Schedule is my middle name.

Didn't you know that by now? I love lists and schedules. I admit it. Motherhood is one place where that has come in handy in a big way. I am flexible, but only because I have no choice. It does bother me when things don't go by the schedule, but not enough to totally freak me out. I made a schedule for our whole day, morning till night. I am sure it will have to be modified after a week or so when I see if it is reasonable and peaceful. Also, I have still not found a homeschooling group as of yet. I have a few possibilities that I am researching this week. But I have no idea when I will need a block of time for them. I am trying out a prayer group today and there is a story time on Wednesdays too. I will have to decide between these two activities and then make schedule adjustments. I am also on the hunt for a dance class for the girls which will have to be fit into the schedule. I am leaving Friday for errands and/or field trips or just to catch up around here.

We will have themed weeks A through M for this semester. I have planned library lists, crafts, field trips, songs, historical topics, and even snacks centered around the letter of the week. Feast Days will trump the letter of the week, but mostly we are sticking to it. As for the details:

For Math, I am using Singapore Math. Hannah will be starting on Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics Textbook: B, since that is where I think she could comfortably begin and Genna will be starting in the Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics Textbook: A.

For Handwriting (HW), Hannah will be using Kindergarten Handwriting for Young Catholics and working through strokes and the alphabet. Genna will be doing print outs of tracing, practicing on lined marker boards, etc the letter of the week.

For Reading, Hannah will be picking up where we left off last year in How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, maybe backtracking a bit to lesson #. Genna will be starting the book at lesson #1 and only doing two lessons a week to start off.

For Religion, we will pray for a specific cause, then read a Bible story or about a Saint and read Hannah's Kindergarten Catechism for Young Catholics. Some days there will be a coloring sheet to go along with the theme. The letter A week's lessons include Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, Abraham, and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary since that is Wednesday's feast day. We will also be using My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts to memorize a verse weekly starting with the appropriate letter. The A week verse is "A soft answer turns away wrath." Proverbs 15:1

For Arts/Crafts, we will be doing letter of the week themed arts and crafts or I will be teaching Genna to tie a bow and lace, and Hannah how to embroider, cross stitch, and use the sewing machine. The letter A week crafts are making ant place mats, giant ants, and an angel bracelet.

For Science, we will mostly be reading kid science books and discussing things as we see them and the kids ask questions. I do have a couple of science books that I will be resourcing. The first week there will be no Science lesson because I have Geography and History taking their place.

For Geography, we have a few USA book and activity books where we can read about states that begin with the letter of the week. We also have USA maps and puzzles that we can resource.

For History, I will be checking out books based on people that start with the letter of the week. The letter A week book is A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart.

For German, we have yet to find a tutor for the girls to continue their German. So for now, we will be having two days a week during their independent quiet times that I will put on various German media (mainly CDs, but some movies.) Hannah will do it two days and Genna will do it the other two days.

Our field trip for week A is to Butler's Orchard to try to pick apples if they are ready. We will also buy apples to make apple dumplings for Friday night' dessert. (We will also be having apple juice and ants on a log during snack times.)

Other Books for A week:

The Little Red Ant and the Great Big Crumb by Shirley Climo-from library

How do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro-from library

Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Wallace-own it

The Alphabet of Catholic Saints by Brenda and George Nippert-own it

Songs for A week:

Ave Maria

Apples and Bananas

Alice the Camel

Meinen Augen (German song about eyes)

Okay, I have gone on enough! Sorry for the information overload! This is why it took me the whole summer to get ready!