New Beginnings

Well, here I am again!  This Blog is beginning to be more of a tracking of tidbits of my life rather than any sort of consistent, valuable something!!!  I'm now in London, Ontario, teaching Grade 3 (and part-time Grade 4) at another Christian school... which I love!! But I still follow the homeschool movement closely and want to be a blessing there somehow.  I'm just not sure how to do that!!! But as always, God gives wisdom!  More to follow!  I have to go think some ideas through before I post them!

New Year, New Goals

I suppose that calling a February 18 post a "New Year" post just goes to show how behind I am already this year!  Oh well, moving on!  Does anybody else struggle with sticking to a project until it is complete?  I tend to begin projects with enthusiasm, then I get a pretty good feel for how it's going to turn out and then I lose steam.  For me, the best part of a project is definitely the excitement of beginning something new.  I need to train myself to value the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing a project more than the initial high of starting out!

Well!  That said, I am about to begin a new project!! (Hooray!)  I look at homeschool history curriculum resources like The Story of the World and The Mystery of History and I'm so impressed with their content and scope, however, it is unfortunate that there is not more of a Canadian focus.  Also, while I totally subscribe to Susan Wise Bauer's Classical Education Model (as outlined in The Well Trained Mind), I'm not convinced her Logic stage outlining requirement is engaging enough for Grade 5-8 students (although I do plan on including one outlining assignment per week in history next year).  So... my new project is to develop a Grade 5-8 Classical History Curriculum with engaging readings and strong Canadian content (which will be difficult to do while studying Ancient Times or the Medieval Period!).  This 36-week curriculum will be divided into 4 years, each with 3 12-week terms.  The scope and sequence of the project is as follows:

Year 1: Ancient Times
Term 1: Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt
Term 2: Ancient Greece
Term 3: Ancient Rome

Year 2: The Middle Ages
Term 1: The Early Middle Ages
Term 2: The High Middle Ages
Term 3: The Late Middle Ages

Year 3: Early Modern Times
Term 1: 17th Century
Term 2: 18th Century
Term 3: 19th Century

Year 4: Late Modern Times
Term 1: The World to World War 1
Term 2: The World to the 1960s
Term 3: The World: 1960s to Present

I will be using this blog to organize resources and assignments for each period.  In each term students will complete 2 historical fiction readings (6 books per year).  They will be assigned a weekly outlining assignment from The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, a weekly mapwork assignment, and other readings, videos, and projects as appropriate.

Finally!  We are still somewhat behind in our Plants Unit Study... that seems to be the perpetual state in teaching!  We went on our Bush Field Trip on Thursday, September 27.  It was so much fun! Thank you so much to the parents who were able to accompany us and provide rides!  I apologize again for the extra learning that took place surrounding the chicken butchering apparatus set up on the front yard.  That was an unexpected part of our field trip!  Oh well, such is life! 

This week (October 1 - 5) we will be completing Lesson 2 and introducing our Unit Bible Verse (Genesis 1:11) as well as discussing seed dispersal and making peanut butter.  Our seed coat experiment went really well last week and we saw how the water softened the seed coat and allowed the little sprout inside the seed to pop out.  So hopefully by the end of this week we will be completed up to lesson 4. 

Plants: Lesson 3

How Seeds are Dispersed

Read the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-9)

How do seeds get spread around?

1)      People plant them

2)      The wind carries them (Anemochory)

3)      Animals move them around (Zoochory)

4)      They are carried away by water (Hydrochory)

5)      Exploding seed pods (Autochory)

Ask Students to come up with ways that seeds travel in nature, without the help of man.

As they get stuck, give them examples of different seeds and ask them how they think the seeds travel around.

Ex. Dandelion – the wind blows them; Acorns – squirrels forget them;

Give out the worksheet (How Seeds Travel) and complete together.  For each box, students should write what the word means and draw an example of a type of seed that is dispersed using this method. 

Materials:

How Seeds Travel worksheet

Coconut

Touch me not plant

Burdock, choke cherries

Milkweed Pod

 

Plants: Lesson 4

Field Trip to the Bush!!

Itinerary

Leave the school at 11:30.

Arrive at Don and Gwen’s by 11:45

Picnic Lunch on the hill at Don and Gwen’s

Outside Games 12:30 – 1:00

Bathroom Break 1:00

Walk to Bush, explain assignment, collect samples 1:00 – 2:45

Walk back and leave Don and Gwen’s 3:00

Arrive back to school 3:15

 

Intro

Review all parts of a plant (seeds, leaves, stem, roots).  Pass out field trip guides and explain to kids what they need to do. 

 

Assignment

Have students pick one plant in the bush and draw its picture.  Miss Edwards will also take a photograph of your plant.  Take a rubbing of its leaf.  Dig it up and take a look at its roots, if possible.  For trees, take a rubbing of its bark.  Does it have visible seeds?  How do you think the seeds might be dispersed?  Do you know what this plant is called?  If not, look it up I a field guide.  Miss Edwards can help you. 

