2011/2012 Curriculum!

Curriculum. Not a new word to me, but usually a boring one. A word like algebra or dental floss. boring words. Not anymore! Curriculum means ideas and a path to follow. It mean creativity and learning to learn. It means all kinds of fun. Im compiling a list of the curriculum Emily and I will be using this year for Kindergarten.

First the 3 R’s, which right away tells you there is a problem with school. Reading, Writing and Math. Thats only one R. Ok lets go with Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Firstly, no one says Arithmetic. No one. And secondly, that starts with an A and writing starts with a W! No wonder we confuse kids. To save confusion and avoid using another boring word like Arithmetic, we’ll call the 3 r’s “core” because it is the core of our learning. We actually have four core subjects! Bible, Reading, Writing, and Math.
Our Core Subjects:

Bible – Our most important. Its super hard to find a bible curriculum that isn’t so Christianesey (its a word…sort of). I really don’t want the girls to thing Jesus or the Bible are boring because they aren’t. So we aren’t going to follow a curriculum in a package for Bible. We are going to do a few different things. Firstly, we are going to follow Raising Arrows Blog idea about being consistant with Bible reading and learning about God. We are going to read the Bible at breakfast time and do our memory work at the table. We are going to start with Emily’s Beginner’s Bible. Then we are going to work on memorizing through Bible verse’s from A to Z. We are also going to order The Memory Bible and do some memory to songs once in a while.  And we are going to focus on one Godly Character Lesson from Kids of Integrity each week.

Reading – My favorite regular subject! I love reading! Emily and Avery love reading too, so I’m pretty excited about this subject. This crosses over a bit because reading is two parts to start with; Being read to and learning to read yourself. We will continue using Reading Eggs Online program, which we’ve been using for a year and love. We are going to read as many books as we can this year, so I imagine the Library will be on our list at least once a week if not more. Emily is really into Geronimo Stilton Books and I have a few lists of classics and great literature we are going to go through. We are also going to be using Reading Roots Program  to teaching beginner reading skills and phonics. We will probably use many things from Progressive Phonics, BOB Books, Early readers and Reading AtoZ as well at different times, but those wont be all the time.

Writing – We will be using Explode the Code as our main workbooks, but I’ve got some great ideas to include to work with sensory things for Emily too. We aren’t using explode the code online, but we might later on. I ordered the Handwriting Without Tears wooden blocks set to make letters and the roll-o-dough set to make letters out of playdough. We will be making letters in shaving cream, rice, flour and using many type of things to write with too. All the normal things like pens and markers, but we will be using sticks and noodles and long and short utensils to make letters and draw with too.

Math – We are going to use Math-U-See‘s program starting at Primer. I love that it is hands-on and you use lots of manipulatives with it too. And we are going to use Singapore Math’s Early Bird Workbook so that we have more than one option for math.

Our Other Subjects:

Languages – We don’t need to start other languages in Kindergarten, but we really want to. Emily loves languages, so now is as good a time as any to start. We are going to do Spanish and American Sign Language. We will start with a beginner Spanish workbook and Signing Time DVD’s.

Social Studies – We are going to study a different country every week and use the Window on the World book along with the new Operation World book to learn about different countries and pray for the people there. We will probably start with countries our church has missionaries in and learn more about them. This will tie into our Culinary Class because we will make meals that are specific to different countries too. Sounds yummy already. Thanks for that great idea comes from my super neighbour Ashley! Thanks!

Science – We are going to take it a bit slow with science this year and try to learn practical things. We are going to use the Usborne 100 Science experiments once in a while, but mostly we are going to make observations about nature and how things change.

Music – We are going to continue with Emily’s Music for munchkins class in the fall. She loves to go and she is learning alot. So, she will have homework from that to work on as well and more piano practice this year too.

P.E. – We are going to look into doing a few things this year. Mostly playing outside and riding bikes, but hopefully gymnastics or swimming and soccer in the spring. Im even looking into getting her into cross country skiing if I can. I think she would like it!

Those are the main things! Alot, I know, and there are a few other things too, but those are definitely the main idea. We will learn lots from hanging out with friends, reading clubs, cooking with Mom, playing games and all kinds of other things too, but that is the book work part of our plan for this year!