Our HS Series: Babs, The Binder System

Meet Babs, (aka "Big Ass Binder System) hence "BABS" in polite company ;)

She is the frame work behind our school. Shes my Personal Assistant, she's everything. Without her, the sky would fall, and Chicken Little would be screaming her (him? it?) little head off.

Although we have moved on a little from her, we still use her, she's just more "streamlined" (more about that in a later post)

We'll start from the most important bits.

These are my "guides". I have been known to clutch these in a death-like grip. They are mine. Anyone touching them knows the universe may and will implode around them *jokes*.

To the left (blue) is the "Weekly Guide" This holds the schedule for the week, and all associated worksheets. The Middle (green) that very egocentrically has "Miss Edumacated" branded on it, is my Teachers Guide/Reference (hey, I like my name! :p ) binder. The one to the right (flowery brown) is my science Binder, which contains most of the Teacher stuff for science (so at least I *appear* to know what I am doing!)

Let's show a bit more about them.

This is my terrible cursive writing on the tabs of the Teachers/Reference Folder.
Tabs I have are:
Calendar: Everyday stuff/notes for trips/DH's work schedule
Supply Lists: Contains what is says, all the supply lists from curriculums
Movie Lists: Lists for Science, General, and History
Library List: I put everything together here and this helped me use my local librarys online Lists (I created Weeks 1-36 with them, then added appropriate books, all I have to do is check them all and hold them near the week I need them. I keep these are they are a backup hardcopy in case the library loses my lists.
History: Has various references/teacher cheat sheets, review cards etc
ABCs: Bits from our Pre-K curriculum that can't be organized by week
VIP/Misc: This has a protector sheet behind it and holds all my membership/support groups/subscriptions/receipts etc.

Here for example is a page from the "Supply Lists" tab, notice all the crosses/marks, I do mark-up my stuff! lol.

 
Now onto science:

 
My Science Binder has tabs for the different "threads" so a General/Overview, Animals, Human Body & Plants. All my teacher stuff and Lapbook components go in here.

Now back to that lovely binder shelf, or more specifically this part:

 
These are my binders that hold "all" of the schedules and worksheets. There are Six binders, each with six weeks worth of work in them, and each, originally named from 1-6.

 
And they each have tabs in them labelling the weeks with all the stuff behind it, so I can just grab a new week and plonk it into my "Weekly Guide" Binder.

Heres a little look see at the schedule I made up (used excel for weekly schedule pages and word for notes pages. We have 3 "schedule" pages per week. One Core, One LA, and One Electives, plus the "notes" pages. (Don't have a picture of Core page, but its roughly the same as the electives page).

 
This is the Language Arts page, its a little hard to see, but the vertical rows are colour co-ordinated with the Pre-K LA. So when I glance at what Atlas is doing I can just glance for the same colour down below and see what I can give to the littlies, to occupy them, if need be.

 
This is the electives page, the bottom bit just says that the littlies follow along (for both this & cores) if they want to.

And these are the "notes" pages behind the schedule. They are divided by day, then further by subject, for stuff I have to explain further about.

Heres a close-up:

Lastly, we were doing 1 Chapter of SOTW a week, which meant a few chapters would be left over. I just put the extra chapters in a display book, to do over the holidays:

So thats Part 1 of "Our Homeschool Series". Stay Tuned for further Parts!

And Happy Planning!

xxx
Miss Ed.

Quick Lil Post

I'll be putting up photos of the schedule I "used" in the next 2 days. I just wanted to note that I'll no longer be following this schedule.

Originally I was following The Well Trained Mind Book to pretty much the letter, but as some mums do, I got blindsided a tad about the "perfect school" as opposed to the "perfect school for my child" which is, in fact, pretty much the total opposite. So after a year of lagging through this perfect ideal, we are going back to basics. Hence, the curriculum sell-out listed on another post.

We're going more into the way of using a Themed program for each year (loosely followed) with some more Project Based & Natural Learning. i want to take a step back and focus my whole time on Chaos (who will hopefully be going in to get a referral for an assessment & OT) & Atlas (whom we have to work on with her Diabetes & phonics) so everything other than that will be counted as less-important, thus the more relaxed lifestyle.

I have noticed even coming up with this decision, has relieve a big load of my shoulders I was not aware was there. We got much more "schooling" done in the past 3 days, then we did in the past 2 weeks, which, to me is absolutely amazing. Its confirming my choice, that although we are not following the Classical Curriculum of SWB, we are following something that is teaching my children to be life long learners.

But, we'll see how we go with this approach. :p


xxx
Miss Ed

When the curriculum comes tumbling down...

It one of those times we're people see me as a red glowing monster. Yes, you should stay out of the way, NO I am not mad, but I will be if you keep asking.

For the love of all that is gold, please leave me alone!

That pretty much sums it up.

So, obviously the "norm" thing for me now (every year) is a couple of weeks into our lovely planned curriculum, I scrap most of it.

So we're a few weeks in, I'm behind with my posts, I haven't even downloaded any of the images from the camera (so several hundred photos from the past few weeks are on there)

And I also went through all the stuff we've either dropped or are not using, and all I can think is..."Did Rainbow Resource suddenly expand in Australia? Mainly my library?"

So I am concentrating on removing all the extra stuff from there, so like I can pretend it never happened. Because it didn't, and if DH says elsewise, I'll go get him a beer, he'll forget all about arguing with me.

And now blogger hates me, putting a moving scroller across my screen so I couldn't access my blog.

So yep, still here....unfortunately :p I will have to get stuck in to getting caught up with the blog this weekend, and probably do quite a number of blog posts, and timer set them, as I think life keeps getting in the way of blogging every weekend.

Until then, I am randomly adding, removing and playing around on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/missed/ so you can follow me there (I think there is a link over the right hand side also>>> ....somewhere.

xxx
Miss Ed

Why I haven't posted for a few days...

