Planning, Printing, Organizing…and Preparing to Make Memories During a New School Year!

As unbelievable as it is, another school year is quickly approaching!  This coming year, our homeschool consists of a 7th grader, 5th grader, 3rd grader, 1st grader, and a PreK child.  Ready or not, here is a peek at what we have planned for the new year…

Our “Together” Subjects

History
– Heart Of Dakota Resurrection to Reformation (3rd, 5th, 7th)

    We are looking forward to progressing in our history study!  The HOD website explains this year’s history portion as providing…

a deeper look at the time period from the Resurrection of Christ to the Reformation. This year of study is meant to provide students with a Christ-centered overview of the growth of the early church, the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the exploration of the new world, and the advancement of science. Within the readings, students will learn about each time period through the lives of the people who lived then. This biographical approach to history shows the strengths and gifts that people were given, along with the mistakes and errors that they made. Yet, the resources chosen for this study will show how God in His loving care watched over His people amidst persecution and trials. Church history is woven in and out of the narratives at the proper places in history, leading students to see that all of history belongs to God and is actually “His” story.

Independent History Reading and Read Alouds
Extension Readers

– God’s World News current events (3rd, 5th, 7th)
– Mystery of History Vol 2 audio (7th)
Our oldest child LOVED Mystery of History volume 1 and begged us to let her listen to volume 2 as well!

Science
– Apologia Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day (1st, 3rd, 5th)
After having the opportunity to visit the beach and ocean this past year, our children are excited to be able to learn more about sea life and ocean creatures!

Free ‘My Ocean Creatures Notebook’

Bible and Apologetics –
– Hidden Treasures in Philippians study and Philippians 1 Scripture Memorization (3rd, 5th, 7th)

Free Philippians Copywork Sheets

– Apologia Who AM I? (3rd, 5th, 7th)

– YWAM Missionary Biographies
Our oldest kids continue to enjoy listening to these true stories!

Intro to Greek
– Greek Alphabet Code Cracker (3rd, 5th, 7th)
– Greek Alphabet Coloring Pages from Classical Academic Press (1st grader)

Free Greek Alphabet Coloring Pages

Art
– Art Appreciation Looking at Pictures (3rd, 5th, 7th)

– Creating a Masterpiece Level 1
 

Grade Specific Reading / Language Arts /Math

our 7th grader…

• Literature-  Memoria Press (The Wind in the Willows, Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island, King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table)
• Reading – HOD extension reading and free choice reading
• Spelling – Phonetic Zoo
• Writing and Grammar:  BJU English and Writing 7
• Horizons Math
• Xtra Math
• Handwriting – Philippians 1 Cursive Copywork
• Science – Apologia General Science
• AWANA – 1st year Trek, serving as a Leader in Training with a preschool Gopher Buddies class
• Music – Violin, Pianimals piano practice
• Devotions with Mom – Beautiful Girlhood, The Virtuous Woman: A Short Study on Proverbs 31 for Mothers and Daughters
• Extra Bible – middle school Bible study, continuing to memorize Ephesians

our 5th grader…

• Literature-  Memoria Press (King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, Robin Hood, Adam of the Road, Door in the Wall)
• Reading – related history reading, Abeka readers, free choice reading
• Spelling – Rod and Staff
• Writing and Grammar:  BJU English and Writing 5
• Horizons Math 5
• Xtra Math
• Handwriting – Philippians 1 Cursive Copywork
• AWANA – 3rd year T&T
• Music – Violin, Pianimals piano practice, Choir
• Devotions with Mom – Beautiful Girlhood, The Virtuous Woman: A Short Study on Proverbs 31 for Mothers and Daughters

our 3rd grader…

• Literature –  Memoria Press (Farmer Boy, Charlotte’s Web, The Moffats, Homer Price)
• Reading – related history reading, Abeka readers, free choice reading
• Spelling – Joyful Heart Spelling Skills
• Writing and Grammar:  BJU English and Writing 3
• Horizons Math 3 (continuation from last year) and moving into 4
• Xtra Math
• Handwriting – Philippians 1 Manuscript Copywork, A Reason For Handwriting Transition book (cursive)
• Extra Science – Astronomy focus from HOD
  
