homeschool curriculum

Music Appreciation – Rock ‘n’ Roll

Dear Sis,

This is the tenth and final part in our Music Appreciation lesson plan series. If you are just finding us now, the text that corresponds with these lessons is Music is… by Stephen T. Johnson. 

Rock & Roll

Week Thirty-Three

Approximately 20 minutes

Read playful narration “Rock ‘n’ Roll is…” text.

  • Encourage your pre-reader to try to repeat the song and sing along. Being silly with your kids is a great way to catch their interest.
  • If you have multiple learners you can make a game of it and see who can give the best performance by family vote

Listen to Sample One: “Strange Things Happening Everyday” by Sister Rosetta Tharpe (gospel/early rock ‘n’ roll)

Listen to Sample Two: “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley (rockability/rock ‘n’ roll)

Watch the Biography of Elvis Presley video.

Week Thirty-Four

Approximately 15 minutes

Read “ROCK ‘N’ ROLL” history text.

Watch the History of Rock ‘n’ Roll video. 

Week Thirty-Five

Approximately 10 minutes

Listen to Sample Three: “Roll Over Beethoven” by Chuck Berry (rock ‘n’ roll)

Listen to Sample Four: “Paperback Writer” by The Beatles (pop rock)

Week Thirty-Six

Approximately 15 minutes

Listen to Sample Five: “Little Wing” by Jimi Hendrix (classic/psychedelic rock)

Listen to Sample Six: “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions” by Queen (classic/arena rock)

Read “Music is YOU!”. 

Please tell us about your experience in the comment section.

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b




Music Appreciation – Rhythm & Blues

Dear Sis, 

This is the ninth of ten parts in our Music Appreciation lesson plan series. If you are just finding us now, the text that corresponds with these lessons is Music is… by Stephen T. Johnson. 

Rhythm & Blues

Week Thirty-One

Approximately 20 minutes

Read playful narration “Rhythm & Blues is…” text.

  • Encourage your pre-reader to try to repeat the song and sing along. Being silly with your kids is a great way to catch their interest.
  • If you have multiple learners you can make a game of it and see who can give the best performance by family vote

Listen to Sample One: “Monday Morning Blues” by Mississippi John Hurt (Delta Blues)

Listen to Sample Two: “I Got You (I Feel Good)” by James Brown (R&B/Funk/Soul)

Listen to Sample Three: “Respect” by Aretha Franklin (R&B/Soul)

Week Thirty-Two

Approximately 20 minutes

Read “RHYTHM & BLUES” history text.

Listen to Sample Four: “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” by Stevie Wonder (R&B/Soul)

Listen to Sample Five: “Escapade” by Janet Jackson (R&B/Pop)

Listen to Sample Six: “Halo” by Beyonce (R&B/Pop)

Please tell us about your experience in the comment section. Stay tuned for the tenth installment: Rock (Weeks 33-36).

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b




Homeschooling with The Story of the Orchestra

Dear Sis,

The state of Ohio requires that homeschoolers study music. Last year I wrote a 36 week Music Appreciation course for students PreK-Grade 8.  

This spring we started taking weekly piano lessons, which count toward our school music requirement, but the musician in me wanted more! I stumbled upon The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine recently during a visit to Half Price Books. It’s perfect! I’m excited to use it for our upcoming Kindergarten and first grade years. 

The Text Book

and accompanying 37 listening samples

We thrifted this 2001 edition, with CD

This revised 2019 edition, with audio downloads is available on Amazon.

Other than the title change and the manor in which the listening samples are provided, the two books are the same!

The book is broken into Part I: The Composers and Part II: The Orchestra Instruments. I plan to cover one part per year for the next two school years. I feel that my son is too young to work trough all the content in a single year, but for an older learner that might be preferred.

Also, I feel that learning the instruments is easier for the young learner than a timeline composer study, so we will be starting with Part II. 

Please select the printable schedule that is best for your learner(s).

36 Lesson, Instrument Study, K-8

18 Lesson, Composer Study, K-8

36 Lesson, Classical Music Study, 3-12

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b

Kindergarten Curriculum Round-Up

Dear Sis,

I start aggressively researching and buying curriculum in January. I usually finish up by April or May, so that we are ready to begin using the next years of school as soon as we complete the previous year. We school all year round, to allow for a more relaxed schedule and better information retention. Much of my inspiration came from Timberdoodle again this year, but I’ve included source information beside specific each item.

Kindergarten

Art

  1. Animal Postcards painting set by Aquarellum (Timberdoodle)
  2. Art Lab for Little Kids by Susan Schwake (Torchlight)
  3. Bug Scratch Boards art kit by Deco (Timberdoodle)
  4. Preschool Paper Crafts by Stefania Luca
  5. Paper Crafts for Kids by Stefania Luca

We find that art is an easy subject to accomplish with very little actual curriculum. We use a lot of craft kits form Dollar Tree and Michaels! Also, many of the projects form our Kiwi Crates also falls into the category of art.

