Fifth Grade, Second Grade, Kindergarten, and Preschool

2014-2015 School Year Books and Resources

First Son - fifth grade, Mater Amabilis Level 2, Year 2
First Daughter - second grade, Mater Amabilis Level 1A, Year 1
Second Daughter - kindergarten, Mater Amabilis Prep Level
Second Son - preschooler and trouble-maker

 

Everyone

• Family Read Alouds - I try to choose from a variety of interest levels, alternating a book more for the older kids with one more for the younger ones. Most of them, I'm amazed at how much they enjoy all of them. 
• American History - Connecting with History volume 4 - We'll cover the first three or four units. I'll read some things aloud to all the kids and the older two will do individual work as well.
• Ancient History - Connecting with History volume 1 - We'll cover a bit more than half of this volume. I'll read quite a lot aloud but the older two will do individual work as well. (See a review I wrote here.)
• Literature
• Poetry - We read from a book of poetry once a week, just for the enjoyment of it.
• Fairy Tales
• The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang - We started this last year and just have a few stories left. You can read all the Lang colored fairy books for free online, but my children prefer the Dover editions.
• Michael Hague's Favorite Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales
• Aladdin and The Enchanted Lamp by Philip Pullman, illustrated by Sophy Williams
• Merlin and the Making of the King by Margaret Hodges, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman 
• The Book of Saints and Heroes by Andrew and Lenora Lang - This is not technically a book of fairy tales, but some of the stories are larger-than-life and obviously embellished, so I think it's an adequate substitute until I get around to purchasing The Green Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (the third in the fairy series)
• Shakespeare - We're going to memorize the selections in How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig. I also plan to summarize the chapters for the kids. Read my review of the book here. 
• Copywork - First Son and First Daughter both will have copywork of their own selection this year. They may choose from prayers, memory verses, poems, sayings of the saints, or excerpts from their readings. I have to approve any excerpts. If they make the prayers really beautiful, I told them I'd laminate them for our prayer table at home.
• Virtue Study and Character Education - daily discussion of a virtue and the prayer from Education in Virtue saint cards and individual work with the virtue cards by the older two
• Music and Music Appreciation
• Lives of the Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times (and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull - We'll read a few pages on the composer from this book. Then...
• listen to the life of the composer on the Music Masters composer CDs (Here's a link to a review of the CDs and a post on how we've used them in the past.) Then...
• We listen to full pieces by the composers on Spotify. (I highly recommend spending the $5 per month to eliminate the commercials.)
• children's choir at our church for the older three
• piano lessons for the older two
• Making Music Praying Twice for the younger two - read my review here.
• Art Appreciation - We'll cover four artists this year. I printed some paintings for each one for picture study and we'll read a bit here and there as well.
• Paul Cezanne - Paul Cezanne: A Painter's Journey by Robert Burleigh, Cezanne and the Apple Boy by Laurence Anholt, and five paintings
• Vincent Van Gogh - Van Gogh (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia (on DVD from our library), Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt, Vincent's Colors, and 7 paintings
• Henri Rousseau - Henri Rousseau by Mike Venezia, The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau by Michelle Markel, and 3 paintings
• George Seurat - Seurat and La Grande Jatte: Connecting the Dots by Robert Burleigh, Georges Seurat by Mike Venezia, and 3 paintings
• Art - We'll paint or draw or something like that on a regular basis. My goal is twice a month.
• Memory Work - each of the older three have Scripture memory verses and binders of poems and other memory work to practice with me each day.
• Faith and Religious Education
• Scripture - I read a psalm with the children each morning. We will also be reading through the Old Testament this year in our history studies.
• Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (Level I for Second Son, Level II for First Daughter and Second Daughter, Level III for First Son)
• CCD on Sunday mornings
• Children's Adoration at our parish (for the older three)
• Advent - Stations of the Nativity (especially for the girls), picture book a day, Jesse Tree, and other activities (See some of our Advent and Christmas activities here.)
• Lent - flower prayer garden, sacrifice beans, and other activities (See some of our activities here.)
• Monthly letters to our CFCA friend
• Practical Work and Handiwork
• Gardening
• Baking
• Cross-stitching (for First Daughter)
• Latch-hook (for First Son, who is finishing a rug he started last year)
• Maybe some soap carving
• Nature Study
• monthly nature walks

Preschool

• being outside
• listening to as many picture books as we can read

Kindergarten

• Kindergarten Stories and Morning Talks written and compiled by Sara E. Wiltse - read my review.
• Math - Life of Fred Apples (2 chapters a week or less with Mom, other books as we get to them) and at least one day a week of playing games like Blink Card Game The World's Fastest Game, Learning Resources Sum Swamp, and Skippity.
• The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading - read my review. We'll also be playing games from The Logic of English Phonogram & Spelling Game Book.
• Handwriting - Cursive First - read my review.
• Fables - Aesop's Fables for Children by Milo Winter. Read my review.
• I created a lot of the activities in Teaching Montessori in the Home: Pre-School Years: The Pre-School Years. These will be available for Second Daughter (and Second Son), but she has already mastered most of them. See the Montessori posts.
• Selections from Catholic Mosaic: Living the Liturgical Year With Children
• Saints - My First Book of Saints - Read my review. 
• Picture Books - I will ask Second Daughter to choose a picture book to read each day from a group I'll put together each week with selections from any (though usually not all) of the following categories that match what First Son and First Daughter are doing: American History, Ancient History, Science (mostly from First Daughter's biology and nature studies), Reading Around the World (all picture books set in Africa), liturgical year readings (saint books and feast days), or just picture books I really love and want to have an excuse to read again and again.
 

