Homeschooling My 3 Boys
I am a Christian and a wife and mother of three trying to live out God's purpose for my life. Our homeschooling journey was not a typical beginning. My husband and I had attended public school and had planned for our children to attend there as well. My oldest had attended a pre-k program at a Christian school to get him ready. It had been a bumpy start but he finally settled down and got used to it. When time came to tour the elementary school that our son was zoned for (which was known to be the best one in the county) we decided it wasn't for us. I was floored at what they had planned on teaching them in kindergarten and the learning environment was not inviting. We therefore decided to leave him at the private Christian school he was at and that is where he stayed until 3rd grade. By that time my middle child was ready for pre-k and I signed him up that year as well. Things went pretty well for him but my oldest through the years was bored and didn't want to go. He almost always got perfect scores and never studied. I tried talking with the teachers and they said there was nothing they could do until he got into the upper grades just to be happy that he was bright and "didn't need help." I was tired of paying big bucks for my son to sit and not be challenged so that is the year I took the plunge and pulled him out. It has been a learning road and I have spent many hours studying and learning what is best for my children. Everyone has a story and what works for their family. This blog is what has worked for mine. I hope that what I write will help others who are beginning or those who are always looking for things to help deepen their children's learning. Blessings!
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Morning Time Schedule for 2017-18
Saturday, August 26, 2017
1st Grade Reading List
1st Grade Reading List
William Penn Founder of Pennsylvania - Syme
First Adventure - Coatsworth
John Billington Friend of Squanto- Bulla
Buttons for General Washington - Roop
The Joke's on George - Tunnell
Pilgrim Courage - Smith & Meredith
George Washington's Mother- Fritz
George Washington's Breakfast - Fritz
Amos Fortune- Elizabeth Yates
Science
A First Look at Rocks - Selsam
Raccoons Scavengers of the Night - Landau (for special studies in library)
Raccoons -Kite (for special studies in library)
The Pumpkin Book - Gibbons
The Pumpkin Patch- Elizabeth King
Squirrels - Murray
Read alouds
Sarah, Plain and Tall - (MacLachlan)
Skylark -(MacLachlan)
Caleb's Story (MacLachlan)
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - DiCamillo
Farmer Boy (Wilder)
The Trumpet of the Swan (White)
Strawberry Girl - Lenski
Old Yeller
Holiday Reading
An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving - Alcott
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Summer Reading- Kindergarten
Book List
Nate the Great and the Phony Clue- Sharmat
McBroom's Wonderful One-Acre Farm - Fleischman
Strawberry Girl - Lenski
Burgess Seashore Book
The Railway Children - Nesbit
Tales of Odyssey (audio book)
50 Famous Stories Retold
Magic School Bus books
Homer Price
Pippi Longstocking
George's Marvelous Medicine By Roald Dahl
Virginia's History and Geography
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Uncle Arthur Bedtime Stories
Five Children and It
Charlotte's Web
Mary Poppins (audio)
If I Were Going Alice And Jerry Books
Cam Jamsen The Joke House Mystery
My Friend Flicka (audio)
Half Magic By Edward Eager
Nate the Great and the Phony Clue
Mcbroom's Wonderful One-acre Farm
& many other picture books
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Kindergarten Book List 2016-17
Book list by subject
Literature
Flat StanleyBilly and Blaze series
Ivy and Bean & others
Betsy Tacy
Twig
B is for Betsy
George and the Marvelous Medicine
The Chocolate Touch
Velveteen Rabbit
Pathway Readers: Busy Times, More Busy Times, Climbing Higher
Matilda
Penderwicks - Pt. Mouette
Little House and the Long Winter
The Water Horse
Five Little Peppers and How they Grew
My Side of the Mountain
Heidi
Enormous Crocodile - Dahl
Fairy Tales - Anderson
Now We are Six - Milne
When We Were Very Young - Milne
Pioneer Girl - Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder- Anderson
The True Story of Peter Rabbit- Johnson
The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Anderson - Yolen
Aesop for Children - Winter