I just missed Wordless Wednesday, which would of explained it without writing. I have been snowed under with doing the final notes for my planning sheets (basically the final bit before plonking everything into folders and pronouncing myself done).

Unfortunately this involves a great amount of desk space.......oh and apologies for the picture, I won't be getting a new camera till next wednesday, so this one has been take with my iphone.

Yep. Thats half a giant folding table (the kind they set-up for markets or impromptu meetings :p ) You don't want to see the other half....no, trust me on this. I think I have enough energy drinks to create a life size pyramid. Plus 2 bottles of tomato sauce....because, yeah, there just essential on your desk.

So once I find the table again, I will post more...I promise :D

xxx
Miss Edumacated

How do you do it all?

This is a question I have been asked many, many times. We may only be "new" to formal homeschooling (1 yr) but after planning this year, and the things we got through last year with two littlies hanging on, everyone seems to want to know.

After the last PM today, I decided to blog about it.

Answer is.....I don't!

The "ideal" solution for us would be for me to make my own curriculum, completely from scratch, but unless I have a year between each "schoolyear" and no children around, that is not going to happen!

What we do (and so you don't think I am totally crazy, I have seen a few other homeschoolers who do this) is yes, I buy mutiple curriculums/resources for one subject. This may not be the most money-efficient means (well, its definitely not) but it allows me to customise a subject to our liking with a minimum of fuss.

For the subject at hand, I gather all the materials/curriculums/resources I purchased. Then I usually have one item/curriculum as the spine/base (for History this is Story of the World, for Science its Elemental Science) then anything else I rearrange according to the layout of the spine item. Once that is done, I simple go through each mini subject and pick and choose the books,activities etc to suit our current set-up/year.

Most of the items I purchase are teacher manuals/digital curriculums etc, stuff that can be re-used for reference/activities/curriculums throughout their schooling. We follow "very loosely" the WTM way i.e. the 4 year rotation of history. So anything we don't use this year, can be used on our next two rotations (yes, believe it or not, some of the stuff I purchased now can be used for the child in year 9).

So *thats* my secret. I don't actually do it all, and if I did, I would probably have gone completely mad by now! :D Its just a matter of holding tight to how you want the final subject to turn out. For us right now, videos and arts & crafts trump everything, as with the combined ages of the kids, this is what can be done/viewed by all, and enjoyed by each ones individual learning style. After that comes games & books, last is worksheets. My children are not very worksheet styled, so experiments, documentaries, art, craft and DIY games work much better to help them retain that knowledge.

Before we have even begun the year, my daughter is entranced with all that is *egyptians*, this came from 3 things. The start of it was a simple papyrus picture in a frame I picked up, she wanted to study it for ages, then, by pure accident, I started watching a documentary on King Tut, she was absolutely fascinated, and asked more about it, where I led her to an online game about Egyptian Mummies. Now she's become so obssessed she even wants me to make her dibetes logbook into Egyptian themed complete with "an Egyptian flat person on the front and hieroglyphics inside and LOTs of gold mummy!". I have promised her a trip to the museum in the City towards the middle of the year, when they have an exhibition on Egyptian mummies on, she's counting down the days.

So yes, my advice is to not do it all, if a curriculum/program suits you fully, stick with it. I have found most programs in their unaltered states don't suit us, as we require a very vigourously interactive program.

So hopefully your not thinking I am supermum now!

xxx
Miss E.

Health, Safety & Etiquette DIY Curriculum

WOW! Three posts in one day....yeah, I tend to do that, lol.

Anyhow, today I give you a major link-dump. I am currently making my own Curriculum as others out there aren't suitable for us. This has Australian sites and information, so if you not in Australia, just look up your local Fire, Emergency Service, Police etc websites. I looked at all websites around Australia, as for emergency numbers they are the same, and its harder to get Aussie Kids stuff.

This is just draft links, not my curriculum, but from where I go from here, its a bit hard to post (copyright and all that from anything I add/purchase etc), so with these links,this will hopefully help you make your own Health, Safety & Etiquette Curriculum.

Be warned, this link list is REALLY long!

Health, Safety & Etiquette

Diabetes:

Professor Bumblebees Guide to Type 1 DVD

https://secure3.ilisys.com.au/diabexw/DiabetesDirectDetail.asp?offset=20&stock_Code=CH006

Grandma Sandy

http://www.grandmasandy.com/

Diabetes Food Pyramid Bingo

http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/d_06_c40.htm

Bee Healthy Diabetic Logbook

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0595271170/childrenwithdiabA/

Diabetes Colouring Pages

http://www.diabeteskidsandteens.com.au/funstuff.html

Dealing with Diabetes with Arthur

http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/parents-and-kids/diabetes-care-at-school/classroom-lessons/

It's time to learn about diabetes

http://www.diabeteskidsandteens.com.au/kidslibrary.html

Healthy Food, Nutrition & the Pyramid

Crunch & Sip Poster in Resources

http://www.crunchandsip.com.au/interface/controls/Classroom/landing_Classroom.asp

Importance of drinking water

http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=284&id=1494

Has hydration and nutrition lesson plans

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/lunchlab/lessonplans/

Health and Nutrition Activities

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/nutrition.htm

Sesame Street Health

http://www.sesameworkshop.org/what-we-do/our-work/index.html

Nourish Lessons

http://www.nourishinteractive.com/nutrition-education-printables

Dora's food guide pyramid printable

http://www.nickjr.com/printables/doras-food-pyramid-and-stickers.jhtml?path=/printables/all-shows/charts-checklists_posters/4-5-years/index.jhtml

My 5 senses

I can be a scientist – my 5 senses unit

http://teachersnotebook.com/product/littlemisskindergarten/i-can-be-a-scientist-my-five-senses-unit

My 5 senses mini unit

http://www.mrswillskindergarten.com/2011/04/my-five-senses-mini-unit-free.html

Smelling Bottles

http://shareandremember.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/smelling-sensory-bottles.html