 

Materials:

Bush Field Trip Guide

Pencils

Clipboards

 

 

Plant Unit Study - Week 1

Plant Unit Study

This is some of the work that I've put together for my Grade 1-3 science class at Emmanuel Christian Academy.  I have 9 students, 4 of whom are homeschooled part time, so partly, this blog is for them to keep up with what the rest of the class is doing.  Also, I only have 2 months at 45 minutes 2 times a week to complete this unit, so it's not as complete as I would do if I were following a Classical Education schedule!  Also, in a homeschool setting, I would use the Answers in Genesis "God's Design for Science" series, but this is my cheaper take on that!  Excuses, excuses!!

Plants: Lesson 1

What do we need plants for? 
Have your child(ren) brainstorm a list of as many uses as they can think of for plants.  Here is a list a 7-year old friend of mine came up with:
- food for animals
- for beautiful smells
- trees give us oxygen
- maple trees give us syrup
- food for people (cucumbers, carrots, pumpkin, corn on the cob, apple, potato)
- we build houses and boats out of wood
- trees can be homes for different animals
- plants can be for shade
- we can use sticks for fires to keep us warm
- we get paper from trees (when asked how we get paper, she responded, "I forget.  I don't know."... This will be a learning objective for this unit!)

Know, Want to Know, Learn
Complete a 3-fold chart of What I Know about Plants, What I Want to Know about Plants, What I learned About Plants.  Have your child list what they already know (you might be surprised!) and come up with 3 questions (minimum) about what they want to learn about plants.
My 7-year old friend helped me out again!
What I Know About Plants
- some plants are poisonous
- plants have different names
- plants need sun to grow
- some plants are really big
- some plants cause big trouble (prickly bushes, plants in stories grow so big they cause problems :) ...)

Plant Unit Title Page
Have kids design a title page for their unit showing as many uses for plants as they can think of.   Use letter stickers to spell out PLANTS across the top of the page. 

These activities are all designed as intro activities to get kids thinking about plants and what we use them for. 

Lesson 1 - Materials
white computer paper for title page
letter stickers (or magazines / flyers to cut letters from)
pencil crayons
KWL (Know, Want to know, Learned) trifold - KWL Trifold
Brainstorming sheet - could use a graphic organizer of a tree and glue on green leaf shapes, one for each use for a plant!... Actually, I made one... here it is! Uses for Plants Graphic Organizer

Plants: Lesson 2

Parts of a Plant: SEEDS

Read section on Seeds in Abeka Science Reader Grade 3
Optional additional reading:
Read: A Little Seed by Eric Carl
Read: The Carrot Seed by Crockett Johnson
Read: The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds
Online Book: Sid the Seed

Talk about the seed coat and how it protects the seed until the seed is ready to sprout.  Conduct lima bean experiment from Abeka Science Reader

Unit Memory Verse:
Genesis 1:11
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.

Memory Verse Sheet for student binder
Experiment: Breaking the Seed Coat

Experiment Sheet

Read experiment instructions in Abeka Science Reader and complete experiment sheet for binder.
Experiment 2: Growing Seeds

Project Sheet

List materials and draw procedure on experiment sheet. 
Plant bean seeds in clear plastic cups.  Plant them close to the edge of the cup so you can see the roots start to grow.  Set the cups in sunlight and check them daily.  Record observations daily on experiment sheet.

Demonstration: Uses for seeds

Obtain a flour grinder or mortar and pestle.  Grind white blossoms to make flour.  Grind up peanuts in a blender to make peanut butter.  Enjoy on bread or crackers for a yummy snack!

Here is a link for a recipe for Homemade Peanut Butter.

Lesson 2 - Materials
lima bean seeds
paper towel
cup of water
soil
clear plastic cups
bean seeds
flour grinder
wheat blossoms
peanuts in the shell
vegetable or peanut oil
small amounts of sugar and salt
blender
spatula
air tight container
crackers
knife

So that seems like a lot of material for 2 classes!!  Don`t worry if you don`t get everything done!  I`m not even sure yet if I can get a flour grinder, so that experiment might be out the window!  I hope that one of the moms will come in to do the planting piece with us and talk about how deep to plant the seeds and what they need in order to sprout, etc.  Another fun activity might be to have a seed snack - sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, cucumbers (with seeds), tomatoes, coconut, etc...)

Parents, let me know if this system is working for you!  I just installed Google Drive, so it makes my documents super easy to upload.  Alternatively, you each could simply keep track of what you have read and what plant related activities you completed!  We`re planning a field trip to the bush for the end of the unit, but I`ll keep you posted!

Thanks!

