting Friends for Dinner, Babysitting, Hosting Housechurch, Taking Food and Flowers to Friends and Neighbors, Sunday Serve, VOA with Housechurch, Helping Mommy after surgery, Reading to Kid Cinco, Pioneer Park w/ Rescue Mission, Visiting Grammy, Decorate Church Building for Easter

Like. It’s fun, especially helping Grammy and decorating the church.

Like. I think we could do more, but we were more intentional than last year, so that was an improvement.

Overall evaluation:

Kid Uno’s suggestions for next year: Doing that big poetry I suggested, more ballet classes, going on pointe, private ballet lessons,  drawing videos online.

This year, Kid Uno did most of her work independently. We did poetry, mythology, My Path to Heaven, grammar, dictation, and a lot of math together. The rest she did on her own, and I heard narrations and checked written work in the evening or the next day. She’s very good about following her assignment list, especially when motivated by ballet classes in the afternoon. I increased her reading volume quite a bit this year. Duolingo has been surprisingly useful for language learning—and it’s free!. I started her in 5th grade grammar, and she did just fine without previous grammar instruction. I’m not sure what to do for drawing and art next year…I feel like she needs something challenging and interesting, but what? I think she also needs something for geometry. Maybe Khan Academy? Or switch to Singapore? We started strong with everything I scheduled for this year, but it got hard for me to keep up in the middle with my unexpected surgery, and toward the end with basement construction.  Kid Uno was very consistent throughout the year. We had so much travel and so many activities—it’s been a very full year! There’s not a lot I would change for future children; I feel like the book choices and all our activities are enjoyable and well-rounded…it’s just a matter of fitting in so much good stuff.

 

 

 

 

Kid Uno’s Year 3 Course of Study

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This is how we PLANNED to do Year 3 with Kid Uno. I’ve noted where we have dropped, added, or substituted books. There are a lot of changes from the Ambleside Online suggestions. Here’s the evaluation of how it went: Year 3 Wrap Up for Kid Uno

Disclaimer: Kid Uno is a strong, voracious reader. She will read anything I throw at her. This year will probably look different for my other kids, who may not be at a similar reading level at this age.

Reading

  • (Daily) Continue reading Third McGuffey Reader aloud daily (probably moving on to the Fourth). Define vocabulary words, talk about grammar and types of writing, correct pronunciation.

Writing

  • (Daily) Copywork from the Pentime Grade 6 Cursive book, about 1/3 of a lesson each day. Move to next level when she finishes.
  • (2-3 Weekly) Begin dictation: study a sentence from McGuffey or a lit book, write as it’s dictated slowly, compare, and correct.

Math

  • (Daily) Work through the third year of Ray’s Practical and Ray’s Intellectual as recommended by the Eclectic Manual. The Ray’s Test Examples has extra problems for more practice, and the Ray’s Key is coming in handy for checking. Memorize multiplication and division flashcards at the beginning of the year to improve speed.
  • (2-3 Weekly) Work through the rest of Miquon series (starting with Blue), probably 6-9 pages weekly.
  • (Weekly) I’ll read her one or two lessons from the Life of Fred series (picking up where we left off in Edgewood). Or she will read independently because I am getting tired of Fred. She’ll write the answers on paper or a whiteboard.
  • (Weekly) Choose a living math book to read for 20-30 minutes. I need to find more titles from the living math list.

Bible/Spiritual Reading

  • (Weekly) Kid Uno will read aloud the passages scheduled by AO, and then narrate. Sometimes we’ll discuss the reading.
  • (Daily) We usually read to all the kids from Egermeier’s or The Jesus Storybook Bible or DH reads through a book of the Bible.
  • (2-3x Weekly) We (or I) will pick 1-2 lengthy passages per term for Kid Uno to memorize.  I might also assign some lists to memorize (like the books of the Bible).
  • (Weekly) Read one Saints: Lives and Illuminations with Kid Dos.

Poetry

  • (Daily) We’ll take turns reading the scheduled AO poets. I’m dropping Longfellow (he’s scheduled again in Year 5, I believe) and replacing him with Vikram Seth and Marilyn Singer (for fun, and to branch out from American/British poets).
  • (2-3x Weekly) Kid Uno will memorize and recite 1-2 poems per term.

History

We are not at all following the AO history progression anymore.

  • I’m not using Our Island Story nor This Country of Ours. They are a bit dated, a bit imperialist, a bit racist, and a bit more detailed than I want for a six to nine year old. We still may use Our Island Story later, but probably not the This Country of Ours.
  • We are doing an overview of world history by reading A Child’s History of the World (the updated, not-racist version). One or two chapters a week. We read half in Year 2, and will finish it this year.
  • We aren’t using any of the AO scheduled biographies this year. They are scheduled based on AO’s history progression, so I’m subbing my own biography choices. I have all 51 titles in the  Signature series. Kid Uno read most of them in Year 2, and if she doesn’t finish them during vacation (for fun–not assigned), she can continue reading at least one each week.   She will read the book, narrate to me, find some places on the globe, and put some people/dates on her timeline. When she finishes that series, I will probably select some of the easier ones in the Landmark series, and assign them the same way. And/or read the bio of Teresa of Calcutta, scheduling about 1-2 chapters per week. Another option might be some of the Who Was series, which a friend of ours really likes (but I haven’t looked at them yet). They might especially be good for reading about more modern (post 1960) people.
  • Trial and Triumph: I dropped this permanently. Dislike the writing, and disagree with the religious POV.
  • I printed a free timeline from SCM and put it in a 3 ring binder. Every couple weeks, Kid Uno will add some names and dates from our readings. This will probably be the last year; in Year 4 she will probably start some version of a century book.

Geography

  • I’m moving Minn of the Mississippi from Year 4 to Year 3. I’d like to be done with the Holling books this year, and it will tie in nicely with my literature substitutions this year. 🙂 I’m scheduling one chapter per week.
  • I will probably move Marco Polo to Year 4, as I’m planning some sort of explorers theme for Year 4 history and geography. I like the Demi, Freedman, and Walsh Landmark versions best.
  • When we finish Minn (week 20), I’ll schedule a couple books from Mater Amabilis geography people and places for this year. They are a nice intro to Russia and China as big countries with many regions and people groups, and a gentle introduction to communism. Sovietrek: A Journey by Bicycle Across Russia, The Children of China: An Artist’s Journey, A Little Tiger in the Chinese Night: An Autobiography in Art. We will map them as we read. The other Mater Amabilis geography books are on Kid Uno’s free read pile (they are fiction).
  • We’ll continue using the globe and maps to find places we read about.

Natural History/Science

Our science is also not looking at all like AO!

  • Handbook of Nature Study: I don’t use this at all. It’s for the teacher, not the student. It’s not open-and-go, and I think there are better modern options. Instead, we did the first half of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding for Year 2, and will finish the second half this year. I try to find the suggested supplemental books at the library, and let Kid Uno pick a few to read.
  •  I may (or may not) have her do Nature Connection again this year. There are still activities she can do in the calendar section, and it might be neat to see how her work is different from Year 2. But if her workload is too heavy, this will be the first to go (or maybe do it once a month).
  • (Weekly) She’ll also keep a nature journal through the year. I usually assign her something specific outside to draw or paint. I might make it more methodical this year. For example, pick six different trees in our neighborhood. Spend one week drawing the shapes, another week the twigs and leaves, another time the flowers (or seeds, cones, berries, etc.), another week a bark rubbing and leaf rubbing…Another theme could be drawing an insect, an arthropod, a crustacean, a mammal, a bird, etc., paying attention to the differences.
  • We will read four of the One Small Square series, with Kid Dos. There are twelve books, and I plan to read them all in Years 1-3. They cover various habitats, with the various animals and plants that live there.
  • Pagoo: one chapter per week. Maybe we will get a horshoe crab? 😉
  • Secret of the Woods: dropping this (I find it annoying, and not the most effective way to learn about nature) (if I can find a cheap copy, I’ll add it to free reads). Subbing Wild Season, which I like a lot, two chapters per week.
  • (Daily) All our kids spend at least an hour outside daily, regardless of the weather. They get lots of nature time!
  • Continue explorative activities (rock tumbler, camping, nature walks, raising caterpillars, mixing liquids…)