• AWANA – 1st year T&T
• Music – Choir
• Devotions with Dad – Boyhood and Beyond

our 1st grader…

• Reading – ABeka readers, free choice reading (and starting a Book List)
• Phonics – Explode the Code 3-4
• Spelling / Handwriting – Joyful Heart Spelling Skills
• Writing – Write a Super Sentence
• Horizons Math 1/2
• Xtra Math
• Social Studies – History for Little Pilgrims, History Stories for Children, Selections from Draw Write Now (books 2,3,& 5)
  
• AWANA – 2nd year Sparks
• Music – Pianimals piano practice (with her big sister overseeing her), Choir

our 4 year old PreK child…

• Joyful Heart Bible and Rhyme
• Preschool one morning a week
• Gopher Buddies Bible Club
• lots of play!

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Would you like to see our previous year’s curriculum choices?
2013-2014 (6th, 4th, 2nd, K, preschool)
2012-2013 (5th, 3rd, 1st, PreK, 2 year old)
2011-2012 (4th, 2nd, K, 3’s preschool, toddler)
2010-2011 (3rd, 1st, PreK, 2 year old, 4 mo old baby)
2009-2010 (2nd, K, 3’s preschool, toddler, baby arrived end of year)
2008-2009 (1st, PreK, 2 year old, 6 mo old baby)
2007-2008 (K, 3’s preschool, toddler, baby arrived mid year)
2006-2007 (PreK, 2 year old, 7 mo old baby) – Joyful Heart Character
2005-2006 (3’s preschool, toddler, baby arrived mid year) – Joyful Heart Bible and Rhyme
2004-2005 (2 year old, 6 mo old baby) – Joyful Heart Learning

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This post is part of the 6th annual “Not” Back-To-School Blog Hop over at the iHomeschool Network.  This week, homeschoolers around the nation are sharing their curriculum choices for this coming school year!

How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
Psalm 104:24-25

Our family has had the privilege to visit and explore the coastline during the past two summers. May we never cease to be amazed at the vastness of the ocean and the creative nature of our loving God!  So, it is with great anticipation as we embark on a new school year and begin our study of ocean creatures using Apologia’s Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day!  After studying Apologia’s Zoology 1 for our main science text last year, we knew that once again we would desire to spend time learning about science and nature using this God centered, creationist curriculum with multiple ages.

As I read through the text and looked at the regular and junior notebooking journals, as excellent as they are, I realized that I wanted a slightly different design for our upcoming first grader.  So, of course, I created one – ‘My Ocean Creatures Notebook’!  This was a fun project to work on, especially since my oldest daughter teamed up to help me for the first time!

The ‘My Ocean Creatures Notebook’ does contain some writing spaces and true notebooking type sheets. However, there are mostly cutting, gluing, sorting, labeling, and coloring activities designed with lower elementary students in mind (advanced K-2nd grade) allowing them to learn alongside their older siblings. The topics and vocabulary correspond with the same ones as found in the Apologia Swimming Creatures textbook.

In this FREE resource you will find…

Coloring sheets with Scripture
Pages for Labeling anatomy of different ocean creatures
Experiment Sheets
Vocabulary Match Ups
Comparing and Contrasting Activities
Spaces to write facts to remember
Word Searches (with answer key in the back)
My Ocean Creatures Drawing pages
Ocean Creatures Report Sheets
Aquarium Field Trip Scavenger Hunt
Picture Cards (Photos)
Sorting/Matching Cards (ocean creatures and their names)

Download the ‘My Ocean Creatures Notebook’ for FREE
at the Joyful Heart Learning Teacher’s Notebook Shop!