Hey there! Welcome to my blog if you are visiting from the Not Back to School Blog Hop.
I am homeschooling 4 boys ages/grades:
- Truman - 2 year old tot
- Trevor - 5 year old 1st grade
- Tucker - 6 year old 1st/2nd grade
- Tyler - 10 year old 5th grade
Our Curriculum for 2011-2012
Bible – I have struggled finding a Bible curriculum that suited our family & would not be overwhelming in addition to doing the Awana program at our church. Currently our family is reading the Family Reading Bible each night & we just LOVE it. It offers several different “paths” to reading the Bible & will last for years to come. This Bible deserves an entire post of it’s own! For so long I wanted to just read the Bible to our kids, but I was clueless how to approach it with the age range of my children. The Family Reading Bible is truly an answered prayer! I have also decided to add to our “Bible or Character” study. Tyler picked out Notgrass’ Draw to Learn Jesus & I fell in love with Generation Virtue’s Against the Tide Curriculum. I bought both of their guides & all the books to go with 1st & 5th grade levels. This curriculum might be subject sensitive for some families – it deals with purity & other modern day issues head-on. For my children, I learned a long time ago that secluding them does not always guarantee protecting them from the deceptions of the world so I am personally comfortable with the topics.
Math is staying the same – Math U See (Alpha & maybe start Beta) for my mustangs & Teaching Textbooks (Math 6) for Tyler
Language Arts:
Spelling – All 3 of my boys will be using All About Spelling starting on level 1 & working through it at their own paces.
Reading – I plan to use the All About Reading reader’s. I will also continue using the Explode the Code books with my mustangs, as well as the “I Can Read It” beginning readers; however, if it seems like too much, which ever program works best & they like I will stick with. Click here for Tyler’s 5th grade reading menu.
Writing – We did not work through the Write Shop books as much as I had planned last year. I love this series, so I am going to stick with it for my mustangs. We will continue to work through book A. Tyler however, is getting to an age that writing skills are much more important. Writing is not a subject that is totally in my teaching comfort zone, so I decided to invest in IEW – Student Writing Intensive. I have heard great things about this program & am looking forward to the potential growth Tyler stands to gain from it. I will be honest, looking online & even at their booth at the convention, I am totally overwhelmed – which is why I decided to choose the “Student Instruction” video’s vs. the “Parent Instruction” videos. Using this year to build my comfort zone & know-how of the program (&iIf all goes well), next year I will make the leap from the student to the teacher & explore the other options IEW offers.
Language/Grammar – I will continue using First Language Lesson’s with my mustangs & Analytical Grammar JR & Mechanics for Tyler. Originally I planned to use IEW’s new grammar, Fix It, with Tyler’s grammar studies as well, since Analytical Grammar is only an 11 week course, but we’ll see …. IEW might be next years option.
Science was a tough decision for me. There were several programs that peaked an interest in me – Winter Promise, Real Science For Kids, Apologia, & God’s Design. And then there was the option of just doing an entire year of nature study. I have been wanting to study anatomy with the boys for a long time, but there were basic’s that Winter Promise offered that I wanted to cover with my mustangs before jumping into a particular topic. Tyler really wanted some type of biology study – which I’m sure his younger brother’s would not have objected too. Ultimately, I decided against Winter Promise because the price & also the fact that I would not be teaching the 3 boys together (which also added to the cost). I can’t tell you how close I came to purchasing Real Science. After looking at the books & how appealing they’d be to my boys I was positive that would be an easy, painless, affordable curriculum we’d all enjoy. Then the Holy Spirit whispered in my ear & I had to take into consideration that although it was not evolutionary, it was not Biblical at all. The author claims to just present the facts. For some this may not be an issue & initially it was not for me; however, at this point in my homeschooling journey I decided ultimately it was important for our science studies to provide the word of God. I love God’s Design. I’ve used it before & have no complaints what-so-ever. But, when it came down to comparing the anatomy guides with Apologia – Tyler chose Apologia Anatomy & Physiology. I completely agree with him & I’m super excited to be using the same curriculum for all the boys. In addition to the text & projects, the mustangs will be using their new Jr. Notebooking Journal & Tyler will use the original one for older children. (Did you know each notebook has a suggested schedule? - yes, the Jr. & original plans differ slightly)
History is staying the same – I am a huge Winter Promise fan. It allows me to continue teaching the same history to all the boys at 2 different levels. This year we will be using their All American 1 program. I can’t wait to jump into American history with my kids!!
Geography is incorporated into the All American 1 program for older students. They study 1 state each week & make their own State Notebook. This idea sounded so fun I really wanted my younger boys to lightly join in on the state geography. You can click HERE to view the resources I will be using in addition to WP.
Spanish – I let Tyler choose what curriculum he wanted to learn Spanish. Honestly, I was prepared & expected to purchase Rosetta Stone. After spending about 15 minutes sampling the first lesson, we both knew that Rosetta Stone was NOT going to be it. I know there are great reviews out there & it has a huge success rate, but for Tyler it just wasn’t he was looking for. What we really didn’t like about it was that it does not give a lot of instruction. Instead, he totally surprise me & picked La Clase Divertida. I am very happy with his choice & hope the mustangs will enjoy learning with him. La Clase Divertida is a DVD based curriculum, which also includes a workbook (for older students) & crafts/projects. I think we will have a lot of fun with this!
*We started school in early July. Click HERE to see my thoughts after the first week of using our new curriculum or you view our weekly Homeschooling Highlights for a little peek at the activities we are doing with this curriculum.*
**You can also click HERE for a list of curriculum we’ve used for prior years.**
***For my thoughts on curriculum we love or that did not work for us click HERE***
TOT SCHOOL 2’s Curriculum
*BFIAR Resources I don’t think a “curriculum” is necessary, but the FIAR books are wonderful “keepers” that you will read over & over again (not just when your child is 2). I don’t do all the activities listed in the guide, but pick a few here & there & add some of my own ideas. Skills
- Animal’s & Sounds
- Body Parts
- Sign Language
- First Words – building a vocabulary
- Colors
- Counting
- Character Traits
I LOVE Bright & Beyond Activity Cards
**You can click here for more details on my 2’s Tot School Plans**
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