5 Senses Unit Ideas:

http://www.littlehandsbigwork.com/2012/03/five-senses.html

My 5 senses Unit

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/My-Five-Senses

Doctors & Germs

Germ Blow Painting

http://raisingsparks.com/craft-activities/blow-painting/

Official Handwashing Lesson:

http://www.restorationplace.typepad.com/restoration_place/2009/03/official-hand-washing-lesson.html

Handwashing Printables

http://kelly2johnson.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/hand-washing-resources-printable.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/cUITI+%28reflections+of+an+early+childhood+teacher%29

Cover your cough

http://saylorslog.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/germs.html

Doctor and Hospital Pretend Play Printables

http://www.growingplay.com/gpdoctor.html

Doctor is In felt play set

http://www.sewcando.com/2010/03/doctor-is-in-felt-play-set.html

Fake Cast for Doctor Kit

http://cfabbridesigns.com/holidays/halloween/fake-casts-for-young-actors/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:FamilyChicFamilyChic&utm_content=GoogleReader

Storytime Bandaids

http://storytimekatie.com/2012/02/10/flannel-friday-band-aids/

Props Printables

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pretend-Play-Props-Doctor

Pretend Hospital

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Playing-Pretend-Hospital-and-Doctor

Cover your sneeze free circle guide

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cover-Your-Sneeze-Please

First Aid

http://thehomeschoolden.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/first-aid-and-fire-safety.html

Venomous Snakes and tick bites

http://thehomeschoolden.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/first-aid-snakes-spiders-and-ticks-day.html

Kids guide to First Aid

http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Guide-First-Aid-Williamson/dp/1885593589/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264797882&sr=8-1

I want to be a doctor ebook

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_275&products_id=11190

Kids guide to First Aid – PDF Version

http://www.currclick.com/product/444/The-Kids%27-Guide-to-First-Aid?it=1

Activities/fun for Doctor/Nurse Theme

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/DoctorCircleTimeandFun.htm

Colac Kids Ambulance Page

http://www.colacambulance.com/colac_kids.htm

Ambulance – Emergency Helpers Programme

http://www.ambulance.nsw.gov.au/Community-Info/Community-Education-Programs/Emergency-Helpers.html

Be an Ambulance Hero Dial Zero Zero Zero

http://www.ambulance.nsw.gov.au/Community-Info/Community-Education-Programs/Be-An-Ambulance-Hero-Dial-Zero-Zero-Zero.html

Doctors Dramatic Play Set

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/DoctorDramaticPlaySet.htm

Poisons Safety

http://www.first-school.ws/activities/firststeps/poisonsafety.htm

Hospital Roleplay

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/topic/roleplay/emergency/medical.html#.T2lm0NVdPcs

Doctors Surgery roleplay

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/topic/roleplay/medical/doctor.html#.T2lnS9VdPcs

Fire Fighters/ Fire Safety

Funtastic Folders Fire Safety

http://www.currclick.com/product/42969/FUNtastic-Folders!-F-is-for-Fire-Safety?it=1

CFA Victoria – Programs, Resources etc

http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/

Fire & Rescue NSW – Resources, Downloads & Activities etc

http://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/

Fire Links (Mainly Sparky Resource Link)

http://totallytots.blogspot.com.au/2010/08/once-upon-book-fire-engine-man.html

Firetruck Dramatic Play

http://shareandremember.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/firetruck-dramatic-play.html

Ideas and Games for Fire Theme

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/FireCircleTimeIdeasandGames.htm

Fire station Roleplay

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/topic/roleplay/emergency/fire.html#.T2lmztVdPcs

SES, Flooding & Water Safety

Lessons Plans (SES)

http://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/community-safety/schools/kindergartentoyear2

Water Safety Lesson Plan

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Water-Safety-Lesson-Plan-group-work-very-active-lesson

Safe Passage Teachers Guide (Might be useful)

http://watersafety.usace.army.mil/SafePassage/

Being Sunsmart/Skin Cancer/Sunscreen/Slip Slop Slap

Cancer Council Sunsmart Resources

http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/24938/reduce-risks/sun-protection/sunsmart-program-for-primary-schools/sunsmart-resources/primary-school-curriculum-resources/?pp=37066

Sunsmart – Resources, links downloads

http://www.sunsmart.com.au/default.asp

Printable Resources for Sun Safety

http://www.embracinghome.com/summer-sun-safety-tips/

Sun Safety Activities

http://www.sunsafetyalliance.org/

Recycling/Trash/Earth Day

Read and Understand article about what to recycle

http://www.currclick.com/product/51402/Recycling

Recycling Resources

http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/resources.html

Wee (little) Recyclers download Kit

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/teacher/weerecyclers.htm

Earth Day Recycling Activity Packet

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elementary-Earth-Day-Recycling-Activity-Packet

Recycling! Thematic Unit

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Recycling-Thematic-Unit

Police/000/Stranger Danger

Police Roleplay Resources

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/topic/roleplay/emergency/police.html#.T2kna9VdPct

Roleplay – Missing Person Form

http://education.scholastic.co.uk/resources/5031

000 Resources – Police

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/services/triple_zero_000

Police Officer Resources

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/community-helpers-careers/policeofficer-policeman.htm

Police Unit Study

http://www.lawteedah.com/2011/01/unit-study-police.html

All About Me Book

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Me-Book-featuring-student-Address-Telephone-Number-etc

Little Houses – to Learn Address, Safety etc

http://gironlife.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/houses-colors-numbers-and-home-address.html

Stranger Danger Roleplay

http://newlifeonahomestead.com/new-homeschooling/stranger-danger/

Stranger Danger Worksheet

http://www.free-for-kids.com/stranger-danger-worksheets-1.shtml

Alternative to Stranger Danger

http://safelyeverafter.com/

Police Roleplay

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/topic/roleplay/emergency/police.html#.T2lmy9VdPcs

