Dawn K Homeschool

I thought I would post separately about this.  My plan for artist and composer studies, hands-on art and music is as follows: Artist Study: I have posted my Baroque artist study plans.  We will follow them on Mondays and Tuesdays. Art: On Thursdays, the boys will either complete an activity from Evan Moor's How to Teach Art to Children  or complete an art activity pertaining to our artist study or composer study.  For example, when we study Vivaldi, the boys will create the gondola craft mentioned in a previous post along with a carnaval mask. Composer Study: I figure we can listen to music while we eat, while the boys play or while in the van. Fridays will usually consist of reading about the composer. We have been listening to some Renaissance music (to prepare for the Baroque period) and using a listening guide to talk about real basic stuff -- who the music was written for, listening for the different voices, whether the piece is religious or secul...

For more detail about what we're using each day, please see this post. I thought I would give you an idea of how our first two days have been structured.  We start with subjects both boys have in common, and we begin at 10:00 am. 1.  They work through a logic worksheet.  They have found these to be fun.  This takes about 5-10 minutes. 2. They complete a mapping exercise.  These have also been enjoyable and take 5-10 minutes. 3. They then complete a page from Daily Grams which takes about 5 minutes. Every day includes an exercise in combining two or more sentences into one.  This portion counts as writing too. 4. We proceed to spelling which has also gone quickly.  I am using a new program this year which I think we will all like ( Megawords ).  If you are new to the program, you are supposed to start with book 1, so they have been able to do spelling together.  This takes about 5-10 minutes per page. 5. Next is writing.  The first...

She is a homeschooling mom of five boys whom I met at a homeschool meeting. I have known her since she was pregnant with her youngest. If you feel inclined, please send her well wishes. http://mybigdoorway.blogspot.com/ Thanks!

Little Ben is still awake.   I hear a little kiss when I walk by his room, so I return the audible kiss.  Poor thing.  So, I am still awake -- waiting to turn the hall light off. So, I thought I would take a moment to explain my new meal plan .  I am hoping this will help make the days go more smoothly. I have a 4x6 index file box with dividers and index cards.  On each divider is written a category; my categories are : soups and stews sandwiches breakfast Italian casseroles Mexican beef chicken fish miscellaneous On a card, I write a dinner idea.  Many are pretty simple -- like beef/veggie soup with grilled cheese and salad.  I don't have anything listed that I've never tried.  I am personally tired of feeling guilty because I don't come up with new things.  Instead, I am going to have a container full of ideas, and I can try something when I feel like it. For items with recipes (like the blueberry pancakes I...

New pencils have been sharpened, binder is full of lined paper, texts and worksheets are on the kitchen table, and read-alouds are on the ottoman. The boys have had showers, and we are about to have a bedtime story ( Little House in the Big Woods ). Tomorrow is the official start of the 2010-2011 school year. Cheers!

Aren't these wooden ones are wonderful?  Such large sentiments -- perfect for cards.  I thought the "be happy," "my life," "lucky me," and "love you, love you, love you" would be perfect for scrapbook layouts as well. I only bought three of the new acrylic stamps.  Oh, and Christmas dollar items were sitting in a cart near the dollar section waiting to be put into bins, so I helped myself to the little Christmas trees.  They will make perfect triangles for banners!  I have way too many Christmas stamps that none of the others were tempting. Oh, and I just realized I never posted my Studio G dollar stamp finds from earlier this summer.  These were all bought at Michaels.                          

I have been collecting resources for our first few weeks of homeschooling, and I've spent part of the weekend looking through our read-aloud books for science, history, artist study and composer study. I just love this part of homeschooling -- learning along with the boys! So, I was trying to figure out how much time I wanted to devote to reading about Venice since we are studying Vivaldi this year. The Classical Kids teacher's guide for Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery (which you can and sample here ) stresses the fact that V stands for Vivaldi, Violin and Venice. After reading that, I decided I wanted to spend a little time learning about Venice. We have encountered the importance of Venice several times when studying Marco Polo, the Renaissance, and this year Monteverdi and Vivaldi. One book I have considered is Vendela in Venice .  I have really enjoyed reading it so far.  I have been learning so much about its culture, history, art, food, transportation, architecture, etc....

We do not have a school room, but I took photos of the areas we use for schooling (excluding the boys' bedroom which is in another post).  The photos start in the office area at the back of the house, move through the family room and end up in the kitchen. I've included photos of my scrapbooking and stamping storage as well.

I thought this would make a great back-to-school photo for a homeschooled kid.

