2GRD MODG Do-Aheads

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THIS POST WILL NO LONGER BE UPDATED AFTER 5/2015. NEW PAGE HERE.
There are plenty of things you can do to get a jump on next year. This will be especially helpful if you have multiple kids. The proliferation of “do this with me” in the syllabus has me running around like a chicken with my head cut off. You don’t have to do all of this, because doing ANY of it will help you later.

NOTES FOR NEWBIES

The knee-hugger grades aren’t as fleshed out in math and language arts as most newbie parents expect. If you have never taught this grade before, be sure to see my newbie notes HERE.

ORGANIZATIONAL STUFF

  1. Check out my OUT OF PRINT LIST so you know what you’ll have to substitute or skip.
  2. Make sure you understand how Sound Beginnings works. This is your WHOLE Language Arts program and it is NO JOKE. Pretend to teach the first four to six weeks in your head and see if you know what you’d be doing. If not, email me and we can talk. Also, since it’s built on a five day schedule, but MODG only does 4 days a week, the assignments don’t feel consistent. And, the spelling dictation is supposed to go across two or more days, but they’re often back to back. If you HATE that and want to use my personal Sound Beginnings Rework. Feel free. Enter at your own risk. Also, you will need either a primary lined WIPE BOARD or composition book for Sound Beginnings. There’s a lot of writing!
  3. Print out my MEMORY BOOK, especially if you are a multi-kid homeschool. Do it during circle time. We go in reverse order of age.
  4. Also, pass an eye over all the crafts and science experiments for the year and figure out where they would fall. Order your crafts and gather the “get ahead” supplies on the science list. If you intend to substitute any crafts or experiments, make plans now so it doesn’t get skipped entirely.
  5. Order your blank books. If you don’t need a bunch of other stuff from Emmanuel, Barebooks.com is the best pricing. I get the “kits” that have a plastic cover and line guide. See THIS post to figure out how many books you need and what sizes
  6. Go ahead and cut out your art cards. I have an attractive, cheap way to store them HERE.
  7. Get a crochet kit. The syllabus says that any crochet instruction will do. We use the DVD Art of Crochet: 4 Kids, starring cute little boy, Ryan Anderson as the teacher. You will also need a ball of yarn and a needle (J size works for us.)
  8. The recommended book for the recorder is out of print; it’s super annoying anyway. We use Nine-Note Recorder Method.
  9. The Klutz tissue paper flower craft is out of print. Alex Toys has a kit for giant tissue flowers that will last you through several kids. It makes 36 flowers.
  10. For the Music Masters Series, there are exactly 8 that are not used in 3GRD-5GRD, and conveniently, that’s the exact number you need for this year. They are: Beethoven, Chopin, Dvorak, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann and Grieg, and Wagner. Order the whole set (Adoremus Books $58) and you’re covered for all 3 yrs.
  11. If you intend to use the exact history books in the lesson plans for weeks 20-31, check your library or purchase the following in addition to those on the required list: Pocahontas (D’Aulaire), Thomas Jefferson (Meet Famous Americans Series), Childhood of Famous Americans Series: Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Boone these are intended to be read by the child, if he can, or by you during the “Read from the booklists” time, if they’re out of reach.
  12. Print out my 2015-2016 liturgical PLANNER booklet or email me for the syllabi one.  This will help you see what saints resources you need. Here are a few Tables of Contents by Date. We have a static list that we use every year.
  13. Read Aloud Plans/Read Alone Plans: If you want a schedule for the all the fiction reading for the year based exclusively on MODG picks or you want to know the book levels for the recommended reading practice options, see THIS POST.
  14. Tear out your math and make your copies for music, Science and Living Things etc. If you use the crate system below, go ahead and file these by week.
  15. Buy Math-It USED. It’s too expensive new, for what it is. OR, at rainbow resource, you can get an “extra student set” of the boards and the guide book for about half what you’ll pay for the whole system. The syllabus only has you use it weekly, but you need to do it or another math facts drill at least 5 minutes a DAY. See my notes below about the Abeka manual.
  16. Somewhere on your Mom notebook, write “Copy, copy, copy” That’s the language arts focus this year.
  17. On your weekly assignment list, put in a home culture section: “Enjoy something nature-y together.”  “Enjoy some beautiful classical music together.”

BONUS POINTS

  • Start a CRATE SYSTEM: a walmart crate, 32 hanging file folders with tabs, printer paper, index cards.
    1. Put 32 folders in the crate and number the tabs 1-32.
    2. Tear out/copy/print out all of your worksheets, tests, and whatnot.
    3. Drop in any weekly flashcards or music masters CD’s.