Literature

  • We will read most the AO selections except
  • Parables from Nature. I pre-read a couple of the stories, and couldn’t stand the moralizing. Also, most of the forum comments I read said that the Year 1 children couldn’t understand much of it at all, and it took one or two years to grow into. So I decided not to bother, and instead we like
  • Among the….People. They are much more palatable. If we read 33 chapters per year, we will read all the books by Year 3. Kid Dos will be listening too, this year.
  • I’m also dropping Children of the New Forest and subbing Tom Sawyer. Kid Uno has been begging to read Tom Sawyer, and I think it is a much, much better book than COTNF (but is only a free read in Year 5???) I’m glad I pre-read COTNF–it was very long, predictible, unbelievable, and had such flat characters…or maybe I just didn’t like it and can’t imagine reading it aloud…it’s going on the free read pile.
  • And I am scheduling American Tall Tales much faster, and adding The People Could Fly. Great African-American folk tales.
  • For Shakespeare, we read Lamb’s. Then sometimes listen to it on Librivox. Then sometimes watch a movie version. Kid Dos will join this year.
  • Pilgrim’s Progress: Read Christiana’s journey.
  • Non-fiction: This is NOT Kid Uno’s favorite genre, but I think it’s important. We started strong in Year 2 (requiring one book per week) but lost it about half-way through the year. Will put more emphasis on it for Year 3. I have a bunch of short-ish books on the shelf for her to pick from 😉

Foreign Language

Music

  • Continue violin lessons
  • Listen to various genres, composers, styles, and instruments
  • Learn three hymns/songs per term

Art

  • (Daily) Drawing Lesson: She is interested in fashion and figure drawing, and wants to work on colored pencil. I have a couple of books she can pick from, so I think I’ll let her choose what she wants to work on each term (or month), and do a little bit daily.
  • (Weekly) Continue art projects from Scott Foresman. I think she left off on Grade 3.
  • (Weekly) I picked one artist per term (Georgia O’Keefe, John James Audubon, and Salvador Dali), and bought a coffee table art book by each artist. I’ll pick one painting each week for Picture Study.

Handicrafts

  • Chores: She will learn some new ones 🙂
  • Maybe introduce some weaving that is more advanced than the potholder loom
  • Clay has been very popular here lately…experiment with some different types

Free Reads

  • Kid Uno is a reader–she has read most of the the AO Free Reads for Years 3 and 4, so I’ve been using other book lists to compile a large stack for her.

Sports

  • She and Kid Dos have been asking about gymnastics
  • Maybe soccer again in the spring? Maybe ballet again? Maybe baseball with Kid Tres?

Extras

There’s so much we can count as “school”! Pretty much just life in general. But I will try to keep track of the extras we do like

  • Tracy Aviary nature walks
  • A new baby!
  • Trips and camps
  • Maybe children’s theatre or a membership to the natural history museum this year?

Exams

  • At the end of each term, DH will do exams with Kid Uno. I’ll use the AO exams for Year 3, tweaking to fit the books we used.

So that was the first time planning Year 3!

Kid Uno’s Year 2 Course of Study

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This was how we PLANNED to do Year 2 with Kid Uno. I’ve noted where we have dropped, added, or substituted books from the AO Year 2 schedule.

Here are the updated evaluations of how it went: Year 2 (my version) and Year 2 (Kid Uno’s version).

Reading

  • (Daily) Kid Uno will read aloud from the Second McGuffey Reader (probably moving on to the Third). We will define vocabulary and talk about punctuation.

Writing

  • (Daily) She’ll work through the Grade Four Rod & Staff penmanship workbook.
  • Then she’ll move on to the Pentime series, starting with the Grade Five workbook, spending about 5-10 minutes a day completing a lesson or half a lesson.

Math

  • (Daily) We will work through the multiplication and division sections of Ray’s Primary Arithmetic. The first time through sequentially with beans and marbles and matches; the second time through alternating multiplication and division, mostly working out the problems in her head. If we finish the book, and whatever other exercises are in the Eclectic Manual, we may move on to Ray’s Intellectual Arithmetic. Or I may use Kitchen Table Math or some of Ruth Beechick’s suggestions for more practice.
  • (Weekly) I’ll read her one or two lessons from the Life of Fred series. She’ll write the answers on paper or a whiteboard.
  • (Weekly) She’ll do several pages from the Miquon books. I’ll assign the pages, sometimes explain how to do things, and correct them.
  • (Weekly) She’ll pick a book from the I Love Math series and read whatever she wants (for about 20-30 minutes)

Bible

  • (Weekly) Kid Uno will read aloud the passages scheduled by AO, and then narrate. Sometimes we’ll discuss the reading.
  • (Daily) We usually read to all the kids from Egermeier’s or The Jesus Storybook Bible.
  • (2-3x Weekly) We (or I) will pick 1-2 lengthy passages per term, and will memorize them together. I might also assign some lists to memorize (like the books of the Bible).

Poetry

  • (Daily) We’ll take turns reading the scheduled AO poets. I dropped Eugene Field because he sounds too sappy for me; I may replace him with an Australian poet or some haiku, or just read extra poems by the other scheduled poets.
  • Kid Uno will memorize and recite 1-2 poems per term.

History

We are not really following the AO history progression anymore.

  • I’m not using Our Island Story nor This Country of Ours. They are a bit dated, a bit imperialist, a bit racist, and a bit more detailed than I want for a six to nine year old. We still may use Our Island Story later, but probably not the This Country of Ours.
  • We are doing an overview of world history by reading A Child’s History of the World (the updated, not-racist version). One or two chapters a week. Half this year, and half in Year 3.
  • I’ve been buying lots of the Landmark and Signature series, and plan to assign one per week for Years 2-6. Haven’t decided yet whether to assign them in a particular order or just let Kid Uno pick whatever strikes her fancy. She will read the book, narrate to me, find some places on the globe, and put some people/dates on her timeline.
  • Trial and Triumph and The Little Duke: We’ll read as scheduled by AO.
  • I printed a free timeline from SCM and put it in a 3 ring binder. Every couple weeks, Kid Uno will add some names and dates from our readings.

Geography

  • (Weekly) Seabird and Tree in the Trail: Will read as scheduled.
  • We’ll use a little globe and a big US map to find places we read about.

Natural History/Science

  • Handbook of Nature Study: We didn’t touch it last year, and I don’t plan to. It’s for the teacher, not the student. It’s not open-and-go, and I think there are better modern options. I’m considering using The Amateur Naturalist and/or The Nature Handbook: A Guide to Observing the Great Outdoors for the other kids and future years.
  • (Weekly) Instead, we’ll finish Nature Connection. We started with the weather section, since Kid Uno is into weather, and then finished with the naturalist section. We’ll do the monthly section in Year 2.
  • (Weekly) She’ll also keep a nature journal through the year. I usually assign her something specific outside to draw or paint.
  • (Weekly) We will read four of the One Small Square series. There are twelve books, and I plan to read them all in Years 1-3. They cover various habitats, with the various animals and plants that live there.
  • The Burgess Animal Book for Children: Dropping this…it’s going in the Free Read pile because I can’t stand reading Burgess. I may sub The First Book of Mammals, and maybe something by Jim Arnosky.
  • (Daily) All our kids spend at least an hour outside daily, regardless of the weather. They get lots of nature time!
  • (Every other week) This is the year I’ll implement Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. Half this year; half in Year 3. I’m considering doing it as a family, or at least with Kid Dos, too. That way, I’ll only need to teach it every other year. I may also try to find the suggested supplemental books at the library, and let Kid Uno pick a few to read.

Literature

  • We will read all the AO selections except
  • Parables from Nature. I pre-read a couple of the stories, and couldn’t stand the moralizing. Also, most of the forum comments I read said that the Year 1 children couldn’t understand much of it at all, and it took one or two years to grow into. So I decided not to bother, and instead we’ll read from
  • Among the….People. They are much more palatable. If we read 33 chapters per year, we will read all the books by Year 3.
  • For Shakespeare, we read Lamb’s. Then listen to it on Librivox. Then watch most of the plays on YouTube.

Art

  • (Weekly) I picked one artist per term (Mary Cassat, Raphaelle Peale, and Picasso), and bought a coffee table art book by each artist. I’ll pick one painting each week for Picture Study.
  • (Daily) Kid Uno will do about one lesson daily from the Drawing Textbook (unless she has another art project scheduled).
  • At the beginning of last year, I bought all the art supplies for the Usborne Art Treasury, and set them aside for school. Kid Uno picked one project every other week, and did it herself. There are about six projects left, so she’ll finish them up at the beginning of this year.
  • Then, she’ll probably move on to a couple of Scott Foresman art books…I’m still deciding how to use them. (Chapter by chapter? Concept by concept? Randomly?)
  • On alternate weeks, she’ll choose from free YouTube drawing lessons by Shoo Rayner, Mark Kistler, and Jan Brett (and others).

Music

  • (Weekly) I’m picking three genres of music per term, and we’ll use Pandora, Songza, and CDs to listen to a variety.
  • Hymns: I asked DH to pick some favorites, and then printed and filed them. We’ll sing them together a couple times a week (and go over the vocabulary).
  • Folksong: Does watching WeeSing DVDs count?
  • Kid Uno wants to play violin, so we are looking into music lessons. If we get a piano soon, we may add that this year, too (or instead).