I have been cleaning out my homeschool files, and I thought I would start sharing some of those resources I have filed away. These are lesson plans I have found regarding vermicomposting -- composting with worms. This is a really well-done unit including a study of the earthworm's anatomy: Vermicomposting Leader's Guide for 5th Grade Here is a nice brochure giving the basics. Here is a Vermicomposting Guide for Teachers . and another one here . It includes worm experiments. And finally, there is this guide titled Red Worms in the Classroom .   Here  is a wonderful website about worms. A great worm anatomy worksheet in MS Word format can be downloaded here .  A dissection worksheet can be downloaded here .  And an online quiz from the same website can be taken here . I just love this website The Adventures of Herman the Earthworm and this one on Yucky Discovery. See how an earthworm moves here . You can follow a Virtual Earthworm Tour here. And to finish things ...

In honor of all of my Baroque artist preparation this summer, I am hosting a book give-away! It is hardcover, about 6 inches x 6 inches, with 95 pages.  On the left-hand side of the page is a description of the plate printed on the right-hand side of the page. Just leave a comment here, and I will randomly pick a winner on Monday, August 30 at midnight EST (our official start date for school).

I bought a set of each at my local Barnes and Noble a couple of years ago, and I see their online store still has some. Apparently, you can still buy them locally as well.     If you've searched for inexpensive art prints for art study, you know how hard these are to come by.  Each portfolio comes with 14 prints approximately 12x15 inches in size.  Each portfolio costs only $8.98 each. Van Gogh Monet I'm going to my local Barnes and Noble tomorrow to buy the Hiroshige: 14 Famous Views of Edo for our Japan studies.

Home Page You can listen to over two hours of music here . Here is a wonderful composer gallery. And this link defines Baroque music.

Just click here to order. It qualifies for free Amazon Prime shipping too. :)  Uncover the secrets of Leonardo da Vinci's highly debated masterpieces with this interactive investigation of the original Renaissance man. Our Da Vinci Kit will satisfy fans of Brown's book who hunger for more information about the enigmatic Leonardo da Vinci, his masterpieces, and the Renaissance era that defined him--in an appealing, interactive format! Kit Contains: 32-page, full-color history of Leonardo da Vinci Facsimile sketchbook containing Da Vinci's handwritten notes The Last Supper restoration simulator Replica of Leonardo's flying machine Punched sketch study for The Last Supper Detailed paper model of Florence's famed Duomo Full-color timeline of Da Vinci's life and influences Alberti Grid for drawing like the Masters Charcoal sketching stick

My brother and he flew to Colorado for a week of hiking.  My brother will be running the Leadville Trail (a 100-mile race) on Saturday.  Wish him luck!

Exploring Caves Teaching Unit by U.S.G.S. Caves poster Journey into Amazing Caves Teacher's Guide based on the film here . You may also like the bat resources here .

You have to be a homeschooler or teacher to order from them (or a parent who can order through a teacher).  Readers get all 10 books, collectible cards, and a Scholastic Book Clubs exclusive collector's poster that includes five codes for five free game cards. The Scholastic Book Clubs exclusive set includes The Maze of Bones , One False Note , The Sword Thief , Beyond the Grave , The Black Circle , In Too Deep , The Viper's Nest , The Emperor's Code , Storm Warning , and Into the Gauntlet . All for $69 plus free shipping. This boxed set includes Book Ten. It will begin arriving in classrooms on August 31, 2010. Don't forget the 39 Clues interactive website .

Someone asked me to post more information about our weekly schedule, so here goes. Logic Handout (5-10 minutes, simultaneous ) I have a binder full of various logic puzzles, many like Mind Benders, that I had torn out of teacher’s magazines several years ago. There are also visual and mathematical logic puzzles. I have decided to just plunge in and have my boys complete one of these a day. Handwriting (5 minutes each) This is simply their first instruction in cursive. Ben: Getty-Dubay Italic Cursive; Nathan: Zaner-Bloser Cursive. Dictation, Aesop for Children by Milo Winter (10-15 minutes; simultaneous) Essentially, I will read a fable to the boys. I will then dictate a sentence, perhaps even the moral, to them. They will in turn write from dictation. Narration, Aesop for Children by Milo Winter (10 minutes each) Essentially, I will read a different fable to each of the boys. They will each narrate to me and in turn write their narration. For this, I will choose the shorter passages. M...

I have finally finished compiling the copywork sentences that my boys will write for many of the chapters from all three texts of  God's Design for Heaven and Earth .  You can download them here . Curious about these science texts?  Visit their homepage here .

Here is our weekly schedule for our upcoming school year.  Items highlighted in blue are independent.

Ben lost his third tooth -- finally. :)