Road, Car & Street Safety

Projects & Resources

http://www.kidsandtraffic.mq.edu.au/educators/educators.htm

Kids on the Move Downloads:

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/programs/traffic/resources.htm

Car Safety for Kids

http://cms.globalvision.com.au/sdera/images/pdfs/smart_steps/activities.pdf

Kids on the Move more activity downloads

http://www.arrivealive.vic.gov.au/initiatives/safer_road_users/kids_on_the_move/kids_on_the_move.html

Car Safety Acitivities

http://www.twigglemagazine.com/September-activities/Street-safety-kindergarten-lesson.html

Car Safety Songs

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/children/songsrhymes.html

Dentist/Dental

Ideas for Dental Theme

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/DentalCircleTimeandGames.htm

Dental Activities

http://www.abcand123learning.com/2012/02/terrific-teeth-dental-health-month.html

FUNtastic Folders – T is for teeth

http://www.currclick.com/product/37911/FUNtastic-Folders!-T-is-for-Teeth?it=1

Dental Theme Printables

http://www.2teachingmommies.com/2012/02/dental-theme.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+2TeachingMommies+%282+Teaching+Mommies%29

Toothbrush Painting

http://busymommymedia.com/2009/10/toothbrush-painting/

Lets play dentist

http://kristin-senseofwonder.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/lets-play-dentist.html

Shared Reader Activities

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Visit-to-the-Dentist-Shared-Reader-activities-printables

Dental Health Curriculum Unit

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dental-Health-curriculum-unit

Dentist roleplay

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/topic/roleplay/medical/dentist.html#.T2lnUNVdPcs

Manners & Etiquette

Remember your manners

http://www.currclick.com/product/71027/Remember-Your-Manners

Manners from Toddler Bites

http://www.currclick.com/product/36891/Manners?it=1

Tea Party Etiquette and Manners

http://www.currclick.com/product/36557/Tea-Party-Etiquette-and-Manners-Besides?it=1

Mrs E's Extraordinary Manners

http://www.currclick.com/product/34447/Mrs.-E%27s-Extraordinary-Manners%2C-Courtesy%2C-and-Social-Skills-Activities?it=1

Manners Please

http://www.currclick.com/product/25335/Manners%2C-Please!%3A--Poems-and-Activities-That-Teach-Responsible-Behavior?it=1

365 Manners every kids should know kindle ebook

http://www.amazon.com/Manners-Kids-Should-Know-ebook/dp/B000XUDGO4/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=A24IB90LPZJ0BS&qid=1185198955&sr=8-1

Emotions, Feelings and Bullying

My Feelings Lesson Plan

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/My-Feelings-Lesson-Plans

Emotions (Check Preview)

http://www.currclick.com/product/31508/Emotions?it=1

Understanding Emotions Unit Study

http://www.currclick.com/product/21163/Understanding-Emotions-Unit-Study?it=1

Bullying Lesson

http://imbloghoppin.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/classroom-community.html

Bullying Lesson Plans

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson191.shtml

Exercise/Activeness & PE

Nourish Active & Exercise

http://www.nourishinteractive.com/nutrition-education-printables/category/14-fitness-kids-exercise-active-children-physical-education

Fitness for Children

http://www.abchomepreschool.com/Fitness/ChildrensFitness.htm

Family Time Fitnes

http://www.familytimefitness.com/Default.html

Chores & Cleaning

NONE. We are planning to make up a chores chart for the kids, and have a cleaning role play area for that week.

Well...um....have fun with all those links!

xxx
Miss E.

Lit/Books List

I would of posted much sooner, but I have been moving stuff around (I currently have multiple projects going on) and I can't find where I put my camera! There's a wonderful lot of photos just waiting to be made into more posts, but until I find which basket/drawer I had it in, I cannot do anything!

I just finished skimming back out literature list, so this is a good a post as any :) I was originally going for 1 picture book & 1 chapter of a long book per day, but when "fleshing" out the rest of our stuff, I figured we have enough books in place (DH also reads to them of a night).

Our new plan is 1 Picture Book & Related activity a week, and a couple of chapters of one longer book. If I don't have time/kids aren't in mood for it, then I'll either scrap the activity or do it on the weekend, and insert the book as one of DH's nightly books.

So, here's the final List! (Sorry no links, I'm too lazy today!)

Picture Books:

The Golden Kangaroo - Valentine
Fraser Dingo - Jill Morris
Wombat Stew - Marcia Vaughn
The Kangaroo played his Didgeridoo - Nigel Gray
Tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
Guess how much I love you
Warren & the Great Carrot Race
The tale of Tom Kitten & Jemima Puddleduck
Farmer Schulz's Ducks - Colin Thiele
The Bunyip in the Billycan - Mavis Scott
Moving on - Penny Matthews
The Big Book of Love - Trace Moroney
Red Tractor - Sue Graves
Burke & Wills - Roland Harvey
The Willy-Willy and the Ant - Cecilia Egan
The Secret Garden
Firefighters (eyewitness readers)
Bright Star - Gary Crew
Tom Tom - Rosemary Sullivan
The Whalers - Bronwyn Bancroft
The Rainbow - Felicia Law
The Great round-the-world Balloon Race - Sue Scullard
Ottoline at the British Museum - Sally Craddock
Possum Magic - Mem Fox
Commotion in the Ocean - Giles Andreae
A Bad Case of Stripes - David Shannon
Imagine a Day - Sarah L Thomson
Imagine a Night - Sarah L Thomson
Grandad's Prayers of the Earth - Douglas Wood
Flat Stanley
Love you Forever - Robert Munsch
All About Ping
Where the Wild things Are - Maurice Sendak

Chapter Books:

Alice in Wonderland - 12
Through the Looking Glass - 12
Charlottes Web - 22
The BFG - 23
Wizard of Oz - 12
The Magic Faraway Tree - 26
The Hundred Dresses - Eleanor Estes - 7

All books are ones we already have, I collect books whenever we go into our nearest town, since at that particular Charity Shop, most of the books are 99c each. I think the only ones I have purchased new from that list are Roald Dahl Books (we have a couple more of them) which I get every now and again from Kmart. I managed to pick up Dr Suess and a couple of Roald Dahl's from Charity too!