Foreign Language

  • We may continue Spanish very informally

Handicrafts

  • Chores: She will learn some new ones 🙂
  • Possibly a pottery class?
  • Probably continue sewing or weaving…

Free Reads

  • Kid Uno is a reader–she will probably fly through all the AO Free Reads again, so I will be consulting all my favorite booklists again!

Sports

  • She and Kid Dos will probably start ballet again in the fall.
  • Sledding in the winter. Maybe learn to snowshoe or cross country ski?
  • Maybe swim lessons? We’ll see what she’s interested in this year.

Extras

There’s so much we can count as “school”! Pretty much just life in general. But I will try to keep track of the extras we do like

  • Zoo membership

Exams

  • At the end of each term, DH will do exams with Kid Uno. I’ll used the AO exams for Year 2, tweaking to fit the books we used.

And that was our first version of Ambleside’s Year 2!

Kid Uno’s Year 1 Course of Study

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This is how we did Year 1 with Kid Uno. I’ve noted where we have dropped, added, or substituted books. I’ve also noted changes planned for Kid Dos.

Reading

Writing

  • (Daily) She worked through the Grade Two and Grade Three penmanship workbooks from Rod & Staff, spending about 5-10 minutes a day completing a lesson or half a lesson.

Math

  • (Daily) We worked through the addition and subtraction sections of Ray’s Primary Arithmetic. Twice! The first time through sequentially with beans and marbles; the second time through alternating addition with subtraction, mostly working out the problems in her head. Then we worked through the addition and subtraction exercises in the Eclectic Manual.
  • (Weekly) I read her one or two lessons from the Life of Fred series. She wrote answers on paper or a whiteboard.
  • (Weekly) She did several pages from the Miquon Orange and Red books. I assigned the pages, sometimes explained how to do things, and corrected them.
  • (Weekly) She picked a book from the I Love Math series and read whatever she wanted (for about 20-30 minutes)

Bible

  • (Weekly) Kid Uno read aloud the passages scheduled by AO, and then narrated. Sometimes we discussed the reading.
  • (Daily) We usually read to all the kids from Egermeier’s or The Jesus Storybook Bible.
  • (2-3x Weekly) At the beginning of the year, I had printed the free verse packs from Simply Charlotte Mason. Kid Uno picked one each week to memorize. They were short, but totally out of context, and she didn’t really remember them. So for the 3rd term, I picked Psalm 136, and we memorized it together. That was much more satisfying!

Poetry

  • (Daily) We took turns reading the scheduled AO poets.
  • She memorized one poem (the shortest poem in each book) per term

History

  • We read the three scheduled American History bios and also added Pocahontas by the d’Aulaires.
  • Our Island Story: We read this as scheduled the first two terms, and then I dropped it. I am thinking of using it in Year 4, but it’s too much British history for us, and a slightly over the head of a 7 year old.
  • Fifty Famous Stories Retold and Viking Tales: Read as scheduled but not all the chapters were scheduled. I assigned the remainder to Kid Uno to read herself, and narrate. For Kid Dos, I plan to schedule all the chapters in these two books in lieu of Our Island Story.
  • Trial and Triumph: Read as scheduled.
  • I printed a free timeline from SCM and put it in a 3 ring binder. Every couple weeks, Kid Uno added some names and dates from our readings.

Geography

  • Paddle to the Sea: We read as scheduled.
  • We used a little globe and a big US map to find places we read about.

Natural History/Science

  • Handbook of Nature Study: We didn’t touch it, and I don’t plan to. It’s for the teacher, not the student. It’s not open-and-go, and I think there are better modern options. I’m considering using The Amateur Naturalist and/or The Nature Handbook: A Guide to Observing the Great Outdoors for the other kids and future years.
  • (Weekly) Instead, we used Nature Connection. We started with the weather section, since Kid Uno is into weather, and then finished with the naturalist section. We’ll do the monthly section in Year 2.
  • (Weekly) She also kept a nature journal through the year. I usually assigned her something specific outside to draw or paint.
  • (Weekly) We also read three of the One Small Square series. There are twelve books, and I plan to read them all in Years 1-3. They cover various habitats, with the various animals and plants that live there.
  • (Daily) All our kids spend at least an hour outside daily, regardless of the weather. They get lots of nature time!
  • James Herriot’s Treasury and The Burgess Bird Book for Children: We read these as scheduled. James Herriot was great; Burgess Bird not so much. Kid Uno picked up a little info about birds, but I can’t stand reading it aloud, so it will go in the Free Read pile for the next kids. For Kid Dos, I will probably keep the AO theme of birds, but use The First Book of Birds. And maybe something by Jim Arnosky or John James Audubon. 

Literature

  • We read all the AO selections except
  • Parables from Nature. I pre-read a couple of the stories, and couldn’t stand the moralizing. Also, most of the forum comments I read said that the Year 1 children couldn’t understand much of it at all, and it took one or two years to grow into. So I decided not to bother, and instead we read from
  • Among the….People. They are much more palatable. If we read 33 chapters per year, we will read all the books by Year 3.
  • For Shakespeare, we read Lamb’s. Then listened to it on Librivox. Then watched most of the plays on YouTube.

Art

  • (Weekly) I picked one artist per term (Caravaggio, Van Gogh, and John Singer Sargent), and bought a coffee table art book by each artist. I picked one painting each week for Picture Study.
  • (Daily) Kid Uno did one lesson daily from Drawing Textbook (unless she had another art project scheduled).
  • At the beginning of the year, I bought all the art supplies for the Usborne Art Treasury, and set them aside for school. Kid Uno picked one project every other week, and did it herself.
  • On alternate weeks, she did free YouTube drawing lessons by Shoo Rayner, Mark Kistler, and Jan Brett.
  • Kid Uno and Kid Dos took four lessons at a little art studio.

Music

  • (Weekly) We bought the Classical Kids set of CDs, and I split them up fairly evenly (and in chronological order) to be listened to through the year. I’m not sure they were worth the cost; we’ll see how Kid Dos likes them.
  • Both girls love watching ballet on YouTube, so they also listened to a lot of classical music.
  • Hymns: I asked DH to pick some favorites, and then printed and filed them. We sang them together a couple times a week (and went over the vocabulary). We sang four Christmas hymns during Advent, and about one per month the rest of the year. They aren’t memorized, but they are more familiar now.
  • Folksong: Does watching WeeSing DVDs count?

Foreign Language

Handicrafts

  • Weaving potholders on a little loom
  • Helping build and paint a treehouse
  • Baking and chopping vegetables
  • Planting, weeding, and harvesting a garden
  • Sewing
  • Caring for bunnies
  • Chores: washing dishes, putting away laundry, emptying wastebaskets
  • Helping care for a new baby brother
  • Organizing toys and books
  • and so on

Free Reads

  • Kid Uno is a reader. She flew through the AO suggested free reads in the first couple weeks. So I pulled heavily from other booklists the rest of the year.

Sports

  • Swim lessons at the rec center
  • Soccer at the rec center
  • Playing tennis with grandparents
  • Hiking and bike riding

Extras

There’s so much we can count as “school”! Pretty much just life in general. But I tried to keep track of the extras we did like

  • Keeping a bird feeder and hummingbird feeder
  • Taking a trip to Washington, DC
  • Having a zoo membership
  • Camping and hiking
  • Writing letters
  • Selling lemonade
  • Visiting family and hosting friends

Exams

  • At the end of each term, DH spent about two days doing exams with Kid Uno. I used the AO exams for Year 1, tweaking to fit the books we used. He took notes for me to read later, and I listened in when I could.

And that was our first version of Ambleside’s Year 1!

Year 3 Wrap Up for Kid Uno

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Year 3 Wrap Up for Kid Uno

Average weekly time: Together (3 hours), Kid Uno independently (13), total 16 hours

 

Rate each book (like, neutral, dislike).

Add a few comments.

Any changes for next child?

[My answers are italicized]

 

Bible/Saints

New Testament AO Selections

Dislike. I don’t really like reading the Bible. The thing picks out a lot of stories that I don’t like.

Like. She narrated well.

Old Testament AO Selections

Dislike. It’s very boring.

Dislike. The AO schedule was so confusing. I need to change it for coming years.

Saints

Like. It’s very fun, it has good stories.

Like. I think Kid Uno mostly liked the beautiful girl martyrs, but they were all good. I thought the level might be too easy for her, but it wasn’t.

History/Bios

Child’s History of the World

Neutral. Some parts I like, and some I don’t. Sometimes it’s fun and sometimes it’s boring.

