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MommyD
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| Posted: Feb 15 2007 at 10:29am | IP Logged
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I hope this makes sense. How do you decide what units to teach for history, science and religion? Do you have a master plan for the year (or even several years) to make sure things are covered or at least touched upon? If anyone has a "master plan" I would LOVE to see it!!
MommyD
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Meredith
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| Posted: Feb 15 2007 at 2:56pm | IP Logged
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WOWWEE!! This is kind of a broad question MommyD, but maybe I can help a wee bit.
First of all, what are the ages of your schooled children?? This will determine what subjects and when and where to put them. There's LOTS of good information in theLesson Planning thread.
Let us know if this is helpful or if you need something else!
Blessings!
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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MommyD
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| Posted: Feb 15 2007 at 3:48pm | IP Logged
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Yes, it was that thread that got me started thinking.
I really thought I would be a boxed curriculm sort of Mom but for some reason that I can't articulate, I am not. I have spent the kindergarten year reading and struggling through the CHC lesson plans (honestly though, we left those behind months ago). I read Elizabeth's book and thought it was great but I honestly didn't understand how to use living books in a real way until I started reading the thread above and especially Dawn's blog (my addled brain is all her fault  ). She has a post about planning history. She starts with a big subject and works down into smaller subjects to read about. I guess I am looking for more of that (see, it all makes sense now, right?!?).
My son will be in 1st grade next year and my daughter will be in Kindergarten. How do I decide "this year we will study frog life cycles, the Rain Forest, etc. etc.". Like all first-timers, I'm worried about covering everything that needs to be covered (even as I type it, I know it is silly, I can't actually cover everything, right?).
I want to use living books but I really need the order and stability and peace of mind that a list would provide.
If any of you have read this far, thanks!! I'm open to any and all suggestions.
 MommyD
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Meredith
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| Posted: Feb 15 2007 at 5:25pm | IP Logged
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Well, I can show you how I like to plan for each year here...but this is pretty broad, especially for a 1st and K. I also really enjoy doing Unit Studies with my now 4 3/4 year old (almost K) here's a few ideas:
Tiger Fun!
Firetrucks!
And we've just finished Owls:
It'll Be A Hoot!
These are just a sampling of what you can do as far as Unit Studies, and you could still use your CHC plans and do some Units through out the year with each child as supplements. For the older child you just have them do more stuff to go along!
Does this make sense?? There are SO many other ladies that will help out here too I know, let's see who's lurking... 
Blessings!
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Feb 16 2007 at 5:53am | IP Logged
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MommyD,
I don't know if this will help or not, but really, in K and 1st Science is all about discovery. The child should really learn to just discover more about what he is interested in. Does your child like bugs? Then for science, go outside and teach him how to observe them. Get and ant farm or something like that. Talk to him about what they are doing. Start a nature journal and help him record what he has observed. Go to the library and get as many bug books as you can find and spend the afternoon looking at them and naming them.
Or, if he is interested in the weather, make a simple weather chart and teach him how to read a thermometer. Learn about clouds. Again, go crazy at the library. This will all prepare him for upper level science which will require research and observation skills. Right now, and really, throughout his school years, you are teaching him how to learn, and how to delight in the learning.
The same could be said for history. Perhaps reading stories about early Americans would be a great place to start. My ds's are really into knights right now. Instead of just playing with them, we also get books from the library and read about them. I don't think they have a sense of history yet, but they are learning that people lived differently a long time ago. Doing a time line might also be helpful here, although I don't think my 1st grader will be quite ready for it yet, but your's might. If you do, make sure you label things like his birthday and the birth of Jesus so he can get a sense of what this "line of time" is all about.
I think unit studies are a great way to capitalize on a child's interest. If it is something the child is interested in, go wild with it. If you don't have time to come up with your own unit studies, there are plenty on line like Meredith's above (which look wonderful by the way!!) They will learn to love learning which, I believe, is the main goal.
I'm a "ducks in a row" type of person that likes a nice neat format for what I teach my kids. But really, as I am finding with my 3rd ds in 1st grade, some things are not as easily "plannable". Reading and Math I can plan, but I let him do the choosing when it comes to science and history. Trust me, he'll learn much more when he is interested in something than if he had to learn it all with a text book that required him to read about things he could really care less about. (Save that for the upper grades  .
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: Feb 16 2007 at 12:15pm | IP Logged
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I love to plan. I always have a rough outline for the year and a very rough (general subjects to cover) plan for "from now to graduation." That being said, I never, ever follow my plans (and that doesn't bother or worry me at all) and I didn't start planning until my boys were in 3rd or 4th grade. Before that, we were completely interest based except for math. My overall idea is that the elementary years ought to be spent discovering things as naturally and interest based as possible. We usually pick a chapter book or picture book to read and then follow whatever rabbit trails that book presents until the kids are ready to move along. Then we picked a new book. Junior High is a time (for us) to be a bit more systematic, though we still follow interest led trails (which is why my plans are never completely followed). High School (I think -- we're not there yet) will be a time for a more pre-planned course that we actually follow, because it will be highly determined by the child's input and interests and his desires for his future, college entrance reqs, etc.
Planning: I only plan history and science and I do it in one of two ways. I either pick general subjects to cover over the course of the year (human body, astronomy and birds for science, and the Ancients for history) OR I choose to follow FIAR. I then decide roughly how many months to spend on each science subject (human body in fall, astronomy when it's cold and clear, birds in the spring) or FIAR book (we supplement FIAR heavily and spend about a month per book. I usually schedule FIAR books based on time of year. Roxaboxen when it was hot, How to Make Apple Pie and See the World in the fall... Sometimes I choose a theme or book based on saint tie-in. For example, last year was a FIAR year around here. We rowed Albert in January and Angelo in February because we could keep a St. Francis unit going through both books and were able to observe many birds here during that time. In FIAR years, I also use non-FIAR books to create unit studies. I just call them our FIAR years because the majority of the units that year will begin with a FIAR book.) So, once I have a rough (heavily padded) timeline, and I start making library lists and gathering project ideas. Other subjects happen randomly (art, music, extra chapter books). If I can tie those in, great! If not, then we add them in anyway as interest and energy allow. Math happens regularly. Logic, typing, Spanish, and other random extra curriculars happen too. Some are more scheduled than others. All are seasonal.
I think the keys to real learning are that, like you said (and it helps to repeat this regularly), you can't actually cover everything, and that the goal is to keep that love of learning. If the kids love to learn, then they'll learn. Natural curiosity and interests will ensure that.
Sorry for the long, rambling post! I hope it makes sense. 
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: How do you decide what to teach and when?
