First Day of 5th Grade

Yesterday was Funny Bunny's first day of 5th grade!  We are trying some new things, like getting up earlier and more independent work, so this first week will be a little trial and error.

Today is day 2 and we are just a bit tired and moving a little slower this morning.  ;)

My posts will be lighter this week as we get into a groove.  If you've started school already, I'd love to hear how your year is going so far.

And if you would like to see what we will be using this year, check out our Curriculum Plans for 5th Grade.



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©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/  

5 Days of Heart of Dakota: HOD Resources

Today is THE LAST DAY of the August 2013 Crew Blog Hop!  My five day topic is on the Christ-centered homeschool curriculum, Heart of Dakota.  If you missed it, here what I've talked about so far:

Heart of Dakota: Overview
Heart of Dakota: Nitty Gritty
Heart of Dakota: Learning Through History
Heart of Dakota: Day in the Life 

Our Homeschool Reviews Heart of Dakota Posts

Today I thought I would post some great Heart of Dakota resources because there are so many out there.  Below are just a few that I've found.

Heart of Dakota's Official Message Board - Start here!!
Heart of Dakota Blog Roll 2013-2014

Facebook Groups
Heart of Dakota Publishing
Little Hands to Heaven
Little Hearts for His Glory
Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory
Bigger Hearts for His Glory
Creation to Christ 
Resurrection to Reformation
Missions to Modern Marvels
World Geography
Heart of Dakota Buy/Sell/Trade

Yahoo Groups
Homeschooling Heart of Dakota Moms
Heart of Dakota Inspired
Heart of Dakota Buy Sell

Again, thanks for visiting!  I hope this Blog Hop topic has been helpful.  If you use Heart of Dakota with your family, I would love to hear from you.  Oh, and please click the banner below to visit some of the other great bloggers this week!


And you can click here for past Blog Hops I've participated in.



©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/  

5 Days of Heart of Dakota: Day in the Life

Today is DAY 4 of the August 2013 Crew Blog Hop!  My five day topic is on the Christ-centered homeschool curriculum, Heart of Dakota.  If you missed it, yesterday I discussed Learning Through History, Tuesday I got into the Nitty Gritty of the program and Monday I wrote a brief overview of the program.

Today I want to show you a Day in the Life of Heart of Dakota.  Of course, when I planned to talk about this, I thought we would have started our new school year already, but that hasn't happened.  I'd still love to show you how *I think* we are going to use it though!

I've been telling you all the wonderful things about this curriculum and I have one more to share!  Each book prepares the child to complete more and more work on their own.  The transition is slight with each book change, but it's there.  And with Creation to Christ, Funny Bunny will be doing more work independently!!  Yay!

Each segment of plans has the following designation:

T - Teacher Directed
S - Semi-Independent
I - Independent

And to move Funny Bunny toward even more "Independence," I've created a nice little checklist for her to keep track of what she has finished each day.

I'll also be placing all her resources for each day in this crate to keep everything organized and at hand, right by her desk.

This makes me even more excited to start!!!  And she is very excited too!

Again, thanks for visiting!  If you use Heart of Dakota with your family, I would love to hear from you.  Oh, and please click the banner below to visit some of the other great bloggers this week!


And you can click here for past Blog Hops I've participated in.



©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/ 

5 Days of Heart of Dakota: Learning Through History

Today is DAY 3 of the August 2013 Crew Blog Hop!  My five day topic is on the Christ-centered homeschool curriculum, Heart of Dakota, and if you missed it, yesterday I got into the Nitty Gritty of the program and Monday I wrote a brief overview of the program.

Today I want to talk about the "Learning Through History" part of the program.  Each book covers a different time frame, so since we are about to start Creation to Christ, I'm going to be focusing on that particular book.

Learning Through History {in Creation to Christ} provides a deeper look at the ancient time period from creation to Christ told in story form. 

The areas listed below are linked with the history stories:

* Corresponding History Readings
* Prophecy Fulfillment Chart
* Guided Written Narrations
* Timeline Entries
* Copywork: Quotes, Verses, and Literature Passages
* Research Questions
* Weekly Hands-on History Projects
* Bible Passage Memory Work
* Step-by-step sketching corresponding with Greece and Rome
* Creation of a History Notebook
* Oral Narrations
* Mapping
* Personal Quiet-time Bible Study of Old and New Testament stories
* Choice of Read-aloud Options
* Corresponding Audio Overview of History

Looking at that list just gets me so excited to get started!!!

This is the first year where we use a Student Notebook and it's specifically made for Creation to Christ.  It is so beautiful and I'm sure will be a keepsake once Funny Bunny has completed it.  Below is a small sample.

The thing I love best about "Learning Through History" is that even all the subjects that aren't directly related to History, like the Poetry and Science, will many times correlate to the part of history we are learning about.

Again, thanks for visiting!  If you use Heart of Dakota with your family, I would love to hear from you.  Oh, and please click the banner below to visit some of the other great bloggers this week!


And you can click here for past Blog Hops I've participated in.