Like. I love this book—I have learned so much. The last chapter about world peace was fluffy and skippable…I think I might read the Matthew passage about wars and rumors of war instead. 

Our Island Story

Dislike. It has a lot of dates I should memorize. All those battles.

Like. I actually haven’t read this. I wasn’t going to schedule it but Kid Uno asked to read it so I said yes as long as she wrote a narration after each chapter. It could be as long or as short as she wanted. I gave her a spiral notebook with some suggested questions to answer or help prompt narrations. She did well, and her illustrations were pretty great.

Timeline

Dislike. Very, very dislike. So boring. Well, neutral—it’ll help me remember stuff but I don’t like writing it.

Neutral. Kind of a drag, but it’s only every three weeks, and it pays off later.

Theresa of Calcutta

Like. She helped the poor and it was a very interesting book.

Like. I haven’t read this since I was a kid, so I skimmed each chapter and we went through some concepts and vocabulary before she read and narrated.

Geography

Minn of the Mississippi

Dislike. Very boring.

Neutral. It’s okay. I like Holling C. Holling, but his use of dialogue to narrate doesn’t work very well, especially for read alouds. it gets confusing, especially in this book. I think Kid Uno liked the turtle parts, but didn’t learn much geography from it.

Soviettrek

Neutral. It had some exciting parts but it’s all “I” [first person].

Like. We discussed communism and the USSR before she read. She filled in a printed map with some of the locations of the bike trip. I think it gave her a taste of Russian culture.

Little Tiger in the Chinese Night

Neutral. Like and dislike.

Like. We discussed communism before she read it. She filled in a printed map of China but she did it at the beginning of these two books, so I don’t know if she remembers much.

Children of China

Dislike. It wasn’t a very good story. I like stories, not like history. I don’t like non-fiction at all.

Like. We discussed communism before she read it. She filled in a printed map of China but she did it at the beginning of these two books, so I don’t know if she remembers much.

 Science

One Small Square Woods

Dislike. They’re boring and I know all those safety tips and stuff.

Neutral. Very Eastern—we don’t have those kinds of woods around here, so when we tried doing a small square on the Jordan River, it didn’t work so well. And it was winter 😉

One Small Square Seashore

Dislike. They’re boring and I know all those safety tips and stuff.

 Like. Read right after their trip to Florida, so some of it came alive.

One Small Square Savanna

Dislike. They’re boring and I know all those safety tips and stuff.

Like. This one is easy to follow.

One Small Square Pond

Dislike. They’re boring and I know all those safety tips and stuff.

Like. Fairly interesting. Some overlap with Among the People.

Among the People

Like. It’s really fun, and it’s also interesting, and it’s also stories, but I still learn something.

Like. I thought the eels crawling through mud was totally out there, until I googled it and it is true! And the humor is great at times.

Pagoo

Neutral. Sometimes it’s boring, sometimes it’s fun.

Like. This is one of Holling’s better ones. We learned a lot about hermit crabs, and a little about the ocean and food chains.

Wild Season

Like. Cuz it shows the food chain, it’s also really fun.

Like. This is a great book; that’s why I assigned it. J Rather than verbal narrations, she had a little notebook and I told her to do a one page illustration of the main idea of each chapter. They were great. And I think she picked up on the food chain concept pretty well.

BFSU

Dislike. It’s science and I hate, hate, hate science, completely hate.

Neutral. This is such a great concept but I so dread implementing it. And Kid Uno whined about it. So halfway through the 3rd term, I just found all the non-fiction we own that line up with the ideas, assigned her a book to read, and discussed afterward. That worked a lot better. I have re-done my schedule for BFSU 1 and 2 for next year in the same format, but will be beefing it up with projects and videos.

Nature Journal

Dislike. Cuz I can’t pick what I like to draw, and it’s nature.

Like. Term 1 was the best, when I scheduled topics ahead of time. The other terms were haphazard, which was ok.

Nature Connection

Neutral. Cuz I ran out of projects and had to do it three years.

Neutral. I think it is worthwhile, but it is redundant now that I have more experience and more resources for nature study. This is Kid Uno’s third year with it, and that’s more than enough.

Literature

The Heroes

Like. Cuz it’s a story.

Like. Although I haven’t quite finished it 😦 I need to pre-read faster! A good, fairly short intro to mythology. Kid Uno read it on her own.

Princess and the Goblin

Like. Cuz it’s also a story, and it’s very fun cuz she finds her grandmother.

Like. Kid Uno had already read the abridged version, so she was a bit nonplussed to read this again. But she liked it, and kept asking to read ahead.

Shakespeare

Neutral. Cuz sometimes it’s fun and sometimes it’s not.

Like. Especially Hamlet, since I’ve never read it before. I get some of the others mixed up since they are formulaic, but they are all good.

Pilgrim’s Progress

Dislike. Hate. The worst story imaginable. The younger one [Little Pilgrim’s Progress] is much, much better.

Dislike. Thanks, John Bunyan, for making me explain rape to a nine year old, and victim-blaming while you’re at it. Ugh. I keep waffling on whether to drop this, but I keep thinking who am I to argue with previous generations’ acclaim for a lauded classic….or something. But I am postponing it till Kids Dos and Tres are in Year 3 and 2, so I don’t have to read it again next year.

People Could Fly

Like. It has fun stories.

Like. This is one of my minority tweaks that I am really happy with. The stories are great, and Kid Uno picked up on the allusions to death.

Tom Sawyer

Like. Love. It’s so fun, and he goes on the best adventures.

Like. This was a great sub for Children of the New Forest. We did three chapters a week for one term, which was a lot of reading, but it was a good one to do together since she doesn’t understand a lot of the context. There were a couple boring chapters, but most was much better than I remembered as a kid.

Jungle Books

Like. Love. Fun stories. Very interesting. And I learned a different language about how to say animal.

Like. Kipling has really grown on me. This was amazing. Took about 45-60 min per chapter, so it was a lot of reading, but again a really good one to do together.

American Tall Tales

Like. It’s not true but it’s really fun.

Like. Classic tall tales. She’d already read most of them in another book, so I think we skipped some narrations.

Poetry

William Blake

Like. It’s very pretty and nice and sweet.

Like. My only exposure to Blake was a terrible college class which took weeks to discuss Tyger and I hated it. Kid Uno and I read Songs of Innocence and Experience, and they were pretty cool, especially the original illustrations.

Vikram Seth

Hate. They’re not very good poems for me, and I don’t like what he writes.

Like. These were great story-poems (Beastly Tales), and another of my non-western additions.

Marilyn Singer

Like. They’re really good, and they’re backwards.

Like. We read Mirror Mirror and  Follow Follow. Very clever.

Sara Teasdale

Neutral. Some are good and some I don’t really like.

Like. But I think these would be more appreciated by an older someone, say 14ish. Kid Uno didn’t really get into them.

Math

Rays Intellectual, Practical, and Test

Dislike. Hate. It’s the worst schoolbook in my whole life. It’s hard, it’s confusing, it’s very un-fun.

Like. I know Kid Uno doesn’t like it, but it is so simple, effective, and short. Although I assigned way too much long division at the beginning of that section, until I realized 10 problems took her 2 hours!

Strayer Upton

Like. It’s easy and fun and it tells the stories that goes along with it, and it makes it easy for me to understand.

Like. We finished half the red book. Kid Uno loves it (compared to Ray’s), and I like that I can pick sections where she can use some easy practice. It could be fairly self-teaching. Not as advanced as Ray’s; it’s probably about grade level.

Miquon

Dislike. Hate. It gives me problems that sometimes I don’t understand; sometimes it’s really easy, sometimes it’s really hard. I like stuff to teach me but be very easy.

Like. The perfect complement to Ray’s. Kid Uno doesn’t love it, but she doesn’t complain about it much. She will finish it in Year 4.

Life of Fred

Neutral. I’d like to go into older books cuz it’s very easy. Some easy things I like, some I don’t.

Dislike. Actually closer to hate. Just inane, and she learns absolutely no math. The only redeeming quality is that she associates something funny with math. Kid Uno has been reading them on her own; I am done reading them forever; considered selling but will probably hang on to them and just let the kids read them when they want to.

Flashcards

Dislike. If it showed all the cards on the computer it would be faster because I wouldn’t have to flip cards over.

Like. She does multiplication or division a couple times a week, and has been getting faster. Takes about 10 minutes per set.

Writing

Pentime Grade 6 and 7

Neutral. I don’t like long things but I do like short things.

Like. Cheap, quick, effective, and pretty.

Reading

McGuffey’s Third Reader

Dislike. I like reading stories better than all that Bible stuff.

Like. This book is fairly boring, but it has been great for elocution. I’ve also used it as an early intro to dictation. She picks 2-3 spelling words at the end, studies them for a minute, puts the book down, and copies them.

