We are a few weeks into our third year of homeschooling and things are going well so far. We are in a good rhythm and excited about a fresh, new school year.

Here are the basics we are starting out with this year. We also spend a good deal of time exploring the girls’ ever-changing interests, so who knows where this year will take us!

Math and Literacy

Delaney (age 7, second grade)

• Singapore Math 2A & 2B
• Math games & manipulatives
• Explode the Code Books 3, 4, and 5
• Daybook of Critical Reading & Writing (Grade 2)

Natalie (age 9, third grade)

• Singapore Math 3A & 3B
• Math games & manipulatives
• Spelling Power (we’re starting at Level C)
• Daybook of Critical Reading & Writing (Grades 3 and 4)

Both Girls

• Copy work for handwriting practice
• Reading chapter books – independently and aloud
• Poetry – reading & writing
• Journal writing
• Real-life writing: letters, lists, signs, etc.
• Writing projects of their choice – stories, family newspaper, joke books, etc.

Science

R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Earth & Space Level 1 (Pandia Press) – We are loving this so far! After creating my own units for two years, I am enjoying having things all laid out for me. There are lots of great hands-on activities, which we can supplement with books, further research, etc.

Ongoing:

Nature journals, outdoor photography
Exploring personal interests
Lots of nonfiction books, field guides, etc.

History and Geography

History Odyssey Middle Ages Level 1 (Pandia Press) – I’m going for a year-long history curriculum this year. This one pulls from various reading sources (including Story of the World) and activity books, along with providing extensive book lists for each lesson. We’ve only done one week of this, but so far the girls are enjoying it.

Ongoing:

Geography terms notebook
Reading picture book biographies
Map skills activities

We are using our weekly checklist system again this year, which seems to be the perfect amount of control for all of us. They set a goal to take Fridays off, and seem to be determined to make it happen. They are getting some great time management practice!

Hope your school year is off to a great start!

The girls made these simple paper totem poles during our study of Native Americans.

We painted 12 x 18″ pieces of watercolor paper with brown paint. While the papers were drying, the girls colored animal totem pole images. {We used these, enlarged a bit.}

The girls glued their animals down the center of their brown paper, saving the wings to attach to the back.

We rolled the paper into a tube and secured with clear packing tape. The last step was taping the wings to the back. Cute and easy!

The girls also had a great time making up stories about the animals on their totem poles.

More totem pole craftiness:

Kid’s Totem Poles :: Bloesem Kids

Paper Towel Roll Totem Pole :: No Time for Flashcards

Tin Can Totem Poles :: Family Fun

Children’s Books:

How Raven Stole the Sun by Maria Williams

If You Lived with the Indians of the Northwest Coast by Anne Kamma

Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest by Gerald McDermott

Totem Tale: A Tall Story from Alaska by Deb Vanasse

I really want to make a big totem pole for our backyard – wouldn’t that be neat?

Many years ago, I attended a wonderful teacher workshop with Nancy Cecil about making poetry-writing accessible and successful for kids.

I still use her book, For the Love of Language: Poetry for Every Learner, on a regular basis. The book contains scaffolds, frames, and sample student-created poems for a variety of interesting and fun poem styles. There are both beginner and intermediate poetry frames to choose from.

At the end of the last school year, the girls wrote “I’m so smart…” poems. It was a nice way to celebrate all the learning and growing over the past months.

Simply start each line of the poem with I’m so smart I can… and write as many lines as you like!

Here are the girls’ poems:

I’m So Smart

by Natalie

I’m so smart I can work the TV remote.

I’m so smart I can make up a poem.

I’m so smart I can read Magic Treehouse books.

I’m so smart I can do the Tree Pose in yoga.

I’m so smart I can count to 100.

I’m so smart I can think of games to play.

I’m so smart I can cook cookies.

I’m so smart I can color with pastels.

I’m so smart I can make a present or picture for Mom or Dad.

I’m so smart I can figure out a word that I don’t know.

I’m So Smart

by Delaney

I’m so smart I can work the remote.

I’m so smart I can run all around.

I’m so smart I can sew.

I’m so smart I can do the princess puzzle.

I’m so smart I can help with laundry.

I’m so smart I can write my name.

I’m so smart I can play Playhouse Disney on the computer.