William enjoys looking at Timberdoodle’s curriculum catalogue as much as I do. He was excited about the painting and scratch art kit, so we added them to our order.

When we feel like having a formal art class we use Art Lab for Little Kids. We finished about a quarter of the 52 projects in our Pre-K year, so there is still plenty of use left in the book for our Kindergarten year!

Although William’s cutting, pasting, and folding have greatly improved over the past two year, I still feel that continued practice is needed. The two paper craft books listed above, contain 25 projects each! 

Bible Study

It took me three attempts during our Pre-K year to find the perfect study bible. I still haven’t found the perfect one for our Kindergarten year. Honestly, I might just reuse the one from last year: Read and Learn Bible: Stories form the Old and New Testaments by Scholastic.

Character and Emotional Development

  1. The Adventures of Mali & Keela: A Virtues Book for Children by Jonathan Collins (Torchlight)
  2. Chicken Soup for the Child’s Soul: Character-Building Stories to Read with Kids Ages 5-8 by Jack Canfield and Mark & Patty Hansen
  3. Happy Sad Feeling Mad by Yasmeen Ismail (Timberdoodle)
  4. What Should Danny Do? by Ganit & Adir Levy

The past two school years we focused on learning about different kinds of emotions and how to manage them appropriately. This year, I would like our “emotional intelligence” to take on exploration of character as well. All of these books are new to myself and William, we’ll see how it goes:)

We enjoyed What’s Going On Here? conversation cards by eeboo so much, we may order a different set, for Kindergarten too.




Foreign Language

  1. Mis Primeras 1000 Palabras by Betty Root and Kate Naylor

April 22nd update: Today we stopped at Half Price Books. We found this book of Spanish vocabulary. The way things are trending, I expect that by the time William is grown, Spanish will be as common place as English in the United States, so I plan to learn it with him over the years. With any luck we will all be bilingual in the end:)

Geography

  1. A Year Full of Stories: 52 Folktales and Legends from Around the World by Angela McAllister (Build Your Library)
  2. Cooking Class: Global Feast by Deanna F. Cook (Build Your Library)
  3. Greetings from Somewhere ten book series by Paris Harper (Torchlight)
  4. Flags Around the World Ultimate Sticker Book by DK (Build Your Library)
  5. World Atlas by National Geographic Kids

These books are scheduled in a compilation call Global Greeting Geography. I put many weeks into developing a solid geography curriculum for the early years, since every curriculum we’ve tried so far falls short. Even little ones need geography, so they can learn to love it! 

If you are looking for a less rigorous, but equally indepth geography program for young children, check out our Geography for Little People which we are currently using in our Pre-K year.

Health and Fitness

  1. Learning About My Body, K-1 by Evan-Moor (Activity Book)
  2. The Human Body, K-2 24 Full-Color Picture Cards by Evan-Moor (Text Book)
  3. Weekly Swim Lessons

William is so interested in science! Health falls into that umbrella for him, so I wanted an in-depth look at different body systems with a lot of hands-on activities. These books are designed for a classroom, but I think they will work nicely in our home school as well. I’m not sure if we will finish it this year, or if we will do half this year, and half in first grade. Time will tell.

We started weekly swim lessons during our Pre-K year, and we will keep using them until he can actually swim independently. We may also add a homeschool gym class offered through our YMCA, still waiting to hear back about that:)

History

  1. A Child Through Time: The Book of Children’s History by DK
  2. Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne

History is another hard subject in the early years. The second half of this year we began reading the Magic Tree House series starting back at book one, Dinosaurs Before Dark. We use the fun piece of fiction as a spring board for research. William selects three pieces of non-fiction from the local library, and I throw in a hands-on project to go with it. There are so many Magic Tree House books we are at no risk of running out of material before the completion of Kindergarten!




Language

We loved the ShillerLearning Math 1 by Shiller Learning so much in Pre-K, we also purchased their language program, ShillerLearning Language Arts A. We like it, but it too repetitive to call it love in the long term!

I also purchased Foundations A by Logic of English last year, so we could use components of it our Pre-K year, and the main curriculum in Kindergarten. I’m not sure I love the idea now, but I feel like we have to try it before we move onto something else…

The second half of our Pre-K year we started Get Ready for the Code from the Explode the Code series. It has really added to our language lessons, since we were getting board with our Shiller Language A routine. I plan to get him the next workbooks in the series when we finish!

I will probably also purchase some of the items from this earlier post for another homeschooling mama: Teaching Reading at Home.