Art

Scott Foresman 4, 5

Like. But I’d rather be able to skip around

Like. We’ve continued using these for art projects. She is self-directed, and there is some good variety. We’ll move on to something else next year.

Pencil Drawing Books

Dislike. Not at all fun because I can’t draw what I like, and I like drawing people. I don’t like drawing their way.

Like. She has been working through her choice four weeks at a time, and I think it’s added to her skill.

Theatre at Children’s Theatre

Like. Our teachers were really good and nice.

Like. It was rough getting Kids Uno and Dos to classes during the winter at naptime with a new baby. But they really enjoyed it, and I think they learned some vocal and public speaking and memorization skills.

 Picture Study

John James Audubon

Like. It’s fun, and interesting.

Like. Good way to learn observation.

Georgia O’Keefe

Neutral. Some of her paintings I liked, some I didn’t. It’s not my type of drawing.

Like. The book I ended up with was tiny so I may upgrade for future kids.

Salvador Dali

Dislike. Hate. All that scary stuff and weird stuff and naked people.

Like. I thought Kid Uno would dislike him, but she was pretty into it.

Music

Hymn

Dislike. I don’t really like singing it together the way we do it.

Like. I love when we have learned one, and then we sing it at church, and she is happy because she knows this one!

Haydn, Beatles, Harp, Aaron Copeland, U2, Steel Drums, Debussey, Selena, French Horn

Like. Love. SELENA—she’s the best singer in the world…

Like. This was a fun assortment. I’m pretty sure Selena was the favorite.

Violin Lessons

Like. It helps me learn about all the notes, and I’ve been able to learn a little piano, and it’s been very fun.

Like. Her violin lessons have been very worthwhile.

Memorization/Recitation

Bible

Dislike. Hate. Because I don’t like memorizing. Unless it’s songs from movies. I don’t like being made to memorize. Maybe we should memorize songs instead.

Like. She doesn’t like to put much time into it until the end of the term. I thought letting her pick a passage would be more enjoyable, but she just picked the shortest ones possible.

Poetry

Neutral. It’s not that fun.

Like. She doesn’t like to put much time into it until the end of the term. Maybe learning some techniques for memorizing would be helpful?

Handicraft/Skill

Emily’s Co-op

Like. Love. It’s so much fun, and I can make so many new friends, except I don’t get to see them a lot. Like A—he’s a friend of the C–. M—he was really fun, and we got to be great friends. Also A–.

Like. Emily was amazing to do this. Three hours every Friday morning for several weeks. The three older kids all learned some finger-knitting and Spanish, played parts in a fairy tale play, and did some nature journaling, and loved being with friends. The kids loved it.

Knitting, Weaving, Beeswax Candles, Microscope, Pet Care, Decorating Church for Easter, Clay, Making Rose Hip Tea, Origami, Making Lunch, Opening Pomegranates, Grocery Shopping, Legos, Beading, Gingerbread House, Baking Cookies, Brownies, Cake, and Pies, Felting Soap, Paper Cutting, Play Doh, Hand Sewing, Fairy House, Eco Art, Paper Fans, Building Fort, Harvesting Pine Nuts

Like. It’s fun.

Like. It’s all good!

Outdoor Exploration

Perseid Meteor Shower in West Desert, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Millcreek Canyon, Peace Garden, Sheepdog Festival, Week at Cabin in Grover, Tracey Aviary, Wheeler Farm, Neighborhood Seed Walk, Jordan River, Cattails, Aerospace Museum, Stockton, Treehouse, Tulip Festival, Thanksgiving Point, Discovery Gateway, Camping in Uintas, Week in Florida

Like. It’s very fun.

Like. One of the best parts of homeschooling.

 Sport/Physical Activity

Ballet at Missio

Like. Love. I even want to become a ballerina when I grow up. The teachers help me understand so that I’m able to do it right, and they are really patient and understanding. They always help me with it, even when I have lots of trouble. They say “you can do it”. Especially Laura—because she teaches my class and is always really helpful. They even give us breaks (which I don’t ask for).

Like. It’s free, the quality is equivalent to SLC Ballet which is not free, it’s nearby, DH usually takes them, and their performance was very sweet. It’s a keeper. Kid Uno is gifted at ballet; I need to look into whether she should take more or harder classes.

Running

Neutral. It’s pretty hard, but it’s kind of fun to get rewards for it.

Like. DH times the kids running around the block, and tracks their records on a spreadsheet. And Kid Uno ran her first 5k this year!

Hikes, Bike Rides, Tennis, Yard Golf, Bounce House, Snow Play, Sledding, Ice Skating, Swimming

Like. They’re really fun.

Like. All great activities.

Gymnastics

Like. It’s fun.

Like. All four older kids took several weeks of classes at the rec center. It was a good cheap way to see if they were all really interested like they said they were. I think we’ll do it again this winter.

Overall evaluation: Our family is very strong in spending time reading, crafting, sporting, socializing,  and spending time outside. We have acquired Legos and more board games this year; Kid Uno has enjoyed both. She is a very self-directed learner…needs a little instruction, and she’s off. Comes up with a lot of her own ideas and implements them on her own. She did most of her work independently, and is all set for complete independence in Year 4.  She took the ITBS and DORA/ADAM. The DORA/ADAM were much more useful for me. She’s at or above grade level in everything except geometry. I need to look ahead and see if our maths cover that more next year [since Kid Dos also tested low in that area], or if I should add something. Origami? 😉 She’s a super reader, and I am always scrambling to find more free reads for her. I’d eventually like her to enjoy reading books written in first person; they are the only ones she won’t read. We didn’t use much media again this year; next year I am putting some movies/documentaries/music right on the schedule so I remember to do them. Kid Uno does enjoy Storybird, Oregon Trail, online math games, and watching ballet and sports. I’m happy with the changes I made to Year 3 (compared to the AO version). It ended up being a bit more time consuming for Kid Uno than I wanted it to be (I was aiming at about 15 hours a week), but she rose to the occasion (and I eventually cut back on math). The distribution of work throughout the week was perfect, but I want to protect her daily free time, so I’m keeping that in mind in my Year 4 planning. No more than 20 hours a week next year, I hope.

 

 

 

Year 1 Wrap-up for Kid Dos

1 Reply

Year 1 Wrap Up for Kid Dos

Average weekly time: Together (4 hours), Kid Dos independently (4), total 8 hours

 Rate each book or activity (like, neutral, dislike).

Add a few comments.

Any changes for next child?

(My answers are italicized)

 

Bible/Saints

AO Bible Selections

Like. It’s about God.

Like.  Short readings covering standard Bible stories.

Saints

Liked it a ton. Loved it. I don’t know; it’s just fun to listen to, and it’s about God.

Like. Short, concise, informative. Lovely illustrations. Part way through the book, I realized a lot of the words and ideas were unfamiliar, so I started introducing vocabulary before reading the story, and that helped Kid Dos’s understanding.

History/Bios

50 Famous Stories

Neutral. They were short but they were interesting.

Like. It’s kind of a weird collection of stories. Mignon? My second time through this book, and I still don’t get why that is included. And the Pocohontas version is terrible. But most are fine. I schedule all of them, in chronological order.

Viking Tales

Like. Love it! It was cool. It told a lot about different lands. It helped me find some on the globe and memorize it.

Like. This was even better the second time around. We did a lot of mapping, and I introduced vocabulary before readings.

 D’aulaires’ Pocohontas

 Like. Loved it! It was cool. It was about one of my favorite Disney princesses. It was about showing love, how she rescued the man. How all the animals were bigger than the people at the end. It was very interesting.

Like. It’s the standard version of her life, but all the illustrations maximize the interesting cultural aspects and minimize the rah-rah-pilgrims stuff.

D’aulaires’ Benjamin Franklin

Neutral. It was about a boy, so that was the bad part.

Neutral. Not the most engaging storytelling after the childhood part.

D’aulaires’ George Washington

Like. He had a horse.

Like. Fairly interesting.

D’aulaires’ Buffalo Bill

Neutral. It was interesting.

Neutral. Had to do some on-the-fly editing with Indian references. Some good mapping.

Timeline

Dislike. Hate it; terrible. Boring—it’s writing.

Neutral. Kind of a drag, but it’s only every three weeks, and it pays off later.

Science/Geography

One Small Square Woods

Dislike. Boring.

Neutral. Very Eastern—we don’t have those kinds of woods around here, so when we tried doing a small square on the Jordan River, it didn’t work so well. And it was winter 😉

One Small Square Seashore

Neutral. It has birds.

Like. Read right after their trip to Florida, so some of it came alive.

One Small Square Savanna

Like. Loved it. It had everything about animals—elephants, lions, zebras, buffaloes.

