Subjects 2019-2020

I saw this hysterical meme on Facebook, but it's not too far from the truth. I LOVE curriculum planning and curriculum shopping! ;)

SO-

Here are our junior high and elementary grade subjects. (Grace will also be a homeschooled sophomore, but I don't have her classes finalized yet.)

Cian – 8^th Grade

Religion – Be My Disciples Jr. High: 1st semester: Liturgy, 2nd semester: Life in Christ 

*Math-  Honors Geometry
Grammar- Easy Grammar Ultimate Series – Grade 8
Vocabulary- Vocabulary from Classic Roots B
Vocabulary- Wordly Wise 3000 Book 8
Poetry- The Secret Code of Poetry
*English/Literature/Composition- Excellence in Literature – English 1 Honors
*Science- DIVE ICP with Physical Science – Concepts in Action with Earth & Space 
History- Light to the Nations I 

History- Story of Civilization 3 (CD only)

Geography- Maps, Charts, & Graphs G & H

Foreign Language- Latin for Children B 

Critical Thinking- Fallacy Detective

Arts Instruction- Drama classes

Music- Piano & Voice Lessons

PE- Tumbling & Dance classes

*High School courses for high school credit

Zoe – 5^th Grade

Religion – St. Mary’s Press Bible

Religion – Be My Disciples 5 (RCL Benziger)

Math-   Math Mammoth 5

Grammar- Michael Clay Thompson Grammar Town & Practice Town

Grammar- Punctuation Puzzler B1 

Vocabulary- MCTLA CE1

Vocabulary-Voc. from Classic Roots 5

Vocabulary- Wordly Wise 3000 Book 5

Poetry- MCT LA – Building Poems

Spelling – Building Spelling Skills 5

Reading/Literature- 5th Grade Reading List 

Literature- MCTLA Classics: Alice, Peter, Mole Trilogy set

Writing- MCTLA Paragraph Town 

Writing- IEW Fables, Myths, & Fairy Tales

Typing- Jump-Start Typing CD-ROM

Science- Behold and See 5

History- Our United States of America

History- The Story of Civilization 3 (CD only)

Geography- Cantering the Country/Road Trip USA

Geography- Map Skills D

Geography- DK 5 & Maps, Charts, Graphs E 

Foreign Language- Latin for Children B

Health- Enjoying Good Health

Health- Health 5 for Young Catholics

Critical Thinking- Building Thinking Skills Level 2 

Arts Instruction- Drama classes

Art- Usborne Art Treasury

PE- Tumbling & Dance classes

Music- Piano Lessons & Music Class

Ellie – 3^rd Grade

Religion – St. Mary’s Press Bible

Religion – Faith in Life 3 & Gospel Treckers books
Math-   Singapore Math 3

Math- Kumon Word Problems 3

Grammar- Easy Grammar 3

Spelling– Building Spelling Skills 3

Reading- 3^rd Grade Reading List with Book Reports

Reading- Portraits of American Girlhood Year 2

Reading Comprehension – Reading Comprehension for Young Catholics

Vocabulary- Wordly Wise 3000 Grade 3

Vocabulary- 240 Kids Need to Know Grade 3 

Writing- IEW – People and Places in Our Community

Handwriting – D’Nealian Handwriting Cursive ABC Book
Science- Magic School Bus Science
Science- Core Skills Science Workbook Grade 3

History- The Story of Civilization 3 (CD only)

Social Studies- Daily Skill Builders 3-4^th grade

Social Studies- Core Skills Social Studies Grade 3

Geography- Cantering the Country/Road Trip USA

Geography- DK Geography 3 

Geography- MAPS, Charts & Graphs C
Health- Health, Safety, and Manners 3

Health- Health for Young Catholics

Foreign Language- Song School Latin 1

Music- Piano lessons
Arts Instruction- Art classes
PE- Tumbling & Dance classes

Fionnuala – Kindergarten

Religion – St. Mary’s Press Bible
Religion- Image of God- Grade K
Phonics/Spelling/Reading/Language- McRuffy Kindergarten

Handwriting- McRuffy Kindergarten

Journaling- August- Summer Writing Prompts & Sept-May from Moffatt Girls journals

Math- Horizons Math K

History- Bede's History of Me
Science – Apologia Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology

Geography- DK Geography K

Geography- Cantering the Country/Road Trip USA

Foreign Language- Song School Latin 1
Art – Usborne Art Treasury

Arts Instruction- Drama classes

PE- Tumbling & dance classes

Music- Music Class

What's in a Name?

