This post unfortunately not sponsored by Old Spice.
Ah the beginning of a new school year when opportunities are infinite and time is merely an abstract concept. With the smell of freshly sharpened pencils and melted laminator plastic in the air, sick days and bad attitudes aren’t even on the radar yet. What will this new year hold?
Well. Blog wise, expect weekly wrap-ups posted on Friday nights. Also for convenience sake I have added page jumps to make navigating our online portfolio simpler. Click me.
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Now back to me: click me!
For the upcoming school year,
I feel I have a firm grasp on primary level math from golden beads to the abstract. Language seems to be going as well as can be and my two oldest have all but outgrown sensorial work. This year I’m ready to really focus heavily on science and geography and cultural studies. We will review math starting with golden bead math but letting the kids move as fast as they need. Racks and tubes and the geometry sticks material are my presentation goals in math. I’d love to move past that into elementary geometry and math properties because they are more fun than it sounds. Pre-algebra — who would have thought?
For Language we will focus on reading. I’m reading up more on Charlotte Mason to incorporate some ideas I’ve seen and like.
I’m presenting the Great Lessons the first five weeks of school and then doing unit lessons for geography, history and science. I’m not using a curriculum, just pulling materials here and there as I see fit. Also on my radar, in October, I am going to order a full Timberdoodle curriculum to supplement with; it’s not because I don’t feel like we have enough going on, they just made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. 🙂 So expect to see a fair amount of Timberdoodle reviews as we work that into our afternoons a la workboxes. We really love their hands on materials, and they fit in nicely with Montessori ideology.
And as for science and geography, below is a hodge-podge of the topics we will cover by month. I have all my lesson plans pretty fleshed out through December. I really need book suggestions so please feel free to comment / message me.
2018-19 Unit
Themes
August:
Transition Work and Review
Maria Montessori’s birthday
1st Great Lesson
September:
2nd-5th Great Lessons
Landforms
Continents
World Biomes
Cardinal Directions
Black Strip and Hand chart Impressionistic lessons
Volcanoes
Dinosaurs
Fossils
Timeline of Life
Plant and Animal Classification
Tree of Life
Eras
Fundamental Needs of Humans
Introduction to flags
Read Alouds: Harry Potter book 3 (just because)
Ronja: the Robber’s Daughter (just because)
Magic tree house: dinosaurs before dark (dinosaurs)
October:
North / Central America
Mexico
USA
Canada
North American flags
Bats
Owls
Pumpkins
Rock cycle
Minerals
Crystals
Monarch butterflies
Caves
Day of the Dead
Field trips:
Panning for minerals
Cave spelunking
Monarch butterfly festival at local nature preserve
Epcot day of the dead Mexico pavilion
Read Alouds:
Anne of green gables (Canada)
Little house in Big Woods (USA)
Poppy (for the 3rd time) (owls)
Witch of Blackbird Pond (colonial New England)
November:
Butterflies
Europe
European flags
Russia
Nutcracker ballet
Events / field trips:
Greek Food Festival
Visiting local restaurants
Nutcracker ballet
December: We take the whole month off!
January:
Asia
Biomes
Political maps
Plant and Animal Classifications
Fundamental Needs / cultures
Chinese New Year (feb 5th)
Space
Moon>
Stars
meteor shower
lunar eclipse
Japan
Koi fish
Japan’s Imperial Palace
Origami
Chopsticks
Calligraphy brushes
Hibachi
Sushi
Mt Fuji
China
Mulan
Great Wall
Pandas
Green tea
Temple of Heaven
India
Taj Mahal
Indian Food
Mother Teresa
Montessori
Saree
Tigers
Elephants
Read Alouds: Jungle Book, Watch: Riki Tiki Tavi
February:
Antarctica (3 weeks)
Biomes
Penguins
Polar bears
Read Alouds
Mr Popper’s Penguins
March:
South America (carnival) (Ash Wednesday March 6)
Biomes
Political maps
Plant and Animal Classifications,
Fundamental Needs / cultures
April:
Africa
Biomes
Political maps
Plant and Animal Classifications,
Fundamental Needs / cultures
May:
Australia / Oceania
Biomes
Political maps
Plant and Animal Classifications,
Fundamental Needs / cultures
*whew*
Wish us luck!
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Fun yes?
I am still practicing my html. That took more brain power than any mother with a 2-month-old has any right to have. Feels like that Old Spice commercial.
Anyway let me send you back to the actual content.