Math

  1. Clumsy Thief Jr. card game by Melon Rind for practicing adding to ten (Timberdoodle, last year)
  2. Jump 1 card game by Melon Rind for practicing addition and subtraction (Timberdoodle)
  3. Mathematical Reasoning A by Critical Thinking Co.
  4. ShillerLearning Math 1 by ShillerLearning

We love game schooling as much as possible, so we snatched up these two game suggestions from Timberdoodle. 

We love ShillerMath 1 so much! I can’t say enough good things about now this Montessori program takes abstract math concepts and find creative concrete ways for me to introduce them to William.

We also love the Mathematical Reasoning series. We’ve used it for the past two school years. It’s a marvelous workbook that we use as practice work!

I also have a stash of things saved for learning to tell time and counting money, but I’m not sure it we will get to that this year or next:

  1. My Book of Easy Telling Time by Kumon, for learning hours and half-hours (Timberdoodle)
  2. My First Book of Money: Counting Coins by Kumon (Timberdoodle)
  3. Play Money Set by Melissa and Doug
  4. Time Activity Set by Learning Resources

Music

  1. Piano Lessons
  2. The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine

Last year I created Music Appreciation for at home music study. This spring we also added weekly piano lessons, which we plan to stick with for our Kindergarten year.

April 22nd update: Today we stopped at Half Price Books. We found this book that includes a CD with 37 listening samples that go with the text portions!

Science

  1. Learning About Animals by Evan-Moor
  2. Learning About the Earth by Evan-Moor
  3. Learning About Plants by Evan-Moor
  4. Learning About Weather by Evan-Moor 
  5. The Usborne Big Book of Experiments by Alastair Smith

Science is William’s favorite subject! These books are designed for a classroom, but I think they will work nicely in our home school as well. I’m not sure if we will finish it this year, or if we will do half this year, and half in first grade. Time will tell.

Additionally, we have a Kiwi Crate subscription that supplements this subject nicely! If you haven’t tried them yet… you should:)




Sewing

We started hand sewing pre-punched felt projects in our Pre-K year and we will continue to do so in Kindergarten. Most of our kits are from Michaels. 

Sewing is one of my many hobbies that the kids see me working on all the time, so they are naturally curious and eager to try it themselves. We find that it has really helped built patience and fine motor skills too!

Thinking Skills

  1. Apple Twist logic game by Smart Games (Timberdoodle)
  2. Can You Find Me? K-1 by Critical Thinking Co.
  3. Gobblet Gobblers game, tic tack toe with a twist by Blue Orange Games (Timberdoodle)
  4. Mind Benders, Level 1 by Critical Thinking Co.
  5. Smart Farmer logic game by Smart Games (Timberdoodle)
  6. Story Time Chess (Timberdoodle)
  7. ThinkPlay STEM Jr. Xtra by Morphun (Timberdoodle)
  8. Thinking Skills K by Kumon (Timberdoodle)

William absolutely loves logic games! He usually finishes them early and we purchase an extra one so we can do some all year long. He is very excited about Apple Twist and Smart Farmer:)

Gobblet Gobblers and Story Time Chess are games we will play together. My husband has been giving William chess lessons off and on for the last several months. I think William will really excel once we start Story Time Chess. We’ll bring it to his fun loving level!

The ThinkPlay building set is from our Pre-K year. We were supposed to build two-three models each week, but we cut it back to one, so we have plenty of models to continue building in our Kindergarten year.

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b

Other Curriculum Inspiration by Grade:

Preschool

Pre-Kindergarten

Global Greetings Geography

Dear Sis,

I love the idea of literature based curriculum, but I learned last year that the prep work required to keep up with Torchlight was more than I can manage, from week to week. Also we do read aloud as a family for fun, so I don’t want to do too many subjects with a literature approach. 

As I’m pieces together a plan for our kindergarten year, I’m finding we lack a fun engaging way to study geography material. This literature based compilation borrows some material from the reading lists of both Torchlight Level K and Build Your Library Level 0, which both have a global theme.

This elementary program can be used for a single student or as a family. Adding the optional cookbook, and using it on the weeks when time allows, will greatly enrich your family experience. In addition to the books below, the curriculum schedule includes prompts for an eight week family geography/history journaling project.

The text: Books will be labeled as consumable (one per student), spine (plan to purchase for reoccurring use), single use (can be borrowed from library to cut cost).

A Story Series (single use)

Greetings from Somewhere by Paris Harper, is an illustrated chapter book mystery series. Ethan and Ella bring adventure into your home as they travel the world with their parents, for their mom’s job as a travel writer for the local paper. Each book can be read in one or two sittings. Your upper elementary students can take turns helping with the reading too! Over this 36 week program we will read all ten books in the series.

Collection of Folktales (spine)

A Year Full of Stories: 52 folktales and legends from around the world by Angela McAllister, provides short stories arrange by the twelve months of the year from a wide variety of places and cultures. Many of the stories cover various holidays from around the world.

