Saturday, August 20, 2011

Lesson Plans 2011-2012

If you click on any of the photos, they will open up bigger. And I know, the post is a bit long, so if you actually read the whole thing, go reward yourself with chocolate!)


(My lesson plan the first week which will be set for September 12th. Items still missing but the bulk of it is written in. I've used this style of planner since I was a teacher in the classroom; it just works well for this paper-pencil Girl. It's from Becker's School Supplies.)


Several weeks ago I posted part of my homeschool to-do list and I have been working very hard to cross items off. It feels great to get lessons planned and ideas thought out ahead of time. I'll post the original list with my updated notes after each item in green and in between, I'll sprinkle photos of our books that we will be using this year.


- Read through Writing With Ease and select literature copywork. (I decided to not get the student workbook and pick my own copywork this year.)

* I have Year 2's narration selections picked out with only the last 4 weeks to select. I really enjoyed going through our books and finding appropriate selections to match the elements studied for that week.(i.e. titles of respect, prepositions, commas in a series, etc.) I think Seth is going to enjoy the selections so much that he will want to read the other parts of the book and thus his free reading lists will grow and grow. I'd like to work quickly through Year 2 and start on Year 3, so I've tentatively planned on us covering 2 days of work for each day. We'll see how the pace goes, but I think he will find the narration simple enough to then work on the copywork the same day. Again, we'll see. My selections vary from children's classics, to poems, to historical biographies to science biographies. I'm excited about the wide exposure we will have to literature by working through this program.


- Watch Teaching the Classics dvds and read through accompanying text.

* I have started watching the dvds and I think a little more time and we will be ready to start reading and discussing our first book together. I plan on working through the syllabus selections myself so that I am comfortable with the terms and what to look for in the selections. I have nothing planned in this for the first week so I still have time to work through the materials.


(These are some of the Writing With Ease(WWE)narration selections, more are pictured later in the post. Each book has two passages marked for each week's readings.)

- Select new poetry for memory work, liking Henry Wadsworth Longfellow a lot right now. Looking into other books in series for ideas.
* I like the Poetry for Young People series, but not every poet has been my thing. So far, Longfellow and Emily Dickinson have been my two favorites and I am working on getting our own copies from this series. I also plan on getting a poem anthology book to broaden our poetry horizons. I love Helen Ferris Tibbet's, Favorite Poems, Old And New. I read the introduction online and loved her memories of her upbringing on which many of the poem selections are based.

-Adding to Memory Work list, Nicene Creed (Presbyterian version), Book of 1 John.
* Both are in the plans.


(With the exception of the children's biography of John Calvin, these are all books for me to read and study as I prepare lessons.)


- Go over Heidi's Book Lists compiled from her website into my own list mashed with other found reading lists. It's a rough, rough draft, but if you're interested I can clean it up a bit and email it to you.
*I'm still working through these lists, but I've moved it back in the priority list as the document is in good enough shape for me to use right now. I hope to finish it and post it after I finish getting my lessons planned.



-Work on Science lessons.
* I have done some work in our main curriculum(for more info see my science page)and would like to get some more lessons planned before we re-start for this year. Also, I have looked through the Beautiful Feet History of Science Guide and printed off the lessons for Ancient and Medieval Science, saving Modern Science for next year's study. I don't have all the books I purchased here with me yet, as they were shipped to my parents', but I did read through the lessons so that I can organize quickly once I have the books in hand. I received the Science Guide as a free download choice as part of a subscription offer through The Old Schoolhousemagazine. I really like how the Guide will help us include scientists and inventors in our study of history and our wall timeline as well as understand how modern science understanding is rooted in historical science.


(Some of the science titles used in the Beautiful Feet study guide.)



(Using as a narration selection, but also has great drawings on parts of a boat, colorful types of fish and water life; overall a great book and the author has tons of other nature related titles, esp for younger children.)


- Finish Seth's Chore Schedule. (just a few household chores to encourage a good attitude for work; gleaning from Created for Work.
* I have it on paper, but haven't created a document for him to see yet. I want him to know how to work well and to enjoy it. It's not necessarily an academic goal, but it certainly includes his academic studies. We'll see how this unfolds over the course of the year.



- Working on History lessons through The Middle Ages.(I rearrange order of lessons) Made it up to the Vikings so far. Incorporating church history people and events. Will post resource list soon.
* I have spent the bulk of my summer hours working on our history lessons and I am pleased to only have 200 more years to go through of the official Middle Ages. The end is in sight and the church history planning is mostly done as well!





- Printing figures for our wall timeline.
* With the exception of a few stray figures that may need to be added as we study, everything is sized and printed and ready to be cut and hung by Seth as we study.




(More books that I am reading through on my own.)


There are things not pictured or mentioned here like our Math, Latin, Catechism, etc. but they have remained the same content from last year and can be seen individually on the pages in the left sidebar under What We Do for Homeschool.
Above all, it is my desire that my children learn to know and love the Word of God, so while other studies may fall behind, I try to not skip or skimp over our time in the Word. We sing hymns, we read passages, we recite aloud and we pray together. And if that is the only learning done all day, I cannot count it a loss but only a gain.

2 comments:

  1. What a hearty list, Heather! Thank you for sharing. :) I love these types of lesson-planning posts. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. So do I and you have posted some of the best ones! :)

    ReplyDelete

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