The School Bells are Ringing....

I'm so excited for this school year with my kids.  

I feel like I have such a better handle on what the year will look like.

  My personality tends to lean towards accomplishing the tasks, 

so I am going into this year challenging myself like nobody's business to take time for...

long nature walks, bike rides, and built in fun.  

I want to be more intentional about taking time to build legos with Luke and Seth.

I want to decorate {and re-decorate} Lydia's dollhouse 

and dress her little polly pockets until my fingers bleed! 

The thing that inspires me the most about the Classical Approach is...

there are immense amounts of reading that should be done together and this time is so good to

  cultivate amazing conversation and learning...these moments are priceless to me. 

I'm amazed at how much more my kids are inspired to learn and grow and stretch their minds 

when I am sitting with them...willing to learn with them
and not just forcing them to accomplish the tasks at hand.
The very thing that I love the most can sometimes be the hardest.
It's going to take effort and commitment on my part to stay focused on the important things

I was so excited when I saw  

Angie from Bring the Rain had given us a chance to spill the beans on what we're going to be learning this year with our kids...
I know that I don't have a ton of readers who homeschool,
so for those of you not so interested in this part of my life...I'll post on my love for decorating asap.

 

I don't like ordering all of my curriculum from one source.

It's more expensive, and I don't like putting all of my eggs in one basket.

There are way too many books out there that I love teaching from to order from just one single company.

So, with that said...my curriculum is all over the place...a little bit like this blog.

Math:

Singapore Math {both boys}

Language Arts:
Grammar:
Essentials of the English Language-5th grader
Our Mother Tongue-a resource for Essentials of the English Language
First Language Lessons-2nd grader

Writing:
Institute for Excellence in Writing, The Medieval Period-5th grader
Writing with Ease-2nd grader

Spelling:
Spelling Plus, 1000 words to spelling success {both boys}

Reading:
I have a list of Classics for each of the boys {and myself} to tackle this year.
We will also read many books about key figures that we read about in our Story of the World history. 
Dad reads aloud to the boys each night from the Youth with a Mission Missionary Series. *excellent books*
Reading list resources:
Ambleside Online, A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille, The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer 

History:
Story of the World, Volumes 2,3 and 4 {both boys}
other sources that we use for History
Kingfisher's Encyclopedia
Everything I need to know about World History Homework by Scolastic

Science:
Apologia {both boys}
We'll be studying Astronomy this year.
Other Science Sources:
Van Cleave's 201 Awesome, Magical Science Experiments
Everything I need to know about Science Homework by Scolastic

Geography:
Europe and the World {both boys}
They'll both learn approximately 130 locations throughout Europe and Asia and they'll master mapping those locations.
Other Geography sources:
Everything you need to know about Geography  by Scolastic

Latin:
Prima Latina {both boys} 
We learned all of the Noun Declensions last year and this year we will focus on Verb Conjugations and vocabulary as well as memorize certain Latin prayers.

Oral Presentations:
Both boys will give 24 oral presentations each this year during our time at Classical Conversations.
These will give them experience working on:
Eye contact, good posture, timed presentations {2-3 minutes each} and being well prepared

Fine Arts:
Drawing/Great Artists and their works
Rembrandt, Linnaeus, Gainsborough, Monet,Degas, and Morisot
Art Lessons
Music Theory/Composers and Orchestra-Classical and Romantic time periods
Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak
Guitar Lessons

Memory Work: 
Timeline from Veritas Press {both boys}
160 events on the timeline from Creation to Modern America
They both learned the entire timeline last year, but we'll add information to each event this year
Us Presidents {both boys}
Galatians 6:1-24 {both boys}
Various Poems

Extra Curricular:
Fall/Spring Soccer
PE class through our YMCA

Field Trips:
NASA Space Center {since we're studying Astronomy}
Orlando Rep. Theatre for:
Pippi Longstocking
Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells
Anne Frank & Me
James and the Giant Peach
Pappy's Strawberry Patch
Lucas Nursery-The Butterfly Exhibit
The Natural History Museum

I'd like to do a field trip once per month...we'll see how life unfolds.