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2016/2017 Curriculum


This is the curriculum we have chosen for Brynne 6th Grade and Eli 7th Grade. They study the same concepts and use the same curriculum.

English

McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader and McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader. Last year we used these classics to do recitations and to read and copy good vocabulary, poetry and prose. We will continue to do it each morning this year, as well. It is a special way to start the day.




Fix-it Grammar, Robin Hood (IEW). This program has been a good fit for us as it involves literature, writing, and a slow-progression of learning grammar. We completed about half of this volume last year and will finish it this fall and then move onto the next volume.




Soaring with Spelling, Levels 5 and 6. We start each morning with a simple spelling worksheet from Soaring with Spelling. It get the kids' brains moving and gets them a little extra spelling practice. We do not take tests, just review spelling concepts.



Current Events

CNN Student News. Of course we will continue our year with a daily dose of Carl Azuz and his 10 minutes of current events and puns. We love this show! We had the pleasure of going on Carl's CNN Student News Tour last year in Atlanta and got to meet him. He's a fantastic guy very intent on using his show to educate children.



Math


Pre-Algebra Tutor Volumes 1 and 2 from ScienceandMath.com. We completed the entire Mastering 5th Grade Math series and the kids decided that Jason is an effective teacher so they would like to continue on with this series.



Literature

A major component of our school year is our year-long literature study. We use our literature studies as a jumping-off place for history and science. In years past we have done entire studies on the Little House on the Prairie series (with Westward expansion and pioneer days history studies with lots of life and biological sciences) and The Chronicles of Narnia series (which took us on a year-long study of WWII and learning a lot about recycling and energy conservation with the National World War II Museum in New Orleans). This year we are tackling the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan and learning about Greek Mythology and Astronomy.



D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths by Ingrid and Edgar Parin D'Aulaires with D'Aulaires' Greek Myths curriculum from Memoria Press.





Science

To go along with our study of Greek Mythology, the kids will spend the year studying astronomy. We will use The Book of Astronomy curriculum from Memoria Press. We will also throw in some other activities, possibly with Minecraft.



History

We will spend the entire year learning Missouri History. There is a possibility that Brynne will be returning to public school in the 7th grade and public school children learn Missouri history in the 4th grade. They only get the glossed-over have-to version, but we are going to study it all year using a textbook called Missouri: Then and Now by Perry Mccandless and William E. Foley, prepare a Missouri notebook, and go on many field trips. 


These are the field trips we have planned at this time:
  • Fort Osage
  • St. Genevieve (Missouri's oldest city), Mastadon State Park, Graham Cave
  • St. Charles (Missouri's first capitol city) and Daniel Boone home
  • Arabia Steamboat Museum, Kansas City
  • Watkins Woolen Mill, Lawson
  • Wornall Majors House Museums, Kansas City
  • Battle of Lexington site, Lexington
  • Jesse James home and Mt. Gilead, Kearney
  • WWI Museum, Kansas City
  • Federal Reserve Museum, Kansas City
  • Liberty Hill Farm, Warrensburg (modern farming)
  • Hannibal, Missouri, and Mark Twain home

Reading

The kids will continue to read books of their choice. Brynne is still working through the Warriors series and has about 10 more books to read. There is also a series involving dogs and bears from the same author that interest her. Eli is currently reading the Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins. I am going to encourage him to read the 39 Clues series soon.

We will also have a read aloud going at all times that corresponds with either our Missouri history studies or that are going to be plays or movies in the upcoming year. At this time our selections include:

Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine
No Talking by Andrew Clements
The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein (this one is just for fun)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Jesse James: The Wild West for Kids by Adam Woog
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain


Enrichment Class

We are going to try to split up our enrichment classes this year into a boys' class and a girls' class. The boys will be doing a STEM activity each week and the girls will be doing creative writing.


Extra Curricular Activities

Brynne will be playing volleyball, basketball, and softball this year, as well as bowling. Eli will be bowling and attending speech therapy once a week. He is also hoping to get involved in some regular archery activities.
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