What We're Learning This Year

I considered skipping my annual back-to-school books and curriculum post.  In fact, I didn't give it much thought at all this year, but when I put out the question on my Facebook page, the overwhelming response was, "Yes, please write it!"

So here goes.


{This post contains multiple Amazon affiliate links.}

As much as possible, I've tried to establish a group learning environment where we all learn alongside each other.  The kids range in age from Gavin who is almost 12 and in 7th grade to Alaine who is 4 and not formally in school so it can be a challenge, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

These are the subjects we learn together and the books or resources we use:

Bible (daily): Egermeier's Bible Story Book, Our 24 Family Ways: A Family Devotional Guide, scripture memory box

History (daily, starting in November): The World of Columbus and Sons, The World of Captain John Smith

Science (bi-weekly): The Burgess Bird Book for Children, National Wildlife Federation's World of Birds: A Beginner's Guide, notebooking

Art (daily through October):  unit on architecture using Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids: His Life and Ideas (with 21 Activities) as our main text and supplementing with books like this oneand this one

Music (weekly): Alfred's Basic Piano Course Theory, Level 1A

The three oldest are also working independently through Typing Instructor for Kids Platinum 5.

Either before or after our together work, each child has a list of  subjects to accomplish alone. For the first time this year, I gave each child a copy of their schedule so instead of me telling them what to do next, they can look at it and manage their own time.  I did not expect them to like that approach so much and I'm more than pleased at how they are showing initiative to finish their work ahead of schedule!

Gavin (7th grade, almost 12 years old)

Math (daily): Saxon Math 8/7 with Pre-algebra

English (daily): writing prompts, Daily Grams 5 Student Workbook

Health (weekly): Christian Liberty Nature Reader, Book 5

Art supplement (weekly, starting after winter break): Let's Make Some Great Art

Maddie (5th grade, 10 years old)

Math (daily): Saxon Math 54

English (daily): writing prompts, Daily Grams 4 Student Workbook

Health (weekly): Period.: A Girl's Guide

Art supplement (weekly, starting after winter break): Draw Me A House: A Book of Colouring In, Ideas and Architectural Inspiration

Owen (3rd grade, 8 years old)

Math (daily): Saxon Math 54

English (daily): writing prompts, Daily Language Review 2

Health with Ben (summer): unit on the human body using various library books such as this oneand this one

Art supplement (weekly, starting after winter break): Let's Make Some Great Art

Ben (1st grade, almost 6 years old)

Math (daily): First Grade Big Workbook!, Usborne's Dot-to-Dot Animals

English (daily): Explode the Code series

Health with Owen (summer): unit on the human body using various library books such as this oneand this one

Art (weekly): Usborne's I Can Draw Animals

Music (summer): unit on Mozart using various library books such as this one

{This post contains multiple Amazon affiliate links.}

(I did not include a section for Alaine who is 4 years old and will not start kindergarten until next year. She comes to the table every day, though, with her pencils and crayons and asks to do several pages in her workbook. If anyone is interested in a list of workbooks, busy bags, books, and ideas of how I keep her engaged during school hours, I will be happy to write a post about that, too.)

We Draw Animals Tutorial

We finished our third week of school today.  Dare I say we are starting to find our groove? 

I've mentioned to several people this year that if I could somehow find a way to incorporate art into every subject, maybe Gavin would learn to love school... or at least stop complaining about it.  He gets bogged down by math (even though he excels at it) and he couldn't care less about spelling, but the boy loves to draw! 

One of the things we are doing for science this year is  reading our way through The Burgess Bird Book for Children {Amazon affiliate link}.  We read a chapter, or sometimes two, a week, then look at photos of the featured bird in a variety of nature guides.  On a separate day, the kids sketch that week's bird in their nature notebooks. 

When Kathy from We Draw Animals contacted me about creating a how-to-draw tutorial for my blog, I was excited.  My kids love the how-to-draw books they find at the library, but this tutorial would be especially tailored to what they are learning and doing in school every week. 

Kathy designed a hawk tutorial for me (scroll down to see the 6 easy steps), but the website has hundreds of animal to choose from including a section devoted to how to draw birds.  I love that each tutorial on the website is prefaced by a short science lesson with bulleted facts about the animal. And the best part?  Everything on the website is free! A free eBook is also available for download and I've included the link below.

 Click here to download the full We Draw Animals eBook!

