Homeschool Curriculum for new year

Children's ages:  12 and 8

We homeschool our children, albeit through Connections Academy which is an online public school, it is STILL homeschooling.  It was not an easy decision to make, matter of fact it took many months of praying for the right way to go and asking the Lord to show me if this was what we needed to do.

Most of you who have read my blog for a while know full well the problems we were experiencing in their previous public school, not only education wise but bullying by other children AND teachers and it came down to a safety issue and the realization that the school environment was not only not safe for the kids but was holding them back from being all they could be.

So the decision was made and when Winter Break came around back in December, we pulled the children from their school and enrolled them in Connections Academy.  They did their last 4 months of school at home.

It was THE best decision we ever could have made and looking back now, we have no regrets and nothing but amazing things to say about the whole process.

It's been a journey, a crazy, sometimes hectic and overwhelming journey but totally worth it.

With that out of the way, school for this year is done.  Our children have excelled, have soared and have truly enjoyed learning at their pace.  They both did extremely well and have been promoted to 3rd Grade and 7th Grade.

The materials for this year have been mailed back and we're awaiting the new ones to come in.  So let's look at what they'll be doing next year......

Nicholas - 3rd Grade

Core Curriculum and Electives (Home Life and Portuguese Language)

CORE

Art 3
This course focuses on arts and crafts inspired by the four seasons. drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, bookmaking, and techniques for creating crafts and fiber arts.


Educational Technology and Online Learning 3
keyboarding, creating and editing a word processing document, adding graphics to a document, using the Internet to research various curriculum areas, sending and receiving e-mail messages, using a database, creating a multimedia project, and creating, saving, and printing a document.


Language Arts 3 A and 3 B
Writing skills, reading skills, learning the five stages of the writing process—prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.



Math 3 A and 3 B
Mathematical concepts that are organized according to the following categories: number and operations, algebra, geometry, and data analysis. Within each category, concepts are developed through the mathematical processes of problem-solving, reasoning, communication, connections, and representations. Hands-on learning of measurement by finding length, capacity, weight, mass, time, and temperature using the appropriate tools and units.


Physical Education 3
Each week the student will learn one or more new activities. In addition, the student will learn the importance of nutrition as it relates to health and physical fitness. The student will learn life skills throughout the curriculum.


Science 3 A and 3 B
The life science units describe and analyze components of the the living world. The Earth science unit describes Earth's features and the changes it undergoes. The student will also explore different careers in science and the scientific method.
In this course, the student will design an experiment to discover what plants need to survive, make a model of a cave, and delve into many more exciting experiments.
In this course, the student will create a model to investigate how simple machines work, investigate why the moon's shape appears to change during the month, and delve into many more exciting experiments.



Skills for Success
Skills for Success is a web-based learning program that provides skill building and practice to acquire their state’s learning standards.


Social Studies 3 A and 3 B
The student will explore a variety of communities, past and present, from around the world. Short stories, biographies, poetry, case studies, songs, and other resources emphasize the role of the individual in the community, as well as the influence of geography on communities.

ELECTIVES

Home Life
In this course, the student will choose from a selection of project-based activities designed to develop skills for daily living. Topics will include a variety of activities appropriate for all grade levels.
Home Life has been designed to allow families with multiple students to work together on a series of home-based projects. These include cooking, crafts, sewing, home maintenance, family outings, and genealogy.

Portuguese Language
Nicholas wants to learn Portuguese and since it's not offered as one of the electives in Connections Academy, I'll be teaching him separately using other tools.

Jasmine - 7th Grade

Core Curriculum and Electives (Home Life and Middle French I and II)

CORE

Art 7
The student will begin his journey with a review of the art elements and principles, basic drawing and perception techniques, as well as methods to analyze, interpret, and judge artworks. Then the student will refine his technical art skills while learning to use various methods of visual communication.


Educational Technology and Online Learning 3
using electronic media to create a report, using business applications, developing a slide show, and applying information gathered from the Internet.