I haven't written on my blog much lately. To be totally honest, it's because the pics don't load easily from my phone anymore. However, I was working on Fionn's Dr. Seuss blog post, (so I didn't picture overload my Facebook with them!) and I was looking through all my old posts. I found one from 2013 that I never went back and finished! It was about naming our children and written when I was pregnant with our last and I had completely forgotten I never finished it with her name. 

This is the original here, but I also cut and pasted it all below too. Soooooo, 6 years later, here is the completed post:



I am sure most people put a lot of thought into naming their child.
Although, I wonder if some do. Apple? Really.
 Or how about the names like Female?
I guess to each his own!

For my husband and I, we have always given a lot thought to our childrens' names.

Obviously, we tried the names we liked with our last name (Sorry, I never list it on the blog! You'll just have to take my word that they work. ;-) I also always think about whether the name will fit a little kid, teen and grown up. I also say the name with Dr. in front of it! Hey, a mom can hope! :-)

Even more important to us, each of the 4 children have a name that honors one of the 4 of my husband and I's parents/families. Equally important, as Catholics, we also use a Saint's name or a name from the Bible for their Baptismal name. Here's a great post from Catholic Answers that explains this belief for those of you readers that are not Catholic. Click here to read it.

Finally, my husband is Irish and I felt it was important for their names to honor them being 1/2 Irish. Not in the "I'm Irish too" way where everyone in American seems to think they are Irish, but authentically, one of their parents was born and raised in Ireland, Irish.

So here is a look at our kiddos names and why we chose their names for them.
An important tradition in our family.

Grace Elizabeth:

"Grace" is God's gift to us. We truly felt that she was and is! Her name was chosen for its meaning.

Her middle name is Elizabeth. Elizabeth is the English version of Brian's mother's name which was Eilish. It honored her grandmother Eilish and Grace's Irish heritage both! Of course, we all know of St. Elizabeth and in the Bible where Mary visits her cousin and John leapt in Elizabeth's womb. A favorite Scripture of mine and many is Luke 1:37 "For nothing is impossible with God." Knowing that in her age, Elizabeth had conceived a child. It was especially meaningful for me being pregnant with my first child. What a true miracle of God to have life growing within your womb.

Cian Patrick:

We decided we would like an Irish name for our son. There is a St. Cian, but I don't know anything about him. We did love the name for its uniqueness and because it is very uncommon in America. It was chosen to represent his Irish heritage. It has worked too! We have had SO many people ask us not only how to pronounce it, but its origins as well.

We chose Patrick for his middle name. My paternal grandfather was Patrick. Both my father and brother have Patrick as their middle name. Of course, everyone knows St. Patrick and he is the Patron Saint of Ireland! A perfect fit really!

Zoe Micah:

Zoe means life. My original due date was January 22nd. That is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I prayed she wouldn't be born that day as it is such a sad date. However, choosing a name meaning "life" meant that much more to me as she grew in my womb. 

Zoe's middle name is Micah. Her middle name honors Brian's father Michael. Obviously, that is the Irish component to her name as well. My absolute favorite verse in the Bible comes from Micah 6:8. It says, "what the Lord requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God." I try to live my life by this and treasured the idea of it being part of my child's namesake.

Ellison Caoimhe:

Ellison honors my mother's family name. Thus, she completed all 4 of our parents/families being represented in our children's names. I have also seen in baby name books that it means "My God is the Lord," so that is cool too!

We chose an Irish name for her middle name. It is pronounced "Kee-va" in case you are still trying to figure it out. ;-) It is a feminine version of St. Kevin. St. Kevin or St. Caoimhin was an Irish hermit who gave up his life of solitude and founded a monastery that was in Glendalough. When in Ireland, we would often go to Glendalough with Brian's parents and even got to take my mother there when she came once. It is just beautiful.

Fionnuala Shealee Anne:

When we chose all the other kids' names, we were not yet homeschooling. Brian really wanted to name Ellison "Saoirse," but I was so worried about teachers destroying the pronunciation. We already hear "Cyan" for Cian constantly and didn't want to inflict that on her. ;) However, by baby 5, we were happily homeschooling and decided we could go as Irish as we wanted! We picked a name not even common in Ireland! We pronounce Fionnuala "fin-new-la". She enjoys going by Fionn "fin" for short.

Also unique with our last child was we decided to use two middle names! I also loved the name Shealee, which honors my two sides of my family and is super adorable. However, since we didn't use Saoirse last time, I really wanted an Irish name to be her first name honoring Brian and his family being from Ireland. So we picked Fionnuala for her first name and then used the other name we liked, Shealee, as part of her middle name.

Anne was always going to be her middle name even before we combined it with Shealee. Anne is my middle name and although not in the Bible, it is the name traditionally given to Mary's mother. So Anne from St. Anne is our Christian component for her name.

