Ooh, I love a new school year and I love to plan it out.
Implementing it---that's a whole different ball of wax.
But for now I am in the planning stage and it's all fun and games.
I've been pouring over my favorite homeschool suppliers and came across two fun new items that I would love to have.
Composers Lapbook
How cute is this folder? It's arranged like an orchestra. See the conductor there in the front? And all the instruments are tucked into their little pockets.
I'm also looking at the
Civil War Time Travelers CD. I'm torn about this one. I have two of their other Time Travelers CDs and we used some of the projects from them, but not as many as I'd have liked for the price. I also already own the
Civil War History Pockets and looking at the topics, I see many of the same in both sets. Granted, there is much, much more in the Time Travelers CD, but why not
NOT use what I already own instead of spending more money to not use something else.
There. I talked myself out of it.
Yet, if I could find it for $5, I think I'd snap it up....
So basically, we'll be working through
Sonlight Core 4 this year with the girls. Banana Boy is going to hang out and maybe listen in a little. I might read through
The American Story with him. Not sure. I haven't ended up loving that book as much as I wanted to either. In story-length and illustrations it appears to be for young children, but then some of the language/vocabulary/concepts seem way up there. I guess I'll have to give it another shot to see.
For science I was all set to use
Real Science 4 Kids: Chemistry. It will be too much for Banana Boy, so I ordered the updated parts of
Sonlight Science K for him. This mostly consisted of the Usborne books I didn't already own. I have the old SL Science K from when Rose Bud was small.
AND since I was doing a SL order ( I had a $25 coupon) I also picked up most of the parts of
Science 4. We have the microscope from years and years ago when SL offered it at an incredible price around Christmas. I never used Science 4 with Rose Bud, though, so I didn't have many of the books. It's been mostly revamped anyway, so I bought the new Usborne books that are included.
I have to say,
The Story of Inventions has been a HUGE hit. Both girls have been gently spatting over who gets to read it and as soon as one puts it down, the other snaps it up. Rose Bud has read it, too. I read through a couple of the articles and it ranks up there as one of the nicest Usborne books I've ever read. The articles and text are easy to read, interesting and not as discombobulated as some Usborne books tend to be.
We're sticking with
Singapore for math. Daisy will begin the 6th grade book next week. Pepper just began the 3rd grade book and BB is working through the 1st grade book.
For grammar, I'm typing up the worksheets from the old Sonlight LA 3, back when the grammar was good! Rose Bud, of course, used up the worksheets, but I still have the answer keys, so I'm retyping the worksheets and will use them with both Daisy and Pepper this year. The grammar instruction was so thorough and so wonderful and Sonlight has changed the format so much, that I want the girls to benefit from this, as well.
We are also continuing with Rod & Staff English. Daisy is skimming through the 4th grade book with the goal of working thoroughly through the grade 5 book later this year. Right now she is mostly working only the Review sections and skipping the main lessons and exercises. Pepper will begin the grade 3 book this fall.
Both girls are also continuing in
Sequential Spelling. Daisy should begin book 2 sometime in September. Pepper is about half-way through book 1.
For spelling and phonics, Banana Boy will continue in
Explode the Code. In 13 years of homeschooling, SL Language Arts has never done it for us before 3rd grade. I have tried, and I have tried and then I have tried some more, and we have yet to complete a full year of SL LA before 3rd. After 3rd, yes, the old LA was FABULOUS!
Language Arts-wise, my kids have done well doing just Explode the Code and (heh, I just accidentally typed "Explode the COD." snort) reading a lot. For those who have been strong readers by 2nd grade, we've also begun the R & S English book.
Anyway...this will be our main thrust and what I hope to get to every day. I'll share in another post the extras I hope to throw in.
Sunshine, for all his hyperactivity and gnat-like attention span, LOVES to be read to, AND he listens to the book!
I love this picture of a lazy summer morning at our house. 
First you need a triangle. Mark each of the angles so you will know WHICH of them belong to your triangle. The marks are the curvy little lines in each corner (and I should have marked them with one, two and three lines respectively to show that they are different measures. But I didn't)
Did you see the straight lines in the first picture. Well cut off each corner of your triangle on the straight lines.
Now, like a puzzle, fit the 3 corners from your triangle together (you might need to click on the picture to blow it up so you can see this better). All the corners should point the same way and touch. Keep an eye on the angles you marked earlier.
The Story of Inventions has been a HUGE hit. Both girls have been gently spatting over who gets to read it and as soon as one puts it down, the other snaps it up. Rose Bud has read it, too. I read through a couple of the articles and it ranks up there as one of the nicest Usborne books I've ever read. The articles and text are easy to read, interesting and not as discombobulated as some Usborne books tend to be.