As you can see the list is a little higgledy-piggledy. I have to include a wide age range (Grade 1 - Toddler) We are mostly focusing on Australian Stories & Childrens Classics, but there are a few silly, fun ones there too. Two of these books are re-told versions. Wizard of Oz is a re-told picture Chapter for under 8yrs. Secret Garden is a summarised Picture book.

xxx

Miss E.

Practical Life

Yey! I've managed to write today (although it is quite early in the day, so this maybe another option for me on days I know will be hectic :)

I've had a look around and since there is so much stuff on various sites, I have decided to do this the same way as our crafts. I'll just put a slot in for it, and link to the activity we did that week on our blog.

Montessori has lots of neat ideas for practical life, so even if you do not like Montessori for the main areas, I would suggest googling practical life, as these are easy activities (mostly) to setup, and hold a lot of importance in many areas. Some activities even move more over into the kitchen area (such as peeling carrots and cutting vegetables)

Your best bet for startup is to go to your local charity shop after researching, and pick up a few basic items to get you started (for instance I picked up stuff like mixing bowls, a colander with handle, some trays, ice cube trays, compartalised stuff, an a whole bunch of various other tools.

Montessori is big on glass, but unless I want to be holding under jugs, bowls etc, this was not an option for us. Everything we purchased is plastic, not as pretty, but less "mummy is having a heart attack" moments.

Also, try googling "continent boxes" these are great starters for geography.

xxx

Miss E.

Electives Resource Links

This list doesn't include Home Ec/Life Skills, I will do that as a separate post later on, as I have yet to organize it.

Musiq Adventus - We are going to use their Year 1 program, This is a piano computer program, I wanted something independant, with little teaching from mummy, as mummy can only play Hot Cross Buns and You are My Sunshine. I did learn keyboard in school, but everythings disappeared from my head. Please note - They do not send the Pianos to Aus, so just get the Children's Music Journey Volume 1 & Lesson Plan set. The keyboard they recommend is M-Audio Keyrig 49. This is a touch sensitive MIDI keyboard, with full-size keys and is nicely weighted. They use various Composers (such as Beethoven) as the child's instructor. As long as DD remains interested we plan to use their full curriculum.

Arts - We'll be adding in a craft or two a week. Harmony Fine Arts does have lesson plans, and I am planning to start this when the children start Medieval year. Harmony Arts 1st year is just an overview, and we get art appreciation in Language Lessons for Little Ones (And FLL I believe too) so since we also have a Pre-K'er and smart little cookie toddler, we're going to stick to just plain messy crafts. I will link to these as we do them. (We've already done two in previous posts, Sticky Window Art & Bathtub Rainbow Paint)

Rosetta Stone - Since we won't be starting Foreign Language until 2/3rd grade formally, we are using Rosetta Stone Latin as an informal start. DD will be allowed to play the program once a week for upto 40 minutes (with breaks every 15-20 minutes, If you allowing your child to play computer for more than 20 minutes, I strongly recommend at least a 5 minute break every little bit to allow them to stretch, have a quick play, and to look at things other than a computer screen. I do think the software for a number of subjects is great, but think in terms of moderation, even adults with jobs in front of the computer are meant to stretch every 15-30 minutes.) It looks like the website is changing to an online version? We purchased version 3 software second-hand for really cheap.

Critical Thinking Co. - This company is beautiful. I would highly suggest getting Mind Benders programs. These come in both workbooks & software. We have chosen software. The actual ones we purchased were Mind Benders Beginnings 1 & 2, the first one is a pre-k one, but A will start off with that, and we'll also allow the little ones a turn with it. We won't use this often, just as a gap filler, and boredom buster. We also have various Critical thinking books we have picked up from all over the place. I highly recommend if possible, having some workbooks or educational software like these for the "Mum, I'm bored" moments. Little kids usually love this type of thing, and it works out the logic centres of their brain. Lollipop Logic by Prufrock Press is another one many mums like.

PE - We're not that interested in having a formal PE curriculum as of yet. Health is covered in our science program (including Safety & germs). Since our kids are little they get enough exercise, even when there meant to be "sleeping" ;), I am however, waiting for these people to come out with their exercise DVD, this will be good for rainy days. We'll also be slotting in certain times for outdoor play, don't forget even the littlest kiddies need sunshine, and if your a busy mum, its always good to slot random times in to just let the kiddies go out and enjoy the fresh air.

Religion - We are not heavily religious, but we would like to bring up our children with an understanding of the bible (we'll also cover other faiths lightly in our geography studies). This year we used two separate children's bibles from Sonlight Prek Cores. When I saw their next core was also another Children's bible, we decided to go in another direction. I wanted something similar to the Sunday School I went to as a child, lots of crafts, storytime. We originally looked at Bible Study for All Ages, and although this looks to be a good programme, it was a bit dry since I have so many young 'uns, we may use this in the later years. For now we have decided on Read and Share Units 1 & 2, these are beautiful, exactly what I was after, and even include Puppets, and little dvd sgements, crafts and a whole lot more. We also purchased the Veggietales Bible Storybook, which covers the main events in both the old & new Testaments, using Veggietale character stories, my children love Veggietales :)

Thats it for now, I'll be back with a Life Skills resource list later

xxx

Miss E.