The Atlas (spine)

We have the 4th (2013) edition, of the Kids World Atlas by National Geographic, because we got a great deal on it. The layout is consistent between additions, so the 5th (2018) or 6th (2021) editions will work too.

Update: March 19, 2022

I was able to preview the 6th edition, thanks to our local library. Here are the main changes that aren’t cosmetic or stat/map updates!

  • A two page spread was added in the Physical World section addressing Endangered Species.
  • A two page spread was added in the Political World section addressing human Migration.
  • The East Africa spread was divided into two spreads: Eastern and Central Africa. 
  • The games in the back of the book have been removed.

Please note that page numbers on the schedule will be a bit off with newer additions, so work by content instead of page numbers. Also, the games for the final week will not be available to those with newer text.

The Consumable

Ultimate Sticker Book: Flags Around the World by DK

The Cookbook (optional spine)

Cooking Class Global Feast!: 44 recipes that celebrate the world’s cultures by Deanna F. Cook

This is a 36 week homeschool program. We prefer to do all the weekly activities on a single day, but it can be broken into two or three small portions each week, if that is preferable to your family. Print the schedule to get started.

Global Greetings Geography Curriculum Schedule PDF

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b




Music Appreciation – Latin

Dear Sis,

This is the seventh of ten parts in our Music Appreciation lesson plan series. If you are just finding us now, the text that corresponds with these lessons is Music is… by Stephen T. Johnson. 

Latin Music

A note for parents: Many Latin genres pair music and dance. When a listening sample features a style of music that is also a dance, a video sample is provided in an attempt to bring as much authenticity to your learner as possible.

Week Twenty-Three

Approximately 20 minutes

Read playful narration “Latin is…” text.

  • Encourage your pre-reader to try to repeat the song and sing along. Being silly with your kids is a great way to catch their interest.
  • If you have multiple learners you can make a game of it and see who can give the best performance by family vote

Watch Exploring Latin Music movie.

Listen to Sample One: “Mambo No. 5” by Perez Prado (mambo/cha-cha-cha/big band)

Watch The Mambo. This video features “Mambo No. 8,” also by Perez Prado.

Watch The Cha-Cha-Cha. This video features “Ritmando Cha Cha Cha by Orquestra Riverside.

Week Twenty-Four

Approximately 20 minutes

Read “LATIN” history text.

Listen to Sample Two: “Anuas de Marco (waters of March)” by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Elis Regina (bossa nova/Latin jazz)

Listen to Sample Three: “Volver Volver” by Vicente Fernandez (mariachi/ranchera)

Watch The Instruments of Mariachi Music video.




Week Twenty-Five

Approximately 25 minutes

Listen to Sample Four: “Oye Como Va” by Carlos Santana (Chicano rock/soul)

Listen to Sample Five: “Bamboleo” by Gipsy Kings (rumba/flamenco)

Watch The Rumba. This video features “Faded” by DJ Ice (Alan Walker Cover)

Watch The Flamenco. 

Week Twenty-Six

Approximately 15 minutes

Watch and listen to Latin American Instruments video.

  • Pause the video as needed to read the text to your learner.
  • Do they recognize any of the instruments from the other listening samples and/or videos?

Listen to Sample Six: “Baila Esta Cumbia” by Selena y Los Dinos (tejano/cumbia)

Please tell us about your experience in the comment section. Stay tuned for the eighth installment: Pop (Weeks 27-30).

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b




First Grade History – Story of the World

Dear Sis,

This is the history schedule I created for our first year homeschooling neighbors. This schedule is designed for 36 weeks of study, a four day school week, with history and science on a loop (alternating), so just two days each week.

Story of the World, Vol 1 Bundle: Ancient Times by Susan Wise Bauer

History Pockets: Ancient Civilizations, Grades 1-3 by Evan-Moor

Use and Abbreviations

  •  Pair readings with discussion questions from the teacher book.
  •  Coloring during reading is optional. 
  •  Testing fits best after map lesson, and is not listed below. 
  •  Additional activities can be from the Story of the World: Vol 1: Ancient Times teacher book (T) or student book (S).