Like. This one is easy to follow.

One Small Square Pond

Neutral. It was kinda boring and hard to understand.

Like. Fairly interesting. Some overlap with Among the People.

 Among the People

Neutral. Kinda interesting, kind boring, kinda weird.

Like. I thought the eels crawling through mud was totally out there, until I googled it and it is true! And the humor is great at times.

James Herriot

Love. It was about animals—sheep, ton of cats, cow, dogs. It was so fun and interesting, and there were veterinarians which tried to help the animals. I liked all the color and detail.

Like. Such great illustrations, and he is such a warm writer. I look forward to Kid Dos reading his adult works  when she’s older (if she’s still obsessed with animals).

Paddle to the Sea

Neutral. Kinda boring.

Neutral. The first half is nicely paced and lends itself to mapping, but the last half seems rushed, and it is totally anti-climactic. Kid Dos didn’t even realize he had made it to the sea. I like Holling C. Holling, but his use of dialogue to narrate doesn’t work very well, especially for read alouds.

Nature Journal

Dislike. It’s all about drawing pictures and it’s boring.

Like. Term 1 was the best, when I scheduled topics ahead of time. The other terms were haphazard, which were ok.

Nature Connection

Dislike. Hate. The worst besides handwriting. You had to write, you had to go outside in bad weather when sometimes you wanted to stay in the house.

Neutral. I think it is worthwhile, but it is redundant now that I have more experience and more resources for nature study. I am dropping it or minimizing it for Kid Tres (trying to streamline); I may have Kid Dos do the weather section next year.

Literature

Blue Fairy

Like. Interesting, and it had Beauty and the Beast in it.

Like. I picked some different stories from Kid Uno’s Year 1.

Lamb’s Shakespeare

Neutral. Kid Uno likes it and I didn’t really like it. She always picked it to be last and I wanted Saints to be last.

Like. Especially Hamlet, since I’ve never read it before. I get some of the others mixed up since they are formulaic, but they are all good.

 Aesop’s Fables

Neutral. Short but interesting, and there were animals it.

Neutral. These are classic, of course, but I don’t know why everyone says they are easy. They are so short, it’s almost ridiculous to narrate afterward, and I’ve given up on expecting the kids to understand the morals. I’m going to do the Provensen version with Kid Dos to change things up a bit.

Just So Stories

Like. Story about elephant and crocodile that pulled its trunk out.

Like. I liked this so much better the second time around! Considering getting a nicer edition than Yesterday’s Classics, since the illustrations are worthless in our copy.

A Child’s Garden of Verses

Dislike. Boring, and all about rhyming things.

Neutral. I get this and Book of Poems confused. The illustrations are the best part. I don’t care so much for Stevenson. I may swap The Llama Who Had No Pajamas or something similar for Kid Tres.

A.A. Milne

Like. Cuz bears in the squares.

Like. Actually, I love Milne. I think his cleverness totally goes over kids’ heads, but he makes childhood so poignant. Kid Dos latched on to a couple of the poems, and wanted to read them every time 🙂

Book of Poems

Dislike. I had to read some, and I don’t like reading out loud.

Neutral. A lot of sappy poems.

Math

Ray’s Primary Arithmetic

Dislike. Hate. It was terrible, it was boring, and it was math.

Like. I know Kid Dos doesn’t like it, but it is so simple, effective, and short. We finished addition and subtraction, and began multiplication.

Life of Fred

Like. It was funny, cuz it was a five year old boy who had a math class, and a long pointy nose, and…

Dislike. Actually closer to hate. Just inane, and she learns absolutely no math. The only redeeming quality is that she associates something funny with math. We got through Apples and Butterflies, I am done reading them forever; considered selling since they were spendy, but will probably hang on to them and just let the kids read them when they want to.

Miquon

Dislike. Math again.

Like. Such a good complement to Ray’s. She worked through parts of Red and Orange. Got stuck on the multiplication parts, so that’s where we’ll pick up next year.

I Love Math

Neutral. It was reading.

Like. This is really a great set. The kids all read these books just for fun sometimes.

Handwriting

Printing Workbook

Dislike. Boring.

Like. Cheap, quick, and effective. But I didn’t spend enough time instructing her letter formation; she does some letters wrong, and I need to correct her.

Rod & Staff Penmanship Grade 2

Neutral. It’s hard.

Like. Cheap, quick, effective, and pretty.

Reading

McGuffey’s Primers and First Reader

Like. It’s better than Phonics Pathways.

Like. Those hit-you-over-head morals from the 1800s are something else! They make me snicker every time. Kid Dos liked reading them because they were real stories, compared with Phonics Pathways nonsense sentences.

Phonics Pathways

Dislike. Terrible, nonsense.

Like. Kid Dos hated this (“it’s all nonsense”) but the phonics were SO important for her. And it is way better than OPGTR!

Music

Hymn

Neutral. I don’t like singing very much.

Like. I love when we have learned one, and then we sing it at church, and she is so excited because she knows this one!

Classical Kids CDs

Like. Love. SO fun and awesome because there were grown up people singing and it was fun to hear.

Like. Papageno and the magic flute will forever be associated with Kid Dos’s Year 1.

Music Lessons

Like. Love. It was fun and I’m twins with Daddy.

Like. Her piano lessons have been very worthwhile.

Memorization & Recitation

Bible

Dislike. It was hard.

Like. I like being able to choose something meaningful for her to memorize. And she has a flawless memory.

Poetry

Neutral. It was fun to memorize Five Little Chickens.

Like. Her bears in the squares and little chicks recitations were adorable. Her whole life is animal themed.

Art

Drawing Textbook

Dislike. Hard and boring.

Like. Simple and effective.

Usborne Treasury of Art

Dislike. Hate. I hate art.

Like. It’s interesting seeing Kid Dos do these projects, since she doesn’t love that type of art. This book is well done.

Drawing Videos

Like. It was Jan Brett and she drew animals.

Like. Jan Brett on YouTube.

Theatre at Children’s Theatre

Like. Love. It was so nice. I liked singing Be Our Guest. I liked my teacher. It was fun. One of the bad parts was one of the girls was hyper and she was so loud.

Like. It was rough getting Kids Uno and Dos here during the winter at naptime with a new baby. But they really enjoyed it, and I think they learned some voice and public speaking and memorization skills.

 

Picture Study

Escher

Dislike. Hate. Boring and it was all about telling pictures.

Like. I thought she would love this, but she didn’t really. She liked the color prints better than the black and white. Anyway, I love Escher!

 Van Gogh

Dislike. Hate. Boring, terrible, it was all about studying some old pictures.

Neutral. But I don’t think this book is the best representation of his work.

Caravaggio

Dislike. It was not fun. It was a waste of time.

Like. She liked the ones with Biblical themes, but not the nudity. So we didn’t look at most of the naked ones. Most of the saints and Biblical characters tied in nicely with this year’s readings.

Handicraft

Emily’s Co-op

Like. Love. It was fun. Our teacher was someone who we know, one of the BEST teachers. We did a science project, we did some nice plays, I like how she designed it. It was  NOT a waste of time.

Like. Emily was amazing to do this. Three hours every Friday morning for several weeks. The three older kids all learned some finger-knitting and Spanish, played parts in a fairy tale play, and did some nature journaling, and loved being with friends. The kids loved it.

Knitting, Weaving, Beeswax Candles, Microscope, Pet Care, Decorating Church for Easter, Clay, Cutting Apples, Making Lunch, Opening Pomegranates, Grocery Shopping, Legos, Beading, Gingerbread House, Baking Cookies, Brownies, Cake, and Pies, Felting Soap, Paper Cutting, Play Doh, Hand Sewing, Fairy House, Eco Art, Paper Fans, Building Fort, Harvesting Pine Nuts

Like. Love, love, love. It’s fun.

Like. It’s all good!

Outdoor Exploration

Perseid Meteor Shower in West Desert, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Millcreek Canyon, Peace Garden, Sheepdog Festival, Week at Cabin in Grover, Tracey Aviary, Wheeler Farm, Neighborhood Seed Walk, Jordan River, Cattails, Aerospace Museum, Stockton, Treehouse, Tulip Festival, Thanksgiving Point, Discovery Gateway, Camping in Uintas, Week in Florida

Like. Love. It was fun. I love seeing the meteor shower cuz I was with cactus.

Like. One of the best parts of homeschooling.

Sports/Physical Activity

Ballet at Missio

Like. Love. I love my teachers. They’re very nice. They care for people, especially B– when he broke his arm. They teach us, and it’s not a waste of time.

Like. It’s free, the quality is equivalent to SLC Ballet which is not free, it’s close, DH usually takes them, and their performance was very sweet. It’s a keeper.

