Homeschool Creations

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Our Homeschool Curriculum 2009-2010

I mentioned a few days ago that some of our curriculum choices changed after I attended our homeschool convention this past weekend.

By 'our curriculum choices' I mean the phone conversation between my husband and I went something like, "You trust me in choosing the curriculum we'll be using with the kids, right?"

{crickets chirping}

"Oh. Yeah."

So, after hours of wandering around the vendor hall I made a few last minute switches. Keeping in mind that our school year will already have some interruptions with reviewing for the Homeschool Crew, I think that the changes will work out very well for the groove that we are getting into as a family.

Here's the planned lineup for our upcoming year. And 'planned' is such a loose word, really. More like 'in an ideal world we would complete and finish all on our list':

Bible ~ Discovering Jesus in Genesis by Susan Hunt. We've done more structured curriculum in the past, but this book offers 36 devotion-style book that focuses on covenant promises throughout the Bible.

Spelling ~ All About Spelling {no changes here}. Love the program and we are still working on it through the summer also.

Math - A Beka math based on the kids grade levels. I wavered between this and Saxon, but stuck with what was familiar to me at this point since the girls are doing well with it. We are going to add in some various math activities/manipulatives this year as well as some fun books I found called Daily Mental Math {again, based on the girls grade levels}. The Daily Mental Math books have a few small exercises for the girls to do just as 'sharpening' skills for their workboxes {purchased through Rainbow Resource}.

Language ~ This was the big switch for us this year! I sat in on a seminar by Jessie Wise and picked up the book First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind. We're going to start on some of it this summer and work through it a bit and see where Laurianna is overall. The main book is primarily for grades 1-2 and there are additional books for grades 3-4. Something just 'clicked' with me when listening to Jessie Wise and thumbing through the books.

Writing ~ We'll be using the book The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease by Susan Wise Bauer {daughter of Jessie Wise}. Again, the convention was the trigger for this switch over too.

Handwriting ~ I switched our books in this area too! I picked up all of the levels in A Reason for Handwriting. The workbooks are based on Scripture verses and have the kids practice words and letters from the verse of the week. {manuscript or cursive depending on their grade level}

Science ~ Overall, we will be using Apologia. Right now we're working our way through Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. During the school year, both girls independently work on science reading using A Beka science that goes along with their grade levels.

Geography ~ Our primary focus for the year will be continuing our studies of world cultures and geography. This next year we will keep up with Galloping the Globe and finish our tour with Africa, Australia, South America, and Canada.
History ~ Even though we will be focused on geography overall, the girls will again be reading independently through their grade level books from A Beka in this subject.

Art ~ This is one area that I really feel a need to improve my follow-through {ahem}. The girls are begging to do more here and really want to learn. After using ARTistic Pursuits last year, we're going to use that as our primary focus this year.

After listing it all out, it seems a little overwhelming in ways, but this summer my focus is working out a schedule to fit things in once a week (like art, Bible, etc...) and go from there. I'm also planning on using Sue Patrick's Workbox system {most likely with some tweaking for our family} to help with the thought of having 3 kiddos officially in 'school' this year. Some of the things I'll be doing with Zachary are a little different, but he'll be doing handwriting along with us, math, reading, language, spelling, and geography as it all applies to him. :)

So...off to work on my planner, my plans...or maybe I'll just kick back and rest for a little bit. I'm wiped just typing that all out!



Be sure to stop by and visit Kris @ Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and see some of the other curriculum line-ups for this year! Darcy @ My 3 Boybarians is also hosting a "Not-Back-to-School" blog hop and the topic is curriculum.


Photobucket

Labels: ,

19 Comments:

  • Okay - now I am totally inspired and encouraged to get our plan all typed out! Thanks!

    By Anonymous Amanda, At June 17, 2009 at 9:50 PM  

  • Wow! Congratulations, I haven't even begun to think about next year. Am I behind already? LOL

    By Blogger Valerie McClintick, At June 18, 2009 at 1:45 AM  

  • wow that is very impressive! Can't wait to read about all the fun this next school year!

    By Blogger Gidget Girl Reading, At June 18, 2009 at 8:07 AM  

  • There is a “New Guy On The Block.”

    A retired Saxon math teacher has created DVD “video” tutorials for John Saxon’s math books beginning with algebra 1/2. They sell for $49.95 for a series (including free shipping).

    He also wrote a book on how to correctly use Saxon math books.