I’m so smart I can help bake cookies.

I’m so smart I can count to 40.

I’m so smart I can ride my bike and scooter.

What are your kids proud of? Make a list and create your own I’m So Smart… poems!

For the past few months, Natalie (age eight) has been working on basic paragraph writing. She writes an introductory sentence, three details, and a concluding sentence. She seems to like structured writing assignments like this, and choosing a topic is her favorite part.

Step 1: Planning

After choosing a topic, Natalie creates a web with her topic in the center and three spokes for her details. She writes three details, doing a little research if necessary. The details don’t need to be complete sentences at this point, but she often writes them that way.

Step 2:  Rough Draft & Edit

For now, we usually consider the planning sheet the rough draft and do our editing right on it. Natalie has an editing checklist to help her check for capitilization, punctuation, and spelling errors.

We also talk about what she wants to write for her opening and closing sentences, and I write them on the planning sheet (if she wants me to).

Step 3: Final Draft & Illustration

After the editing is finished, Natalie either rewrites a final copy or types it on the computer. She usually chooses to add an illustration, too.

Finally, it’s time to read your paragraph to everyone and proudly display it on the fridge!

Now that she has the basics of paragraph-writing down, we’ll practice adding details for descriptive writing and using sequence words for how-to paragraphs.

Do you use a writing curriculum or create your own writing lessons? What kind of writing do your kids like to do?

Last year we used workboxes for almost the whole year. We liked the system, but I got tired of keeping it up and filling the envelopes nightly. When I was planning for this year, I knew I wanted to do something different to organize our days.

In December, we started using weekly checklists and the girls and I both love them. Before, I was writing out a weekly plan for myself and most weeks we would end up moving things around to different days or spending a whole day doing nothing but science. At the same time, I could see that my eight-year-old was longing for some control over what activities she would accomplish each day.

Each of my girls now has a weekly checklist, which they can work through at their own pace and discretion. If all their work is done by Friday, we take Fridays off. If I’m working with one of the girls, the other one can find something independent to do on her list. Natalie learned very quickly that saving all her math lessons to do on Thursday was not a good plan…

We work together to plan out the week, including a nice mix of book lessons, time for interest-led projects, games, field trips, etc.

Any worksheets or resources the girls need for the week goes in a folder with the checklist. I store their completed work in the folders, too. When it is time to do my monthly summaries for our charter school, I can just pull the 4-5 weeks worth of folders and look back at what we did.

I’m feeling like this system might stick around for awhile. It seems to fit with our more laid-back, flexible daily rhythm.

Update: You can download our Weekly Plan Checklist and give it a try!

How do you plan and organize your week?

The girls and I have been chatting about the upcoming month (February already??) and brainstorming things we might want to learn about, make or try. I think it will be a great help to me to have this list of resources ready to go when we’re looking for some inspiration. I hope you find a few things of interest, too!

February Happenings

•See what Punxsutawney Phil has to say on Groundhog Day (February 2nd) and maybe make some Felt Groundhog Finger Puppets

•Celebrate Chinese New Year – Steamy Kitchen has a great post full of recipes, traditions, books, and other resources. We might make dragon puppets and good fortune banners, too.

•Take a virtual tour of George Washington’s Mount Vernon

•Play games at George Washington’s World for Kids

•Explore the Lincoln Home Virtual Museum Exhibit

Reading & Writing

•Read aloud:  The Princess School Books 1-3

•Find a new series for Natalie to read

•Write Valentine poems

•Memorize this poem:

A Valentine

by Eleanor Hammond

Frost flowers on the window glass,
Hopping chickadees that pass,
Bare old elms that bend and sway,
Pussy-willows soft and gray.
Silver clouds across the sky,
Lacy snowflakes flitting by,
Icicles like fringe in line,
That is outdoors’ valentine.

Out & About

•Local Native American museum (Maidu)

•Zoo

•Ice Skating

Math & Science

•Play Grab the Candy with candy hearts (from Mathwire)

•Try some of the free downloadable math puzzles from AIMS

•Start making tools for our own outdoor weather station (more on that soon…)

Music, Art, etc.

