Octavio’s Homeschooling Program Year 4
Nota para lectores en castellano: Si alguien desea leer esta información en español, solo me dices en un comentario y la traduciré inmediatamente.
Hello:
After three weeks of vacation we are ready for a fourth year of Homeschooling starting in July 3rd 2010.
In this fourth school program I will introduce a change in the schedule. We will make the schooling in two sessions: In the morning all the language lessons and in the afternoon we will work the “applied knowledge lesson”, basically science and history. The change in this schedule has to do with the fact that we will start to make the Science and History Notebooks. The notebooks require time and concentration and the use all of the language skills, so a break between the language lessons and those “applied knowledge lessons” will bring a better performance for both of us.
PROGRAM – FOURTH SCHOOL YEAR – GRAMMAR STAGE:
MORINING SESSION (5 days per week, weekend off):
-Dictation: One page in cursive, starting one hour per day (The goal is to copy by dictation one page in 30 minutes for the end of the school year.)
-Octavio’s reading aloud: Staring 15 minutes (The goal is to read 30 minutes each day for the end of the school year.)
-Spelling: Continue with Spelling Power Level D (about 10 minutes per day).
-Composition: Continue with Understanding Writing (about 20 minutes per day)
-Memorization: Selection of poems in English and Spanish.
-Pre-Logic/Mathematics: Mathematical Reasoning Level C, starting in page 136 two pages per day until finish the book, then move to Level D, also finish Building Thinking Skills Level 1 (we cover half of the books the past school year).
While I read aloud to Octavio, he will be working in classical languages:
-Latin: Latina Christiana (Starting with review of Lesson 10 until finish the curse)
-Greek: Elementary Greek Year 2 (Starting with review Lesson 10 until finish the curse, then start the Year 3):
-Hebrew: The First Hebrew Primer (Starting with review Lesson 6 and progressing at our pace)
AFTERNOON SESSION (5 days per week, weekend off):
-History: 30 minutes per day. Continue using Mystery of History Series.
-Science: 30 to 60 minutes per day. We will use Exploring Creation Series for Botany, Zoology, Human Anatomy and Physiology, and Astronomy. Sing and Seasons for Classical Astronomy; Planet Earth and Weather and Water for Earth Science; Thames and Cosmos Laboratory for Chemistry and Janice Van Cleave’s Physic for Every Kid for Physics.
We will take one science topic at the time (rotation sciences as we finish a topic). We will focus in going deep in the topic rather that covers a big amount of topics in a superficial manner. We will start our lessons reading the theory, then proceeding to the experimentation, evaluation of the experiment, conclusions and entry in the notebook. We know that some experiment will take more than one day, especially those that have relation with live subjects, other observation -as the Astronomical- could take several weeks, but as I mentioned, the goal is work science rather that just fill the bucket with random data.
If we cover in the school year main 5 topics of each science, I will feel that we make the goal.
Art and Music (On Free Time):
Bye, for now
Very nice plan,Perla. May God bless your new school year.
Perla, ¿que programa usan para el Plant Tissue Culture?
Hola Andrea:
Para Tissue Culture compre el Set Basico en Kitchen Cultures http://www.kitchenculturekit.com/kit.htm en adicion compre el medidor de PH y el libro Plants from Test Tubes.
Te recomiedo ver los videos de Franco en http://www.youtube.com/user/fbt2007 alli el explica bien lo basico.
Perla:
No entiendo cómo puede seguir Octavio tu lectura en voz alta si está trabajando en idiomas clásicos al mismo tiempo.
Cuando yo leo en voz alta, Jaime quiere enterarse de todo, y por eso no puede realizar ninguna otra actividad intelectual al mismo tiempo. Puede dibujar o algo así, pero no podría escribir, p.e.
Un plan muy ambicioso pero bien pensado. ¿Por qué os tomáis unas vacaciones tan cortitas?
Hola Carolina:
Octavio no sigue la lectura tan de cerca. A veces a los días se acuerda de algo que yo le leí.
Solo tomamos tres semanas de vacaciones porque posiblemente en Agosto tomemos las vacaciones oficiales (viajemos a Honduras), así que allí serán las verdaderas vacaciones.
Siempre a principio de cada año escolar la meta es más alta, en el camino voy adaptando.
Muy interesante lo del Plant Culture. ¿Podrías compartir una foto de su espacio de trabajo para esto?
Hola Andrea:
La foto de este post es exactamente el area de trabajo para Tissue Culture. La caja plastica boca abajo que se ve alli es la camara esteril ( cuando esta esteril por supuesto).
El exito del Tissue Culture es tenerlo todo muy esteril, para ello hay que preparar todo en el momento e irlo esterilizando antes del uso, hasta el momento solo una plantita me ha sobrevivido ( pero no ha madurado), el resto se han contaminado.
Voy a poner mas fotos de eso y de la Venus Fly Trap, que fue lo que nos motivo a entrar en el Tissue Culture.
No has mencionado nada de narración oral. ¿la vas a hacer después de la lectura de Octavio en voz alta?
Hola Carolina:
La narracion la hare en los tiempso de ciencia e historia cuando estemos haciendo los notebook. Octavio no es un chico verbal, se que hacer narracion en literatura solo haria las cosas mas dificiles, al menos por el momento.
Otra cosa que voy a incluir en los proyectos de ciencias es exposicion. Hare que Octavio exponga ( ante la camara), los temas importantes que vaya aprendiendo, haremos laminas y toda la cosa. Por este meido ire publicando las exposiciones.
Dear Perla,
Congratulations for your amazing work and results with Octavio. I have a question on the spelling books you use. I bought a book called Spelling power (orange) but there are no workbooks. I wonder if these are the same as you use with the different levels.
WIth your experience, how do kids at a young age learn best to write (without mistakes)?
Many thanks for your advice,
Have a nice day
Hello Iris:
I think is the same “orange” Spelling Power, It doesn’t come with workbooks, but it come with a CD from where you can print some forms to make the daily exercises.
Also the author sell some “workbook forms” readymade (are the same pages as the CD), so it depend of each one decide if is more convenient print the pages in home or buy the workbook.
I do not follow the program exactly as the author recommend. What I do is dictate 10 words per day (following the order of the book). Example, I say the word, then I say to Octavio the words in a sentences and then he writes it in the form and I ask him to spell it. If there are not misspelling, the next day we continue with the next 10 words, but if there where mistakes, I make Octavio to write the word correctly and write a sentence with it (there is a form for that exercise).
About writing I started with Cursive First, there is some good articles about what is easier for a young child start with cursive:
http://www.donpotter.net/PDF/Cursive%20First.pdf
Thank you for comment
Bye for now