~ Field Trips ~ 2010-2011

Here is a list of Field Trips that we will be going on this year:

Aug. 14 ~ Casa Grande Ruins (we will be taking advantage of the Free Weekend...click here for more info.)

Aug. 28 Sept. 3 Oct. 8 Rescheduled (again) sometime before 12/31/10 when the coupons expire! ~ Arizona Sea Life Aquarium (the girls got BOGO coupons for participating in the City Library's Summer Reading Program)

Sept. 24 ~ A Year with Frog and Toad

Sept. 25 ~ Desert Botanical Gardens (we will be taking advantage of Museum Day 2010 with FREE tickets...click here for more info. and participating museums in your area)

Oct. 23 ~ Beauty and the Beast

Nov. 20 ~ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Dec. 16 ~ A Christmas Carol

Jan. 8 ~ Shrek

Feb. 4 ~ Slim Goodbody

Mar. 5 ~ Sound of Music - We ended up not going.

Apr. 2 ~ Fiddler on the Roof

May 21 ~ Mama Mia - We will not be attending this one either...

Here is our wish list (so far) of Field Trips (as we find good deals and make plans some of these will move to the previous list):

Challenger Space Center
Children's Museum of Phoenix
Michael's Craft Days
As You Wish (Pottery)
Mother Nature's Farm
Schnepf Farms
Shamrock Farms
American Heritage Festival
Arizona State Capitol
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Rawhide

I am sure as time goes on we will continue adding to this list (especially as I continue to explore Arizona Edventures)!

Please leave me a comment if you have more ideas for me! :)

Our School Rooms

It is School Room week at the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop! 
Here are our rooms:

Storage and Preschool Workboxes

Timeline (more on this later...but if you want a sneak peak click here)

This is where I do my planning, blogging, emailing, etc. 

Unicorn's Workboxes

Textbook, reference book, history book storage.

Unicorn's desk, reading books and reference materials (and YES we use the abacus)!

This is our preschool area (also our art/craft area).

This is where we will display all their hard work (and more storage)!

Preschool books and toys.

The reading chair, a storage closet and the TV.

Back to School ~ 2010-2011 ~ Week 1

Monday was the first day of school for Unicorn and I must say that this week went pretty well!

Here is her week in review:

Religion: She read about the Plan of Salvation and Joseph Smith's Family.

Math Mammoth: Skip-Counting and some Math Riddles (the riddles were difficult for her so we will continue working on these).

Dreambox: Since starting in May, Unicorn has logged 20 hours and has completed 100 lessons. She has received certificates for completing 4 "stories".

History: She read the first 10 chapters of The History of US (vol.1). We love this book...it is very well written!













English: She wrote a simple essay about a trip she took to Snowflake, AZ with her dad this summer and wrote a letter to her new penpal!

Science: She learned about gravity with Bill Nye the Science Guy!














Latin: She started the first Unit of the First Year of RosettaStone Latin and is picking it up nicely. I was worried that this was going to be to hard for her but so far she is loving it!

She read ...If you Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 and started Dear America A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple

















My only regret is that I didn't get any pictures of her working this week!

Click here to see what other homeschoolers are working on. This post is linked up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

My Favorite Blog for all things Homeschooling LDS style

Latter-day Homeschooling is my favorite place to find homeschooling ideas! They have everything from curriculum ideas to how to manage a homeschooling schedule to ways to incorporate LDS beliefs into your homeschooling!

2010-2011 Curriculum (5th grade)

  

Well, here is our 5th grade curriculum for this year!

This is a very eclectic curriculum! These materials were chosen based on Unicorn's learning style, her ability level, affordability and the ability to reuse and adapt material for the younger children when they reach this level!

History, English and Science lesson plans are adapted from "The Four Year Plan - An Education Plan for LDS Families" by Kindred Learning.

History (US): A History of US: 11-Volume Set by Hakim Too much for Unicorn, we will be notebooking US History!
     -Movie List (most via Netflix): The Vikings (NOVA, 2000); The Sea Hawk (1940), Squanto, AWarrior's Tale; Drums along the Mohawk (1939); The Mouse on the Mayflower (1968); Ben and Me; Johnny Tremain; The Howards of Virginia; 1776; A More Perfect Union; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; The Buccaneer (1958); Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (PBS); Daniel Boone; Davy Crockett; Legacy; The Alamo; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; American Legends; Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventure (1995); The Mask of Zorro (1998); Sarah, Plain and Tall; The Civil War; Gone With the Wind; The Red Badge of Courage; An American Tail, Fieval Goes West; The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; and Oklahoma.

English (Analysis and Opinion): Writers Express by Kemper, Nathan, Sebranek
     -Reading List:  The Sign of the Beaver (Speare); Ben and Me (Lawson); The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Speare); Johnny Tremain (Forbes); Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? (Fritz); Guns for General Washington (Reit); Shh! We're Writing the Constitution (Fritz); Rip Van Winkle (Irving); Caddie Woodlawn (Brink); Little House on the Prairie (Wilder); Sarah, Plain and Tall (MacLachlan); Across Five Aprils (Hunt); The Red Badge of Courage (Crane); and Shades of Gray (Reeder)

Science (Physics): Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science by Bernstein, Schachter, Winkler, and Wolfe; Physics for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments in Motion, Heat, Light, Machines, and Sound by Van Cleave; and How Science Works by Hann  Also, too much for Unicorn, we will be notebooking topics that are of interest to her!