Phonics & Spelling Links

There are so many different options out there for the homeschooling family, but I'll pass on a few links that will hopefully help

All About Spelling - This is well known within homeschooling circles. I just finished sorting & fixing the program for us, and I must say, it looks good! Another helpful link for Aussie's out there is the Spelling Adjustments on Aussie Homeschool. When going through, I noticed its a little outdated (not by much, they obviously have just updated a few dictations, and words since then, it wasn't hard at all to figure the rest out myself). Since it has to be adjusted many people found this too hard, but I assure you it's not. It took me 20 minutes (including interruptions) to alter Level 1. There is currently also books out for Level 1 & 2 for the All About Reading program, teacher guides to come out for AAR later this year/early next year. They also have Spelling Games (Phonogram Bingo & File Folders) and All About Homophones (meant to start from round Level 3)

ClickNRead - We did try Smartyants (and do have the Phonics pups) but I would honestly say that Clickn Read is a much better program. In Smartyants, the words move around (down walls etc) making them hard to "catch". Also, since it allows it, my daughter spent a fair amount of time just changing the clothing on her Ant *sigh*. Clickn Read focuses on the actual lessons, but still has humour, and is a pay once program, whereas Smarty Ants is yearly.

Headsprouts - If you can afford it, this is another option, but the pricing is quite steep. I have been meaning to have a trial (if thats possible) with it, to see what its like, but keep forgetting. A number of homeschooling families who use this, love it.

Reading Eggs - Reading Eggs seems to use both Phonics and whole word approach (focusing a bit too much on whole word for some children) this is another one I meant to trial, as through our homeschool group membership, we can get this for a pittance.

Fitzroy Readers- A lot of Aussie mums adore this. I have to say I do too, but we have enough books, and I would be afraid about it lasting through 3 children, solution - they have a sounding out reader software that is like the book, along with games & activities, it is pricey though, I would only recommend it if you had a child that hates bookwork, have mutiple children you plan to use it for, or are on an unlimited budget ;). I am still erring whether to purchase this, it looks perfect, but the cost is very prohibitive, I am going to look to see whether they have any videos of it. The Word skills book is possibly brilliant whether you use Fitzroy or not. And the teachers guide will hold your hand and give you lots of ideas.

Explode the Code - We are currently using the Primers and love these, so will continue on with Books 1-4, and the Code cards. I love that it introduces a little bit of writing at the same time, but not enough to overwhelm the child thats not fully ready for copywork. I originally also looked at Explode the Code Online, but have been told the graphics are quite terrible, its very slow and can freeze, so we'll stick with just the workbooks.

As mentioned in the Preschool Resources we'll also be including the K4 Pack from Confessions of a homeschooler.

Readers - We have lots of readers available, from Sonlights mini 27book pack (from LA K), to a heap of Dr Suess Books, numerous picture books, Queen Homeschool Phonics Readers and the first 3 sets of Bob Books, so we are pretty covered reader wise ;)

I hope these links help some in your search for the perfect curriculum .

xxx

Miss E.

Language Arts Resources

Please note this doesn't include spelling or phonics/reading, which I will do separate posts for.

Language

Language Lessons for Little Ones - We have Books 1-3 in the house, these are beautiful, covering letters, poems, artwork and lots more. We use these as non-consumable, just getting the kids to point stuff out, explain orally, and draw pictures if needed on scrap paper

First Language Lessons - We just downloaded it and plan to use it. I am not sure how similar it may be to the above one, but I think a different point of view is always welcome in our house. If your planning to use this, Homeschool Creations also has Poem printables for it

Grammar

Growing with Grammar - I know FLL supposedly covers grammar (and some of my other programs might too) we got this as an extra that's not quite so teacher intensive, my daughter likes "checking" the boxes, so we thought this would make a good additional program.

Vocabulary

Wordly Wise 3000 - This is expensive (well at least the teacher part of it is) and is completely not necessary. We purchased both the K & 1st Vocab programs, and from what I have been reading at Satori Smiles, the K vocab list is quite easy. You do not need a Vocab program until 3rd/4th grade or later, and then I would choose a word roots program. We chose this because I know my daughter would love it, and since the teacher part is re-usable I can just purchase new student books for the other two. If I only had one child, unless we weren't on a budget, I wouldn't purchase it. It is a beautiful, fun, bright program, but Vocabulary at this age is easily picked up through reading good books.

Writing

Writing with Ease - I purchased this, but will look into it a little further to see whether its suitable for right now, we may delay using it for half a year. This is a wonderful program and many families love it. I know we will, its just a matter of when we will start it.

Write Source - Another unnecessary item, but it does give a different point of view on the subject. It tends (it seems) to bring in stuff earlier than what it would in WWE, but does it in such a fun and colourful way.

If you are on a tight budget, I would recommend just getting First Language Lessons, and following that. If you feel you need something extra, then my recommendation would be to get Writing with Ease. These programs hold your hand, are simple, and short. And if you get the downloadable versions you can just print as you go, or print all at once, helping with the paper taming :)

xxx

Miss E.

Letter of the Week Resources

Of course my preschooler & toddler want to join in on the school fun too! Other than crafts and following along with my elder child, we have a few special Letter of the Week resources just for them, so I thought I would share (Of course, my elder child will do it too, as the kids always have to do everything together ;) )

All About Reading - I will be getting photos of this up soon. They already have the books for Levels 1 & 2 (to correspond with All About spelling levels) but they have a beautiful Pre-level program. This is similar to Letter of the Week curriculums. It teaches the capital letters, followed by lowercase, then the sounds. And Ziggy the Zebra is just adorable. Theres also two free e-books available for the Pre-K level.

Letter of the Week - By Confessions of a homeschooler. Love this, am planning to purchase soon (very cheap, and instant download) we'll use this as a resource along with All About Reading. I will have the appropriate letters activities available for the preschoolers for when I am doing work with A. They also carry a K4 Pack, that we plan to use as an extension of A's phonics.

Actually edited this two days later to say, If you are following the above program, or love Leapfrog Letter Factory, I found this link for: Leapfrog Letter Flashcards. How cool is that!

