Ecce Romani 1

We started Latin last year, when someone offered to lead a class. We used Latin for Children, Primer A, as our text. Although the class and teacher were excellent, it moved to fast for my kids. This year we are using Ecce Romani I as our text. Ecce Romani has a story and gives us glimpses into life in Rome. I prefer that much more to the very formal style (imo) of Latin for Children. We are probably going to move through it at a snail's pace, but I really want mastery before we go on.

Before we are even opening the book, I am having the kids study the chapter's vocabulary. When we have memorized that, we will go through the chapter in the book. I am planning on following this same procedure for each chapter.

I have the kids write down five of the words with their definitions and then study them quietly. They study those for a few days, then move on to the next five. Every few days I say a Latin word and they say the definition. Then I will say the definition and they tell me the Latin.

As you can see by the page here, translating starts right off. Once familiar with the vocabulary we should be able to focus on the structure of the sentences. It helps to be strong in English grammar concepts. We are working on the concepts we will need for Latin in our grammar lessons too.

Are your kids learning Latin? If so, what do you use and why do you like it?

By the way, we only study for 15 minutes per lesson. We tried studying Latin for Children for about 3 hours a week and I don't think we got any further than we are getting with just 15 minutes of focused attention. You CAN fit it into your day if you feel up to it!

Happy Homeschooling
-Michele

Poem Memorization

Poem memorization is something that I was introduced to while using Susan Wise Bauer's, First Language Lessons. My kids actually loved most of the poems and have since it's introduction, enjoyed reciting poems.
I have found some curriculum online, but never really anything that I felt passionate about buying. Since finishing First Language Lessons, I have pieced together my own set of poems that we tackle together each year.

The way we approach learning them is simple. We practice a poem by reading it through about three times every lesson day until we have it down. Then we move on to the next. Every lesson we repeat all the ones we have learned and then the one we are currently memorizing. After we have about five poems under our belt, we move on to the next five. We come back and repeat EVERY poem we have learned so far about once a month to keep them fresh in our minds.

I'm not sure how many of these poems will stick with the kids as they grown into adults, or if it is really that important to memorize the poems I have selected. I do know that we are having fun with our selections! I will leave you with our current poem:

The Yak

By Hilaire Belloc (1896)

As a friend to the children commend me the Yak.

You will find it exactly the thing:

It will carry and fetch, you can ride on its back, 

Or lead it about with a string.

The Tartar who dwells on the plains of Thibet

(A desolate region of snow)

Has for centuries made it a nursery pet.

And surely the Tartar should know!

Then tell your papa where the Yak can be got, 

And if he is awfully rich

He will buy you the creature - or else he will not.

(I cannot be positive which.)

Happy Homeschooling!

-Michele

Tale of Cubby Bear

The Tale of Cubby Bear was written by Arthur Scott Bailey and published in  1915.

This particular title is not on the Robinson Curriculum list, but it was the title that appealed to us. It is a cute little book about a very mischievous cub that gets into all sorts trouble. I couldn't find any links for activities.

Here is the book for free.
The Tale Cuffy Bear

Grizzly Bear Worksheet

The Tale of Jolly Robin

The Tale of Jolly Robin was written by Arthur Scott Bailey and published in 1977.

Here are some links to some sites that will help activities for this great little book. It is the first book from the Robinson Curriculum list.

You can download the book here for free in various formats.
The Tale of Jolly Robin

Here you can have your student study vocabulary from the book.
Tale of Jolly Robin flash cards

If you want to listen to more tales you can listen here.
Arthur Scott Bailey tales

Advanced 5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum

My husband and I love the BASIS Charter School's standard of excellent teaching and results. We have always said that if the kids went to school it would most likely be there. Although I am not ready to send my upcoming 5th grader to BASIS, I did wonder if I could give him the same types of programs and education at home. Transition to school would be so much easier if you were already using and learning the same stuff, right?

