GUIDING PRINCIPLES: Our Catholic Christian faith, the bible and its teachings, and our respective adjacent personal and professional intuition has informed the guiding principles of our family homeschool:

1. Be Loving.

2. Be Respecful.

3. Be Responsible.

4. Be Safe.

5. Be Positive.

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BEHAVIOR & INTERACTION:

-Behaviorism Learning Theory (Positive Reinforcement), Pavlov

-"Love & Logic" by Fay and Funk

-"Conscious Discipline" by Becky Bailey

-American Psychological Association

-Dr. William "Bill" Sears, Pediatrician, Professor, Health Consultant

-Problem-Based, Hands-On Engagement: "Teaching Student Centered Mathematics: Developmentally Appropriate Instruction" by VandeWalle et al. 

-Math Expressions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Fuson et al. 

-Experiential Learning Theory (Exploration, Discovery), Kolb

-Project Based Learning Theory, John Dewey

-Social Learning Theory (Modeling, Observation, Imitation), Bandura

-Cooperative Learning Theory [with an emphasis on 1) face-to-face promotoive interaction, discussion; 2) positive interdependence; 3) simultaneous individual and group accountability; 4) social skills, teamwork 5) group processing--reflection of group function/progress/goal acquisiton], Johnson et al. 

-Constructivist Learning Theory  Cognitive (Schema/Prior Knowledge), Piaget; Social (Collaborative), Vygotsy

-High Scope Learning Environment, David Weikart

-Montessorri-Inspired Materials/Activities, Maria Montessori 

-Zone of Proximal Development, Vygotsky

-Gradual Release of Responsbility Framework (I do, We do, You do collaboratively, You do independently), Fisher & Frey

-Multiple Intelligences, Howard Gardner 

-Backward Design, Wiggins and McTighe

-Research-Based Strategies [including 1) use of compare/constast, exemplars/nonexemplars; 2) note-taking/summaraizing; 3) "pause, prompt, praise," with emphasis on think time, guiding questions and positive reinforcment 4) routine practice of concepts/objectives at hand; 5) nonlinguistic represenations, including use of symbols and graphic organizers; 6) cooperativce learning; 7) providision of clear objectives and feedback on performance/goal acquisition; 8) generating/testing hypotheses; 9) activation of prior knowledge/schema, use of advanced organizers], Marzano 

-Differentiated Instruction/Learning (varied approaches)

-Individualized Instruction/Learning (varied timeliness in presentation, pending readiness)

-Scaffolded Approaches (varied types/levels of support to achieve outcomes)

-Bloom's Taxonomy (Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create), Bloom

-Diagnostic, Formative Summative Assessment; Formal vs Informal, Paul Black

-Balanced Literacy--Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, Presenting, Critique: "The Literacy Continnuum" by Fountas & Pinnell, "The Daily Five" by Gail Boushey

-Components of Reading (a.k.a. Strategies):: "CAFE" (Comprehnsion, Accuracy, Fluency, Expanding Vocabulary) by Gail Boushey

-Guided Reading: "The Next Step Forward in Guided Reading" by Jan Richardson

-Word Work: "Comprehensive Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Guide Pre K-8" by Fountas & Pinnell, "The Next Step Forward in Word Study and Phonics" by Jan Richardson,  "Words Their Way" by Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, and Johnston

-Comprehension: "Comprehension Connections," Tanny GcGregor

-Handwriting: "Readiness & Writing" by Learning Without Tears