Jackson

My handsome son will be 6 in August, I had planned on waiting until Fall to officially start school with him but his interest level is high & with our newest addition due in September I thought we would take this opportunity to get a jump on AO Year 1. Here is our curricula-of-choice for little Jack:

Art: Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes
Beginner Reading: Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Bible: Alternate stories from OT & NT & Leading Little One's to God
Foreign Language: Phrase-a-Day French
Geography: Paddle to the Sea by HC Holling with corresponding map work
Handicrafts/Life Skills: An American Boys Handibook
History: Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula(Protestant Church History), An Island Story by HE Marshall, and Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin
American History Biography: Benjamin Franklin by Ingri D'Aulaire
Natural Science: Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock, James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot, The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
Mathematics: Singapore Math K
Poetry: A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Literature: The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter, Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit, The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, and Parables from Nature by Margaret Gatty
Free Reading: (This is for the entire Year 1, not just Term 1) Charlotte's Web by EB White (currently reading w/ mom), King of the Golden River by John Ruskin, Peter Pan by JM Barrie (currently reading w/ big sis Erin), Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (currently reading w/ big sis Abby), The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (currently reading w/ whomever he can get to read it to him), St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges (read over & over & over, a favorite), The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Pocahontas by Ingri D'Aularie

Now, I realize this list may seem a bit much for a 5/6 yr old but we read small chunks at a time, do not read from every book every week and take it one small bit at a time. For example, today's schedule looks like this:

Monday June 4, 2007
Phonics: 100 Easy Lessons, Lesson 1 (15 to 20 min)
Bible: Read Story from OT and read 1st page of ch. 5 in Leading Little One's to God, start memorizing Bible verse for the week. (15 to 20 min.)
French: Phrase-a-Day (5 min)
Handicrafts: Read 2 pages from An American Boys Handibook (10min)
History: Read 1st 1/2 of Ch. 1 "Polycarp" (about 2.5 pages, 10 min allowing for oral narration)
Free Reading: Charlotte's Web, Ch. 2 (bedtime story, about 10 min), Peter Pan ch. 5 (bedtime Story, about 10 min), Pinocchio (bedtime Story, about 10 min)
Literature: Aesop for Children, read "Belling the Cat" & "The Eagle and the Jackdaw" (maybe 10 min)
Math: Singapore Math K (about 15 min working through lesson)
Music: Listen to music by Chopin, color a picture about him while we read 2 pages of his bio. (maybe 15 min, the music will be background music during meals)
Nature Study/PE: 1.6 mile walk & observe nature, plus lots of outside play time (2 hrs)
Poetry: A Child's Garden of Verses, read 1 poem each day (maybe 5 min)

So, how long is his day? About 2 hrs plus 30 min of stories at bedtime plus at least 2 hrs of outside play & nature observation.

My computer time is up for the day so I will post Erin's schedule tomorrow.