This summer we have been following a whole-language, inquiry-based study in which we ask our four-year-old what he wants to study and follow his lead. We find books, movies, arts and crafts, games, and movies all centered around what he is interested in.
We will follow the same process this school year as we homeschool.
Our four-year-old said the next thing he wanted to study was sharks, so we are studying the ocean habitat. This also led us to the idea of centering this whole school year around different habitats. We will focus on five different habitats throughout the year: oceans, forests, grasslands, deserts, and ponds when Spring comes around.
While habitats will ground our science studies, we will also tie social studies into our study of habitats by talking about all the people in our communities who work with ocean, ocean animals, preserving the ocean. We will also talk about South Carolina and how it has a coastline with an ocean while other states don’t.
I am so excited about this integrated, student-led homeschooling year!
We will be reading LOTS of non-fiction texts that have to do with our habitat study, but we will also be introducing authors in author studies throughout the year. We are going to start with Eric Carle! His repeating lines and creative illustrations really draw kids in and his books are fun to replicate in writing or self-made books. There are so many good options for introducing Eric Carle!
The Grouchy Ladybug This is the text we will use for our empathy integration talking about actions and feelings. Also, how important it is to share resources.
In math this year we will be concentrating on counting 1 – 20, introducing concepts like how many are left and how many all together. These will be integrated with activities from our habitat study as well.
Here are some of the math materials we have purchased for the year:
Ocean Text Set
Books:
Pout-Pout Fish Cleans Up the Ocean
National Geographic Kids First Big Book of Ocean
National Geographic Kids Sharks
Movies:
Finding Nemo
Finding Dory
Curious George Sea Monkey
Daily Schedule
7:30 Breakfast
8:00 am morning walk/commute
8:30 am morning work/ letter and name practice
9:00 am Circle Time
9:30 am Special Activity
10:00 am Center/Choice Time
10:30 am Outside Time
11:00 am Brooklyn Library Storytime
11:30 am Lunch
12 – 2 pm Rest Time
Weekly Schedule
Monday – Music with songs integrated to the learning unit
Tuesday – Tinker Lab
Wednesday – Chapel
Thursday – Library
Friday – Art and PE
Field Trip Ideas
Hikes at local state parks
Virtual Zoo Visit
Visit Family
Visit Pond/Lakes locally