7th Grade Plans 2020-2021

Mercie will be in 7th grade next year, and I've been in full-blown curriculum research mode for a few weeks now! I think I finally have decided what she will be using for her 7th grade homeschool year.

MATH:
She finished Math Lessons for a Living Education 6, and I'm going to continue with Masterbooks. She will use Principles of Mathematics Book 1 this year, and she will use Book 2 next year. Mikaela and Eli both used this curriculum and we really enjoyed it.

LANGUAGE ARTS:
She  used Learning Language Arts Through Literature, the Tan book this year. We decided to continue in this series, and she will be using Learning Language Arts Through Literature, the Green book. The books she will be reading with this course are "The Star of Light" by Patricia Saint John, "Much Ado About Nothing" by Shakespeare, and "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart.

SCIENCE:
Her science course this year will be done independently. She will be using Apologia's General Science course for middle school.

HISTORY:
We will be doing history as a together subject with her 5th and 3rd grade brothers using Mystery of History Volume 1. I've been through this with her older siblings, and it's such a good, solid Bible-based ancient history. We will be using the notebooking pages and challenge cards with it.

ART:
She is using Artistic Pursuits right now and loving it (review coming soon). She will continue in this book until she is finished, and I'll order her another one in the series.

MORNING BASKET:
I'm going to bring our Morning Basket back into our homeschool day! We slowly quit doing it because I had a baby and we were in survival mode! It really does add so much to our lives, though, that I find it very important to bring back.

We will be using Road Trip USA by Confessions of a Homeschooler each morning to gently cover each of the 50 states. I am ordering every state book in the States Alphabet series to read during this time, as well as having map drills, states and capitals drills, and a few hands-on activities.

We will also be reading the Bible during this time. We are currently in Deuteronomy and will continue reading straight through the Bible. I read from the New Living Translation and discuss it.

We will work on scripture memory, memorizing chunks and chapters of scripture.

We will also have a poem a week, like we used to do. The kids loved reading the poem aloud and memorizing it. I usually choose poems based on the seasons or interests of the kids.

I'm also planning to have a read aloud each morning that corresponds with our history lessons. Mystery of History has tons of book suggestions that I will choose from.

Our Morning Basket will probably take around an hour each morning to do.

I'll share what I'm using with my 5th and 3rd graders in a few days!

Tot Learning Mats

I have been creating these really neat Tot Learning Mats for my 18-month old, Zeke. He really likes to use them! They are great for matching practice, increasing vocabulary, and speech therapy. They're also really simple - print two copies of each mat, laminate them both, and cut out the pictures from one of them to match to the corresponding mat! I store the loose pieces in envelopes with the title of the Tot Learning Mat written on the outside.

I have created two sets so far, but have plans for many, many more!

The Tot Learning Mat - Colors contains 10 mats with the colors: red, blue, green, orange, yellow, pink, purple, black, brown, and white.

The Old Testament Bible Stories A-Z includes 26 Bible stories from the Old Testament, such as Daniel in the Lion's Den and Noah's Ark. These are great for retelling Bible stories with your toddler!

I also have some play-dough shape mats!

Visit my Etsy shop and check them out!

Homeschool Highlights 5/18/20 - 5/22/20

On Monday, Mercie went to the orthodontist for the first time in 12 weeks. They pulled her last baby tooth, took off her spring that was helping her tooth move down, re-wired her mouth, and started her on rubber bands to fix her overbite. Her mouth was sore for a few days!

Tuesday I found out my first grandchild is going to be a grandson! Mikaela and I went for her gender scan and got to see Daniel on the ultrasound! That's the name she chose and I love it. We left straight from the doctor's office and headed to Austin, Texas, where Rod is working. It's actually a small town about 45 miles from Austin. It was about an 8 hour drive. Zeke got carsick a few times, and he absolutely hates riding in the car seat, but overall he was good!

We found the library Wednesday and got a library card without any hassle! They have a good movie selection and a nice board book selection. I got Zeke a few books to go along with his Tot School themes. We also picked up Domino's Pizza on the way home for supper.

All of the parks and playgrounds around here are still closed, which is a bummer because the RV park we are staying in doesn't have a play area. I'm still trying to figure out how we are going to get enough outside time while we are here!

Thursday we went to Georgetown, about a 45 minute drive, to do some shopping. Everything in Louisiana has been closed for a while, and Mercie needed some clothes. We went to Old Navy and TJ Maxx and got quite a few items for her, as well as a few things for baby Daniel and of course Zeke. I also got myself five shirts because I still haven't lost the baby weight and Zeke is still nursing so my chest area is still bigger than normal, and I don't have many cute shirts that fit. I really need to lose about 30 pounds!

Mercie, Silas, and Titus worked in the Summer Learning Binders almost every day this week.

Zeke finished his first week of Bible ABCs for Ones, Twos, and Threes! His story was Adam and Eve for the letter A, his color was green, and his Bible Big Idea was "I will obey God."

We used his Tot Learning Mats (which I made and am thinking about selling) to learn the color green and to help with the story of Adam and Eve. These mats are really great for teaching vocabulary words and matching concepts. Zeke started saying several new words this week, including "turtle" from his Tot Learning Mats.