©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/ 

5 Days of Heart of Dakota: The Nitty Gritty

Today is DAY 2 of the August 2013 Crew Blog Hop!  My five day topic is on the Christ-centered homeschool curriculum, Heart of Dakota, and if you missed it, yesterday I wrote a brief overview of the program.

I'd like to go a little more into detail about what we have used over the years and why.  Below you can see all that Heart of Dakota offers at the moment {they are in the process of adding more}.

We actually took the books a little out of order and started with Preparing Hearts for His Glory when Funny Bunny was in 2nd grade, then we went backwards and used Bigger Hearts for His Glory when she was in 3rd.  I basically did that because we had just finished American History in 1st grade and didn't want to repeat it again the next year.  So here is how the past few years have looked:

2nd - Preparing Hearts for His Glory {overview of world history from creation to late 1900's}

3rd - Bigger Hearts for His Glory {American history from the 1500's - 1970's}

4th - Preparing Hearts for His Glory {we repeated this because we loved it so much and I liked the history overview}

5th - Creation to Christ {we start this next week and it covers in more detail the ancient time period from creation to Christ}

I've actually written quite a bit about our experience using Heart of Dakota. So if you'd like to check out tons of examples of Funny Bunny's work in both Bigger and Preparing, visit the link above.

In Bigger, Funny Bunny loved learning about John Audubon and his fascination with nature. 

Below is an example of how Heart of Dakota is Christ-centered, even when learning about the parts of a flower.

Another thing I love about Heart of Dakota is that it uses a wonderful selection of books!  Our FAVORITE book so far has been Grandpa's Box!!  It is used with Preparing, and I would recommend this book to everyone!  We have read it aloud twice now.

Another great set of books that we were introduced to for science with both Bigger and Preparing are the One Small Square books.  I continuously catch Funny Bunny reading them in her spare time, just for fun.  I love that!  ♥

I am hoping we find a favorite this year while using Creation to Christ.  Below is the lineup for history and science. {click on the pictures to make them larger}  For more detail, I've written a post about our Curriculum Plans for 5th Grade.

Again, thanks for visiting!  If you use Heart of Dakota with your family, I would love to hear from you.  Oh, and please click the banner below to visit some of the other great bloggers this week!


And you can click here for past Blog Hops I've participated in.



©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/

5 Days of Heart of Dakota: Overview

I am so excited to be participating in the August 2013 Crew Blog Hop this week!!  90 bloggers are going to post 450 articles in just 5 days!  Topics will range from academics to art to field trips and more!

For this Blog Hop I'll be writing about Heart of Dakota.  If you have been a reader of my blog, you have probably seen me talk about it.  If not, I'd love to tell you more about it!

This will be our FOURTH year using Heart of Dakota!!  I seriously can't believe we have been using it that long!

Today I wanted to share an overview of the program and then later this week get into the nitty gritty of what we will be working on this year.

Heart of Dakota currently offers curriculum for ages 2 all the way up to ages 14-16 and there are plans to go to age 18 through 12th grade.  Here you can find the Scope and Sequence Chart. 

So why do I love Heart of Dakota?  Well, first of all, I love that it is Christ-centered!  All subjects...history, science, poetry, even the grammar they recommend...center around Christ.  Bible is not a subject by itself, it's included in all subjects. 

Second, it's so SIMPLE to use!!  Everything is laid out and all we have to do is follow the plan.  Below is a sample day {just click on it to enlarge it}.  Each day is laid out in a two-page spread and each subject is included in a nice little box so it's very easy to read.

And lastly, I can use as much or as little of it as I want, and I've done both.  The first two years we pretty much used it as written.  Last year I mainly used it for history and some minor subjects, but I substituted several others.  I had accumulated other curriculum over the years that I didn't want to waste but didn't want to abandon Heart of Dakota completely.  This year we will be using it as written once again, except for their recommended math, which I have never used.

So I hope I've given you a little peek into how Heart of Dakota works and why we like it in our  family.  As I continue through the week, I'll be talking about the particular programs we have used and which one we plan to use, how the subjects are broken up, and show some samples of past work.

Thanks for visiting!  If you use Heart of Dakota with your family, I would love to hear from you.  Oh, and please click the banner below to visit some of the other great bloggers this week!

And you can click here for past Blog Hops I've participated in.

See my other 5 Days of Heart of Dakota posts below:

Heart of Dakota: Nitty Gritty
Heart of Dakota: Learning Through History
Heart of Dakota: Day in the Life 
Heart of Dakota: HOD Resources



©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/

Curriculum Plans for 5th Grade

We are gearing up for the start of 5th grade!!  Homeschool curriculum has been bought, school supplies shopped for, and school room cleaned out.  All that's left is for me to pick a start date.  :)  Here is out 5th grade homeschool curriculum list.

We will be using Creation to Christ from Heart of Dakota, which provides a deeper look at the ancient time period from creation to Christ told in story form.

For History, the main spine will be The Story of the Ancient World.  Other resources will includes Genesis: Finding Our Roots, A Child's Geography Explore the Holy Land, and What in the World? Vol. I - Ancient Civilizations & the Bible.

