These past few weeks have been really difficult! (OK...that's a wee bit of an exaggeration)...but I have been really confused about what curriculum we should use for History, Geography, and Science. Just when I *think* I've made my mind up, I go and change it again! I've literally considered several curricula for these subjects, and although all are good, none of them felt quite right. Does that make sense??
Anyway, for History, I have finally decided to use aspects of TruthQuest: American History for the Young Student Book 1. I chose this for several reasons. To begin with, I like that it's a guide & not really a curriculum. It isn't a typical scripted teacher's manual focusing on a specific grade, but rather, it has commentary for each topic & a plethora of book suggestions that you can read with your kids. We love learning through living books, so this is a huge selling point for me. Another plus is that I love the price! The teacher guides are very affordable, and this is fabulous because I'm always on a tight budget! I found this guide used for only $16!! We will also use books recommended by Beautiful Feet & Winter Promise for American History. I love their booklists!
I had strongly considered using Story of the World this year (everyone else is, so why shouldn't we? right?). Well, honestly, it just never felt like the "right" choice for my family. I really wanted to start with American History. Yes, I realize this isn't in chronological order. Yes, I recognize this is a very unpopular method. I believe I am officially the only un-classical homeschooler now, lol. We will go through American History first & then really delve into the Ancients closer to middle school.
As for geography, I chose Rod & Staff second grade. It's incredibly affordable ($5 and change) and it reads like a story. Here's a link: http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/item/1-19221/?list=Rod_and_Staff_Social_Studies
As for science, we'll use notebooking and pull from several resources. I listed them all under our 2009-2010 schedule. My favorite new buy for the year though is the Christian Liberty Press Nature readers. Another homeschool blogger was kind enough to share this gem with me...so a BIG thank-you to her!!! Lastly, I found a very cool science book! It has activities and subjects divided by seasons. It was only a penny at Amazon ($4 with shipping!): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471330965/ref=ox_ya_oh_product
Lastly, in my search for the "perfect" curricula, someone shared a great website with me! Here is a wonderfully laid out free science & history curriculum. I may borrow a few ideas from here as well: http://www.guesthollow.com/
So...aside from returning from the land of confusion....summer has been really fabulous! I'll try to post some pix when I get time. We've done some fun things!! Currently though, my kids are freaking out ...I've been typing too long I suppose, lol.
Seacrest ~ out!
our chickens!!! we actually hatched chickens! i know that isn't incredibly exciting for some, but i'm a city gal... i've never been near a chicken in my life! at least not a live one! LOL. this was so awesome and exciting for our family. the chickens hatched last weekend and we kept them for a week. we had 12 eggs to start with, and 7 eggs hatched. i still have a 25 pound bag of chick feed & have no idea what to do with it! my town only sells 25 pound bags. maybe i'll save it for our next batch! i actually wanted to keep the chickens, but kenny was not too keen on that idea. i live in a very small rural town now with a large fenced yard though, and i think i could actually keep chickens here legally... i'll have to find out and beg & plead with my sweet husband. having a chicken coop would rock! anyway here are the pictures. i didn't have my camera, so these are from my phone... kinda lame i know.
in late august, i will contact 4-H and we will get quail eggs from them! i'm so excited about that as well. oh - can i just take a moment and say i love our local 4-H! they have the most amazing projects available to my family for free or for a very low cost. my kids will be doing their arts & crafts camp in june. the cost is only $30 for the week! they also have a wonderful overnight camp, and 4-H farm week as well. i'm not comfortable leaving my children away from me that long yet - but i'm excited for future possibilities.
anyway. i posted our schedule for next year. you can view it under 2009-2010 schedule. i'm still thinking things through so it isn't set in stone really...but man, i am SO glad to have the majority of next year figured out!
on another note, this week has been busy!! my MIL is moving next door. she lived in michigan and her husband has had multiple strokes. we will be able to help her now, and plus, her rent here will be very cheap. it is definitely for the best.
anyway. no more to share really.... until next time....
seacrest~out!
things have been awesome, but very busy here! i just got back on saturday from a week at the beach! my parents rented a home right on the ocean & we even had a private pool! it was truly fabulous!!!! the weather was very cooperative for the most part too, which was an added bonus! my husband did not get to go with us unfortunately due to work, but the trip was lovely!
yesterday, i went and picked up our chicken eggs! we are incubating them as a science project, and i'm just seriously praying they will actually hatch into little baby chicks in about 21 days. for those of you interested in trying this at home - check with your local 4-H. it is called the "embryology program" and it's free in my area! we will return the chickens to them upon completing the project. we were given 12 eggs. each day we record the temperature, rotate the eggs 3 times, check the humidity, etc. what fun! today, i will send off for our ants and butterflies. i purchased an ant farm and butterfly kit, & now i just need to send off the forms to receive the insects in the mail. anyway - here are some pix of our chicken eggs...
lastly... if you ever get REALLY bored and have an empty pizza box... well, i have a great idea for you! yesterday, we made a fake cardboard pizza! we used construction paper to make the toppings & i cut it into 8 slices. i then used velcro to secure the pizza in the box (but the slices can be removed easily since it's velcro). besides this being fun - it is also educational. we played restaurant with the pizza and brought out the play cash register. my daughter was counting out my change & such. it is also great for learning simple fractions. anyway - my kids had a blast making it! here it is...
oh, i do have one more cool thing to share!! as i mentioned in a previous post - we use workboxes now for scheduling our schoolwork. i bought these cool sentence strips (called silly sentences by DK). they were fairly cheap from amazon. my daughter really digs them! you can use them to reinforce sentence structure, or you can sort them by nouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositions, etc. it's pretty cool! they go great with mad-libs as well! here's a picture of my daughter using the game:
seriously now. that's it!!!! LOL