Story of the World: Vol 1: Ancient Times (SW)

History Pockets: Ancient Civilizations (HP)

Week 1 – Day 1

 Read What is History? (SW pg. 1-3)

 Do When Did it Happen?, part 1 (HP pg. 14-15)

 Make a This is my Life timeline (T pg. 2)

Day 2

 Read What is Archeology? (SW pg. 3-6)

 Do A Dirty Dig! (T pg. 2-3)

Week 2 – Day 1

 Read The Earliest People (SW pg. 7-13)

 Color A Farmer Using a Shaduf (S pg. 5)

 Map Work (S pg. 4)

 Make a Cave Painting (T pg. 5-6)

Day 2

 Read Egyptians Lived on the Nile River (SW pg. 14-20)

 Color Osiris and Set (S pg. 7)

 Map Work (S pg. 6)

 Make Life Along the Nile (HP pg. 40-41)

Week 3 – Day 1

 Read The First Writing (SW pg. 21-24)

 Color Carving Hieroglyphics (S pg. 9)

 Map Work (S pg. 8)

 Make Cuneiform Tablets (T pg. 12)

Day 2

 Make a Hieroglyphic Scroll (T pg. 13)

 Which Lasts Longer? Experiment (T pg. 13)

Week 4 – Day 1

 Read The Old Kingdom of Egypt (SW pg. 25-31)

 Color The Pyramids of Egypt (S pg. 12)

 Map Work (S pg. 11)

 Make Sugar Cube Pyramid (T pg. 19)

Day 2

 Read Ancient Egypt (HP pg. 35-37)

 Color Egyptian Puppets (HP pg. 39)

 Make The Great Pyramid (HP pg. 42-43)

 Create a puppet show to share what you learned.

Week 5 – Day 1

 Read The First Sumerian Dictator (SW pg. 32-34)

 Do Sumerian Inventions word search (S pg. 15)

 Map Work (S pg. 13)

 Make a Sumerian Seal (T pg. 21)

Day 2

 Read Ancient Mesopotamia (HP pg. 21-23)

 Color Mesopotamian Puppets (HP pg. 25)

 Do Sailing on the River (HP pg. 26-27)

 Create a puppet show to share what you learned.

Week 6 – Day 1

 Read The Jewish People (SW pg. 35-45)

 Color a comic book (S pg. 19-22)

 Map Work (S pg. 16)

 Watch Joseph King of Dreams movie (fast-forward the scary bits) or VeggieTales: The Ballad of Little Joe

Day 2

 Read Hammurabi and the Babylonians (SW pg. 46-50)

 Color The Ziggurat of Ur (S pg. 24)

 Map Work (S pg. 23)

 Make a Ziggurat Pop-up Book (HP 29-31)

Week 7 – Day 1

 Read The Assyrians (SW pg. 51-58)

 Color Gilgamesh and the Lion (S pg. 27)

 Map Work (S pg. 26)

 Draw a picture of Enkidu (T pg. 30)

Day 2

 Write and illustrate a fairytale. (T pg. 30)

Week 8 – Day 1

 Read The First Cities in India (SW pg. 59-65)

 Color Statue from Mohengo-Daro (S pg. 30)

 Map Work (S pg. 28)

 What does it take to make a brick? (T pg. 32-33)

Day 2

 Make a Mohenjo-Daro Dwelling (T pg. 33)

 Write a story to go with your model. (T pg. 33)

Week 9 – Day 1

 Read The Far East: Ancient China (SW pg. 66-75)

 Color Chin and his Father (S pg. 32)

 Map Work (S pg. 31)

 Make your own pictograms (T pg. 36)

Day 2

 Read Ancient China (HP pg. 72-74)

 Color Chinese Puppets (HP pg. 76)

 Make a Ming Bowl (T pg. 36)

 Create a puppet show to share what you learned.

Week 10 Day 1

 Read Ancient Africa: West Africa (SW pg. 76-79)

 Map Work (S pg. 33)

 Make Paper Bead Necklace (T pg. 39-40)

Day 2

 Read Anansi and Turtle (SW pg. 79-87)

 Color Anansi and Turtle (S pg. 34)

 Make Anansi the Spider (T pg. 40)

 Create a menu for an African Feast (T pg. 40-42)

Week 11 – Day 1

 Make musical instruments. (T pg. 42-43)

Day 2

 Prepare and serve your feast.

 Have an African concert with your family.

Week 12 – Day 1

 Read Middle Kingdom Egypt (SW pg. 88-92)

 Color Hyksos Jewelry (S pg. 36)

 Map Work (S pg. 35)

 Make a Golden Bracelet (T pg. 46)

Day 2

 Read The General and the Woman Pharaoh (SW pg. 93-96)

 Make Hatshepsut’s False Beard (T pg. 49)

 Make one of Hatshepsut’s Monuments (T pg. 49-50)

Week 13 – Day 1

 Read Amenhotep and King Tut (SW pg. 97-102)

 Color The Mast of King Tut (S pg. 38)

 Map Work (S pg. 37)

 Make an Egyptian Death Mask (T pg. 50)

Day 2

 Decorate Egyptian Death Mast (T pg. 50)

 Be an Archaeologist (T pg. 50-51)

Week 14 – Day 2

 Read The Israelites Leave Egypt (SW pg. 103-109)

 Color Moses Parting the Red Sea (S pg. 40)

