Materials

I know this varies so much from family to family. I wanted to share what we got, in case anyone was looking for ideas.

The basics, of course - paint, paint brushes, markers, colored pencils, crayons, construction paper, printer ink, clipboards, printer paper, erasers, pencil sharpeners, paint cups, google eyes, jewels, scissors, feathers, glue, tape and little puff balls. Then I got some more things specific to our units. I'm going to link them up.

Alphabet/Number books
Apple Fraction Game
Magnetic Calendar
Break Your Own Geodes (squee!)
Make your own telescopes
Mini Dino Skeletons
Dino Dig Kit
Life Cycle Charts
Bug Learning Charts
Fruit and Veggie Poster Set
Human Body Flip Chart

None of this stuff is necessary. It's all just extra fun. I really can't wait to get our order! There are a few other things I've got my eye on, but they were out of stock.

I also got the girls each:

A sketch pad, for when we're out and about.
A story book - which has writing paper on the bottom and a sketch area on top.
A writing tablet.
A journal.

Each day will we have 30 minutes or so of journaling. That's time for them to just be creative. And I get to keep the journal for memories.

We also stopped by Lakeshore Learning and I picked up a few things. A Preschool skills book - which is mostly cutting/gluing/numbers/etc - things for Pia that we need to concentrate on this year. I also got her a Language Journal, which has all our letters and numbers, and words/pictures she can refer to. For Nana I picked up a State standard test prep for grade 1. It's really for me, to make sure we're on track. I have a visual now for what she *needs* to know, and it helps me. We also picked up a daily language practice journal for her. Its purpose is really comprehension, sentence structure, and things like that.

Last week I popped in the Dollar Tree and holy supplies!! They have a TON of resources for homeschooling, and cheap! I got each of the girls three workbooks: Subtraction, Phonics and Long Vowels for Nana, and The Alphabet, Sequencing and Colors/Shapes for Pia. For $1 each! I also picked up a map of North and South America and the US, to go along with our globe.

The dollar spot at Target is also a great place to look for things to supplement your teaching. We found workbooks on Dinosaurs, Space, Fire Safety, and Science experiments, again for a dollar.

None of this "stuff" is necessary to be successful with homeschooling. Things don't make the journey - but I'm still excited about them!

Units in progress

These are ongoing units I'm working on.

Princess/Castles - incorporating real castles, and princesses, their history.

Space - planets, astronauts, stars, etc.

Harry Potter - my kids both love this, so we're going to use it as a base to explore England.

Presidents - our past and present. Incorporate money in here.

Food Groups - not only what they are, but nutrition, and where our food comes from.

Zoo Animals - this will likely be broken up into several units, focusing on animals by country.

Farming - farm animals and crops. Incorporating a visit to either a farm or farmers market.

Dinosaurs - roar! I'm almost done with this one, and will post soon.

Public Service - touch a bit on how government is set up, but focus on Public servants - firefighters, policemen, sanitation, construction, etc. Try to visit one of these places.

Our Earth - this will come after the space unit. Focus on what the earth is made of, how we treat our earth, different eco systems of the earth. Want to incorporate the program Life in here, at least part of it.

Seasons - I'm unsure if we'll break this up by season, or talk about all at once.

This page will change a lot - I'll add as I come up with new ideas, and delete as I post lesson plans.