Week 2: Sept 8-12

Religion & Bible

Reading

Writing

daily copy work from favorite book passages

MaTh

Review:

Using graphs

number line

story problems

Science

Life on earth

-looking at the past

-developing life

-the age of reptiles

-the age of mammals

-modern extinction

Language/Spelling/Grammar

History & Geography

The Barbarian Kingdoms c.500-800

Return to Christianity

Art & Music Appreciation

Physical Education

First Term, Week 1: September 3 - 5

Religion & Bible 

weekly Scripture memorization

family devotions and discussion daily

religion as it comes up in History

Reading

reading aloud 20 minutes, daily

Writing

daily copy work from favorite book passages

MaTh

Review: Odds and evens

Recognizing patterns and concluding the next pattern

Story problems

Science: Earth Science

The Early Earth

- Truth of the creation of the earth: Genesis 1 and 2

- theory of the birth of the earth (evolution)

*early life

*ancient history

*changing climate

-the shape of the land

-studying the past

Language/Spelling/Grammar

History & Geography: Medieval World

The Byzantine Empire - Europe c. 500-1450

Art & Music Appreciation

Physical Education

A weekly schedule

Our week looks something like this. I don't have specific times because our schedule is flexible, but we get most done in the morning. The kids are up between 7:30 and 8 and do their devotions and chores in the morning before breakfast. Lessons usually begin by 9.

Monday:  

Bible 

- begin memory verse for the week

Math

Spelling

Grammar

History/Geography

Piano practice

Reading

Tuesday: 

Bible

Math

Writing

Handwriting

Grammar

Science

Piano practice

Reading

Wednesday: 

Bible

Math

Spelling

Grammar

History/Geography

Piano lesson

Reading

Thursday:  

Bible

Math

Writing

Handwriting

Grammar

Science Experiment

Piano practice

Choir (winter term)

Reading

Music

Friday:  

Bible

Math

Spelling

Grammar

History/Geography

Piano practice

Library

Reading

Art

Grammar School: Second grade lesson plan

Language

- spelling workout 10-15 minutes daily

- begin cursive penmanship

- 30 minutes daily reading or making notebook page

- first language lessons 20 minutes daily

- 10 minutes daily on memory work

- 30 to 60 minutes daily for fun reading

Writing

- simple letters to relatives and friends twice a week

- write from dictation 3 days a week 10-20 minutes

Mathematics

-math lesson (learning a concept or doing a drill) 30-40 minutes daily

History

- study medieval-early Renaissance times (400-1600). 60 minutes 3 days a week.

- read biographies and easy history books to the child; ask child to tell you what you've just read

- make notebook pages together for the history notebook

- great men and women to cover:

Saint Augustine

Attila the Hun

King Arthur

Mohammed

Charlemagne

Alfred the Great

Leif Ericsson

Edward the Confessor

Genghis Khan

Dante Alighieri

Geoffrey Chaucer

Jan van Eyck

Johannes Gutenberg

Christopher Columbus

Leonardo da Vinci

Amerigo Vespucci

Nicolaus Copernicus

Michelangelo

Ferdinand Magellan

Martin Luther

Raphael

Nostradamus

John Calvin

Hernando Cortes

Tycho Brahe

Walter Raleigh

William Shakespeare

Galileo Galilei

Science

-study basic earth science and astronomy. 60 minutes 2 days a week.

Religion

- learn about world religions through the study of history.

- learn the basics of the family's faith for 10 to 15 minutes a day as part of family time.

Art

- 1 hour per week doing picture study, reading art books, or an art project

Music

- at least 1 hour per week listening to classical music

- continue piano lessons, practicing 20-30 minutes daily

These guidelines are taken from The Well Trained Mind

A Starting Schedule

After some reflection and prayer, we have decided change the education schedule of the little gray schoolhouse and move to trimesters or terms which is to say, go year round with homeschooling.

This is a major step for me - I have completely left the institutional education box. I had already planned and laid out half the year when I really felt the tuggings at my heart. Two weeks before we were to resume fall lessons, the decision was made and the old schedule scrapped. 

I am still balancing a Charlotte Mason method with a more structured classical education. Our mornings will be structured and our afternoons and evenings will be free.

One option is:

Sept, Oct, Nov - first term

December off

Jan, Feb, March - second term

April off

May, June, July - third term 

Another option is: 

School   September through mid -October

Break     one week off

School    Late October until Thanksgiving 

Break      week off

School    Early December

Break      three weeks off for Christmas and New Year's

School    Mid-January until late February or early March

Break      Two weeks off

School    Late April, May, on through summer

Breaks   Anytime during the summer, whenever vacationing, visiting or entertaining, etc.

Sources

The Well Trained Mind

Religion & Bible: The Holy Bible, New Living Translation

Reading, Writing, Language/Spelling/Grammar : McGuffey 

The McGuffey curriculum is a complete, integrated language arts curriculum. It is designed to teach vocabulary, reading comprehension, spelling, penmanship, and grammar.

Primer

Progressive Speller 

Phonics Made Plain 

Reading Workbook Series 2: teaches and drills phonics along with reading comprehension, accenting, word studies, main topics, cause and effect, summary and conclusion, comparison and contrast, truth and pretense, and much more.

Writing Workbook Series 2: concentrates on more advanced handwriting and grammar. Children learn to write sentences with full punctuation along with greater depth in sentence types, sentence structure, parts of speech, double negatives, contractions, subject/verb agreement, cursive writing and much more.

MaTh: Saxxon

Science: Usborne Science Encylopdeia

World History & Geography: Story of the World, Usborne Encyclopedias of World History & World Geography

U.S. History: I haven't decided yet.

Art & Music Appreciation: Usborne Book of Art and Usborne First Book of Art. 

Poetry: various books of poetry

Summer lessons

I don't know where the summer went, but it was gone in a flash. We enjoyed many learning opportunities as we explored the beach, local parks, and camp sites, but a more formal lesson plan was no where to be seen. And that was just fine. 

The new school year begins next week after Labor Day and brings with it a few changes. I am very excited as Noah begins second grade. Bronwen has been asking for lessons too, so we're going to have a preschool plan for her too.

See you soon!