My Letter of Intent, 2008

M will be 6 this summer and starting first grade. So I finally wrote my first letter of intent. Having a loose homeschooling style made it hard to document our curriculum, but I finally figured out what I wanted to use and how I wanted to present it.

Here is what I wrote for our list of materials:

Curriculum & Core Materials

Language Arts
Reading
We love to read and visit the library on a weekly basis, restocking our supply of books and reading material on a regular basis. Along with library visits, we will use the following reading resources:
* Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann

Spelling, Writing, & Vocabulary
We will assign frequent writing assignments to build handwriting and spelling skills. These following books will supplement these assignments:
* A Reason for Spelling: Student Workbook Level A by Rebecca Burton
* Wordly Wise 3000: Book A by Kenneth Hodkinson and Sandra Adams
* A child’s dictionary

Social Studies
Geography
We have a United States map puzzle, and we also have a world map on the wall and will continue to study the cultures of different countries. Along with learning about these cultures, we will use these resources:
* National Geographic Our World: A Child's First Picture Atlas published by National Geographic Society
* The Kingfisher First Picture Atlas published by Editors of Kingfisher

History
We will cover history using the following curriculum:
* History for Little Pilgrims by Michael McHugh

Mathematics
We take a hands-on approach with mathematics, building the understanding of the abstract concepts before applying it to paper. Therefore, we have many learning activities, projects, and games before we do the lessons in the workbooks.
* Math Basics Grade 1 published by I Know It! Books
* Time & Money Grades 1 - 2 published by I Know It! Books
* Count on Math: Activities for Small Hands and Lively Minds by Pam Schiller and Lynne Peterson (Chapters 10, 11, and 12)
* Reader Rabbit 1st Grade Version 1.0 computer program

Science
We take a hands-on approach to science as well, using science experiments along with science handouts and supplemental material from the library. The curriculum from which we work contains 24 different lessons, and we use these lessons as “springboards” to go deeper into the topic.
* Janice VanCleave's Teaching the Fun of Science to Young Learners: Grades Pre-K through 2 by Janice VanCleave
* Janice VanCleave's Big Book of Play and Find Out Science Projects by Janice VanCleave
* The Best of The Mailbox Science First Grade
* Supplemental Library Material

Health & Safety
We discuss safety and fire prevention as part of our family rules and parental discipline. We will continue to enforce the following concepts that Makani already understands:
* why she should wear her seatbelt when she is in the car
* why she should wear a helmet when she rides her bike
* why she should not put a plastic bag over her head
* why she should not put a rope around her neck
* why she should not play with matches or a lighter

We will continue to educate her on these safety issues by teaching her what to do in case of a fire or a tornado.

Physical Education
Currently, we encourage dancing, running, bike riding, and other physical activity. We will continue to encourage this kind of creative play and will also enroll Makani in YMCA classes for swimming and gymnastic lessons.

Fine Arts
We enjoy both music and art within our home. We will continue to explore fine arts education with the following creative resources:
* Garage Band by Apple (music computer program)
* Finale Songwriter 2007 by eMedia (music computer program)
* Music Lessons (piano)
* Classical Music (Mozart, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Beethoven)
* ArtRage 2.5 (art computer program)
* Art mediums including paint, crayons, markers, chalk, and colored pencils
* Craft projects including sewing, building with wood, making puppets, etc.