•Learn about composer Handel at Classics for Kids and enjoy listening to Water Music

•Watch History of Yarn at Meet Me at the Corner and learn how to finger knit

•Try glue batik and start working on our patchwork doll quilts

What’s on your February brainstorming list?

Journal writing is always a part of our weekly activities. The girls usually write in their journals twice a week, sometimes more. I love looking back at their journals (we start a new one each season) and rereading the daily events that were important to them at the time. Of course, the journals are also great practice for handwriting, spelling, grammar, and drawing.

Often, the girls have no trouble thinking of something to write about. But, for the days when the ideas are just not flowing, we created a “What Can I Write About?” chart.

The girls and I brainstormed ideas and we made a long list of ideas and sentence starters. They love using this chart and very rarely do I hear, “I can’t think of anything to write about.” Delaney also likes being able to copy these words to start her sentences – knowing that the first few words are spelled correctly is a nice confidence booster.

For more journal helpers, check out our File Folder Word Wall and our ideas for keeping journals fresh and fun (at Let’s Explore).

I’m thinking of picking up a copy of Unjournaling or Rip the Page for more writing fun – have any of you used either of these books?

Tip of the Day: Fill a jar with fun questions and prompts, such as, If you could change your name, what name would you pick and why? or List 5 things you like about the current season. If your child needs inspiration, choose a prompt from the jar and start writing!

During our country study of Brazil, we spent some extra time learning about the rainforest. I had the girls choose a project to show what they learned. They talked about making pop-up books or a game with trivia questions, but settled on making a large rainforest mural.

The girls wanted a tall mural so they could put the animals in the right “layer” of the rainforest. We taped two pieces of light blue poster board together and painted the background with brushes and stamps cut from kitchen sponges.

For the animals, we used a combination of photos printed from Google images and coloring pages from Jan Brett’s The Umbrella coloring mural and Rainforest Alliance.

The girls used our rainforest books to decide where to place each animal. This was great practice for doing book research and using an index.

Our favorite rainforest books:

• A is for Anaconda: A Rainforest Alphabet
• Eye Wonder: Rain Forest
• Nature’s Green Umbrella
• One Small Square: Tropical Rain Forest
• Rain, Rain, Rain Forest
• The Great Kapok Tree

Websites:

Rainforest Alliance Kids’ Corner – online games, coloring pages, virtual rainforest visits, stories, and more

Rainforest Heroes (Rainforest Action Network) – facts & photos, ways to help save rainforests, rainforest heroes

National Geographic Kids – Tropical Rainforest Photos (you can also research specific animals and countries on this site)

What kinds of projects have your kids been working on? Share a link so we can check them out!

The girls were really interested in the voting process this year. They asked lots of questions about what kinds of things we would be voting for and enjoyed seeing our mail-in ballots. It has been a great opportunity to talk about the responsibility and privilege of our right to vote.

Today, the girls both made campaign posters, complete with a statement of the things they would do as governor to make our state better.

Natalie said, “I will take care of the environment and make sure the hospitals have very, very good equipment.”

Delaney said, “I will take care of the ocean, make sure doctors have the right equipment if people get sick, and make sure that California looks beautiful.”

Apparently, they are both very concerned about doctors having good equipment – so funny!

Since, of course, they had to go to bed before any results were announced, they are looking forward to hearing all about the election in the morning.

Did you do any special Election Day activities? I’m thinking a mock election would be fun someday….

In case you didn’t know, we are big into poetry around here. The girls love to read poems, try to memorize poems, and of course, write their own poems!

We very rarely attempt a rhyming poem, instead opting for a simple sentence starter or poetry frame to get us going. These simple types of poems are easy to write and always turn out well. The girls are immensely proud of their poetry folders.

Here are some recent poems the girls wrote.  Each line starts with “I wish…” – write as many or as few lines as you want!

I often sit at the computer and just type these in as the girls talk – the thoughts seems to flow more freely when handwriting is not in the picture. I can’t wait to see what illustrations the girls will make to decorate these wishing poems.

More poems we’ve written:

• Simple Animal Poetry
• Spring Acrostic Poems
• Rainbow Poem & Coloring Sheet
• Thankful Poems
• List Poems

Tip of the Day: Check out Poetry Writing with Jack Prelutsky for some creative activities and ideas. Happy writing!