Hodgepodge Learning

{This post contains Amazon affiliate links. While I do get a small commission if you make a purchase via my links, these are books I love and I would recommend them anyway!}

During the summer months, I attempt to fit in some stealthy schooling. Often we get our health credit out of the way.  Last year, we did a laid-back, super-fun, world geography unit study.  This year I was uninspired and truly just needed a break from schedules and requirements and record keeping.  (Teaching a middle schooler, a preschooler, and three children in between all at the same time is not for the faint of heart.)

Break or not, our family never stops reading so this summer I asked my kids if there were any topics they wanted to learn more about. The ideas flew and we jumped in.  We read two books about Vikings, a book about the International Space Station, several books about large cats, another about pirates.

Then Maddie asked to read about zoo animals.  I wasn't sure where to go with such a broad topic so I did a search on my library's website and hit a gold mine. We checked out these 2 over-sized books.  They were so large they didn't fit in my library tote bag and my boys had to carry them out of the library instead.

At Alaine's request, we started with Out of Sightby Francesco Pittau and Bernadette Gervais  On each spread of pages, readers try to guess what animals are hidden beneath the series of flaps.  The first few pages are animal silhouettes and you must guess what animal matches the shape. Another page has ten animal patterns and you must guess which animal's fur or skin looks like the illustration.  At the end of the book comes a page of animal tracks and you must figure out what animal leaves that type of marking.  

As you lift each flap to reveal the answer, there is a very brief line of text that gives you a fact about the animal.

It goes without saying that we all loved this book and it was infinitely more fun than a dry text about animals.

After Out of Sight, we then moved on to Life-Size Zoo: From Tiny Rodents to Gigantic Elephants, An Actual-Size Animal Encyclopediaby Teruyuki Komiya.  Every animal, or piece of animal, in the book is life size.  Wonder how tall a meerkat stands?  Peek inside the book.  Want to compare your head to a giraffe's?  Open up this book.  It is fascinating.  The highlight of the book is the photographs, but there is also very brief, non-boring text on each page that points out things to look for on each animal and gives some little-known facts. 

We found this book (and several of its sequels) at our library, but Amazon has several copies for around $5 (including shipping).  It would be so, so worth the price!

Summer Break?

Wednesday was the first day of our summer break.  And how did we fill our day?

We took a morning trip to the library, getting there right as they opened. 

Then we met my mom and sister and spent several hours of our afternoon on a nature walk.

The kids studies the plants and trees, growing along the water's edge.



They gazed at ducks across the pond and fed the geese.

Then we had a chocolate chip cookie picnic while the kids drew in their nature notebooks.

*****

I guess this goes to show that summer break does not mean we stop learning, but this is what it does mean for us.

Summer means not adhering to a tight schedule.

Summer means the wading pool and the sprinkler.

Summer means sleepovers and library programs and coloring books.

Summer means Wii time. 

Summer means catching frogs.

Summer means salads, popsicles, and frozen bananas.

Summer means piles of books and more time to read. 

Often we use our summer weeks to check off a subject from our fall list.  Two years ago it was health.  Last year it was geography. This year I didn't have plans so I asked the kids if there was anything they would like to learn about.  One child asked to read more about the Vikings.  Two wanted to learn about cats-- both domestic and wild.  Another child asked to continue working through his typing program. 

What are your plans for summer?  Are you looking forward to a break from routine?

31 Days, 31 Printables {Day 29}: Insects Vs. Spiders

Today's free printable is a quick reference guide called Insect vs. Spider.  Great for kids and adults, it quickly contrasts the major differences between 6-legged insects and their 8-legged friends.  For those wanting to save ink, there the PDF file also contains a black-and-white version of the chart! 

Click here for your Insect vs. Spider Reference Guide or click on the thumbnail below.

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31 Days, 31 Printables {Day 22}: Fall Leaf Fun

I don't know about you, but I'm always on the look-out for simple activities that make my pre-schooler feel like she is a part of our school day. I want activities to be fun, but they also need to be something that she can do independently while I'm working with the older children. To serve those purposes, I created this 2-page fall leaf worksheet .  It incorporates coloring, recognizing colors, drawing, counting, and nature study. 

To download a bit of Fall Leaf Fun for your preschooler, click here or on the thumbnail below!

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31 Days, 31 Printables {Day 15}: Easy Animal Taxonomy for Kids

I made this printable for my own family when I couldn't find anything like it online.  We had begun studying mammals in school and we were discussing how animals were grouped into categories based on their characteristics.  Instead of trying to explain taxonomy to them, I wanted a very basic chart so they could see for themselves. When my online search turned up nothing, I made my own.  

This chart is done entirely in gray and black  to save on printing cost.  

To download your own Easy Animal Taxonomy for Kids, click here. 

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