ABC Twiggles - This also has letter of the week resources. I joined up a while ago (package deal for that and Kidssoup) and forgot all about it till now. The resources are wonderful. They are sensory based. Feel the letter, eat the letter, read the letter, sing the letter, create the letter etc. Will definately use these as an add-on.

Letter of the Week - This is a free curriculum. I have looked at it on and off over the years, but it never seemed to suit us. But again, because its free, I would recommend checking this out first. A lot of families love it.

A special link - And on saving the best for last, here's a link to someones Pinterest board, which has Letter of the Week resources for each letter, as well as numerous other subjects (scroll down right hand side to see her other "subject" pins

xxx
Miss Ed.

Maths!

Okay, I'll admit it....I went a little crazy with purchasing some Math Manipulatives!

In our defense we have NO math manipulatives in our house, and its hard to get the stuff that I want in Aus. So whilst I was scrolling around Sonlight, I decided it would become a part of the budget to purchase some supplements to help out our Math Program! But who could blame me after taking a peek into Satori Smiles closet?

We are currently using Singapore Math 2yr Preschool/Kinder program, so will continue on with that (although, I believe my little girl is going to finish the 2yrs in 8 or less months, hence why I purchased the new lot)

The Singapore version we are using is getting harder to source, so we purchased the U.S. version, this apparently covers whats in the sng version, but with US based extras, we may even consider moving to the US "standards" version which is supposed to be harder, after this lot.

What we purchased (mostly from Sonlight, but Purchased Process & HIGs from Christian Book)

- 1a & 1B Textbook
- 1A & 1B Workbook
- HIG (Home Instructors Guide)
- Intensive Practice 1A & 1B
- Challenging Word Problems
- Process Skills
- Grade 1 & 2 Singapore Math Game (Wiggle Woods? I think it is?)

We also have this BIG (I mean BIG!) Maths Lessons for a Living Education from Queen Homeschool. LOVE this! So we'll use this in conjunction with SM.

Satori Smiles has some wonderful photo - blogs of SM books and how shes uses them.

I have thought a lot about how to schedule, as my daughter sometimes flies through them, and other times want to do something else, so its not something I can really "schedule" per page per day etc. Then I found this scheduling idea! So we'll be adding an area in our Day for Maths, and just have a Master List typed up that we can tick off as we go! Brill!

We also have Mathtacular DVD, but this is just a "fun" thing the kids like to watch ;)

xxx
Miss E.

Aussie Studies

Yep, I'm back!

Obviously I haven't finished the lesson planning for this one (actually I haven't even begun it!) but its pretty easy!

We're going to use Australian Book Traveller from Downunder Lit as our base. And whilst I had ideas of things I already have on the computer to add to it, I can tell you, it doesn't need it! This program is choc-a-bloc full of ideas, activites, further exploration etc. I adore it!

We managed to get the core books pretty easily from around the place (Readings, Holistic Page and Bookworm) Nardika was in stock at Hawthorne online Readings, but is now listed as "on order" so hopefully they can get some more! As this seemed to be the only place (apart from rare shops) we're you can get it.

And the best thing of all....its Australian! lol. Which means although I have purchased the core books (so we ca go at our own pace and re-read, and not worry about the 3 week library window) the extension and supplement readers seem to be easily available from our local libraries! WOOHOO!

We'll probably be doing a book every 3 weeks, and doing ABT twice a week. If we want further studies/activities/ideas, we have these available to us:

- The Aussie sections of our Geography curriculum
- Continental Little Hoppers - Australia (LOVE this, I really wish they had continued with all the continents, its SO hard to find geo studies aimed at the younger years!)
- Free Wombat Study Unit Study (we have this book on our shelf) from Dowunder Lit
- Hands of a Child - Australia
- Evan Moor - Australia (although this is really aimed at older kids)
- Bush Calendar from Downunder Lit
- Some Montessori printables we downloaded.

Other than that, a lot of our general Lit readers this year will be Australian based, so keep an eye out for our lit list for ideas!

Crikey, would you look at the time, I'd better go cook some grub ;) LOL!

xxx
Miss E.

World Geography

I have FINALLY nearly finished our World Geography Plans. A couple of days ago I got really stuck into it, in order to finish it.

As always I'm a major tweaker, I can never leave anything alone! So hopefully this post should provide some good resources and links for everyone.

Galloping the Globe - Although I didn't use/purchase this, I took ideas from people all over the web whom are using it. I originally like the idea of the book itself, till I looked at the sample, its good for springboard ideas, but not for a main spine resource for us. There are many other people whom have been happy with it though.

Expedition Earth - This is our main "springboard" spine. I love it. The lady in question has managed to gather so many different resources into the one curriculum. It it Christian based-but very easy to secularize, just removed the prayer bits from the curriculum, voila! A secular geography program! She has living books, crafts, lapbook components, and so much more!

Homeschool Creations - You cannot mention Geography without mentioning this lady, she used Galloping the Globe, and managed to create gourgeous colourful worksheets, and a bunch of really cool ideas. I always check her site out first for notebook pages, flags, mapping etc, and for some really cool resource links.

Montessori for Everyone - I adore this lady. She really does make "Montessori for Everyone!" We are planning to have Continent Boxes to go along with our Geo plans, and she had some really cool cards, and fact sheets for the boxes.

Montessori Print Shop - Is another place that has some nice cards.

Counting Coconuts - Do you want to be inspired for your continent boxes? Just check out this lady's!

Globes etc- Items I would recommend for Geography are: Oregon Scientific Smartglobe, Leapfrog Interactive Globes, Leapfrog Tag and World Map, Leapfrog Explorer and Globe Game.

For the moment, until the youngest is of school age, we are concentrating on "human" geography. We have items fo Physical and others, but are mostly concentrating on the Kids/culture side of things. Another idea for those that like to include movies, is to google "Movies set in ....." this will bring up a Wiki page that is worth scrolling through.