Dr. Seuss Week 2019

Fionnuala is in K4 this year. What better time to do some fun crafts and snacks for Dr. Seuss week!

For school this week she will be using the Dr. Seuss packet from Little Monkey Printables. It is preschool and a little too easy, but will make for a fun week and I adore these printables.

For reading, of course all our books will be Dr. Seuss books.
I picked 2 books each day for us to focus our activities on. One will be the book that inspires the snack and one will be the craft focus. We only have 4 days of K4 this week as we have a field trip scheduled and I don't do preschool/K4 on field trip days. I love to get her older siblings involved when I can, so I'll be asking each one to read one book to her. I'm sure they will also volunteer to help eat the snacks. ;)

All of these amazing ideas were Pinterest finds! See my board for all the links and credits to the creative folks who came up with them. Plus- so many are free! The Hop on Popcorn was the only one that was a purchased item. https://www.pinterest.com/gczmom/dr-seuss/

MONDAY:

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish 

  

    

The Foot Book

  
  
 

TUESDAY:

The Lorax

   
    

I Can Read with My Eyes Shut

    

    

    

THURSDAY:

Hop On Pop

 

     

Put Me In the Zoo

  

  

FRIDAY:

Green Eggs and Ham 

   

Fox in Socks

  

4th Grade Reading List 2018-2019

Zoe's 4th Grade Reading List 

Zoe had a couple books from her 3rd grade list she didn't get to last year. I have left a couple off as they were already on my 5th grade list and she can just do them next year, and the other 3 I have moved to this 4th grade list. She will also be doing the Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts which has 3 suggested books that accompany it. The Socratic assignments and discussions that go along with them will take about 3 months. She will have 8 other books that will give her about 3 weeks to read each one.

 Little House in the Big Woods- Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Island of the Blue Dolphin - Scott O'Dell

Bunnicula - James Howe & Deborah Howe

The Lion, The Witch, and the Waredrobe - C.S. Lewis 

How to Eat Fried Worms - Thomas Rockwell

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert C. O'Brien

The Borrowers - Mary Norton

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

MCT LA Trilogy

7th Grade Required Reading for 2018-2019

Cian's 7th Grade Required Reading List

I have changed up my original 7th grade reading list to include a couple more challenging books and also things that would appeal to Cian- shockingly he wasn't super excited about reading Little Women and Anne of Green Gables from my original list, lol. I have also changed his list from 20 books to one each month from September to May. He has a little bit heavier load compared to last year and will be working on a High School credit this year. I want him to enjoy reading, yet not feel overwhelmed.

The Incredible Journey - Sheila Burnford

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank 

Wonder - R.J. Palacio 

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Gentle Ben - Walt Morey

Swiss Family Robinson - Johann Wyss 

The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Subjects 2018-2019

2018-2019 Subjects

Here are our 2018-2019 subjects for all but Grace's high school curriculum. There are a couple I am undecided on still, so those have question marks after them.

Cian – 7^th Grade

Religion – Be My Disciples Jr. High: 1st semester: New Testament, 2nd semester: Mystery (RCL Benziger)

Bible- Story of the Bible 2
Math-   Thinkwell Algebra 1
Grammar-  Easy Grammar Plus
Grammar- Punctuation Puzzler C1 (PC games)

Spelling- Building Spelling Skills 7

Vocabulary- Wordly Wise 3000 4^th Ed. Book 7
Vocabulary- Vocabulary from Classic Roots A
Reading/Literature- Classic 7^th grade books (link here)
Writing- IEW SWICC-B
Science-1^st semester: Behold & See Life Science   
Geography- Map Skills G

Latin- Latin for Children: Primer A

Health- Total Health- Talking About Life's Changes
Arts Instruction- Drama classes

PE- Dance classes
Music- Piano Lessons

Zoe – 4^th Grade

Religion – Be My Disciples 4 (RCL Benziger)
Bible- Story of the Bible 2
Math-   Math Mammoth 4A&4B
Grammar- Punctuation Puzzlers A1 (PC games)
Grammar- MCTLA Grammar Island, Sentence Island, & MCTLA Practice Island
Vocabulary- MCTLA Building Language
Vocabulary- Wordly Wise 3000 4^th Ed. Book 4
Poetry- MCTLA Music of the Hemispheres
Spelling – Building Spelling Skills 4
Literature- 4^th Grade Reading List including: MCTLA Classics: Mud Trilogy
Writing- IEW SWICC-B
Typing- Jump-Start Typing CD-ROM
Science- Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics
Social Studies – Steck-Vaughn Social Studies 4
History- Story of Civilization II- Medieval Times
Geography- DK Geography 4
Geography- MAPS D
Latin- Latin for Children: Primer A
Health- Developing Good Health
Critical Thinking- Red Herring Mysteries
Art- Usborne Art Treasury
Arts Instruction- Drama classes
PE- Dance classes
Music- Piano Lessons

Ellie – 2nd Grade

Religion – Image of God 2 & 1st Communion supplements??