Running

Like. It was hard but fun, and I’ve done two 5ks in my lifetime.

Like. DH times the kids running around the block, and tracks their records on a spreadsheet. And Kid Dos ran her first 5k this year—and won her age group!

 Hikes, Bike Rides, Tennis, Yard Golf, Bounce House, Snow Play, Sledding, Ice Skating, Swimming

Like. Love. It was fun

Like. All great activities.

Baseball

Neutral. It’s a boy’s sport but I met a new friend.

Like. This was 4 weeks on a county rec team with Kid Tres. Low key, low commitment, her baseball skills improved, and they had fun being “baseball buddies”.

Gymnastics

Like. Love. I liked doing handstands, cartwheels, front rolls.

Like. All four older kids took several weeks of classes at the rec center. It was a good cheap way to see if they were all really interested like they said they were. I think we’ll do it again this winter.

 

Overall evaluation: Our family is very strong in spending time reading, crafting, sporting, socializing, and spending time outside. We have acquired Legos and more board games this year; Kid Dos has enjoyed both. She spends a lot of time with the bunnies and chickens. She is currently obsessed with horses, and  A Horse Called Wonder was the first chapter book she finished. At the beginning of the year, it was a struggle to get through her reading lessons, but after many doses of Zita the Space Girl, Billy and Blaze, and some other books, it finally started clicking. She took the DORA/ADAM which were useful to me. She’s at or above grade level in everything except geometry. I need to look ahead and see if our maths eventually cover geometry [since Kid Uno also scored low in that], or if I should add something. Origami? 😉 I wanted to use more media this year but we really didn’t. Better to err on the side of too little, I guess. Next year I am putting some movies/documentaries/music right on the schedule so I remember to do them. Kid Dos does enjoy online math games, Starfall, Wild Kratts, and watching ballet and sports. I’m very happy with the changes I made to Year 1 the second time around; I’m making a couple minor tweaks to streamline it for Kid Tres next year since he will combine with Kid Dos for a few things. The distribution of work throughout the week is just right; it’s only take me three years to perfect our schedules. 🙂

 

 

Thinking Out Loud…Old Books

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I go back and forth on using old books (specifically from the late 1800s, which seems to be the majority of AO selections).

Pros:

  • Older books seem more literary. Maybe because they were more dependent on text vs. photos? Or assumed a high level of interest and ability in the reader?
  • Challenging material is good for learning, and it’s important to me that our kids grow in their ability to understand a wide range of subjects and styles.
  • Big vocabulary!

Cons:

  • The language and writing style are hard to read and understand for children living 100-150 years after these books were written. This is less of an issue for something in the literature or poetry category; more of a concern in history and science. I would rather give them something easier to read if they will understand the content better. So…Arabella Buckley or Allan W. Eckert…or both?
  • There have been an awful lot of books published in the last century! Some are high quality. I’d like them to read the best books regardless of publication date…but what determines “best”?
  • There’s criticism of kids today not being able to understand old books…but it’s hard for me too! We don’t talk or write that way anymore. It would be the same if a 19th century child was plopped down in the middle of texts and youtube and freeway traffic.
  • Some of the flowery, moralistic Victorian/Edwardian/Georgian style is really hard for me to stomach. And the personification and romanticism of nature is very period-influenced (i.e., the Nature Fakers). It may not be good just because it’s old…it depends on what is the purpose of the reading.

I guess it depends on the goal of the reading….if a book is used for literature (Treasure Island, Pride and Prejudice, Tom Sawyer) or poetry (Goblin Market), then I am enthusiastic about reading old books. They are part of our culture, and I’d like our kids to be able to appreciate them and enjoy reading them. If they are for history, I would like the kids to practice comprehension so they are able to read and understand original sources (the Declaration of Independence, Livingston’s Missionary Travels, Plutarch’s Lives). But if they are simply books about history, written in the 1800s, I’m inclined to look for more modern books. That way, the kids don’t have to decipher the language AND assimilate new content. Science seems similar. I hate Usborne and DK style books for science read-alouds (they aren’t literary or cohesive), although some have nice projects, illustrations, and photos. But I also dislike books like Madame How Lady Why or the Burgess Bird book–the personification is annoying and the science is outdated. They may have literary value, but I don’t really want to use them for learning science. There must be a sweet spot in the middle, something like Wild Season, or Jim Arnosky’s books, or Jean Craighead George…

Year 2 Wrap-up for Kid Uno (my version)

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Average weekly time: Total 13 hours

Together (8 hours)/ Kid Uno independently (5 hours)

Rate each book or activity (like, neutral, dislike).

Add a few comments.

Any changes for next child?

Poetry and Recitation

Walter de la Mare

Neutral. Not super memorable.

James Whitcomb Riley

Like. But holy cow—reading that dialect aloud!

Cristina Rosetti

Like. I liked her far more than I expected. Kid Uno loves her.

Memorize at least one poem per term

Like. Kid Uno complains, and picks the shortest possible poems, but she is good at it, and it’s good for her. Learned “Little Orphant Annie” for Gigi for Christmas; did pretty well.

Music

Celtic, Rag, Gospel, Bluegrass, Showtunes, Hip Hop, Polka, Jazz, Marches

Like. AO music appreciation is all classical music, which is fine, BUT there is so much other music out there! So I picked a variety—some I thought Kid Uno would like, and some she wouldn’t—and listened to each genre for four weeks. I think she liked it all except jazz and hip hop.

Hymns

Like. This includes some non-hymns we sing frequently at church, and she gets really excited and sings loudly when there is one she has learned. 🙂

Violin Lessons

Like. Found a teacher and rented a violin beginning of Term 3—yay! Practices 10+ minutes per day. Bought a piano, and she plays around on that too, and composed some music.

Literature

Tales From Shakespeare

Like. We both think they are a bit repetitive—two couples get confused, girls disguise themselves as boys, everyone pairs off in the end. Except Macbeth—that was a breath of fresh air.

Pilgrim’s Progress (Part 1)

Neutral. The theology was over Kid Uno’s head, she hasn’t read much of the Bible so all the Biblical references were over her head, and reading it aloud was a tongue twister (lots of giggles at “the which”). Halfway through the year, I debated dropping it. But I decided to keep it for the exposure to the older English, and it is a classic that lots of children grew up reading. I’m very glad she had already read Little Pilgrim’s Progress, so she knew the storyline. It’s very Protestant, of course, and there were one or two derogatory references to the Pope, but I didn’t have to do any explaining since it went completely over her head anyway.

Understood Betsy

Like. Actually, I loved it. How did I never read this one as kid?! Looking forward to reading it to Kid Dos.

Wind in the Willows

Like. I remembered this as a very boring book from my childhood, but I really enjoyed reading it aloud. The language is very lyrical…and I need to keep my phone handy to look up some words the next time around.

Little Duke

Like. Started slowly, but a very good story. This is one I wish I had pre-read, to know who the characters were, what the historical significance was, and how to pronounce all the French. Eventually I printed a map so we could see what was happening. And AO schedules half a chapter per week, which we eventually doubled because that pace was way too slow—we kept forgetting it between readings.

Robin Hood

Like. Loved it. Great stories, funny. The chapters are so long—about 45 minutes to read one aloud. I scheduled the entire book (AO only does the first half), so two chapters a week. I wish I had pre-read the first couple chapters to get a feel for the language before reading aloud.

Science

One Small Square Backyard

Like. Good illustrations and organization. Not easy to narrate but retained fair amount. This one is the easiest for actually doing activities—Kid Uno made a little square in our backyard.

One Small Square Rainforest

Like. Good illustrations and organization. Not easy to narrate but retained fair amount.

One Small Square Night Sky

Like. Good illustrations and organization. Not easy to narrate but retained fair amount. This is my least favorite—I don’t think the small square idea works so well in the sky.

One Small Square Coral Reef

Like. Good illustrations and organization. Not easy to narrate but retained fair amount.

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (k-2; first half)

Like. This is not easy to use (it needs an editor and better formatting) and is time consuming. It requires some prep and pre-reading for me for each lesson. I did them in the order suggested by a mom online. But I love that it integrates all the sciences, and I love the discussion…we need to improve in discussion around here. I love that it explains so many scientific concepts (for me to teach) because I just don’t remember them from way back when. The activities are easy to do; some more engaging than others. Magnetism and gravity were big hits. I check out library books on most of the topics, and hope (not require) that Kid Uno reads them. I think it’s a more modern and comprehensive science resource than the Handbook of Nature Study used by AO.

Among the …. People

Like. Old and quaint. Nice combo of accurate animal descriptions and slight moral. I’m not tired of reading them yet, and we’ve learned quite a bit. Sometimes we look up pictures and info online or in a field guide.