Other resources: Virtual Field Trip (I cannot say how much I love this book, the colouring in pages, ideas, are all ideal for PreK-2), A Trip Around the World/Another Trip/A New Trip. Theres a few other things I have purchased, but I don't find them valuable enough to mention.

Shepperd Software - Has free geography games!

Now lets go into seperate areas:

Intro to World - Evan Moors Beginning Geography, Intellego Unit Studies (Both K-2 Maps, and K-2 Continents)
China - Expedition China by Amanda Bennett (Movies: Kung Fu Panda, Big Bird in China, Mulan)
South Korea - Evan Moor Around the World Series - South Korea (Movies: TV Show Mash)
Japan - FUNtastic Folders - J is for Japan (we purchased both Prek & Primary ones) (Movies: 3 Ninjas movie series)
India - None, we just did a search round DLTK and Activity Villlage, and a few other places (Mistress of Spices, Jungle Book, Bridge & Prejudice)
Israel - Expedition Israel by Amanda Bennett (Movies: None, replaced with Veggietales movies)
Thailand - None, Just some more searching (Movies: None)
Russia - None found, just did googling (Movies: Anastasia, An American Tale)
Great Britain - None (Mary Poppins, Garfield: Tale of Two Kitties, Chicken Run)
France - None (Aristocats, Ratatouille, Mr. Beans Holiday)
Italy - Pizza Party by Amanda Bennett (Lizzy McQuire Movie, Sabrina goes to Rome, When in Rome (Olsen Twins)
Germany - None (Movies: None, but I haven't finished researching this yet)

As always with us, everything is more targeted at our Prek-1 audience, so there is a lot more available to older kids, its just a little hard to find resources for the younger ones! There is also a series called "A Family from....." that might be helpful for those going the more doco route. We have enough docos for history, and serious movies for other subjects, that I just wanted things a bit more silly/fun for Geo. We're also doing Geo as a mutiple year program so the items listed above are just the countries for the 1st year.

Guest Hollow - Also has some cool downloads in her Countries & Cultures Lapbook section, including the best Toy Passport we've seen and a Menu Lapbook, perfect for Geo food nights :)

Suitcase - We're using a folder as per Virtual Field Trip (link for this near top)

Tickets - We printed tickets from a very cool place, click on the link, the kids adore them!

xxx
Miss E.

Science Resources

Hi, Its me again!

I had the History resources written down for a while, just forgot to come and paste them! Silly me.

Anyhoo, we've finished the basics of our Science Program, we're concentrating on Life Science for next year, and will hopefully make a few related field trips to places like Zoos, Museums and Aquariums.

Here's our resources:

Elemental Science - We are using Biology for the Grammar Stage set. The one we purchased also includes lapbooking through biology. They have a Nature Studies guide coming out early 2012 I believe, we may add this on, but for the moment our Science schedule is quite full. We are using the 2 day a week schedule as our backbone, so we have room to add further studies on.

Real Science Odyssey - This we are using as a supplement, I re-organized it to go along with Elemental Science. RSO has some really fun labs, so when we feel like skipping ES's labs, we will still have labs pertaining to the subject at hand.

Yahoo Groups - Suitable Yahoo groups for this are:

Elemental Science Yahoo group - This has some great free supplementals to go along with the program. I also picked up a Life Science Video guide. Admittedly its meant for Discovering Streaming, but includes Magic School Bus, so this helped with a bit less work of where to put the MSB videos and what there titles were.

Real Science Users - Is the Yahoo group for Real Science Odyssey

Living Science - If your less into labs and more into living books, this Yahoo Group is a "must have" resource. It can also help with additional ideas for each subject.

Another option for Science is Real Science 4 kids, we decided against using this, but even if you are using the above programs, you could look into just using the student textbook, which is more like stories, its quite fun and engaging, and I was originally going to purchase it, but we have enough resources for the time being :) RS4K also has a Yahoo group here.

Till next time
xxx
Miss E.

History Resources

I've nearly finished our History curriculum for next year, so thought I would share resources of whats helped us. If others share links as well, I am sure this could be a good resource list for Newcomers :)

We are combining History for our 2 Prek's and our soon to be First Grader. Our goal is to just give an introduction to History at large, we are not utilising timelines, drills or tests, just making it a good starter towards History. When we go through History the second time round we will actually be more vigorous

Story of the World By Susan Wise Bauer- This is our main spine, we are utilising Ancients. We have/are purchasing the Book itself, and the Activity Guide. There are also Tests and other resources available. We also plan to purchase 3 of the Famous Figures of Ancient Times (this can be purchased elsewhere) so our kids can run around waving their silly figures and re-enact chapters

History Odyssey Ancients Level 1 - This is another good program. we are utilising it as a supplement for further ideas from a different angle. History Odyssey likes you to use Evan Moor History Pockets.

Myths, Maps & Marvels - This is a free curriculum. I would suggest downloading and having a look to see whether it would suit you, after all it is free LOL. We are using this as another ideas maker, mostly for internet links etc.

Evan Moor History Pockets- We are going to be using the Ancient Civilisations Grade 1-3. This has pockets & activties for Egypt, Mesopotamia, Romans etc. If you use SOTW Volume 1, you will utilise all except the Last Pocket "Aztecs" this is covered in Vol2 I believe?

Yahoo Groups - There are many Yahoo groups to suit History, the ones that suit the items above are: Hannahs Helps, SOTW DiscussionS, SOTW Vol1 Discussion, History Odyssey

Satori Smiles - Has a Pre-history curriculum, as well as links for each chapter of SOTW, and many many other goodies

Chronological Earth - Has a brilliant list of History/SOTW Resources

Paula's Archives - Is another great site for History

There are many many books to help you (and movies) but lists can be found at the above sites, so I won't repeat them.

I hope this helps you on your way into the past