2010-2011 Curriculum Plans for Ayinde

It's funny how God sends you two completely different gifts. My oldest child is very reserved and mature, while my youngest is a lively ball of fire. They balance each other wonderfully (sometimes!) and keep me on my feet as a parent. I lean toward unschooling and Montessori with the Ayinde.  I will be using all sorts of activities from Montessori for Everyone.  It's all about music, movement and touching. So I go with that flow to teach him.

Science:
We will be participating in the awesome and free Botany science class given by the US Botanical Gardens as well as using the preschool science curriculum From Mudpies to Magnets.  In the Spring, we will enroll in the Little Genius Science & Math Program that my oldest son participated in for 3 years.  It was a wonderful experience for Zion and I'm sure it will be for Ayinde!  He already sings the LG Rap and calls himself a "Little Genius" whenever he does something deemed awesome in his own eyes.

Language Arts
We will continue to visit library storytimes and read 5-10 books per day together and work through Hooked on Phonics.  We will also use Learning Letters Through All Five Senses. I picked up this gem used at a homeschool conference. It's Montessori based and wonderfully creative. For example, for the letter A we'll learn about Alligators, make applesauce, do an A craft and sing an A song. Our core language program is Montessori-based utilizing the book Montessori Read & Write, as well as materials such as the Sandpaper Letters and the Moveable Alphabet.

Handwriting
We'll be using the Handwriting Without Tears Preschool Kit, probably over the course of two years.

Math
We'll primarily use Montessori Math, but will supplement with other Living Math books such as Count on Math, Math Arts and Exploring Mathematics Through Literature.  The next step will be Singapore Math.

Social Studies
I'm really excited about using the Putumayo World Playground Multicultural Activity Kit with Ayinde. He loves music and what better way to learn about the world. This will probably be an activity that I will have my sons do together since they are both musicians. I also plan to incorporate the Usborne Book of Face Painting as we study people around the world and the various cultural markings they use. Ayinde loves to have his face painted.

History
Yes, we'll be studying history, but in a fun way. We'll focus on the ancient Nubians and Egyptians while using a wonderful book called Hieroglyphics for Babies to make art projects and learn about The Story of Asar, Aset and Heru: An Ancient Egyptian Legend. I'm most excited about studying a wonderfully written and illustrated book Jomo: A Name to be Proud. It's all about the life of Jomo Kenyatta, the first Prime Minister and President of a liberated Kenya. Ayinde shares the same Kikuyu middle name with this famous leader. I want him to know the history of his names. His first name is a Yoruba name from Nigeria. I haven't found the right book for that lesson yet.

Music: My budding artist will continue his beloved Suzuki Violin lessons at Levine School of Music THEARC campus. He'll also continue his beloved drumming class with Baba Mahari's Tam Tam Mandigue. He's been humming the last rhythms he learned all summer long!

Physical Education: We are considering a Tae Kwon Do class and we will be doing daily yoga for kids at home using ABC Yoga for Kids and the Yoga Kit for Kids. 

Art:
Art will be interwoven into all of the subject areas we teach as an extension activity.

Foreign Language:
I tried to pick languages that he hears most and it's Spanish and Sign Language.  We'll use Hooked on Spanish for now and borrow Signing Time videos from the library for sign language.  My sister is deaf and I'm intermediate/fluent in ASL, my stepfather is from El Salvador, so we've got this covered.