 Map Work (S pg. 39)

 watch The Prince of Egypt movie (fast-forward the scary bits)

Day 2

 Read The Phoenicians (SW pg. 110-114)

 Color a Phoenician Ship (S pg. 46)

 Map Work (S pg. 45)

 Make Phoenician Pita Bread (T pg. 58-59)

Week 15 – Day 1

 Read Return to Assyria (SW pg. 115-121)

 Color Bas Relief From Ancient Assyria (S pg. 48)

 Map Work (S pg. 47)

 Lego Assyrian Siege Tower (T pg. 61)

Day 2

 Read Babylon Takes Over Again! (SW pg. 122-127)

 Color Marduck and Tiamat (S pg. 50)

 Map Work (S pg. 49)

 Draw the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (T pg. 64)

Week 16 – Day 1

 Read Bull-Jumpers and Sailors & King Minos and the Minotaur (SW pg. 128-135)

 Color Bull Jumper (S pg. 52)

 Do The Minotaur’s Maze (S. pg. 53)

 Build a Lego Labyrinth (T pg. 67)

Day 2

 Read The Mysterious End of the Minoans (SW pg. 135-136)

 Map Work (S pg. 51)

 Make an Erupting Volcano (T pg. 68)

Week 17 – Day 1

 Read The Early Greeks (SW pg. 137-141)

 Color Greek War Chariot (S pg. 55)

 Map Work (S pg. 54)

 Design a Greek Vase (S pg. 56)

 Shape a clay vase and let it air dry.

Day 2

 Paint your clay vase to match your design.

 Read Ancient Greece (HP pg. 47-49)

 Color Grecian Puppets (HP pg. 51)

 Create a puppet show to share what you learned.

Week 18 – Day 1

 Read Greece gets an Alphabet (SW pg. 142-144)

 Write your name in Greek letters (S pg. 59)

 Map Work (S pg. 57)

Day 2

 Read The Stories of Homer (SW pg. 145-152)

 Color The Cyclops (S pg. 58)

 Make Theater Masks (HP pg. 55-57)

 Put on a play retelling part of the stories of Homer.

Week 19 – Day 1

 Read The First Olympic Games (SW pg. 152-154)

 Make an Olympic Wreath (T pg. 77)

 Plan a menu for a Greek feast and games for a family Olympics. (T pg. 77-79)

Day 2

 Have a family Olympics. Use the wreath to decorate the winner or each even, passing it along to each new winner in turn.

 Prepare and enjoy a Greek feast with your family.

Week 20 – Day 1

 Read A New Empire (SW pg. 155-158)

 Map Work (S pg. 60)

 Make Persian Ruler’s Silver Plate (T pg. 82)

 Make Persian Puppets (T. pg. 82-83)

Day 2

 Read Cyrus the Great (SW pg. 158-161)

 Color Cyrus the Great (S pg. 61)

 Put on a puppet show retelling how Cyrus becomes king of the Persians.

 Play the Conquer Mesopotamia Game (S pg. 62, T pg. 83)

Week 21 – Day 1

 Read Life in Sparta (SW pg. 162-165)

 Color a Spartan Warrior (S pg. 64)

 Map Work (S pg. 63)

 Make no-sew Greek Clothes (T pg. 87)

Day 2

 Read Life in Athens (SW pg. 165-168)

 Make Spartan and Greek Paper Dolls (S pg. 66-68)

 Write an Athenian Wax Tablet (T pg. 86)

Week 22 – Day 1

 Read The Greek Gods (SW pg. 169-172)

 Color Aphrodite and Zeus (S pg. 70)

 Map Work (S pg. 69)

 Draw the Home of the Greek Gods (T pg. 91)

Day 2

 Do Greek Gods and Goddesses Wordsearch (S pg. 72)

 Make an Olympus Family Tree (T pg. 90)

 Make The Parthenon Shape Book (HP pg. 52-54)

Week 23 – Day 1

 Read The Wars of the Greeks (SW pg. 173-179)

 Color The Parthenon (S pg. 74)

 Map Work (S pg. 73)

 Make Athenian Coins (T pg. 96)

 Play the Peloponnesian War Game (S pg. 75, T pg. 96-97)

Day 2

 Read Alexander the Great (SW pg. 180-187)

 Color Alexander the Great and Bucephalus (S pg. 77)

 Map Work (S pg. 76)

 Tie a Gordian Knot (T pg. 100)

 Play the Alexander the Great Game (S pg. 81, T pg. 101)

Week 24 – Day 1

 Read The Nazca Drawings (SW pg. 188-190)

 Make a Narca Line Drawing (T pg. 105)

 Read The Heads of the Olmecs & Rabbit Shoots the Sun (SW pg. 191-197)

 Color Rabbit Shoots the Sun (S pg. 83)

 Map Work (S pg. 82)

Day 2

 Make a Seed Mosaic Map (T pg. 104-105)

 Make Navajo Fry Bread and tacos (T pg. 106)

Week 25 – Day 1

 Read Ancient Aztec World (HP pg. 85-87)

 Color Aztec Puppets (HP pg. 89)

 Create a puppet show to share what you learned.

