Around the World

In many ways homeschooling is something that happens every month of the year. Recently I actually started reading the kids chapter books from my list for this coming school year (Kingdom Tales, Hero Tales, Paddle-to-the-Sea, and Stone Fox). When I was a middle school teacher and also when I was a professor, I planned things out in detail months in advance. Thus far I have a more laid back approach to homeschooling, in part because I want to go at the pace of each child, which might at times mean going faster than anticipated and at other times going slower than expected. I don't have to file any official goals and objectives yet (will need to do so next year for Nadia if we still live in PA), but here are some tentative goals of mine for the upcoming school year.

Continents and Countries to be studied:
North America - United States, Guatemala, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, Panama, and Cuba
South America - Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Chile
Europe - Netherlands, Norway, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, United Kingdom, Greece
Asia - Israel, Saudi Arabia, India, China, Japan, Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan

Africa - Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco, Mali
Australia
Antartica

All three kids (at least Nadia and Ian):
1. Help cook at least one recipe for each country
2. Listen to folktales and other picture books about each country
3.  Listen to many chapter books (see list below)
4. Do one craft a week related to each country
5. Go on a wide variety of field trips
6. Listen to music from some of the countries
7. Read and discuss all three bedtime math books (just Nadia and Ian)
8. Watch dvd's related to some of the countries

Oliver - 3 year old Preschool
1. Start memorizing one Bible verse a week for Cubbies starting in September
2. Be able to count to 20 by May
3. Be able to identify all the uppercase letters of the alphabet by May
4.  Be able to write his first name by next August
5. Begin to use scissors
6. Be able to identify the basic shapes

Ian - Kindergarten:
1. Improve cutting skills
2. Complete the 1st grade and at least part of the 2nd grade spelling curriculum
3. Complete the A Beka Kindergarten science textbook
4. Memorize an average of three Bible verses a week for Sparks starting in September
5. Participate in a gym class (90 minutes a week), play on a soccer
team, take ice skating lessons, play on a basketball team, learn to ride a bike without training wheels, and take gymnastics
6. Sing in a children's choir at church once a week
7. Practice writing uppercase and lowercase letters through writing in a journal and completing the first grade handwriting textbook
8. Complete the 2nd and 3rd grade reading curriculum
9. Be able to count to 100 by ones and tens and complete simple addition and subtraction problems

Nadia - 2nd Grade
1. Complete portions of the Exploring World Geography textbook and play games to help her learn the locations of many of the countries in the world
2. Practice keyboarding skills at least three days a week
3. Use Rosetta Stone to learn more Spanish at least three days a week
4. Memorize at least three Bible verses a week for Sparks starting in September
5. Participate in a weekly gym class, play on a soccer team, take ice skating lessons, play on a basketball team, and take gymnastics
6. Sing in a children's choir at church once a week and practice the piano at least four times a week
7. Practice writing uppercase and lowercase letters through writing in a journal
8. Read chapter books independently
9. Help cook at least one recipe each week related to the country we are studying
10. Finish the 2nd grade math textbook (introduce regrouping) and do currency exchanges for each country
11. Complete the ACSI 2nd grade science textbook
12. Complete the 3rd and 4th grade spelling books
13. Write at least one letter or type one email each week
14. Share an oral current event via Skype with cousins once a week regarding the country being studied that week
15. Learn to play Chinese checkers, mancala, marbles, jacks, hopscotch, and chess.

Chapter Books: (not in order)
1. Kingdom Tales 2. Hero Tales 3. Stone Fox 4. Betsy and Tacy Go Over The Big Hill 5. Incredible Journey 6. Anne of Avonlea 7. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson 8. Gladys Aylward 9. Cameron Townsend 10. Amy Carmichael 11. Nate Saint 12. George Muller 13. David Livingstone 14. Rainbow Garden 15. The Secret at Pheasant Cottage 16. Hans Brinker 17. A Gift for Mama 18. Snow Treasure 19. King of the Wind 20. Three Go Searching 21. The Secret of the Fourth Candle 22. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi 23. Twenty-one Balloons,

24. BFG 25. Lotus Seed 26.  Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa 27. The Wheel on the School 28. Nory Ryan's Song 29. I, Juan de Pareja 30. Shadow of a Bull 31. Treasures of the Snow 32. Listening for Lions 33. Akimbo and the Lions 34. Call it Courage 35. Gay Neck: The Story of a Pigeon 36. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes 37. The Family Under the Bridge 38. Tales of the Resistance 38. Tales of the Restoration 39. The House of Sixty Fathers 40. Hero Tales vol. 2 41. Hero Tales vol. 3 42. Star of Light 43. The Endless Steppe 44. Letters from Rifka (and probably others will be added to the list considering we read 32 chapter books in the first six months of 2015)

I am really looking forward to the new school year!!!