    Take a look at www.usingsaxon.com

    Art Reed

    By Anonymous Art Reed, At June 18, 2009 at 11:20 AM  

  • looks like you're ready to go! I can't wait to go to convention this year. I went to one that didn't have great speakers, so I've been saving for another one that I KNOW has good speakers! I need the encouragement to get motivated!

    By Blogger DairyQueen, At June 18, 2009 at 11:53 AM  

  • We love A Reason For Handwriting in our house! We're going to do All About Spelling this year after your rave reviews. :)

    Thanks for sharing your plan, I love to see what others are doing. A bit dangerous though...;)

    By Blogger Jo Ann, At June 18, 2009 at 12:20 PM  

  • Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to see how the new programs work for you guys!

    By Blogger Susana, At June 18, 2009 at 12:31 PM  

  • thanks for sharing your plans! I'm thinking of homeschooling too, and have been following your blog for a while. just thought I'd say hi :)

    By Anonymous orangepekoe, At June 19, 2009 at 8:27 AM  

  • What is this workbox system? Where can I read about it?

    Funny, I just sold my Shurley Grammar and bought FLL and WWE myself. Looks like they'll be a great fit in this house!!!

    By Blogger Mary@notbefore7, At June 19, 2009 at 5:13 PM  

  • OH - BTW...the WWE workbook has copywork on a regular basis - will you still do handwriting in addition for your kids who don't need instruction in it anymore.

    I mean, K can make all the letters now, but needs ot practice. I figure that copywork can do that for her...but maybe not? She isn't ready to go to cursive, so we just have a year to make manuscript solid.

    By Blogger Mary@notbefore7, At June 19, 2009 at 5:14 PM  

  • I *love* First Language Lessons. I keep waffling back and forth over whether or not we'll use the Complete Writer. I *want* to and I think it looks great, but I wonder if it's going to prove to be too much with the other things we're using. I guess I'll just try it and see how it goes.

    Have a great year! I look forward to hearing what you think about all your choices as you get into them. I hope they're all a great fit.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At July 26, 2009 at 4:56 PM  

  • We have loved Artistic Pursuits! Have a great year!

    By Blogger Tracy, At August 3, 2009 at 1:35 PM  

  • Been reading your blog for a few weeks now. I am so ready to try out our Artistic Pursuits!! Hope you have a great year!!

    By Blogger Jenn, At August 3, 2009 at 3:35 PM  

  • Thanks for linking up over at the NBTS Blog Hop!

    You have a great year planned. I also made a few changes at our HS conference. I flew to the big one in Cincy this year - it was incredible!

    Have a great year

    By Blogger Darcy @ m3b, At August 3, 2009 at 5:51 PM  

  • Thank you! I went to see the Finding Jesus in Genesis and also found one about finding Him in Exodus. I study this with my older kids straight from the Bible, but those illustrated ones will be good for my kiddles.

    By Blogger Sisterlisa, At August 3, 2009 at 6:54 PM  

  • A homeschool convention can totally change your plan, huh? I know I changed my plan for my 1st grader TWICE based what I learned at the convention and what I followed up on after it.

    Anyway, I hope your changes and mine both work out to be exactly what we needed for our children. Thank you for sharing on the Blog Hop.

    By Blogger Robin E., At August 4, 2009 at 9:18 AM  

  • You are the first homeschooler I've found to also pick Discovering Jesus in Genesis. I heard Susan Hunt at a women's retreat last fall (she was fantastic), and I ended up buying DJiG -- we loved it! We will be doing the Exodus book this year.

    Kellie

    By Blogger argsmommy, At August 5, 2009 at 11:56 PM  

  • Just want to encourage you to borrow from a library a CD of bird songs and an easy to use field guide for your bird study. We used Apologia's Flying Creatures, too! It was a couple years ago and we're still making homemade feeders and identifying birds. Isn't it great when our efforts produce fruit? Oh, and open your windows when you're playing the CD and listen carefully for any answers from the trees! :)

    By Anonymous Dawn from Ohio, home school mother of four, At July 21, 2010 at 5:34 PM  

  • We also love All About Spelling and Apologia!

    I am enjoying looking through your blog & am now following it. Lots of good stuff here!

    http://www.lightlibertyandlearning.blogspot.com/

    By Blogger Denise, At July 21, 2010 at 10:56 PM  

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have a question and would like a reply, feel free to ask. I do my best to reply personally to you, but please be sure that there is an email linked to your comment or your profile! :)

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]



<< Home