Our Fall Plans  

Posted by: Laura Delgado in , , ,

Wow. I have put so much thought into this year's curriculum that it's crazy. I truly have had to abandon all thoughts of doing it my way. The curriculum that has worked so well for Therese is just not going to work so well for the rest of my kids. I am happy to say that it's not my vanity talking, thinking that Therese is two grade levels ahead. I got her SAT scores back. That girl is at least two grade levels ahead. I'll just say I am one extremely proud Mama and leave it at that. Nicky's scores prove one of two things: either he is not a test taker, or he just didn't try. I just can't believe that he scores "low" when compared to other 2nd graders in math. Given that I sit next to him every day as he whizzes through 4th grade math, I am just not buying it. I also watch him write story after story, and I teach him spelling. Hence, I'm not buying that he's a poor speller. I *know* what an awesome speller he is. I know where the holes in his curriculum are, and anyone reading this knows that I have *no* problem talking about his shortcomings (ahem!), but academics -- not one of them. It is a very interesting revelation to me about how absolutely meaningless those test results can be, though, for kids who are not strong test takers, or who flat-out don't care to do well. It remains to be seen which one he is. Fact is, he was only six when he took the 2nd grade test. It could be that I was asking too much of him. If he were going to school, then maturity-wise, I would have wanted him to be exiting K at that age. He would have been one of the youngest 1st graders. Sigh.

In any case, here's the breakdown. I have made a tremendous amount of work for myself (but when don't I?).

Therese

  1. Math: Saxon 7/6 (She's about 1/4 of the way through now)
  2. Language Arts - Michael Clay Thompson
  • Vocabulary - Caesar's English (Latin Roots and Spanish Cognates)
  • Poetry - Building Poems
  • Writing - Paragraph Town
  • Grammar - Grammar Town
  • Augustus Caesar's World
  • Caesar's Gallic War
  • The Old World and America
  • Those are the main spines - there are others
  • The First Christians
  • The Story of the Church
  • The Acts of the Apostles
8. Art: Artist study with Salve Regina notebooking pages (link coming)
9. Handwriting: Continuing Cursive Practice
10. Copywork: Salve Regina Scriptorium for Young Ladies (link coming)

Nicholas
  1. Math: Saxon 5/4 (he's 1/2 done)
  2. Language Arts: Michael Clay Thompson
  • Vocabulary - Building Language (learning concept of Latin roots)
  • Poetry - Music of the Hemispheres
  • Writing - Sentence Island
  • Grammar - Grammar Island
8. Art: Artist Study with Salve Regina notebooking pages (link coming soon)
10. Copywork: Salve Regina Scriptorium for Young Men (link coming soon)

Twins
  1. Math: Saxon 1 (1/2 done)
  2. Language Arts: Language Lessons for Little Ones 3 (Queen Homeschool)
  3. History: American History for Young Students - Exploration-1800 (Truthquest)
  4. Religion: Old Testament Bible Stories and The Israelites (History Links)
  5. Science: Apologia's Anatomy and Physiology
  6. Art: Artist Study with Salve Regina notebooking pages (link coming soon)
  7. Handwriting: Writing our Catholic Faith
  8. Copywork: Salve Regina Scriptorium for Brand-New Writers (link coming soon)
  9. Spelling: All About Spelling Level 2
  10. Phonics: Click-N-Kid
I think that's it. I usually realize I forgot something. I absolutely have to write a schedule this year. Therese will have school all day. Her classes are a mix of 6th and 7th grade. She also has piano and dance. I haven't decided if they are going to try out for the play, which, if they made it, would mean Friday rehearsals 2-5 (at least on some days). We're not going to be in town on the audition day, so that may be a deal breaker anyway.

Well, at least it's all down now. I am just compiling my organizer pages now. We'll start after we get back from vacation. Therese and I want to start now!