Second Grade

• Math
• Life of Fred - She'll start with Apples and move through the Elementary books are her own pace. I expect her to get through the first few books rather quickly and then slow down. At least twice a week, we'll work through the problems together so I know she's still understanding everything.
• Math facts - She can choose between Subtraction Wrap-ups and xtramath
• Language
• Independent Reading - I've selected a number of books for First Daughter to read during the year. My son still read aloud to me in second grade, but she is proficient enough to read independently. These books are not for narration, though we talk about them if she likes.
• Writing - The Complete Writer: Level Two Workbook for Writing with Ease. This includes narration, copywork, and dictation practice, though she'll do some additional copywork and continue to narrate other subjects. 
• Spelling - Sequential Spelling 1 Student Workbook. Read my review.
• Latin - Song School Latin Book 2 Student Edition. Read my review of Song School Latin 1.
• Note that I have opted to skip "grammar" in second grade. I'll do an in-depth study of grammar with my daughter in 4th and 5th grade and decided she didn't need grammar at this age, especially as much as she reads. Primary Language Lessons is a good choice for grammar, if you want to include it. I reviewed it here. 
• Handwriting - Cursive First - read my review. (She finished the whole book last year, but I printed new pages and let her work through one or two a day just for practice on days she's not doing copywork.)
• Catechism and Sacrament Preparation
• Catechism - Blessed Be God in His Angels and in His Saints by Janice Smyth (an old book gifted to me by another homeschooling family which is apparently no longer available; Faith and Life 2 is good as well.)
• The Brown Scapular Coloring Book by Mary Fabyan Windeatt 
• Jesus with Us: The Gift of the Eucharist by Anthony Tarzia and Julian Ferri
• Friendship with Jesus: Pope Benedict XVI Talks to Children on Their First Holy Communion
• A Reconciliation Reader-Retreat: Read-Aloud Lessons, Stories, and Poems for Young Catholics Preparing for Confession by Janet P. McKenzie
• The Good Shepherd and His Little Lambs Study Edition: A First Communion Story-Primer by Mrs. Hermann Bosch and Janet P. McKenzie
• Saints - The Young People's Book of Saints by Hugh Ross Williamson. Read my review.
• Advent - The Way to Bethlehem by Inos Biffi (discussed in this post) and The Mice, the Monks, and the Christmas Tree
• Lent - Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls by Caryll Houselander. Read my review.
• Easter -The Way of the Cross: A Story of Padre Pio by Claire Jordan Mohan. Read my review and notes on alternatives because this is out of print.
• Myths - Classic Myths to Read Aloud by William F. Russell (Listening Level 1). Read my review.
• People and Places
• The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren
• Red Sails to Capri by Ann Weil, mentioned in this post.
• The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
• Maps - Maps, Charts, and Graphs B: Neighborhoods. Read my review.
• Weather - Weather and Climate: Geography Facts and Experiments by Barbara Taylor, mainly following the lesson plans at Mater Amabilis.
• Science - I've put together a year of biology and nature studies combining some of the Noeo Biology 1 books, Creepy Crawlies and the Scientific Method, butterflies, and tadpoles.
• Nature Reading - The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess (I like the illustrations in this edition.)

Fifth Grade

• Math
• Life of Fred Fractions (You really need to know the multiplication and division facts to be successful in this book. We took a break after a few weeks to concentrate on long division and adding fractions with different denominators using Khan Academy for focused practice.)
• Math facts practice
• xtramath
• Speed on the ipad
• Multiplication Wrap Ups
• Language
• Independent Reading - I've selected a number of books for First Son to read during the year. Generally, these books are not for narration, though it does include books read for history, saint stories, and geography.
• Writing and Composition - Writing With Skill, Level 1: Student Workbook and I find the Instructor Text really helpful.
• Spelling - Sequential Spelling 2. You need the Teacher's Guide for the word lists.
• Latin - Latin for Children, Primer B and all the other stuff (answer key, activity book, DVDs, chant CDs, history reader). Read my review of Latin for Children A here.
• Note that First Son is not officially doing grammar this year. He had an extensive grammar course over third and fourth grades. We talk about grammar nearly every week in Latin and often in his writing course as well. We'll probably add grammar back in next year.
• Religious Studies
• Advent - Stories of the Child Jesus from Many Lands by A. Fowler Lutz
• Lent - The Way of the Cross by Inos Biffi
• Easter - Our Lady's Book by Lauren Ford
• Saints - 57 Stories of Saints by Anne Heffernan (We're skipping the stories of St. Dymphna and St. Maria Goretti.)
• Pearls of Peace - Pearls of Peace A Rosary Journey through the Holy Land by Christine Haapala
• Note that First Son is not officially doing catechism this year. He read Faith and Life 4 at home last year and Faith and Life 5 in CCD. Because he's also going to children's adoration, children's choir (where they're learning chant), CCD, and Level III Catechesis of the Good Shepherd each week in addition to the studies above, I decided we could skip reading another catechism book at home this year.
• Myths - The Aeneid for Boys and Girls by Alfred J. Church
• Geography and Earth Studies
• American Geography
• Tree in the Trail by Holling C. Holling
• Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling
• map work with this Holling Geography Map Pack
• Africa - Here's a post on our plans.
• map work with The Geography Coloring Book
• Safari Journal by Hudson Talbott
• Mamba Point by Kurtis Scaletta
• A Gift from Childhood: Memories of an African Boyhood by Baba Wague Diakite
• Maps - Maps, Charts, and Graphs E: United States and Neighbors
• Science - Science in Ancient Rome and the Human Body, mainly following the plans at Mater Amabilis
• Blood and Guts by Linda Allison
• The Body Book: Easy-to-Make Hands-on Models that Teach by Donald Silver and Patricia Wynne
• Galen and the Gateway to Medicine by Jeanne Bendick

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