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While I am sharing our current outline please always remember to follow your own child’s interest. And while I share certain topics and days also remember that we have a homeschool room that contains traditional Montessori materials that they work with.
We begin our mornings with our Morning Basket (30-60 minutes). (Here’s a look at our morning basket, an updated post coming soon.) During this time we also work with the moveable alphabet. Traditionally these would just be available to them and not something we would go over daily. However, I have found that they prefer to go over the letters with sound boxes and sandpaper letters together. We have also incorporated materials that allow for more movement, which has been a huge hit. After a month or so I will put this work back into their homeschool room and reassess.
E and V have shown a lot of interest in flags, so flags will be how we will dictate what countries we will be studying. They are most familiar with the Canadian and United States flags, so those will be the countries we will do first. We decided on the United States first due to their latest interest in Prince’s song ‘Raspberry Beret’.
E and V have also shown great interest in pregnancy and babies, due to the arrival of a new cousin a few months ago. Varies questions have led to another topic that we will be focusing on this month: mammals vs. non-mammals. We will be using the Children’s Human Body Encyclopedia when we talk about some mammalian traits, particularly in us, humans.
It’s important to note that our first official day will begin September 11. Why? Because that is the week dance class begins and past experiences have shown that it is best for us.
A reminder that E and V enjoy reading, so you’ll notice a lot of books. This may not be the case for your child and that’s okay.
September 11-15.
Monday: Prince. We will read this book as well as enjoy listening to his music. Did I share how E and V became interested in Prince? We went to a restaurant that had different song lyrics to sing while washing our hands. One of the songs was ‘Raspberry Beret’. I got it stuck in my head and sang it over and over, which got it stuck in their heads and they sang it over and over. When I asked if they wanted to listen to some of his music, which of course they did, and learn more about him. I didn’t realize his influence until the show Black-ish a few years ago. So I’m rather eager to share all he’s done with E and V. Did you know he wrote, ‘When You Were Mine’ for Cyndi Lauper; ‘Manic Monday’ for The Bangles; and ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ for Sinead O’Connor? I think E and V will really enjoy seeing Prince’s style.
Tuesday: Norman Rockwell. His work is a bit different than what we’ve studied in the past. E and V were looking at some dinnerware with his work, talking about what they saw amongst themselves, so I thought they would enjoy learning more. There are a few books I came across about him and his work: this one seems to be more about his art, this one seems to be more about his life, and a children’s story he wrote. Did you know many art critics dismissed his work…and yet he is a household name and collected by many? What a great lesson for young minds. We will also try to draw our own Norman Rockwell-style art.
Wednesday: Aesop’s fables. We read one fable and discuss it. This was something I started late last school year with them and it’s been great.
Thursday: We will talk about what makes a mammal a mammal, covering the traits over the next few weeks. This week we’ll talk about mammary glands. I purchased this book. I’m going to be honest, the book doesn’t go as in-depth as I had hoped, but it’s a great intro. I’ll look for other materials based on the questions they ask.
September 18-22.
Monday: Dolly Parton. I found two books about Dolly that we will be reading, this and this, as well as her own children’s book that she wrote (head up, it’s a tear-jerker).
Tuesday: Georgia O’Keeffe. We will read this book. She was influenced by cubism and realism movements of the early 1900s and used a variety of mediums–so we will try to create our own pieces inspired by her.
Wednesday: Aesop.
Thursday: What makes a mammal? This week we will talk about hair/fur.
September 25-19
Monday: Aretha Franklin. I was actually going to talk about another band, however, when I ordered this book, as suggested, they weren’t in there. But the amazing Aretha was!
Tuesday: Jackson Pollock. We will read this book as well as create our own work inspired by him. I’m going to be honest, I’ve never been a fan of his but I’m hoping that seeing his work through E and V’s eyes will change that.
Wednesday: Aesop.
Thursday: What makes a mammal? This week we will talk about being warm-blooded.
That’s a look at our September outline, but it may change as I follow E and V’s lead. Fingers crossed that illnesses stay a little more at bay this year as I have a few outlines in the works that I think the girls would really enjoy, based on questions they’ve had from reading other books.
Let me know if you’d like a look at the materials in the homeschool room.