Heart of Dakota also schedules History Read Alouds and some we will be reading include: Dinosaurs of Eden, Boy of the Pyramids: A Mystery of Ancient Egypt, and City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction.

For Science, we will be using Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals of the Sixth Day.  You can see my review of this book here.  We are very excited to get started on this!

Other Science resources will include: Exploring the History of Medicine, An Illustrated Adventure in Human Anatomy, and Plant Life in Field and Garden.

For Math we are switching from Rightstart E to Saxon 65.   I'm hoping it is a smooth transition.

I've flipped through the book and Funny Bunny has taken the placement tests,  She could probably go a level higher, but she could use the review and she would still be on track.  No sense in creating tears when there doesn't need to be!!



We are also, just for fun, going to be working through Your Business Math: Pet Store by Simply Charlotte Mason.  We are both very excited to get going with this but I'll be scheduling it during our "free time".  I'm hoping it's an incentive to get school done early.  We may even schedule it on the weekends if we can't find the time. 

And to make it extra special, and hopefully more fun, I've told her that she can create the pet shop in real life, with her stuffed animals.  :)

For English Grammar we will be using Rod & Staff English 5.  Heart of Dakota actually schedules this book over two years so we will be taking it slow.  I think they only schedule two lessons a week.  Funny Bunny is pretty happy about that.

I was worried that working in this book over two years would put her behind, but after reading threads on different boards, it looks like English 5 is advanced enough that you can do that.


For Independent Reading we are using the Drawn Into the Heart of Reading Teacher's Guide and Student Book Level 6/7/8.  I've chosen a bunch of books, each in a different genre, that she is to read independently.  After each chapter is read, we go over discussion questions and sometimes there is a worksheet for her to complete.  

For Latin we are going to be using Visual Latin this year.  I've also done a review of it here.

Dwane Thomas is hilarious so I'm hoping it will bring some fun to her Latin lessons.

We'll be using some other things here and there, but this is pretty much the bulk of what we will be working on this year.  


I'd love to hear about your homeschool curriculum plans for the upcoming school year.  Link up if you have posted about it.  To see what Funny Bunny used from PreK to 4th, look to the sidebar on the left.



©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/ 

Summer Fun

What have you been up to this summer so far?  Last year I made a Summer Fun List and actually got through most of it, but this year it just seems like we have been busy with...STUFF!

I'm not totally sure what stuff we have been doing, it's just been busy.  Do you feel that way at all?  Do you ever have thoughts of what you want to accomplish over the summer but they never get done?

Here is what Funny Bunny has been up to:
Dance Recital
VBS
Weekly Chorus Class
Bowling
Roller Skating 
Monthly AG Book Club
End Year Testing
Baseball Game

I've been:
Having the roof fixed
Dealing with a fridge that stopped working :(
Trying to update my social media sites
Keeping up with cleaning the house
Hubby and I did get to go on a weekend trip so that was nice!! 

Upcoming:
LOTS of reviews
Giveaways!!
Thirty-One Party {yay!!}
Dance Camp for Funny Bunny

What I'd like to do with Funny Bunny {if I can only find the time}:
Girls Day Out {shopping, nails, etc}
Swimming at Grandma's
Movies

Do you have any fun summer plans or ideas?  I'd love to hear them!



©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/ 

Our Homeschool Day

Homeschooling families are always interested in how others schedule their day.  Here is a peek into ours:

Around 7:30 a.m.
Wake up and eat breakfast.  Funny Bunny likes to eat first thing.  After eating she has to make her bed and get into an outfit for the day.

Around 8:30 - 8:45 a.m.
She starts several subjects.  These are usually things she can do on her own so I can continue my household chores.

I allow her to take several breaks throughout the day between subjects.  During her breaks we either play together, she plays alone, we play with the dog, or she is doing chores.

Mid morning she continues working on subjects, either with me or without.  10:30 a.m. is usually snack time.

By about 11:30 a.m. she has finished most of her work for the day and we break for lunch.

Between 12:30 - 1:00 p.m.
This is usually about the time I will do history and science with her if we haven't already.  We sit on the couch and I read those aloud to her.  We discuss what was read afterwards.

She finishes with her school work sometime between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.  It really all depends on how focused she is on getting things completed.  If she is procrastinating or taking long breaks, it drags the day on.  If she is willing to get things done right away, it's always more pleasant and she finishes early.  :)

Of course this is an example of a day that we are home, which between 2-3 days a week.  Tuesday is a half day so we have to work fast and usually don't get to everything.  Thursday we are off because of Community Bible Study, although if we are behind, sometimes I sneak a subject or two in between CBS and dance.

You can see a list of Funny Bunny's 4th grade curriculum here.   I rotate some of the subjects, so she doesn't do everything listed everyday, but she does get to the bulk of it.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed taking a peek into our day.  I would love to hear about yours!

First Day of 4th Grade!

Today is Funny Bunny's first day of 4th grade...where did the time go?!

We started the day off with a fun breakfast.

Now onto school.  I'll be making a detailed list a little later, but for now, here's a peek at what we will be doing this year.