What I Want to Cover This Year...



Hopefully everyone had a wonderful holiday season!  I know how stressful that time of year can be.  And busy...so so busy!  I barely found time to finish planning our new school year.  In fact, I still have a long ways to go as far as planning the whole thing, but I don't like to plan too much too far in advance anyhow.

That being said, I do like to have a general overview of what I want our son to learn.  Switching to homeschooling has been a challenge for us.  One of the biggest things I'm starting to realize is I don't have to stick to a specific grade level on every subject.  I can adjust each according to what level he is currently at.  I'll write more on this in a different post, but when we started homeschooling our son a little over 2 years ago, I was clueless on all the options there were.  We started him in the K12 program through a school in our state.  For 2 years we fought him to do work.  He hated it!  Finally, after struggling for the last 2 years and him not really learning much of anything because of it, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and create our own curriculum.  Because of that loss of 2 years, I have to back a few things down a couple of grades.  Mostly just math & science.

So that brings me to the purpose of this blog post.  I thought I would share exactly what I plan for him to learn over the course of 2017.  I hope to have him caught back up to grade level in 2 years time.  We shall see how that goes.  Allow me to present our curriculum plan for the following year:

MATH
Main Goal
Be caught up to 5th grade level math.
Things to Learn
(**NOTE:  I used a great web-source for what he should know for math, so some of this is copied verbatim.  You can find that source HERE.)
Be completely comfortable adding & subtracting up to 5-digit numbers, including borrowing.
Know the sum, differences & products of all single-digit numbers by memory.
Tell time efficiently.
Know how to make change (money).
Do math in head more efficiently.
Even vs. odd numbers. (not sure why this trips him up so badly)
Understand prime numbers.
Add, subtract & compare decimals & fractions.
Multiply 3-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers.
Divide 4-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers, including any remainders.
Identify points, lines, rays & angles in 2D figures.
Use basics of Algebra & Geometry (Up to 5th grade level).
Introduce the tesselation escalation.
Learn basics of coordinate graphs.
Learn basics of bar, circle & line graphs.
Understand measurements & properly use measuring methods for length, weight, capacity & temperature.
Sources to Use
Horizons Math books
Time4Learning
Brain Quest Workbook


HISTORY
Main Goal
Learn about US History.
Things to Learn
Native Americans Unit
Early Explorers Unit
13 Colonies Unit
American Revolution Unit
Building of a New Nation Unit
Civil War Unit
Events after the Civil War until Present day...basics.
Sources to Use
Time4Learning
Teachers Pay Teachers
Pinterest
Library books
Misc. Internet Resources


GEOGRAPHY
Main Goal
Learn the 50 states, capitals and facts.
Things to Learn
Cultures & features of the US vs. other countries.
Basic ecosystems such as deserts, mountains, etc.
Geographic features such as islands, forests, etc.
Read & interpret maps of the US.
Identify & locate all 50 states & their capitals.
Know the 5 regions of the US.
Name current key political leaders of the US & Utah.
Sources to Use
Time4Learning
Teachers Pay Teachers
Pinterest
US Roadtrip Unit Study by by Confessions of a Homeschooler
Library books
Misc. Internet Resources


SCIENCE
Main Goal
Be caught up to 5th grade level science.
Things to Learn
3 areas of science:  Life, Earth & Physical
Learn what scientists do.
Learn the scientific method & use it efficiently.
Life Science:  cells, ecosystems, 3 to 5 of the major kingdoms (plants, animals, fungi, protists, monerans).
Earth Science:  water cycle, solar system, earth's layers & surface, rocks/fossils/plates/volcanoes.
Physical Science:  3 states of matter (solid/liquid/gas), elements & periodic table, forms of energy, basics of physics, simple chemical reactions.
Sources to Use
Time4Learning
TeachersPayTeachers
Pinterest
Library Books
Misc. Internet Resources
Science Curriculum - still deciding what to use here.


LANGUAGE ARTS
Reading
Main Goal
Read LOTS of books!  Understand meaning of text.
Things to Learn
Discussion of materials read.
Using context clues.
Summarize & organize thoughts about reading.
Learn several different genres.
Poetry.
Understand conflict, climax and resolution of a story.
Relating stories to own life.
Understand characters, plot, settings & author's purpose.
Sources to Use
Books that involve subjects learned in other subjects.
Books to read for fun.


Writing
Main Goal
Enjoy writing.  Write 1000+ word long essays, etc.
Things to Learn
Planning a writing assignment & tools available to help.
Write reports as well as creative writings.
Learn the writing process.
Be able to write a full paragraph with intro topic sentence, at least 3 supporting details and a closing sentence.  Followed later by a well thought out & organized, multi-paragraph composition.
Start to find own writing style & personality.
Compose at least one basic research project.
Learn to edit writing.
Sources to Use
Time4Learning
Still searching for a curriculum book to use.


Grammar/Usage/Mechanics
Main Goal
Be at 5th grade level.
Things to Learn
Correctly use commas & quotations.
Correctly use prefixes, suffixes & root words.
Understand & use word endings.
Learn to use research tools such as the library, encyclopedias, the internet, newspapers, etc.
Sources to Use
Time4Learning
Still searching for a curriculum book to use.

Spelling
Main Goal
Understand spelling rules & be able to spell increasingly difficult words.
Things to Learn
Spelling words at 5th grade level.
Correctly spelling often misused words such as they're/their/there.
Sources to Use
Time4Learning
Still searching for a curriculum book to use.


Vocab
Main Goal
Be at a 6th grade understanding level of vocabulary.
Things to Learn
Use everyday lessons to find vocabulary words to learn.
Sources to Use
Time4Learning
Still searching for a curriculum book to use.



HANDWRITING
Main Goal
Be able to write all letters intelligibly and correctly.
Things to Learn
Properly write & use all capital & lower case letters.
Sources to Use
Handwriting Without Tears


KEYBOARDING
Main Goal
Be able to use the keyboard without looking at it.
Things to Learn
Just improve on typing skills
Sources to Use
Typing Shark

***From here down I am still working on this list, so will edit it later as I plan things***

MISC.
Spanish
Main Goal
Be able to speak, read & write basic phrases in Spanish.
Things to Learn
Greetings
Basic questions & answers
Alphabet
Vowels
Pronunciation
Sources to Use
Not sure yet...


Nature Studies
Main Goal
Develop a deeper love of the great outdoors.  Have fun!
Things to Learn
Themed around the seasons
Sources to Use
Many beautiful books on Amazon
https://www.nature-watch.com/


Technology
Main Goal
Learn the basics of coding.  Understand & use Microsoft Office for basic projects.
Things to Learn
Microsoft word & excel
Coding basics.
Sources to Use
Many useful apps on the ipad.
Books found on Amazon.


Art
Main Goal
Explore different mediums of art.  Learn some of the famous artists from history.
Things to Learn

Sources to Use


Music
Main Goal
Learn to play the piano at an intermediate level and improve singing to stay on key.
Things to Learn

Sources to Use


Health & PE
Main Goal
Learn basics of body systems.  Exercise 3 times per week.
Things to Learn

Sources to Use


Home Economics
Main Goal
Learn kid friendly cooking, how to keep room/area clean & other misc. chores.
Things to Learn

Sources to Use