 Make an Aztec Calendar (HP pg. 90-92)

Day 2

 Read The Rise of Rome (SW pg. 198-204)

 Color Romulus and Remus (S pg. 85)

 Map Work (S pg. 84)

 Run a Popinas take-out restaurant for lunch or dinner (T pg. 110)

Week 26 – Day 1

 Read The Roman Empire (SW pg. 205-216)

 Color Gladiators in the Arena (S pg. 87)

 Map Work (S pg. 86)

 Make a Roman Road Model (T pg. 114-115)

Day 2

 Make a Roman Archway and Aqueduct (T pg. 113-114)

Week 27 – Day 1

 Read Rome’s War with Carthage (SW pg. 217-221)

 Color Hannibal’s War Elephant (S pg. 90)

 Map Work (S pg. 89)

 Help Hannibal Cross the Alps Maze (S pg. 92)

 Bake Hannibal’s Elephant Ear Cookies (T pg. 118)

Day 2

 Read Ancient Rome (HP pg. 61-63)

 Color Roman Puppets (HP pg. 65)

 Create a puppet show to share what you learned.

 Make Triumphal Arch (HP pg. 67-68)

Week 28 – Day 1

 Read The Aryans of India (SW pg. 222-232)

 Color The Buddha (S pg. 94)

 Map Work (S pg. 93)

 Make a Rakhi (T pg. 122)

 Play Tiger Hunt (T pg. 123)

Day 2

 Read The Mauryan Empire in India (SW pg. 233-238)

 Color the Jakata Tales (S pg. 96)

 Map Work (S pg. 95)

 Cook Curried Rice for dinner (T pg. 125-126)

 Game Night: Snakes and Ladders & Indian Battle (T pg. 126)

Week 29 – Day 1

 Read Calligraphy in China (SW pg. 239-242)

 Practice Chinese Calligraphy (T pg. 129)

 Read Warring States, The First Emperor and the Great Wall, & The First Emperor’s Grave (SW pg. 243-250)

 Color The Great Wall of China (S pg. 98)

Day 2

 Map Work (S pg. 97)

 Make the Great Wall of China (T pg. 130)

Week 30 – Day 1

 Read Confucius (SW pg. 251-253)

 Color Confucius, China’s Wise Teacher (S pg. 99)

 Map Work (S pg. 98)

 Make Tangrams (S pg. 100, T pg. 133)

 Make Chinese Tea (T pg. 133)

Day 2

 Make Dancing Dragon (HP pg. 77-78)

 Make Chinese Lanterns (HP pg. 79-81)

 Make a cleaning list and menu plan.

Week 31 – Day 1

 Decorate, clean, and prepare meal.

 Celebrate Chinese New Year with your family.

Day 2

 Read The Rise of Julius Caesar (SW pg. 254-262)

 Map Work (S pg. 101)

 Play Ransom Caesar (S pg. 102, T pg. 136)

Week 32 – Day 1

 Read Caesar the Hero (SW pg. 263-273)

 Color Julius Caesar (S pg. 104)

 Map Work (S pg. 103)

 Measure Your Height (T pg. 139)

 Learn Roman Numerals (T pg. 140-141)

Day 2

 Read The First Roman Prince (SW pg. 274-277)

 Color Augustus Caesar (S pg. 106)

 Map Work (S pg. 105)

 Read The Beginning of Christianity (SW pg. 278-284)

 Color The Life of Jesus (S pg. 108)

Week 33 – Day 1

 Map Work (S pg. 107)

 Make a Mosaic Cross (T pg. 147)

 Create Night with a Brilliant Star window drawing (T pg. 148)

Day 2

 Read The End of the Ancient Jewish Nation (SW pg. 285-287)

 Color The Star of David (S pg. 150)

 Map Work (S pg. 149)

 Make and Play Dreidel (T pg. 151)

Week 34 – Day 1

 Read Rome and the Christians (SW pg. 288-296)

 Color the Catacombs Beneath Rome (S pg. 114)

 Map Work (S pg. 113)

 Make a Secret Symbol (T pg. 156)

 Make a Catacomb Tent (T pg. 156-157)

Day 2

 Read The British Rebellion (SW pg. 297-299)

 Color Boadicea in Her Chariot (S pg. 116)

 Design a Celtic Boarder (T pg. 161)

 Have a Celtic Feast (T pg. 161)

Week 35 – Day 1

 Read Rome Divided in Two (SW pg. 299-301)

 Map Work (S pg. 115)