Jennifer

Classical Grade 1 Bible Planning

My current project (for the past 3 years or so) is to create a Classical curriculum schedule based on Susan Wise Bauer's The Well Trained Mind.  After losing the schedule on my hard drive twice, I had to restart the planning, but not actually doing this for children yet, I still have time!  Beginning with Grade 1 Bible, I decided to use the Arch Books as my main spine books and try to get an overview of the entire Bible over the course of the year.  To buy 40 books at $2.49 each totals $100, but many of these books are available at my church library.  The books I have scheduled to do over the course of the grade 1 year include:
Term 1
Week 1 - The World God Made
Week 2 - A Garden and a Promise
Week 3 - Cain and Abel
Week 4 - The Story of Noah's Ark
Week 5 - The Tower of Babel
Week 6 - Abraham, Sarah, and the Promised Son
Week 7 - Joseph and His Brothers
Week 8 - The Princess and the Baby
Week 9 - Moses and the 10 Plagues
Week 10 - The Exodus
Week 11 - When God Laid Down the Law
Week 12 - The Walls Came Tumbling Down
Week 13 - The Baby Born in a Stable
Week 14 - The Night the Angels Sang

Term 2
Week 15 - Samson
Week 16  - God's Gift Baby
Week 17 - Samuel and the Wake-Up Call
Week 18 - David and Goliath
Week 19 - King Solomon's Dream
Week 20 - The Day God Made it Rain
Week 21 - The Boy Who Came Back to Life
Week 22 - The Man Caught by a Fish
Week 23 - Three Men in the Fiery Furnace
Week 24 - Daniel in the Lion's Den
Week 25 - The Queen Who Saved Her People

Term 3
Week 26 - Young Jesus in the Temple
Week 27 - John the Baptist
Week 28 - The Temptation of Jesus
Week 29 - The Lame Man Who Walked Again
Week 30 - The Boy Who Gave His Lunch Away
Week 31 - Zaccheus
Week 32 - The Good Samaritan
Week 33 - The Raising of Jairus' Daughter
Week 34 - Jesus Rides Into Jerusalem
Week 35 - Good Friday
Week 36 - Easter Day Surprise
Week 37 - Jesus Forgives Peter
Week 38 - The Coming of the Holy Spirit
Week 39 - Paul Believes in Jesus
Week 40 - Peter Set Free

I thought about setting aside two weeks in Term 2 or early Term 3 for Easter, but I figured that we'd spend extra time during Easter to look at the story anyway!  With each story, we'll read the Arch book, read the corresponding passage in the Golden Children's Bible, represent the story using Hands On Godly Play (see here), and memorize a Bible verse related to the story. 

Also, as part of our Biblical studies, we will memorize a Christian song or hymn each month.  Our Hymn memorization list is as follows:
September: All Things Bright And Beautiful
October: Books of the Bible Song
November: We Gather Together
December: The First Noel
January: Amazing Grace
February: Fairest Lord Jesus
March: Dare to Be a Daniel
April: He Lives
May: Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
June: Seek Ye First
July: When the Roll is Called Up Yonder

Tomorrow, I'll post the Grade 1 Spelling, Grammar, Reading, and Writing plan and possibly the Math plan.  Eventually, I'll post the full year schedule for Grade 1 and then move on to Grade 2. 

Hopefully, posting this for you by sections will help me get it finished more quickly!!

Blessings!

Jennifer

I'm Back... For Now!!

Well, a lot has changed in my life since the last post in April 2011!  I'm no longer operating a home preschool, but I'm still as interested as ever in education.  I'm teaching at a small Christian School of 20 students in Central Ontario and I absolutely love it!  I teach a class of 9 JK - Grade 2 students for Language, Science, Social Studies, Art, and French as well as Math for 9 Grade 5 - 8 students.  The way God opened up this opportunity for me in September was clearly His amazing provision and I am so thrilled to be here!!

So, I am still interested in uploading resources for teaching preschool and kindergarten students, and I will try to keep that up on a partially regular basis.  Although we know how well I do at writing regularly!!

So, I hope that anything I post is helpful for you all!  Thanks for reading!

Jennifer

How Not to Rush a Toddler

I'm slowly learning the importance of allowing toddlers to explore materials and learning activities at their own pace.  As a highly Type-A personality, this is highly difficult for me!  As I type, Sweet Pea is supposed to be sorting the Teddy Bear Counters by colour.  Some of them are going in the correct bowl, however, a lot of time is spent making the Teddy Bears dance in their boxes and having them visit the bear families of other colours.  However, as I am consistent about praising the ones that go into the correct bowl, she is showing me that she understands colours and the concept of sorting!  I think we can move on to patterning now, but I still need to remember that we'll need to take a long time to play along the way.  I read somewhere that the surest way to kill a toddler's interest in school is to force them to do it like a drill seargeant.  If I allow these children to "work" (and it is work, at this age!) at their own pace, they will continue to amaze me with what they understand, and how much they can teach themselves (and me!).  Have a blessed day!

Jennifer