Emily Anne's 2010-2011 Reading

It has been such a joy this past year to see Emily Anne's ability to read and love of reading grow. The following list is a compilation of the books that she read over the course of the year. Some of the books were self-selected; some were assignments for HHE Co-op Courses, and some were assignments I made for her to go along with history.

• Who in the World Was the Acrobatic Empress? The Story of Theodora, Robin Phillips & Jeff West (History)

• The Boxcar Children, Gertrude Chandler Warren
• Tonight on the Titanic, Mary Pope Osborne
• Viking Ships at Sunrise, Mary Pope Osborne (History)
• The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island, Gertrude Chandler Warren
• Who In the World Was the Unready King?The Story of Ethelred, Connie Clark & Jed Mickle (History)

• Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock, Carolyn Keene
• The Adventures of Robin Hood, Howard Pyle
• The Boxcar Children:Yellow House Mystery, Gertrude Chandler Warren
• Stories of Knights, Jane Bingham (History)
• A Light Kindled: The story of Priscilla Mullins, Tracy M. Leininger
• A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time, Mary Pope Osborne
• Buffalos Before Breakfast, Mary Pope Osborne

• A Crazy Day with Cobras, Mary Pope Osborne
• The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
• The Boxcar Children: Mystery Ranch, Gertrude Chandler Warren
• Leprechaun in Late Winter, Mary Pope Osborne
• Chanticleer and the Fox, Barbara Cooney (History)
• Hour of the Olympics, Mary Pope Osborne
• Dragon of the Red Dawn, Mary Pope Osborne
• The Courage of Sarah Noble, Alice Dagliesh
• Who in the World Was the Secretive Printer? The Story of Johannes Gutenberg, Robert Beckham (History)

• Blizzard of the Blue Moon, Mary Pope Osborne
• The Boxcar Children: Mike’s Mystery, Gertrude Chandler Warren
• You Wouldn’t Want to Sail with Christopher Columbus: Uncharted Waters You’d Rather Not Cross, Fiona MacDonald (History)
• Christopher Columbus, Tanya Larkin (History)
• Columbus, Ingri d’Aulaire (History)
• The Boxcar Children: Blue Bay Mystery, Gertrude Chandler Warren
• Shooting Star: Annie Oakley, the Legend, Debbie Dadey
• Who in the World Was the Forgotten Explorer? The Story of Amerigo Vespucci, Lorene Lambert (History)
• Henry the Navigator, Claude Hurwicz (History)
• Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels, & What the Neighbors Thought, Kathleen Krull (“Joan of Arc”) (History)

• The Boxcar Children: The Woodshed Mystery, Gertrude Chandler Warren
• A Lion to Guard Us, Robert Clyde Bullard
• Little Women (abridged), Devra Newberger Speregen
• Louisa May Alcott: Young Novelist, Beatrice Gormley
• Cuckoo: A Mexican Folktale, Lois Ehlert (History)
• Aztec, Inca, & Maya, Elizabeth Baquedano (History)
• Back to School (Rachel Yoder), Wanda E. Brunstetter
• Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed the World, Paul L. Maier (History)
• School’s Out (Rachel Yoder), Wanda E. Brunstetter
• Henry VIII, Frank Dwyer (History)

• Out of Control (Rachel Yoder), Wanda E. Brunstetter
• A Medieval Cathedral, Fiona Macdonald (History)
• Leonardo da Vinci, Mary Pope Osborne (History)
• The Planets, Gail Gibbons (History)
• Galileo, Leonard Everett Fisher (History)
• Stage Fright on a Summer Night, Mary Pope Osborne (History)
• The Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare,
  Diane Stanley (History)
• New Beginnings (Rachel Yoder), Wanda E. Brunstetter
• Roanoake, The Lost Colony: An Unsolved Mystery from History, Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple (History)

2010-2011 Read-Alouds

One of my favorite parts of homeschooling is being able to read aloud to my children in such volume. I've always enjoyed reading aloud, and I love the shared experience of discovering new people and places with my children through books.  The following list is a compilation of books that we read last year. The impetus to read them came from a variety of sources: Emily Anne's interests, favorite books from my childhood, books with rich language and vocabulary, and selections in Writing with Ease which piqued our interest and made us want to read the book in its entirety. Those books marked History were books recommended in The Story of the World or that went along with the time period we were studying.

• Betsy Ross: Designer of Our Flag, Ann Weil
• Raiders of the North: Discover the Dramatic World of the Celts and Vikings, Fiona MacDonald (History)
• Favorite Medieval Tales, Mary Pope Osborne (History)
• Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland, Tomie DePaolo (History)
• Finn M’Coul: The Giant of Knockmany Hill, Tomie DePaolo (History)
• The Road to Oz, L. Frank Baum
• Castle, David MacAulay (History)
Augustine Came to Kent, Barbara Willard (History)
• Ginger Pye, Eleanor Estes
• Genghis Khan, Demi (History)
• Ten Kings and the World They Ruled, Milton Meltzer (History)
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis
• The Indian in the Cupboard, Lynne Reid Banks