Bible- Story of the Bible 2
Math-   Singapore Math 2A & 2B

Grammar- Easy Grammar 2

Spelling– Building Spelling Skills 2

Reading- American Girl History
Reading Comprehension - Time Magazine for Kids Comprehension and Critical Thinking Grade 2
Vocabulary- Wordly Wise 3000 4^th Ed. Grade 2
Handwriting – D'Nealian 2
Journaling – "If I Were.." Writing Prompts and Scholastic 1st Writing Prompts

Science- Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics
History- Story of Civilization II- Medieval Times

Social Studies – Steck-Vaughn Social Studies 2

Geography- DK Geography 2 

Geography- MAPS B
Health- Health, Safety, and Manners 2
Art- Usborne Art Treasury
Arts Instruction- Drama classes
PE- Dance classes
Music- Piano lessons 

Fionn – K4

Religion – Stories of God’s Love Ages 4/5 or Image of God Workbook A
Bible- Story of the Bible 2
K4 Learning Packs by theme (various creators) and K Literature Based units (1+1+1=1)
Sight Word Work: Reading the Alphabet (1^st semester) from This Reading Mama
Sight Word Work: You Can Read –(2^nd semester) from 1+1+1=1
Sight Word Work: Sight Word worksheets in D’Nealian (TPT)
K4 (some materials) from Confessions of a Homeschooler
Supplements- My Kindergarten Learning Book & various K workbooks
Reading- Let’s Go Read CD-ROM & Phonics readers
Reading- Starfall: Learn to Read, Reading and Writing Journals, and ABC Printouts
Journaling- My First Journal (from TPT)
Handwriting – D’Nealian K
Math-   Total Math K
Science- science reader books weekly / listen to Z&E’s science
Geography- DK Pre-K Geography
Art- Usborne Art Treasury
Arts Instruction- Drama classes
PE- Dance classes
Music- Boomwackers and Songs

Summer Goals 2018

Summer Fun One-On-One Goals 2018

We do one-on-one summer fun activities with each of the kids during the summer. They each get to do one with mom and one with dad. We have a "goal" for the goals themselves that they try to make one free or really cheap also! It takes a little creativity (and lots of good summer kids' movies) to find 10 unique things! Last year, I also promised the older two I'd take them to Jurassic World, so we are adding another category to the previous three called Big Kid and Little Kid summer fun. (Zoe will kill me to be called 'Little Kid' so I guess I should say 'Younger Kids.' LOL!

Kids One-On-One Goals

Fionn & Mom - Ice Cream at DQ - ✔ 5/28/18

Fionn & Dad - Go get ice cream ✔



Ellie & Mom - See Paddington 2 (AMC has a really cool summer program for kids! $3.99 for a ticket AND a kids' pack with drink, popcorn, and a bag of fruit snacks.) ✔ 6/13/18

Ellie & Dad - Go to the park & get shaved ice ✔




Zoe & Mom - see Nut Job 2 (Also an AMC summer special) ✔


Zoe & Dad- Go for a drive to get candy from the store & eat it all on the way home ;)



Cian & Mom -  Go see Incredibles 2 ✔ 6/16/18

 

Cian & Dad - Go to a White Sox game (in full disclosure, Cian gets to go for free as a thank you for serving at our church.) ✔ 6/14/18

Grace & Mom - Go see Searching (Am I scoring on all these movies or what?!? Mom's fun summer ;)

Grace & Dad - Go to Monical's ✔

Melissa & Brian - summer fun dates

• Go out to dinner ✔ 6/15/18
• Date nights to see Grace & Cian in their theatre shows this summer ✔✔
• Go see Mama Mia 2! -Brian pooped out on this one, so Grace & I went with her bestie & her mama (and prob had more fun, lol) ✔

Family Fun Goals

• Bowling & Hawaiian shaved ice - the good one, not the crunchy one. I'm dreaming of a Pina Colada flavored one now!We had to do milkshakes as the shaved ice was closed :( ✔ 
• Fireworks - it will be Fionn's 1st time going! -didn't make it this year, will try again next!
• STL zoo -✔ oldest two had theatre, but the other 3 had a blast: 

Big Kids, Younger Kids

Grace, Cian, & mom are going to see Jurassic World! ✔

  

Zoe, Ellie, & Fionn will see a kid movie together instead. ✔