BOTANY LINKS AND IDEAS

Bailey has really been enjoying Botany (Exploring Creation with Botany). She truly loves anything to do with science, but this year, she tells me every time she reads her book that she really likes Botany. Exploring Creation with Botany is part of the Apologia Young Explorers curriculum and was written for ages 6-12. Bailey is able to do almost all of the reading and activities by herself, but the author emaphsizes that younger children can just as easily learn and retain this material using the Charlotte Mason method of narration and dictation. It was written to be a 1 year study, but we have a plan: do Botany for 1/2 a year and also Zoology 1 this year, then Zoology 2 & 3 next year (6th grade), then start Apologia Physical Science in 7th grade.

Exploring Creation with Botany has natural stopping points, so Bailey reads about 4-5 pages a day and stops at the reviews called "What Do You Remember?" We have printed out Jeannie Fulbright's notebook pages which are great: they already have lines ready to be filled with all that Bailey remembers from what she just read (or could dictate) and there is usually a place to draw or paste a picture as well. Bailey has a great Botany Notebook going right now. And it will serve as a wonderful review for the future!

Other activities in the book are Notebook Activities and Experiments. So far, all of the experiments have been useful and fairly easy to do with common household supplies. We had ordered the experiment kit that was recommended with this series, so any supplies that turn out to not be so "common," we will have on hand. Here is a list of all that is included:


modeling clay (1/4 lb)
syrofoam cups with lids (5)
manila floder
jiffy pellet
lamp socket adapter
magnifying glass
peat moss ruler
safety gloves
basil seeds
lima bean seeds
pumpkin seeds
sponge
string
tape measure
thermometer
tongue depressors (10)
sodium tetraborate (30 g)
glycerin soap base (8 oz)
construction paper (12 sheets)
15-watt flourescent spiral bulb

In addition to the Notebook Activities included in the book, we have been adding all kinds of goodies to her Botany study. We look up neat video clips or interesting pictures on the inernet, cut our extra pictures to add to her Notebook, and do almost all of the Experiments plus a few I found that coincide with her studies.

Right now we are working on a Leaf Collection. With all the fall colors of leaves, it will end up being very pretty. Here is a neat link to help identify leaves. Online Leaf Key

Some other fun links that we used with Chapter 6: Leaves
Leaf Margins
Leaf Shapes
Microscopic view of a leaf stomata
Microscopic view of the inside of a leaf

Art Links:
Pastel Fall Leaves, Leaf Print Triptych, Watercolor Batik
Paper Snowflake leaf patterns

BOTANY

Bailey is working on Exploring Creation with Botany (an elementary Apologia curriculum) and she LOVES it! Last week we made a light hut to help grow and germinate some seeds. I let her pick the seeds we would be planting and she picked turnips, peas and SQUASH! We will see how big they get I guess before they overtake the light hut. It will be the middle of winter when they reach maturity...hmmm.

GEOGRAPHY DOWNLOADS

We have been working on identifying continents and oceans mainly this week in Geography. One site that my kids really seem to like is Seterra. You download a small FREE program and then play "Choose the Correct Country" type games. So far, we have only used the European Countries. But they also have flags, cities, capitals, etc. It's quite fun and competitive!

Another download (much bigger, but still FREE) is Google Earth. So far we have just used it to explore our house (you can enter addresses) and some of the famous landmarks around the world (you should see the Eiffel Tower...pretty fascinating!)

One more website is Sheppards Software. We haven't gotten to play with it much yet, but we will definitely be using it more, later...it has geography games for different countries, landmark puzzles, animal quizzes, and much more...

2009-2010 Curriculum

Here is what my girls will be working on this year. Amanda is in 9th Grade and Bailey is in 5th.


Both:
Geography
Winter Promise Children Around the World
(geared for 2nd-6th grade, but I have added lots of extra activities/books for my 9th grader)
Art**
Typing**



Amanda:
Math
Saxon Advanced Math (we use the Solutions manual extensively!)
D.I.V.E. Adv Math CD only or Saxon Adv Math AND D.I.V.E. CD Kit

English
Write Shop (we are finished with WriteShop 1 and are into WriteShop 2 now...an EXCELLENT writing program)
Vocabulary from Classical Roots D
Intro to World Literature**

Science
Apologia Chemistry
MicroChem Lab Kit (we will do the Apologia Experiments but these are extra experiments to make this an Honors class)

Power Glide Ultimate: Spanish 2 (bought this on ebay, no link)



Bailey:
Math
Math 7/6: Homeschool Set (actually we don't use the tests, but it sells for more on ebay if you have the whole set)
D.I.V.E. Math 7/6 CD only or Saxon 7/6 AND D.I.V.E. CD Kit

Science
Exploring Creation with Botony (semester 1)
Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures (semester 2)

English
Wordsmith Apprentice (writing)
Bob Jones English (we don't use the tests, so we buy just the Workbook and Teacher Manual and save a little :)
Vocabulary from Classical Roots 5
World Literature**

Power Glide Junior Spanish (also bought on ebay, so no link)



**Notes**

World Literature: For both grades, we have literature books each week that go along with the current Geography topic. Winter Promise Children Around the World covers more than 30 different countries, exploring the culture and traditions and food of those countries. I have found a book from or about each of those countries for each of my girls to read for that week. For a complete list, you can email me or I will be listing them later.


Art: We will also be doing "Artist Studies" for many of the countries we are studying. I will post this lesson plan later as well. Bailey also utilizes Draw Write Now, Book 7: Animals of the World.


Typing: This may sound crazy, but it's been working! We get on the Webkinz website and use the game "Lunch Letters" for typing/keyboarding practice. The girls (both) love it and it gives them a little break during the day. There are other typing tutors and games out there, but we already "did" Webkinz and so it was easy for us (plus my youngest wins points each time they play!!) If you have an account already, it's kind of neat to "play" during school! (note: you need one of the stuffed animals to get an account started)


Curriculum Sites: We buy all our science curriculum and kits through the Home Science Tools website and sometimes on Ebay. Amazon has some math and almost all of our literature books. The Scroll Bookstore is where we like to buy some math and spelling/vocab (we used to live near them and truly love the customer service & prices). Then Rainbow Resources is a good place for good prices on mostly everything.