Tales from Odyssey -(6 volumes) Osborne
Along Came a Dog
Picture Books
Stone Soup
Henny Penny
Butterfly House
Ivy Cottage **
Miss Rumphus
George Shrinks
Caboose Who Got Loose - Peet
A Sick Day Amos McGee
Dogger - Hughes
Dear Rebecca Winter is Here - George
Johnny Appleseed - Lindbergh
The Boy who Drew Birds - Davies
McElligot's Pool
The Monkey and the Crocodile -Galdone
Ant and the Elephant- Peet
One Morning in Maine- McCloskey
Amos and Boris
Cinderella - Brown
The Emperor's New Clothes - Anderson
The Big Snow - Hader
A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart- Adler
Farewell to Shady Glade - Peet
Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent- Peet
Emily - Bedard
Sam, Bangs and Moonshine
Island Boy - Cooney
Verdi- Cannon
The Gift of the Tree - Tresselt
The Gardener- Stewart
Lucy's Summer- Hall
History/Geography
Missionary Stories with the MillersSeven Little Sisters Who Live on the Round Ball That Floats in the Air
Children's Picture Atlas of the World
Children Like Me
50 Famous Stories Retold
ASIA
Twin Books- Japanese (Perkins)
The Girl Who Wore Too Much
Peeps at Many Lands - Japan
Hok-Hwa of the Waterfront (The Children's Hour)
Monkey Spirit (The Children's Hour)
Bim's Gift from the Forest (The Children's Hour)
Rikki Tiki Tavi
Fairy Tales from Russia (Junior Classics)
Fairy Tales from India (Junior Classics)
Monsoon by Akib
Same, Same, but Different - Kostecki
The Five Chinese Brothers- Bishop
Tigers - Marsh
Living in India - Perkins
How My Parents Learned to Eat - Freedman
The Crow Boy- Yashima
What Comes from China - Harvey
Count Your Way Through China & India - Hastins
Ming Lo Moves the Mountain - Lobel
Earthquakes - Simon
Thailand - Freedman
Pet Dragon - Nieonom
Thailand- MinOrgtto
Little Pear
Balarama - Lewin
Asia- Fowler
Count Your Way through Israel- Haskins
Christmas Around the World - Kelley
ANTARTICA/ARCTIC
Dinty (Children's Hour)
Twin Seals (Children's Hour)
Snowflake (Bentley)
North - Amazing Story Arctic Migration- Dowson
Antarctica- Fowler
Building an Igloo - Steltzer
Lost and Found - Jeffers
Kumak's Fish - Bania
MTH Polar Bears and the Arctic- Osborne
MSB Arctic Adventures
A Mother's Journey - Markle
Arctic Son- George
Bravest Dog Story of Balto - Standiford
EUROPE
Twin Series - Dutch, French, Italian & Swiss
Children of the Noisy Village
Boxes for Katje
Adele and Simon
Anatole
The Cat Who Walked Across France- Banks
This is Venice - Lasek
AUSTRALIA
Audrey of Outback
Boiling the Billy Book ( The Children's Hour)
Koalo Lou- Fox
Are We there Yet
Diary of a Wombat
Biggest Frog in Australia
AFRICA
Anna Hibiscus
Jambi and the Tiger (Children's Hour)
Monkey Crocodile
Jambo Means Hello
My Rows and Piles of Coins- Lewis
Africa- Fowler
Where Are You Going Manyoni
Galimoto- Williams
My Painted House Friendly Chicken and Me
I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Gift of Sun - Stewart
African Critters - Haas
For You are a Kenyan Child - Cunnane
Uncommon Traveler- Mary Kingsley in Africa- Brown
Rain School- Rumford
SOUTH AMERICA
South America - Fowler
Abuela's Weave- Castaneda
Biblioburro - Winter
The Great Kapok Tree- Cherry
The Umbrella - Brett
Magic Tree House Research- Rain Forests- Osborne
The Rainforest Grew All Around - Mitchell
Science (not integrated in the geography)
See Through the Forest - Selsam
Among the Forest People
Backyard Birds
Frozen Wild - Arnosky
It's Snowing - Gibbons
Apples- Gibbons
How to Draw Birds- Green
Follow the Water From Brook to Ocean
Water Dance
Wish for a Fish
Ant Cities
Clam I Am
Is a Camel a Mammal
Let's Go Rock Collecting
Rocks and Minerals
Oceans - Simon
Lungs - Simon
From Seed to Plant - Gibbons
Oh Say Can You Seed?
How People Learned to Fly
Snakes - Gibbons
A Snake's Year - Gove
Where they Go in Winter - Buck
Community Helpers/Holidays
Flying FirefightersPumpkin Pumpkin
Four Friends in Autumn DePaola
Life in a Farming Community - Flatt
Farming - Gibbons
Apples and Pumpkins- Rockwell
Let's Visit a Dairy Farm - Sweeney
Milk Makers- Gibbons
Scarecrow's Dance
Fletcher and Falling Leaves
Earl the Squirrel
Surrounded by Sea
Amelia Earnhart
My Friend Doctor - Cole
Ben Franklin Magic Squares- Murphy
Anasi and the Moss Covered Rock
Mushroom in the Rain - Ginsburg
The Thanksgiving Story - Dalgiesh
Lucy's Christmas - Hall
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
Saint Valentine- Sabuda
The Easter Egg- Brett