So, after much digging, planning, and researching, I have come up with our 5th grade plan. For the upcoming year, we will be switching to a "loop" schedule. Basically, we will be studying Math, Grammar, Spelling, and Writing in our first 2 hour block and then the "loop" for the next 2 hour block. After trying out the loop for a few weeks, I have seen some great things and some pit falls. I really like that we get to everything on our list to do, every week! It is hard to get to more than 1-2 loop activities if there are interruptions. For the loop schedule, you have a list of activities you would like to complete each week. You start at the top on your first day of the week you homeschool and work through the list for your specified amount of time. The next day you pick up where you left off, and so on through the week. Sometimes you can get to some subjects more than once a week. 

In 5th grade, I will be asking Optimus to do much more independent work and writing. He is of the age now that it's time to increase the work load. I need to devote more time to my 3rd grader and give him some more independence.

Optimus' 5th Grade Curriculum Schedule

EVERYDAY:

Math, Saxon Math

Grammar, Saxon Grammar and Writing Grade 5 (we won't be using the writing sections)

Writing, Writing with Skill

Spelling, All About Spelling

Required Reading

LOOP (2 hours a day):

Science, Glencoe Science Level Red (followed by Holt Science & Technology: Astronomy and Focus On Middle School Chemistry, Gravitas Publishing with Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe)
Letter Writing
Geography, Geography Book: Activities for Exploring, Mapping, and Enjoying Your World and Geography Coloring Book
Oral Reading, Words That Built a Nation (followed by The World’s Greatest Speeches and George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Poems of American Patriotism by Brander Matthews)
Math Supplement, math facts or Sudoku
Vocabulary, Vocabulary from Classical Roots A (followed by B)
Read Aloud, for me to read to him
 Book List

1. Arabian Nights
2. Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff
3. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
4. Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
5. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
6. Classics for Young Readers, Vol 5A and 5B
7. American Tall Tales by Adrien Stoutenburg
8. Paddle to the Sea by Holling Clancy Holling
9. Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare
10. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
11. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
12. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
13. Ben and Me by Robert Lawson
14. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
15. Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
16. War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

Latin, Prima Latina (followed by Latina Christina)
Art, Artistic Pursuits Grades 4-6 Book 1 (followed by Book 2)
World History, Human Odyssey Vol. 1, Prehistory Through the Middle Ages
Music, Peter and the Wolf (followed by Disney’s Fantasia and The Magic Flute, by Mozart and Boccherini - Minuet, Mozart - Symphony No. 40, Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 Mvt. 1, Beethoven - Symphony No. 9, Schubuert - Unfinished Symphony, Schubert - Trout Quintet, Schumann - The Happy Farmer, Brahms - Lullaby, Souza - Stars and Stripes Forever, Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Story and Music, Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Overature, Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker March of the Toy Soldiers - Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata, Gounod - Funeral March of a Marionette, Strauss - Blue Danube Waltz, Vivaldi - Autumn of The Four Seasons, Vivaldi - Winter fro tThe Four Seasons, Dvorak - Humoresque, Bach - Orchestral Suite, No. 1 Bouree, Bach - Minuet in G, Mozart - Piano Sonata in C, Beethoven - Fur Elise, Beethoven - Turkish March from The Ruins of Athens, Schubert - Serenade, Mendelssohn - Spring Song, Chopin - Fantasie Impromptu, Debussy - Reverie, Stravinsky - Petrouchka, Brahms - Symphony No. 1 Mvt. 4, Tchaikovsky - Sleeping Beauty
Logic, Logic Liftoff (followed by Orbiting With Logic and then The Art of Argument)
Science Read Aloud, Aristotle Leads the Way
Spanish, Mango with Youtube
Poetry Memorization
American History, The Story of US
Cursive, Cursive Writing Practice Jokes and Riddles with CWP Inspirational Quotes
Handicraft (sewing/cooking or carpentry/survival skills or Scout activity)

There you have it. I'll post an update on how things are going with this in a few months.

Happy Homeschooling
-Michele

Using Joy Hakim's, The Story of Us, The First Americans

For Optimus' 5th grade year, we will be using Joy Hakim's series of American history books. The 11 volume series covers Prehistory through the early 2000's. This post is really a planning page for how I will help my son to cover the material. This will be mostly independent work for him. 

