Catching Up

A lot has happened since I last posted. Jaden is now in 5th grade, Sage in 3rd. We ditched Waldorf about 1 1/2 years ago because I got too frustrated with it. Now we are a mix of eclectic and unschooling style.

The past 3 years I have worked on putting together a planner to keep track of things. This year it's doubled in size from the previous years, partly because I used a thicker paper stock to print on and partly because I've added a few more sections. I plan to put together a post on that since I keep getting asked what I do to assemble the planner.

For curriculum this year (August 2015 - July 2016), we are using:

Mathematics
Math is our weak point, mostly because of the Waldorf method which was slow to teach and wasn't working out for Jaden. I used Making Math Meaningful to help catch us up, the free drill worksheets they offer online was a great boost for getting her up to speed on her multiplication skills.

Math-U-See Delta for Jaden
Math-U-See Beta for Sage


Reading
Reading was another slow start because of Waldorf but I'm fine with that. Jaden is picking up speed and loves to read Shel Silverstein poems. This year we will be focusing on poetry from Shel Silverstein and possibly branching out to other authors as she chooses. I am also requiring her to read 1 chapter book a week from any series of her choice (she likes Magic Treehouse and Secrets of Droon). I may up that requirement in January or sooner as her reading skill picks up.

I am starting Sage on reading Dr. Seuss books, he can read better than he wants to admit so they are a great confidence builder for him. Right now, we will do 3 - 4 a week and increase as his confidence increases.

I also still do read aloud with them at bedtime as well as audio books when we are in the car (we are currently on the 3rd book in the Percy Jackson series).


Writing
Jaden loves to write in a journal daily. We will also add in learning proper punctuation this year and occasionally they will have assignments to write.

Sage doesn't like writing so I try to give him simpler things just to work on his penmanship.

Science/Nature Study
I'm sure we'll have a variety under this category by the end of the year. For now, they want to learn tracking skills, primitive fire building and shelter building. We'll also do nature study, probably starting off with collecting a monarch caterpillar from our milkweed so we can watch it create a chrysalis and eventually emerge to be released.

Sage and Jaden are also interested in building, how houses are constructed and how to build things. We have 2 books that will probably be a starting point, plus their dad the architect will get involved with this.

Carpentry for Children
Housebuilding for Children


Social Studies/History
Last year Jaden wanted to learn some of our family history but we didn't make it far. We'll pick that up in the winter months. We are also learning United States History and will study South America/Central America. And because the kids love Percy Jackson so much, we'll probably throw in a bit of Greek Mythology/History as well.  I am still finalizing a lot of those resources but for US History I am using:

A Young People's History of the United States
Voices of a People's History of the United States
A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America


Fine Arts
Jaden loves to paint acrylic paintings and play guitar. We will continue with that. Sage is interested in playing mandolin so he will pursue that as well. We also generally study artists throughout the year as it fits into other things we are learning about.

Harmony Fine Arts Art & Music Appreciation eBooks
Artistic Pursuits books

Jaden is also returning to ballet. At 11, she will be starting Grade 3 Cecchetti this fall. Sage has not decided if he wants to return or not.

Both will do art illustrations when I read aloud to them for various subjects (a natural rhythm we got into the habit of doing during our Waldorf years that stuck).


Lifeskills
Though this is not a government requirement, it is mine. I want kids that will be confident to go out into the real world and know how to take care of themselves. Topics we'll be covering this year include cooking (both love to cook and create their own recipes), money skills, swimming lessons, house cleaning, and Jaden is going to take a safe sitter class at the YMCA this fall (she has been wanting to babysit for about 3 years now). The kids are also both involved in my herbal business, mostly the soap making and selling.

The Nourishing Traditions Cook Book for Children
Practical Money Skills - they have lesson plans from Pre-K - College level


Physical Education
The kids ride their bikes often and in the winter, we skate weekly at the Y. We also do core exercises to increase our core strength for archery classes which will start up again next month. Plus weekly swimming at the Y and the dance classes.


Health Education
Jaden is heading towards puberty so maturing bodies has been our topic of late, learning about the menses cycle.


Foreign Language
While I consider Math to be a foreign language, I also want them to learn other foreign languages that will be beneficial for when we are able to travel abroad. This year we'll be focusing on Spanish again.

Rosetta Stone Spanish (if I can get it working on my computer again)


Religious Studies
Jaden is interested in the pagan traditional sabbats (what we generally celebrate) so we'll be pursuing that more formally for her this year. She loves the Pooka pages and I have several books on the subject.

Pooka Pages
Celebrating the Great Mother
Circle Round: Raising Children in the Goddess Tradition
The Llewellyn book series on the sabbats
The Earthchild's Handbook: book 1 and 2

The Little Witch books series (I loved these as a kid and was able to snatch them up on Amazon for about $5 each including shipping)