Math: Math Mammoth by Maria Miller. Since this is where Unicorn struggles we have gone back to the beginning (she is currently in the 2nd semester of 1st grade) and she is going through the entire 1-8 curriculum at HER pace. The goal is to have her finish the entire curriculum before starting High School. Additionally, she is working through Dreambox.com which is a computer-based K-3 Math website. This is great because it adjust the level of difficulty based on her responses!

Spelling: Unicorn has been in charter schools using the Spalding Method of Phonics and Spelling. She is almost finished with the word lists. Once these lists are complete she will move on to BYU Independent Study Spelling and English courses.

Grammar: Grammarlogues

Typing: Sue Patrick (the author of the Workbox System) has a typing curriculum that is available if you purchase her ebook. This typing curriculum focuses on teaching finger placement. Unicorn will start with this curriculum and then move on to Type To Learn (TTL4) once finger placement is mastered.

Art: Unicorn will start by Discovering Great Artists and then she will move onto Artistic Pursuits.

Music: Unicorn will begin by learning about famous composers in Ah, Music!

Foreign Language: Daddy, Unicorn and I will all be learning Latin using Rosetta Stone!

PE: Various Activities including the WiiFit Plus, walking and playing!

Religion: Discover the Scriptures: Hands-on Church History vol. 1 - Restoration and Growth

Life Skills: We will also be learning how to cook, garden, sew, etc. These topics will be taught by mom, dad, and grandma (based on our talents and skills). We will also be using BYU Independent Study courses to assist in some of these areas.

As a Family: Each morning we will read scriptures, pray, work on memorizing a scripture, poem, or quote and have a read-aloud. We will continue reading The Magic Treehouse series. We will also try to have 1-2 Field Trips a month (click here for more info. on Field Trips).

Preschool: Ladybug and Monkey (and my other preschoolers) will be using Mother Goose Time and Signing Time as the main curriculum. I also supplement with the Spalding Method of Phonics and Spelling.

I realize this seems like a lot of stuff but, not all subjects will be taught each day!

We will be using Sue Patrick's Workbox System as a way of organizing daily lessons and as a means to help Unicorn become more self-sufficient. More on this to come!  :)

Summer Reading (and more)

I signed the girls up for an online Summer Reading Class and so far they are loving it! 


Unicorn's first book was "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen. 

The teacher "meets" with the class online once a week and they have a discussion about the book. Then she sends project options via email! Unicorn has been researching wilderness survival and is creating a  powerpoint of her Top 10 Survival items to show what she has learned. 

This is what she came up with:

10. Flashlight

9. Gloves

8. Water Bottle

7. Mylar Survival Blanket

6. Small Roll of Fishing Line or Dental Floss

5. First Aid Kit

4. Lighter

3. Compass

2. Cell Phone

1. A Map of the Area

Ladybug's first book was "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" by Judy Barrett. 

After Unicorn read the book to her and she "attended" class, Ladybug and Unicorn made a 6-Day Desert Food Forcast on powerpoint. They had fun finding clip art and animating the words and pictures! 

looking through the book for ideas

jotting down ideas

Here is their 6-Day Desert Food Forecast:

Unicorn's Monday Forecast - Blazing hot with a chance of monsoon pizza!

Ladybug's Tuesday Forecast - Cooler with a chance of ice cream storms!

Unicorn's Wednesday Forecast - Steaming hot with a chance of spaghetti fog!

Ladybug's Thursday Forecast - Really hot with a chance of cookie hail!

Unicorn's Friday Forecast - Frying hot with a chance of violent peanut butter storms!

Ladybug's Saturday Forecast - Really, really hot with a chance of hamburger tornados!

Ladybug's second book was "Pickles to Pittsburgh" also, by Judy Barrett (I wish I had a picture of this book but it was checked out of the library). Her teacher challenged her to learn more about Pittsburg and to hold a "Pickle Tasting" with her family and chart the results.

This is what they learned about Pittsburgh:

Did you know that Pittsburgh...

is in Pennsylvania?
is known as "The City of Bridges"?
is known as "The Steel City"?
is the Host City for the 2011 NHL Winter Classic?
was named "The Most Livable City" in 2007, 2009 and 2010?
has an average high of about 60 degrees?
has an average low of about 41 degrees?
was ranked as one of the top 5 places in America to raise children?
has one of the top 3 zoos?
is home to the original Mallo Cup marshmallow candy?
is where the movie "Angles in the Outfield" was filmed?
is where the "Big Mac" was invented?
held the first World Series Game night game?

And their Pickle Pictures & Results:


We tried 6 varieties - "Spicy Dill", "Sweet Gherkins", "Tiny Sweet Midgets", "Kosher Dills",  "Bread & Butter Chips" and "Sweet Relish"

This was Unicorn's face for all 6 kinds...she didn't like any of them!

Ladybug tried all 6 varieties that we bought but only liked the 

"Tiny Sweet Midgets" and the "Sweet Relish"

Monkey didn't like any of the pickles...He would tell Unicorn, "put that back!"


Dad liked all the pickles and Mom liked all but the "Kosher Dills".

Next week, Unicorn will be reading "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson

and Ladybug is reading "Froggy gets Dressed" by Jonathon London

Next week is also Friendship week so the girls will be doing a Friendship Web and a Friendship Poem.