A new school year has begun! I think we've finally come to terms with the fact that summer is over (we were the last ones to leave the pool yesterday, just before they closed it for the season). As we were about to get out Havah said: "well, I'm ready to get out now." Which is AMAZING. She's never in all her young life asked to get out of a swimming pool. We knew then that summer was officially over!
I thought I'd blog a bit about what this school year holds for us. I know that a lot of relatives read our blog and might like to know just what we are up to when during the school day :)
We've chosen curricula from several different companies. We are using Alpha and Omega Horizons Math for first grade after having a lot of success with the Kindergarten level. Some of this things that First Grade Horizons will focus on are:
counting - 2s, 5s, 10s, 6s, 9s, 4s, 8s, and 7s
Place value - 1s, 10s, and 100s
Math facts from 1-18, adding and subtracting double and triple digit numbers, three single and double digit numbers. Working with double and triple digit numbers without borrowing.
Money - continue working with pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars
time - hour, quarter hour, half hour
measurement - inch, centimeter, dozen, ounce, cup, pint, quart, gallon, pound
fractions, 1/2, 1/3, 1/5, 1/6, 1/8
graphs, estimation and solving - bar graphs, rounding numbers on number lines, height, length and quantity
We also will be using Horizons for our Spelling Curriculum this fall. Havalah is beyond excited to be working on spelling. She loves to write and is always telling me that I need to teach her more about writing. In spelling and vocabulary we will be working on:
spelling words with short and long vowel sounds
spell and understand contractions
spell and understand plurals
recognize and spell words used in comparisons ending with suffixes er and est
recognize and spell words with silent letters
recognize and spell words with diphthongs
recognize and spell compound words
spell consonant blends
recognize and spell synonyms, antonyms, homophones
recognize and spell words with ar, or, ir, er and ur
recognize and spell words with the sounds: qu, ph, gh, igh and ould
The other program that we are excited about using this year is from a company called Sonlight. We will begin a 2 year study of World History. We will cover reading, language arts, Bible and history. It begins with Creation and will continue through the fall of the Roman Empire. This is (obviously) all new to me, but I am excited, because it is a literacy based program which is one of Havalah's strengths. We will be learning about people and cultures from thousands of years ago in Egypt, Rome, Greece, Europe, Africa, India and China.
We will also be joining a homeschooling cooperative school called Columbia Christian. We will meet one day a week with this group and for the fall semester Havah will be taking an Art & Manners class, a P.E. class and Choir (Henry will also be in choir!).
So, at this point, these are the things we have planned for our school year. At some point I hope to join a science group and of course we will continue with ballet and soccer. I am learning so much and have begun to realize what a large percentage of people homeschool their kids. I am trying to absorb as much as I can from the people who do it really well!
4 comments:
All I can say is "Wow".
It sounds like you're going to have a great year. We have used Sonlight for the past four years and loved it! We're only talking a break from it this year because we got a little too far ahead. I should have followed the recommendations and put my daughter in Core K in kindergarten instead of Core 1- the maturity level for the content of the reading material was getting a little too advanced for her as we got into core 4. We'll be using it again next year.
Way to go Super Mom! Good luck!
I love Sonlight! Madelyn and I are using it again this year. Reading together is our favorite activity, and Sonlight allows for lots of that. :-) Enjoy!
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