 Locate north, south, east, and west (T pg. 160-161)

Day 2

 Read The Attacking Barbarians (SW pg. 302-309)

 Color a Visigoth Invader (S pg. 118)

 Map Work (S pg. 117)

 Reassemble a Roman Pot (T pg. 164)

Week 36 – Day 1

 Read The End of Rome (SW pg. 310-314)

 Map Work (S pg. 119)

 Make a “Gifts of Rome” Collage (T pg. 167)

 Plan a Roman Party

Day 2

 Host a Roman Party

Printable First Grade History Schedule

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b

 

First Grade Science – Evan-Moor Compilation

Dear Sis,

  Our neighbor wanted a well rounded science program for her first grade daughter. She chose Evan-Moor workbooks because of their ease of use and affordability. Here are the plans for a 36 week program, scheduled on a loop with history, in a four day school week.

 Science Lessons & Investigations, Grade 1 (No Abbreviation)

Skill Sharpener: Science, Grade 1 (SS)

Smart Start: STEM, Grade 1 (S STEM)

STEM Lessons & Challenges, Grade 1 (STEM)

Week 1

Day 1: Our Sun (SS)

Day 2: The Moon (S STEM)

Week 2

Day 1: The Night Sky (SS)

Day 2: Can we predict patterns for the sun, moon, and stars?

Week 3

Day 1: Seasons (SS)

Day 2: Can we predict the pattern of the seasons?

Week 4

Day 1: Recording Weather (S STEM)

Day 2: Sailboat (STEM)

Week 5

Day 1: research weather (library)

Day 2: Looking at Rocks (S STEM)

Week 6

Day 1: research landforms (library)

Day 2: Bodies of Water (S STEM)

Week 7

Day 1: research water cycle (library)

Day 2: Earth Materials (SS)

Week 8

Day 1: research rock cycle (library)

Day 2: Uses of Wood (SS)

Week 9

Day 1: research renewable and non-renewable resources (library)

Day 2: Natural Homes (STEM)

Week 10

Day 1: Recycling (SS)

Day 2: Choose a zero waste swap and implement it in your home.

Week 11

Day 1: Looking at Solids (S STEM)

Day 2: Looking at Liquids (S STEM)

Week 12

Day 1: research states of matter: solid, liquid, gas (library)

Day 2: Sound (SS)

Week 13

Day 1: What happens when materials vibrate?

Day 2: Maraca Music (STEM)

Week 14

Day 1: Making Sound (S STEM)

Day 2: Telephone (STEM)

Week 15

Day 1: Light (SS)

Day 2: What happens when there is no light?

Week 16

Day 1: Shadows (SS)

Day 2: Making Shade (STEM)

Week 17

Day 1: Where do shadows come from?

Day 2: Play Structures (STEM)

Week 18

Day 1: Marble Roller Coaster (STEM)

Day 2: Soft Landing (STEM)

Week 19

Day 1: Strong Roofs (STEM)

Day 2: Tower (STEM)

Week 20

Day 1: Bridge (STEM)

Day 2: research architecture (library)

Week 21

Day 1: Tool from Nature (STEM)

Day 2: Parts Work Together (S STEM)

Week 22

Day 1: Tools (SS)

Day 2: Technology (SS)

Week 23

Day 1: research two careers (library)

Day 2: The Brain and Skull (S STEM)

Week 24

Day 1: How do we Communicate over long distances?

Day 2: Plan a family game night. Choose games that require communication, such as cooperative and/or team games like charades. Inform each family member using a different means of communication: phone call, written letter, etc.

Week 25

Day 1: Leaves (SS)

Day 2: What parts do plants have and what do they do?

Week 26

Day 1: Plan and help prepare a plant based meal for your family.

Day 2: Plants have babies?

Week 27

Day 1: Do all roses look the same?

Day 2: Insects (SS)

Week 28

Day 1: Parts of an Insect (S STEM)

Day 2: Insect Catcher (STEM)

Week 29

Day 1: How do animals use their body parts?

Day 2: What do Animals Eat? (S STEM)

Week 30

Day 1: Where Animals Live (S STEM)

Day 2: research habitats (library)

Week 31

Day 1: Animals in Winter (S STEM)

Day 2: Bird Feeder (STEM)

Week 32

Day 1: Birds (SS)

Day 2: How do body parts help animals grow and survive?

Week 33

Day 1: research endangered animals and conservation (library)

Day 2: Do animals have babies?

Week 34

Day 1: Animals and Eggs (SS)

Day 2: Mothers and Babies (SS)

Week 35

Day 1: Animal Babies (S STEM)

Day 2: Joey Pouch (STEM)

Week 36

Day 1: Are young animals and plants exactly like their parents?

Day 2: Do animals from the same species always look the same?

Printable First Grade Science Schedule

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b