Book 1: The First Americans, Prehistory - 1600

(with History Pockets: Native Americans (HPNA), History Pockets: Explorers of North America (HPE), Scholastic's Interactive 3D Maps: American History and Dover's Exploration of North America Coloring Book)




Activities and Further Reading
Ch. 1 - Present with American History notebook. Explain that after every chapter he is to write a summary in the notebook. The notebook will also hold any extra activities.
Ch. 2 -  Present with Timeline notebook. The timeline will be filled in after every reading with 2 events important to him. At the end of each volume there is a timeline which he will be using at the final project to fill in any events he did not add while reading.
Ch. 3 - Create the "First People Arrive in America" map (3D). 
Ch. 4 - no additional work.
Ch. 5 -  "The Inuit of the Arctic" (HPNA)
Ch. 6 -  "The Case of the Missing Anasazi" (from Reading A-Z).
Ch. 7 - "The Tlingit of the Northwest" (HPNA)
Ch. 8 -  "The Maidu of California" (HPNA) and present with Early Indian Tribes map. 
Ch. 9 -  "The Sioux of the Plains" (HPNA)
Ch. 10 - "The Mound Builders" packet
Ch. 11 - "The Iroquois of the Northwest" (HPNA)
Ch. 12 - "Native American Homes" Montessori for Everyone
Ch. 13 - "Vikings Discover America" map (3D)
Ch. 14 - "Inventors: Johannes Gutenberg" World's 100 Greatest
Ch. 15 - "Morning Girl" (from library). Great list of books here.
Ch. 16 - "Pedro's Journal" (from library) and Columbus Lands in America map (3D)
Ch. 17 - Was Christopher Columbus a Success or Failure writing activity and Christopher Columbus (HPE)
Ch. 18 - John Cabot Explores Canada's East Coast, 1497 (Dover) and John Cabot (HPE)

Ch. 19 - Ferdinand Magellan 
Ch. 20 - "Forgotten Voyager: The Story of Amerigo Vespucci" (from library)
Ch. 21 - Ponce de Leon Explores Florida, 1513 (Dover)
Ch. 22 - Cortes and Coronado Explore America (3D) and Cortes and Montezuma, 1519 (Dover) and Hernando Cortes (HPE)
Ch. 23 - "Inca Town" (from library)
Ch. 24 - none 
Ch. 25 - "We Asked for Nothing: the Remarkable Journey of Cabeza de Vaca" (from library) and Cabeza de Vaca travels through the southwest, 1528-36 (Dover)
Ch. 26 - Francisco Coronado
Ch. 27 - "First People" (from library) and Henry Hudson (HPE)
Ch. 28 - "The Spanish Missions of Arizona" (from library)
Ch. 29 - none
Ch. 30 - "The Religious Spirit of the Navaho" (from library). Discuss religious oppression.

Ch. 31 - same
Ch. 32 - The French Explore North America (Dover) and Jacques Cartier (HPE)
Ch. 33 - The Seminole of the Southeast (HPNA)
Ch. 34 - none
Ch. 35 - none
Ch. 36 - "A New World: England's First View of America" (from library)
Ch. 37 - Settlements at Roanoke and Jamestown map (3D)
Ch. 38 - Drake lands in California, 1578 (Dover) and Sir Francis Drake (HPE)
Ch. 39 - Final summaries and logging of events on timeline.

on to Book Two: Making Thirteen Colonies

Happy Homeschooling
-Michele

Since September we have been busy with so many things! Saturday was our last week for flag football before a small break. The kids have been working hard, but there have been so many interruptions. I have found it difficult to stay on task and complete the rotations like I had planned at the beginning of the year.

I have using this break (before things get nuts again) to reformat our homeschool and plan for 5th and 3rd grade. I can't believe it.

I will be incorporating a good deal of the curriculum that BASIS charter schools use for their 5th graders for Optimus. Tink's schedule is pretty easy as she will just be continuing on to the next levels of her current books.

I plan on switching over to a "loop" schedule. We are testing it now and are liking it so far. I will post that next.

Happy Homeschooling!
Michele