• The Return of the Indian, Lynne Reid Banks
• Beorn the Proud, Madeleine Pollard (History)
• Alfred the Great, Mary Fitt (History)
• The Patchwork Girl of Oz, L. Frank Baum
• The Marvelous Land of Oz, L. Frank Baum
• The Canterbury Tales, Barbara Cohen (History)
• Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis

• The Silk Route: 7,000 Miles of History, John S. Major (History)
• Who Was Marco Polo? Joan Holub (History)
• Marco Polo, Demi (History)
• Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone, J. K. Rowling
• The Black Death, Diane Zahler (History)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J. K. Rowling
• Joan of Arc, Josephine Poole (History)
• Adam of the Road, Elizabeth Janet Gray (History)
• Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, Kathryn Lasky (History)
• Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery

• Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare, Edith Nesbit (History)
     o Twelfth Night
     o Romeo and Juliet
     o A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Summary of 2010-2011

In the midst of summer swimming lessons, Vacation Bible School, Tuesday themed camps, piano lessons, and preparing for upcoming vacations, I've attempted to pull together a summary of what Emily Anne accomplished this year.

ART (Co-op Course; 3rd Year of Study)
• Sketched from models

• Used a variety of mediums, including oil pastels, watercolors, pencils, & pastel pencils

• Experimented with light & shadow



BIBLE
• Completed Topic Studies on Pride, Blame, Selfishness, & Defiance

• Memorized Psalms 1, 8, 23, & 121

• Memorized Methodist Episcopal Catechism (God’s Nature & Attributes; the Person of God)



EARTH SCIENCE

• Identified crust, mantle, inner core, and outer core of earth

• Identified igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock

• Identified how fossils are formed

• Understood basic structure of minerals and gems

• Understood basic plate tectonics and formation of mountains

• Studied volcanoes, earthquakes, and geysers

• Studied planets, moon, and stars (participated in portable planetarium presentation from STARLAB from the SC State Museum)

• Studied atmosphere, air, weather, and climate

• Identified stratus, cumulus, and cirrus clouds as indicators of weather

• Studied weather and wind, including thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes

• Studied ocean currents, waves, and tides, along with ocean floor and ocean zones



HANDWRITING
• Completed Zaner-Bloser Handwriting 2C

• Formed letters correctly

• Wrote with good shape, size, spacing, & slant



HISTORY
• Completed The Story of the World, Vol. 2: The Middle Ages (From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Rennaissance), by Susan Wise Bauer

• Listened to readings and wrote narrations of each section of the 42 chapters; some of Emily Anne’s favorites were:

o Eric the Red Discovers Greenland

o Joan of Arc

o The Princes in the Tower

o Ferdinand & Isabella Unite Spain

o Christopher Columbus and His New Discovery

o Gutenberg Invents the Printing Press

o Elizabeth Becomes Queen of England

• Listened to additional read-alouds that tied into various historical periods (See Reading Log)

• Read additional chapter and picture books that tied into various historical periods (See Reading Log)



LANGUAGE ARTS
• Studied Grammar through First Language Lessons, Vol. 2 by Susan Wise Bauer, the topics of which included:

o Memorized State of Being, Linking, & Helping Verbs

o Commas in Dates & Addresses & in a Series

o Contractions

o Adjectives & Adverbs

o Conjunctions

o Memorized the Prepositions

o Synonyms & Antonyms

o Direct & Indirect Quotations

• Reinforced these Grammar Topics through Copywork

• Memorized the Following Poems:

o “Ooey Gooey”

o “The Swing” by Robert Louis Stevenson

o “Persevere”

o “After the Party” by William Wise

o “The Vulture” by Hilaire Belloc

o “The Secret” by Emily Dickinson

o “Who Has Seen the Wind?” by Christina Rossetti

o “The Owl & the Pussycat”

o “The Duel” by Eugene Field



MATH
• Completed Saxon 3

• Struggled with Math Facts using flash cards and computer games for reinforcement until we began reciting them (Emily Anne is definitely an auditory learner!)



PIANO
• Learned treble and bass clefs

• Learned counts of quarter, half, whole, and dotted half notes

• Accomplished playing with left and right hands in a variety of songs

• Scored Superior at Hartsville Piano Festival



READING/LITERATURE
• Increased fluency in reading aloud

• Continued to use phonics knowledge as word attack skills

• Increased speed in silent reading

• Enriched vocabulary in silent reading and read-alouds

• Exposed to a variety of literature (biography, nonfiction, fiction, poetry)

• See attached Reading Log



SPELLING

• Completed Spelling Workout B

• Completed through Lesson 24 of Spelling Workout C

• Continued applying phonics rules to correct spelling of words





WRITING
• Completed Beginning Institute for Excellence in Writing Course

o Learned to replace weak words with stronger ones using a thesaurus

o Completed the process of key-word outlines, rough drafts, editing, and final drafts for fables and nonfiction paragraphs

o Practiced combining sentences using dependent clauses

o Enlivened writing by adding adverbs, adjectives, and

• Completed  Writing with Ease, Vol. 2 by Susan Wise Bauer

o Progressed from writing short copywork sentences to longer ones containing direct quotations

o Progressed from writing very short sentences from dictation to two or more sentences from dictation

o Progressed from narrations of one or two sentences to paragraphs

o Wrote many unassigned, creative pieces