We read the story of Adam and Eve and sang the Adam and Eve song (to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell") several times. He made a bubble wrap print snake with green paint and we put it in his notebook.

We played "Pass the Fruit" with a plastic apple. I repeated the Bible Big Idea, "I will obey God" several times. I will say, "I will obey..." and Zeke will finish with "God!"

He glued some clip art fruit to the letter "A" in his notebook.

He ate grapes and apples for a fruit-themed snack!

He made leaf rubbings with a green crayon!

How was your week?

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Mikaela is having a ....

B O Y!

We went to her appointment yesterday. Everything looks good so far! His heart rate was 160, and  he was wiggling around and showing off for the ultrasound. She goes back in four weeks for the anatomy scan. She's almost 16 weeks pregnant! She has decided to name him Daniel.

Now it's time to start buying cute boy clothes...

Latina Christiana - Learning Latin!

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

We haven't done much foreign language study in our homeschool, but Mercie was more than willing to try out Latina Christiana from Memoria Press! We received the Latina Christiana Complete Set which includes:

• Student Workbook containing 25 weekly lessons and 5 review lessons for a total of 30 lessons
• Teacher Manual with lesson plans, instructions, guides, and the tests and quizzes 
• Pronunciation CD containing pronunciations from each lesson as well as the prayers and songs
• Flashcards with all of the vocabulary words, derivatives, conjugations, declensions, and Latin sayings
• Instructional DVD 

I will admit that when I opened the box and looked through the materials, I was very intimidated! I read through the first portion of the Teacher Manual and my head started spinning! I have never studied Latin before, or any other foreign language, and I was confused. I started getting nervous that I would have to learn all of this and teach it to Mercie.

Then Mercie put in the Instructional DVD, and I was immediately relieved. The DVD is amazing. Each lesson is around 15 minutes long, and the instructor teaches everything Mercie needs to know. Mercie will watch the video and then complete the corresponding pages in the Student Workbook. The videos include vocabulary, grammar, practice exercises, prayers, songs, history lessons, and games. Without the Instructional DVD, we would have been totally lost! The instructor makes everything to simple and clear to understand.

The Student Workbook is very well-done. Each lesson is on a two page spread. The left side contains the lesson for the week, with the Latin saying, vocabulary words, and grammar forms. This is very easy to understand and usually has very helpful charts and tables. The right side contains the exercise activities, which consist of translating Latin to English or English to Latin and grammar practice. The worksheet would take Mercie around 20 minutes or less to complete. She did have to look back for some of the translations and grammar, but she can remember quite a bit!

(left side with lesson and new information-

Mercie took some notes)

(right side with the exercises)

In the back of the Student Workbook are prayers, conversational Latin, songs, sayings, grammar forms, history guide, vocabulary index (by grammar form and alphabetical), English to Latin reference (which was very helpful!), derivatives, and definitions. We did use the English to Latin reference quite a bit trying to figure out some of the lesson exercises!

She also studies her flashcards. There are flashcards for all of the vocabulary words, Latin sayings, derivatives, declensions, and conjugations. They are really nice and thick, and Mercie finds them very helpful.

(the small stack are the cards she is learning -

the huge stack are the cards she hasn't gotten to yet!)

The Teacher Manual contains the Student Workbook pages with answers, the same Appendices as the Student Workbook, an Advanced Grammar Overview, quizzes, tests, and the answer key. It's also spiral-bound, which I love.

Mercie has really enjoyed learning Latin! She studies her flashcards and has learned quite a few Latin words. She can do this independently, other than having me check her workbook pages. It takes her around an hour a week to do, watching the video, completing the workbook pages, and studying her flashcards. I am very impressed with this program! I never considered having my kids learn Latin before, but Memoria Press makes it very easy and effective. Latina Christiana is available for $98.90 and is an entire year's curriculum for 3rd to 6th graders. See what other reviewers thought about Latina Christiana and more Latin programs by Memoria Press by clicking the banner below.  

Summer Learning Binders

We have wrapped up our 2019-2020 school year,  but I really want to keep my kid's minds active over the summer. We normally spend most of our days outside, and I don't want to do a full curriculum with my kids over the summer, so I decided to make them each a Summer Learning Binder.

I got each child a 1-inch, 3-ring binder and a few dividers and am filling the binders with math worksheets, language art units, and other fun projects I thought they would enjoy. I am getting some of my units from School House Teachers, which has tons of options to choose from. Here is what is going in each child's binder.

Mercie, new 7th grader:
Fun with Fairy Tales: This course is actually for 4th-6th graders, but I've never been a stickler for grade levels! She will be reading various fairy tales and learning about the different story elements through them. She already knows most of this stuff, but it's great review and I knew she'd like reading the fairy tales in our Grimm's Fairy Tales book.

Daily Math: There are so many math topics in this course from School House Teachers! I'm going to choose all review topics because I want this to be an independent activity. I also added a package of worksheets from the Dollar Tree on charts and graphs, greatest common factor, and least common multiples, just for extra practice.