Gifted and Talented Language Arts 7 A and 7 B
The student will enhance his skills in writing through grammar, mechanics, and language development. 
The course will explore informational text, short fiction, biographical text, and persuasive writing. An award-winning novel is also included in the course to provide the student with an introduction and enhancement to such skills as predicting, clarifying, summarizing, and questioning, as well as identifying plot development, cause-and-effect relationships, setting, and characterization. The student will read The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis.  The course will explore poetry, speeches, folktales, fantasy, and myth and the student will also read Dragonwings by Laurence Yep.   Gifted and Talented Literature Study 7 Through their own curiosity and attentive questioning, leaders serve as partners in inquiry with the student, helping him work with other students to discover meaning in a reading selection and to build interpretations. The process reaches its fullest expression in Shared Inquiry discussion, where leaders and students think and talk about an interpretive question that arises from a particular story. Using LiveLesson® sessions, the student will interact with peers twice during each unit for Shared Inquiry and presentation of personal writing.   Health and Physical Education 7The Health and Physical Education course will guide students through material that will promote healthy, active lifestyles. Health topics include issues that are relevant to the age group, such as mental and emotional health, conflict resolution, and bullying. Students will also be immersed in the prevention and avoidance drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.    Math 7 A and 7 B
In this course, the student will use the four operations with decimals, fractions, and integers to solve equations and inequalities. The student will simplify expressions with exponents and rational numbers. In the study of number theory, the student will further strengthen his skills as he solves problems involving factors and multiples by using divisibility tests and prime factorization. 
The student will graph linear and nonlinear relationships, identify slope, and explore translations. In the study of statistics, the student will create, analyze, and interpret different data displays.  
Science 7 A and 7 B
During the opening unit of Science 7 A, the student will review the scientific method and practice the process of completing a lab report. Throughout the Earth science units, the student will investigate the properties of rocks and minerals, study patterns in Earth’s atmosphere, and compare Earth to other bodies in the solar system. Throughout the life science units, the student will describe the structures of living things and explore how living things interact.   Throughout the life science units, the student will describe the structures of living things, explore how living things interact, and learn about various human body systems. While completing the physical science units, the student will investigate the physical and chemical properties of matter, compare and explain different types of forces and motion, and describe various forms of energy. 

Skills for Success
Skills for Success is a web-based learning program that provides skill building and practice to acquire their state’s learning standards.


Social Studies 7 A and 7 B
In this course, the student will study the history, geography, and culture of the western hemisphere and the historical period of medieval times to today. Prentice Hall's Medieval Times to Today and World Studies: Western Hemisphere provide the basis for the course content. 
The student will complete a comprehensive study of the history, geography, and cultures of the United States, Canada, and the countries of Latin America. 

ELECTIVES

Home Life
In this course, the student will choose from a selection of project-based activities designed to develop skills for daily living. Topics will include a variety of activities appropriate for all grade levels.
Home Life has been designed to allow families with multiple students to work together on a series of home-based projects. These include cooking, crafts, sewing, home maintenance, family outings, and genealogy.

Middle French I and II
This course begins the adventure of Tony and Lisa, who are trying to find their missing grandfather. The course will also provide some relevant, constructive examples of how the student can use the language in real-life situations that may require communication in French with native speakers.  Middle French II continues the adventure of Tony and Lisa who are still trying to find their missing grandfather.

EXTRA CURRICULUM

Apart from the core curriculum and the electives there are a few extra things I will be using this school year.

Beginning with Nicholas who immensely dislikes cursive writing, I have found a great online site called Handwriting Worksheets where I can add in my own text for him to practice.  I've found that if I incorporate the things he most loves, like video games etc, he is much more eager to get in there and practice the sheets.  Take a look for yourself.

Handwriting Worksheets

I'm also going to be ordering this Bible Based Program.  Telling God's Story Year One Combo from Peace Hill Press.

The Telling God’s Story, Year One Combo Pack gives you everything you need, all in one purchase. In the Combo Pack for Year One, you'll find one copy of each of the following:

*Telling God’s Story, Year One: Instructor Text and Teaching Guide
*Telling God’s Story, Year One Activity Book: Student Guide and Activity Pages
*Telling God’s Story: A Parents’ Guide to Teaching the Bible, the user’s manual which gives an overview of the entire twelve-year curriculum, and helps parents understand the Bible better for themselves.

To add to that, I'm going to also use this online site where I can get both Old and New Testament, coloring sheets from the OT and the NT as well as these handy Study Questions in PDF format.

As for reading, we'll be hitting up the library as often as we can, but I'm also wanting to get this collection of books to help the kids have fun learning history.

You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Colonist: A Settlement You'd Rather Not Start
You Wouldn't Want to Be at the Boston Tea Party!: Wharf Water Tea You'd Rather Not Drink
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Civil War Soldier!: A War You'd Rather Not Fight
You Wouldn't Want to Be a World War II Pilot!: Air Battles You Might Not Survive
You Wouldn't Want to Live in a Medieval Castle!: A Home You'd Rather Not Inhabit
You Wouldn't Want to Be Sick in the 16th Century! (You Wouldn't Want to...)

and many many more, you can find the rest of the books in the series here.   And if any of you have any of the books and are wanting to get rid of them, I would love to buy them off you.  :)

I'm sure I'll be adding a few more things here and there and I'll let you know what and give you more links if available :)