Nature Connection

Like. Practical and versatile. Kid Uno picked activities from each of the monthly sections. I may use it again for Year 3 (there are plenty of monthly activities left).

History

Trial and Triumph

Dislike. Very much. It was ok until the end of the Francis of Assisi chapter, when the author’s offensive (and wrong, imo) theology suddenly poked its head out of its hole and started climbing out. That is not the kind of church history I want my kids to hear. So I dropped it, permanently. I might keep it around for later years (might be useful for analyzing a certain theological viewpoint). Or not. It was also difficult to read aloud, and finally I decided it wasn’t me…it’s poorly written, with lots of run-on sentences, and references to people and events with no background information, and long quotations that don’t mean much. Anyway, it’s a relief to have that book gone for good. Luke has been reading Acts to the kids at night, and next year we will read short biographical sketches of different saints (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant), so that will be our “church history”, which is plenty at this age.

Child’s History of the World (First Half)

Like. I skipped the first three chapters, since we were reading Genesis anyway, and we read through chapter 46 this year. Kid Uno narrates every couple of paragraphs, and we follow closely with the globe. It has been a great overview of world history and geography. I’m using the most recent edition, so there is almost no racism/classim. I edit (on the fly) very infrequently, and feel like the author gives pretty fair treatment to different religions and people groups (other than the many references to “Christian” nations and rulers).

Joan of Arc (Stanley)

Neutral. This is the fourth Stanley book I’ve read, and I’m not a big fan. The pictures are good, but the writing isn’t very engaging. We read the Signature biography of Joan of Arc, too, and it was much better (though longer). I’m not going to schedule any more of Stanley’s books in the future. There are more interesting authors.

Biographies

Landmark Biographies

Like. But I am postponing them for Year 3 and beyond. Kid Uno started the year reading one per week. Some were good, and some she just didn’t get. So halfway through the year, we switched to the Signature series, which are written for younger children.

Signature Biographies

Like. These are so good for this age. I have vivid memories of Pasteur and Audubon from reading these as a kid, and Kid Uno has been gobbling them up…2-3 per week. With good narrations afterward. I bought 50 of the 51 (couldn’t justify $14 for Jackie O), and she has read about 2/3 of the series. Minor drawback is that they were written in the 50s and 60s, so slaves are referred to as “servants”, and there are references to “Negros” and “colored”, so we have discussed those terms. But the Crazy Horse and Geronimo and G.W. Carver bios are nicely done; not stereotypical. And there are lots of bios of women, which is awesome.

Geography

Tree in the Trail

Like. Not as good as Paddle; the storyline doesn’t flow so well. But the pictures are great, and the mapwork is good.

Seabird

Like. But there is very little geography. I would classify it more as technology, with about 3 chapters of geography, if that.

Copywork

Rod&Staff Penmanship 4

Like. Completely self-directed, takes about 10 minutes a day. Beautiful penmanship, and I like that the copywork is Bible and bird/animal themes. We split each two-page spread into three days.

Rod&Staff Penmanship 5

Like. Completely self-directed, takes about 10 minutes a day. Beautiful penmanship, and I like that the copywork is Bible and bird/animal themes. Kid Uno liked the Braille and Morse Code bits. We split each two-page spread into three days.

Math

Life of Fred

Neutral. Kid Uno loves it. The bloom has worn off for me; I’m tired of reading the story, and don’t find it funny anymore. We do it once a week, and she rarely remembers the previous concepts. We did Dogs and most of Edgewood. I will probably hand it over to her next year; it is solely a fun supplement, so if she still enjoys it, it’s all hers.

I Love Math books

Like. Kid Uno learned quite a bit from reading these. Toward the end of the year, she complained that there was nothing new; she had read them all several times. So I won’t schedule them again for her next year.

Ray’s Primary Arithmetic

Like. Methodical and easy to use (with Eclectic series teacher guide). I LOVE that one little book covers two years of math. Have thoroughly covered multiplication and division up to 100. She is not solid (needs to memorize the facts) but understands the concepts and is pretty good with the lower numbers. Introduction to lots of measurements at the end of the year. She did most of the work orally, till we got to the tables section. I ordered the Ray’s Key, and am glad I did, since the problems take longer to check now.

Miquon

Like. Have finished red and some of blue. Love that it introduces concepts (like equations and negative numbers) far earlier than traditional math. Also concepts not covered (so far) by Rays. Kid Uno does several pages 1-2x per week. Usually enjoys it—sometimes complains, but frequently does extra pages because she’s been having fun. I plan to finish the series next year.

I think we have a strong math program combining Rays and Miquon.

Bible and Memorization

AO Genesis and Matthew Selections

Neutral. I like having some Bible scheduled, and I like not having to schedule it. But the AO selections don’t touch any passages with violence or sex, which makes it disjointed and kind of random. And starting with Genesis and Matthew is not the most creative system ever. It’s good enough for now, though. We’ve had some nice discussions.

Memorize Bible Passage Each Term

Like. Kid Uno complains every day, and gets a bit overwhelmed by long passages. But I think it’s a much better way to memorize than random single verses. We have some friends who organized some verses for their own memorization (I think they are topical or thematic), and I may incorporate their selections next year.

Reading

McGuffey’s Third Reader

Like. Great for student read-aloud skills. Great for vocabulary. This level has been a challenge for her (vocabulary, pronunciation, and content). It’s good for learning to read critically. I’ve been asking Kid Uno to find the main idea in each paragraph, or asking her to explain it in her own words, or asking a question that must be answered in the paragraph.  I find the extreme moralistic tone highly entertaining, and Shalom likes most of the stories. Covers interesting topics. She reads aloud every day, breaking up each lesson into 2-3 days. Have started dictation with the vocabulary words at the end.

Art Appreciation

Mary Cassat

Like. The mirror, and female/child theme was interesting.

Raphaelle Peale

Like. All the still life paintins started to look the same after a while.

Pablo Picasso

Neutral. I thought I liked him more than I do.

Art Instruction

Art Treasury

Like. Kid Uno finished the book during Term 1.

Scott Foresman Art Grade 1, 2, 3

Like. Kid Uno picked one of two projects each week. She didn’t like the first grade book, but was enthusiastic about the second and third. It seemed a bit heavy on the cut, paste, paper type projects, but some of her projects were really cool. Self-directed.

Drawing Textbook

Like. She finished the book this year, and I think the daily practice really developed her skills in perspective and shape.

Nature Journal

Like. Combo of observation and art. Kid Uno doesn’t put much effort into it, so the results are fairly mediocre. About 1x per week. Might help to assign topics more methodically, but I think it’s ok as-is.

Sports

Ballet at SLC Ballet

Dislike. She and Kid Dos took the fall semester together. Neither of them were very enthusiastic. Partly because they didn’t perform at the end (we were out of town), and partly because the teacher was not very good. High cost, low yield.

Soccer at Sorensen Rec Center

Like. All three older kids did a month of spring soccer (2 games per week). Good overall; low cost, short time commitment, coaches and refs ranked non-existent to mediocre, but it was fun. Would do again.

 

Outdoor Exploration

I aim for one outing a week, and include travel/vacations

Like. One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling. Lots of zoo visits, This Is the Place State Park, lots of walks on the Jordan River trail, lots of parks, three weeks of FL beaches at Christmas, road trip to CA, Pacific Ocean, sledding, hikes, camping, Stockton visits, ice skating, exploring downtown SLC, Wheeler Farm, gardening, raising chicks and rabbits…It’s nice to keep track to see the variety of experiences over a year.

Handicraft

Skill building (chores, baking, big art projects)

Like. This category needs a different name. It includes art projects that are time consuming for me (clay sculpting and needle felting), chores she learned (cleaning the bathroom), skills Kid Uno wants to improve (baking—brownies, cookies, rice krispie treats, pie), and projects/activities she initiates (building forts, riding a bike, selling lemonade and paintings, cooking eggs and chili). About half way through the year, I realized she really wanted to do more cooking/baking, so I bumped it up on my priority list, and I’m glad I did.

Overall evaluation: We are very strong with all kinds of reading. I would like to use a bit more media (documentaries, listening to music, good movies, online games for rewards and drill, etc.) We love experiences and activities; I would like to make them a higher priority next year, but with a new baby, 3 school kids, a preschooler, and a toddler…we will see how much energy it takes. We are great at getting outside and being active. We have plenty of socializing (extended family, friends, nursing home, church, kid activities…). I have a good amount of art and craft materials available, and want to continue prioritizing crafts, art, music, cooking, building, etc.  I’d like to make board/card games more visible, and get some nice older-kid toys (like Legos). I plan to transition Kid Uno into mostly independent work for content subjects in Year 3, and to add some written narration toward the end of the year. It’s been a good, full year, and went very well overall.