Discovering the Elements of Poetry: This is an 8 week course that talks about, well, the different elements in poetry! She loves poetry.

Physical Science Articles: These are articles with questions following on range of topics from volcanoes to matter to what the earth is made of. I got this from the Dollar Tree, and the articles are interesting to read and very well written.

Silas, new 5th grader:
Adventures in Writing: This is a writing course for elementary students. He will be writing a story about a farm animal, which is right up his alley since he loves working with our cows! It's an 8-week course, with one lesson a week.

Page a Day Math: This is actually a review product! I printed out the worksheets from the Division Kit for him to work on over the summer. It's basically copy-work for the division facts. He really needs to learn his division facts before starting 4th grade math. (He is in 5th grade everything except math.)

Multiplication and Division Word Problems: I picked this up from the Dollar Tree. There are 38 worksheets with multiplication and division word problems. He needs this practice, too!

Geography: I picked up a package of worksheets for him from the Dollar Tree on human and physical geography. He reads the articles and answers the questions. It's also very well written and interesting to read.

Titus, new 3rd grader:
Page a Day Math: This is the same as Silas's except I printed out the Multiplication Kit. He hasn't learned his multiplication facts yet, but I thought it would be a good activity to work on over the summer.

Addition and Subtraction: This is from the Dollar Tree, and it's review for him. The word problems are great reading practice, though.

Handwriting: This is also from Page a Day Math, but it's handwriting practice. He really needs this!

Sight Words for 2nd and 3rd Grade: He doesn't need the reading practice, but he does need the handwriting practice! This is from the Dollar Tree, and each page features two sight words that he will practice writing and then he'll write a sentence using each word.

They will use these binders each day for about half an hour to an hour during their quiet time. In each binder is also a book log that they will use to keep track of each book they read this summer.

We will also be working through a 7-week history unit together, which will consist of reading, games, crafts, and activities!

What do you think of Summer Learning Binders? Do you do something similar?

Homeschool Highlights 5/11/20 - 5/15/20

This was our first week of summer break! We tried to enjoy it as best we could being that Louisiana has started loosening restrictions on the stay at home order. On Sunday we went to my mom and dad's for Mother's Day. My dad grilled burgers, chicken and sausage, my mom made her special baked beans, and I brought a hashbrown casserole and brownies. We had a corn-hole tournament which was a lot of fun!

Zeke and Nana (my mom)

Mikaela, Mercie and Nana

Papa (my dad) taking the corn-hole tournament very seriously!

The kids got me some really great Mother's Day gifts - some more plants for my back porch, a bag full of my favorite candy, books, cards, and coupons for foot massages!

We had my sister's kids over for sleepovers. She has four kids, so we had the oldest over on Sunday night, the next oldest on Monday night, and the two youngest on Tuesday night. The kids all had a blast and were outside most of the time. The weather was warm enough to wear shorts, but not hot enough to break a sweat - perfect weather to me!

They devoured the entire pan of Mexican Casserole!

We worked in our garden, and everything is growing so well. We have been trying to weed one row each a day to keep the weeds minimal. I don't want to use any chemicals on it. I really like being in the garden. There's something peaceful about working the soil with your hands!

My first little tomatoes!!

My garden getting a slow rain

I printed out our Road Trip U.S.A. teacher's guide and put it in a binder. I still have to print our Jeopardy cards, state fact cards, and puzzles but I need card stock and more ink for that. I'm going to head to the store later to pick that up. I also need to print the boy's student worksheets and get those in binders.

I also finished writing and printed out Zeke's Tot School curriculum. I'm anxious to get started with him, simply because toddlers are so much fun! We may begin next week.

I've just about decided on curriculum for this coming school year. The only thing I'm still debating on is Mercie's history and science curriculum. She will be doing that independently this year, which is sort of bittersweet.

Next Tuesday, Mikaela has her gender reveal ultrasound! I'm so excited to find out if she is having a boy or girl. Leave a comment with your guess! The appointment is in the town an hour and a half away from our small town. We will leave right after her appointment and head to Austin, Texas, where Rod is working. We will stay with him for about three weeks and then come back for Mercie's orthodontist appointment and Mikaela's 20-week anatomy ultrasound, then we will head back to Texas for awhile.

Zeke loves to be read to!

My parents are going to tend to my garden while I'm gone, and Rod's dad and brother are going to take care of our dogs, cows, and horses. I hate to leave the garden, but we really miss being with Rod all the time. I know my dad will take good care of it for me!

The kids have been working in their Summer Learning Binders almost daily. Titus has been using Reading Kingdom, a review product, online, and Mercie is still using her Latin and Artistic Pursuits (review products). She loves both of them, so it's not a chore to her.

Silas working in his Summer Learning Binder on the back porch.

Zeke has enjoyed being outdoors all day long. He loves his water table, the slip and slide, his Cozy Coupe, and playing with rocks. Rod's mom brought him a little lawnmower that blows bubbles, and he has enjoyed pushing that around the yard!

Random shots from the week:

Watching it rain

Cheese!

Eating ice-cream at Nana's!


Mikaela was, too!


Silas learning to draw people from YouTube vidoes.

How as your week?

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