On Being Flexible...

For August my original curriculum plans included a unit on insects and mammals...  Goose does NOT want to learn about insects, and is terrified of them, so instead we will just stick with mammals.

For this unit, we have a trip to the zoo planned, along with going to the Shedd and Field Museum.  Keep checking in to see updates!

I'm back! A review

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever.  Goose and I have been very busy with school work and with Daddy traveling.

I wanted to drop a few lines about the new reading program we are using.  After a lot of consideration, we went with Starfall and ordered their kindergarten program.  It goes along well with most of the curriculum in our area, so that was important to me.  I want to make sure that she is right on par with others.

So far, the program has been great and Goose is up to quite a few high frequency words.  She has read three sight word books so far and can read simple sentences such as "I see you" or "You see me".  The Starfall program is easy to use and incorporates a lot of subjects in one.  The best part is that Goose LOVES it.  She is learning a ton.

Some cons of the program are as follows: there is no teacher guide.  You have to print it off online each week.  For what we spent on it, I would expect that to come printed.  There are other things that are not sent to you-you must go to their website to print it off.  For some things, the website is not very user friendly and you really need to learn your way around it before starting the program.

Overall, I would recommend this program to anyone trying to teach their child how to read.  In order to start this program, it is much easier if your child already knows her letters and letter sounds (which Goose does).

I am not paid by Starfall for this review-just letting you all know how the program is going so far.  If you are looking for something more structured to do with your little one, check them out!

http://www.starfall.com/n/N-info/curriculum.htm

Adding as we go

DD has taken a huge interest in fish and oceans lately...  I have decided to add an ocean theme this month!  There are so many cute actvities for learning about oceans, so I am excited to do this unit with her.  Hopefully we can find time to go to the Shedd!!

New year-new plans-planning your themes

One thing that always bothers me as an educator is when teachers use the term 'curriculum' to mean their books.  There aren't many schools where the books are the curriculum.  The curriculum is a written set of standards and topics that need to be taught in that grade.

With that said, I use common core standards along with the learner outcomes from my school when working on themes for DD.  Since she is only two, I sometimes have to modify these, since we do not have standards for two year olds.  I think about things she is interested in and try to incorporate it using standards.  Sometimes though it is on my list of themes because it's something that needs to be covered.  For example, communities is on the list of what I'm teaching her, but she doesn't know anything about communties yet.  This is something that is on the list of standards and in most preschool/kindergarten curriculum.

I'm not homeschooling DD, but if you are a homeschooler reading this, I advise you to look at your local districts curriculum and plan around that. 

So now that I've gotten THAT off my chest, here is the tentative list of what I'm working on this year with DD.  I still need to add a bit more to some months, but will leave room for movement.

Jan

·         Winter

·         Opposites

Feb

·         Groundhog

·         Dental

March

·         Easter

·         Keeping clean/health

April

·         Earth day

·         Five senses

May

·         Community

·         Dinosaurs

June

·         Caterpillars/butterflies

July

·         Insects

·         Mammals and other animals

Aug

·         Weather/seasons

Sept

·         Space

Oct

·         Fire Safety

Nov

·         Thanksgiving/early settlers

Dec

·         Ecosystems