Plans for 3rd and 1st

Rebekah brought it to my attention that Thing1 is no longer a beginner. At the end of third grade, he will be halfway to junior high! And Thing2 is a 1st grader. It's gonna get real for him this year.

Here's the plan for both of them:
Classical Conversations Memory Work from the Foundations Guide along with printables from CC Connected.

If we don't do anything else in a day, we do this. My favorite way to keep track of practicing the memory work is to use a Charlotte Mason memory box. Here's a link to an instructional video.
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Story of the World Volume 3: Early Modern Times

Of course, this book contains wonderfully told stories. But the activity book provides enough corresponding literature suggestions to keep us busy for the next three years. The maps and coloring pages are great, too, but not as useful to us this year. Unless it an epic battle scene, the boys really don't care to color, and we get enough geography from CC that we can usually picture the general location we are reading about. Our routine is to read a chapter while coloring from the activity book then type up a narration page with a picture cut and pasted from the Internet. The narration pages go into their history notebooks. We try to have library books from the activity book's corresponding literature list on hand always.
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Apologia's Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology

Apologia's Exploring Creation books are just plain fun. The pre-made Notebooking Journals are an unbelievably simple way to compile a super cute science notebook. Thing2 is excited that he has his own notebooking journal this year.
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Song School Latin

I add one new thing each year. This year it's Latin. Hopefully it will be profitable.
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Here's what we've got planned for the third grader:

Math-U-See Gamma

Slow and steady is the name of the game for Thing1 and mathematics, and Math-U-See fits the bill. Plus, Mr. Demme's short lessons on the DVD are much more effective than my blundering.
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Growing With Grammar, Level 3

Levels 1 and 2 served us well. Considering that this is our last year before Essentials of the English Language through Classical Conversations, why quit now? Level 3 introduces diagramming sentences. (I am excited! Nerd.) I considered buying Digging into Diagramming for extra practice, but then I realized that it doesn't take a $15 book to practice diagramming.
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Writing With Ease, Year 3

Agenda for our third and final year of WWE: Reading, narration, copywork, dictation; repeat.

I have decided not to buy the workbook this year. Instead, I am going to use McGuffey's Eclectic Readers (John Wiley and Sons, 1879) for the exercises. If it doesn't work (i.e. we skip it because it takes too much time to prep), I will just download the workbook. I'm also toying with the idea of using the McGuffey's for spelling as well. More on this endeavor later.
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Prescripts Cursive Words and Drawing: Math Terms

Normally handwriting books are the first thing to be dropped when we are short on time, but these books have them writing things they should be memorizing anyway, so it seems more productive.
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The plan for our first grader:
Alpha Math-U-See

I already had everything but the student workbook from when Thing1 did it two years ago. After buying the workbook, I decided to make copies of the consumable pages this year. These books get expensive!

Thing2 did well in the Primer math book last year, and I don't regret my decision to do the kindergarten math program. I think he will be well prepared for Alpha this year, but I am still bracing myself for the task of making him memorize all the addition facts.
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Growing with Grammar, Level 1

I discussed here my decision to use GWG and Writing with Ease in first grade for Thing1. I was satisfied, so we are doing it again. My worries about it not being enough for a well rounded language arts are obsolete. With Classical Conversations memory work, GWG, WWE, Prescripts, and all the reading we do in Story of the World, I believe we cover language arts sufficiently.
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Writing With Ease, Level 1

This was easy because I already own the Level 1 workbook in PDF format. I like being able to print of the pages as I need them.

With the workbook, there is virtually no preparation for these lessons, and the book excerpts are always interesting: Little House, Peter Rabbit, Caddie Woodlawn, and The Railway Children to name a few. Both Level 1 and 2 workbooks stretched Thing1's reading repertoire because he almost always wanted to read the whole book after he heard an excerpt from it.
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Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring: World History

Why not start cursive in the first grade like they did in the olden days? After this year, I will know. Each opening has a page of cursive letter practice and a picture from the Timeline Cards that he can color.
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Finally, to pull it all together, I bought a Well Planned Day planner.

I decided to go with a premade paper planner this year for the first time. I am not convinced I really need it, but I want to try it out.

Again, a good school day does not have to include everything I have listed here. CC memory work, math, and language arts are the core. The rest is extra. These plans, like all plans, are a guide and always a work in progress. They are as flexible as we are. We use them to be productive, but we will not let them run our lives.

