A "Things To Do" Curriculum

Well, the time has come that I have found myself with an older child.
Surprise!
According to me, our home is pretty much a little child's paradise.  As are most homes, maybe.  Certainly, all of you with Littles that are reading.  : )
And now I find myself with a child that is shifting out of that sort of play, and haven't quite found my bearings, yet, as this is a brand new thing.
So!
I am creating a list.
A list of ideas and things to have at the ready for investigation and exploration.

It won't be complete, and it will be updated and reposted as I add things to it.
It also won't hold the majority of things that we learn from - things that we find dropped in our path, daily investigations done due to questions raised, and things that are already a large part of our everyday learning, games, and explorations.
And some of these things we are already familiar with, but that I think are worth noting, and don't want to skip over because we are overlooking them.
Lastly, some of them are beloved things we couldn't possibly forget, but are mentioned just because we love them and maybe others would like to know about them, too.


So... here's our list!


recorder (that means learning to read the music and learning to play)

catapult (a table-top one is coming!  :) )

trebuchet (science here)

mythology (we have an inkling or two, but more studies are in order)

Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself  (book)

Great Ancient Egypt Projects You Can Build Yourself) (book)

Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself  (book)

World Myths and Legends 25 Projects You Can Build Yourself  (book)

E-Guides Earth (a book with online links)

horse power  (love this.  Can't wait to share it.)

Young Scientist Concepts & Projects: Astronomy   (book)

Adventure Workshop (4th to 6th Grade):

• Carmen Sandiego Word Detective  (cd rom)
• The Cluefinders : Reading Adventures  (cd rom)
• Super Solvers : Gizmos and Gadgets  (cd rom)

fact books:

• The Nobel Book of Answers - The Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, Shimon Peres, and Other Nobel Prize Winners Answer Some of Life's Most Intruiguing Qestions for Young People
•  How Come?  In the Neighborhood
• 101 Things You Need To Know (And Some You Don't)
• Does It Really Take Seven Years To Digest Swallowed Gum? And Other Questions You've Always Wanted To Ask
• Even More Children's Miscellany - Smart, Silly, and Strange Information That's Essential to Know
• L is for Lollygag : Quirky Words for a Quick Tongue

virtual fieldtrips from lists I've created at OLM (Too.)

cooking : (note for me: check out Pretend Soup and Salad People)  Thanks go to Slim!  Other recommendations??

Math 1-2 (Still loving this one!)

Jumpstart Advanced Third Grade (we're about half done)

Jumpstart 4th Grade Adventures

Jumpstart Advanced 4th Grade

Jumpstart Advanced Study Helpers


Shakespeare
(Most of the stories will come from our book Tales From Shakespeare by Tina Packer, and we'll also be watching the BBC's Shakespeare Animated Tales.)

• Much Ado About Nothing (again-- we love this one.)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Macbeth
• The Tempest
• Othello
• As You Like It
• Romeo and Juliet
• Twelfth Night
• King Lear
• King Richart III
• The Taming of the Shrew
• Julius Caesar
• The Winter's Tale
• Hamlet again?  

The Oregon Trail (5th Edition) (cd-rom)

Carmen Sandiego : Treasures of Knowledge (cd rom) 

Math Blaster  (cd rom)

Carmen Sandiego Math Detective  (cd rom)

Dk's The New Way Things Work  (cd rom)

Play With Us : 100 Games From Around the World  (book)

Daniel Boone
 
Mark Twain

The Call of the Wild

The Princess Bride

George Washington

Pygmalion

Alice In Wonderland

History Dudes : Vikings

Illustrated History Encyclopedia's Ancient World - How People Lived In the Stone Age, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire

The Elements  (I so love this beautiful book!)

Chemistry Plus science kit


I would like to say - just to save myself some aggravation - that none of these things are outside the realm of my son's interest.  And that I don't expect to get through these things in an orderly, organized fashion!
These are simply things that we have readily available on-hand (I'm sort of a Collector :)  ), and that I know my Trev would be/is interested in.
I do not expect or care to check these things off, nor do I consider this a list to be completed in the next 10 Months.  ' Might take four years!  (Being added to -and adapted- freely, of course.)
It's merely meant as a list of "Good Grief, Mama -- what do you mean??  You have all of THESE great things about you!"

S'pose I should put in a Disclaimer at this point, and say :  
This list (of readily available) Does Not Mean that I do not reserve the right to be distracted and disarmed by the Fancy, the New, the Sparkly, and the Super Cool.

Ha!  That is a fine, fine beginning, don't you think??


I want to say "Hey" to Nikki, and mucho thanks go to her for putting the idea in my head to get this down, and to ask others to share, too.

Link to your post below, if you like!  I am hoping to get lots of ideas from others!
(And it's not limited to the Mediums - I'm considering making a list of things already about for Littles (Madeleine), for those that are new to how we do things 'round here. )

(There's no judging, here... if you love the material, put it in.)