Biblical Science

We don't use strictly "Christian" curriculum. I'll leave it at that for now since the reasons would be more adequately presented in a lengthy post...which I don't have time for.

However, one subject I really like to keep Biblical (to me, Biblical is a more appropriate adjective than Christian in this discussion) is science.  Evolution permeates every natural-science-related book, video, or TV show. The kids learned at an early age to say, "That's not true" every time they heard or read something that said, "millions of years ago..."

History is largely the study of human behavior and accomplishments, and language arts is the study of human communication, but science is the study of God's creation.  The more we  understand about natural science, the more we realize how little we understand of God's power.  I like a science curriculum that acknowledges and even proves that creation is true (for my kids' and my benefit).  If evolution is so widely accepted as fact that dinosaur board books for babies advocate it, I want my kids to be grounded in the truth of creation while they are homeschooled because they are not going to get it anywhere else.

By the way, we used Exploring Creation with Zoology I, Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day this year and have thoroughly enjoyed it. The text book is worthy of reading just for fun, and the notebooking journal is fun for the kids and easily prepared (as in no prep) by Mom.

Another by the way: this post is strictly my opinion and was written on my own incentive. I did not and will not receive any compensation for it.

Notebooking Confession, List of Insect Photo Sites, and a Moral

Instead of drawing pictures to go along with all the narrations in our Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day Junior Notebooking Journal (Apologia), we print photos from the Internet.

Just in case someone else out there has a first grade son with a slight pencil allergy...and just in case that someone needs permission to take a shortcut for the sake of a parent/child relationship, here are a few good insect photo sites:

National Geographic
The best way to search for an insect or animal photo is to use the search box in the top right corner.

InsectIdentification.org
We found a great picture of a molting cicada.

Alex Wild Photography
Our favorite. Before I printed, I checked their conditions for image use, and it specifically allows students and teachers to use the photos for educational purposes.

To print the photos, I use the Windows Snipping Tool, save the photo in a folder I labeled "insect study," then print in wallet or contact paper size, depending on the space in the Notebooking Journal. Very simple.

Finally, the moral: Thing1 began illustrating some narrations without complaint after we began printing most of the pictures. It is amazing how much a kid (and his mother) can accomplish when he (or she) is not overwhelmed.

A Mosquito Named Thunder

This first grade homeschool business is crazy. It is changing me.

I have never ever intentionally stored an insect in my refrigerator until last week. I have never ever been excited to find an insect inside my home until today.  In my past, the mosquito lounging on my dining room wall would have horrified me until it was flattened. Not anymore. Life is our schoolroom, right?

I did not flatten the mosquito. I hollered for Thing2 to stand still while I [ran and] retrieved our bug-catching jar out of the science lab kit. Once captured, Thing1 inspected it, concluded that it was indeed an insect (Yep. There are six legs, a head, thorax, and abdomen.) and promptly went back to his Peter Pan audiobook. However, Thing2 and I ogled it with magnifying glasses, discussed the intriguing feature we noticed, and confirmed what we had read in Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. In fact, Thing2 affectionately called him (or her) Thunder after spending about an hour with it.

It thrills me that I am not the only one in the house who appreciated a live captive mosquito.

Ivory Explosion

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Another Pinterest-inspired activity from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas.

This is one-fourth of a bar of Ivory soap:

This is what it looks like after being microwaved for 15 seconds:

This is what it looks like after being microwaved for 30 seconds:

This is what it looks like after one minute in the microwave (not much different):

It feels like lightweight styrofoam and crumbles easily. It makes a slick, soapy mess when you add water.

Thing2 smelled nice and clean after this "science experiment."

Cutting the soap bar was a good opportunity for Thing1 to learn about simple fractions.  It seems like he understood.

Nature

Thing1 gets to go do a science experiment with his GG almost every week.  Last week Granddad pitched in.

They went on a walk through the woods and collected all kinds of leaves.  When they got home, GG helped tape them to construction paper and label them.

A relationship with grandparents and nature study.  Good times.  I'm glad we homeschool.

Shared with Three Thinking Mothers' Thankful Thursdays

Enthusiasm is Curbed

"I want to learn about starfish! Mom, can I look at the starfish book?"

In my thoughts: "Yes! Of course you can! You can look at the starfish book, we can Google starfish, better yet, let's just make a trip to the aquarium this afternoon!"

Outloud: "Well, I guess." So as not to alarm him with the discovery that learning is actually what I want him to do.