Have I mentioned how much I love back to school season? I know you are shaking your head right now and I love that. At least there is no doubt in your mind that I simply can not resist new pencils, notebooks and glue sticks.
Perhaps you feel the same way and simply can not wait for school to begin or perhaps the thought of trading the sandy beaches for a notebook and highlighters makes you want to cry. Either way, I hope you will find my list of 2012-2013 homeschool curriculum helpful. Bear in mind, there are many ways to homeschool your children. This list is just one way and is intended to give you a peak into our home. Friend, this is going to be a great year, even if you aren’t excited about it quite yet!
About my students
Leah is an 8 year old girl who walked into a teacher resource store with me this week and BEGGED me to let her buy a reading comprehension study book. When she gets a new book, she would rather not come out of her room until it’s finished, even if it’s 500 pages. To say that she loves reading, is clearly an understatement. She will be in 3rd grade this year.
Rachel is a typical 7 year old girl. She loves to use her imagination and rarely do I find a puzzle that she can’t solve. I’m not sure if it was our family circumstances or just her personality, but reading came a lot slower to her than it did for her sister. Despite the fact that she is reading beautifully for a rising 2nd grader, she will still tell you that she can’t read and doesn’t like to.
It’s hard to believe that Nathan, age 5, will be entering kindergarten this year! Every ounce of his little body is ALL boy. He needs to “run it out.” He is super excited to start school this year and is coming in with more skill that I thought he had. Ha, poor thing. Please don’t tell him that I started formal schooling with his sisters at age 3…before I knew better!
Classical Conversations
As a mom of 4, one of the most important elements of my homeschool is finding ways to teach as much as possible to all of my kids at the same time. This is one of the reasons that I love Classical Conversations so much. All three of my kids study the same core of subjects every week: Math, History, Science, Geography, English, Latin, and Fine Arts. Each day, we focus on a different subject, reciting the memory work and digging just a little deeper to explore topics of interest. The kids all have notebooks that they keep for Classical Conversations work that I will be sharing in two weeks in my Organizing Classical Education series.
Math
I am going digital this year. Teaching three different kids on three different levels is difficult. This year I am hoping to help with some of the mommy teaching load by going digital. We will use Teaching Textbooks 4 (Leah) and Teaching Textbooks 3 (Rachel). I am not a big fan of hard core curriculum in kindergarten. Nathan will learn to skip count every number from 1′s all the way to 14′s this year in Classical. In addition, I love the Rod and Staff preschool curriculum. It’s designed to cover all subjects up until 1st grade level. This year Nathan will complete the second half of the series, G-H-I. Should he finish that a require a more challenging math, I reserve the right to add something in!
We also use the iPad to review math facts daily with the Math Drills app.
Reading
This is one area that I tend to be very flexible with. I simply don’t like being tied down to a curriculum of any sort. Reading begins with 30 minutes of Reading Eggs, for all students. This program is unlike many others, in that it actually teaches the student to read. As he gets older, the program encourages comprehension, vocabulary, and other essential skills. Best of all, it’s fun. It engages all ages and holds their interest. Even at the 3rd grade level, it hardly seems to be a chore to complete it.
After reading eggs, all three students read for 30 minutes- their choice. I don’t manage the selection in any way. I also don’t manage the quality of their reading during this time, either. The goal is to encourage them to use books for information and enjoyment. They don’t have to read every word with perfect articulation in order to benefit from the book.
The next step is 30 minutes of reading- mom’s choice. For Nathan (K), we will read beginning readers that I own, as well as those that we find at the library. Rachel (2nd) will read Pathways readers and also various finds from the library. Leah (3rd) will help me chose her books this year. Currently, she is reading books by Marguerite Henry.
Language Arts
Despite what I was taught in college, I take a very classical approach to writing. The backbone of writing in the early years is copy work. Learning to print, track, and follow great literature is instrumental in becoming a great writer. Each year, I use a simple spiral bound notebook and have the girls copy various works. This year, I will start with Proverbs. They will copy a verse each day and then move on to Psalms. Nathan will use Handwriting without Tears to learn the proper way to form letters. I haven’t worked much with him on this and he is super excited to begin. (Hint…DO NOT start formal handwriting with a child until they are ready!)
In addition to copywork, we use Writing with Ease. Leah will work in book 3 this year and Rachel will work in book 2. I love Writing with Ease because it combines copywork of excellent literature with listening skills, narration skills and the necessary tools for the craft of writing. It even teaches grammar concepts in the process.
Two days a week, all of the kids write in journals. I do not give topics for this writing, they may choose. However, I strongly encourage them with discussion of field trips that we take, things that we are learning, and even events in our lives. I also have a posting of topics at the beginning of the journal and a monthly list for ideas. I do not edit or critique this work AT ALL. It is designed to encourage them to write freely without the fear of messing up.
I am excited to introduce All About Spelling into our day this year. The main goal is to use it as a means to teach Nathan to read; however, there is a component for all 3 of the children that will build reading and spelling skills.
Bible
We participate in a wonderful Bible study every week with Community Bible Study (CBS). The kids each have their own study books to complete daily, just like mom. This year we are studying Hebrews.
In addition to CBS, we will complete Esther by Grapevine Studies and finish Who is God. If you haven’t seen these two resources, be sure to check them out. Both are fantastic ways to teach Bible study and world view.
Extras
New this year is We Choose Virtues. The program teaches and then encourages children toward virtues with Bible verses, stories, and accountability charts. I’ve heard good things about this program for over a year, so I was super excited when the company asked me to review their product this year! Stay tuned for a more in-depth look at how we are using it and loving it in our homeschool (coming in September).
This is the part of our program where I confess to things that don’t always go the way I have planned. Two years ago I purchased a few extras that I wanted to do with my kids. Crazy circumstances have left books unopened and the others only dabbled in. This year, I do hope to be intentional with Artistic Pursuits Book 1. I have completed the preschool book of this series and love the way it teaches art technique by learning to observe real art. The program teaches the student (and parent) about the best art supplies to use for each technique. Not to mention, my children love art and beg to do lessons in this book!
What’s missing?
You might have noticed that there is no science or history curriculum listed. That’s because we cover these topics in Classical Conversations. During our time at home, we do expand on topics of interest, but for the most part all of my kids are in the stage where they are simply memorizing the “grammar” of both of these topics. Additional elaboration is not necessary just yet.
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Linking with Better Mom, Modest Mom Blog, Hip Homeschool Mom, Classical Trivium and Raising Arrows
Kim Sorgius
Kim is just a girl, crazy in love with Jesus. She's a single mother of 4, a passionate homeschooler and life-long student. After teaching 8 years in public school, she traded her M.A. in Early Childhood for sippy cups and homeschool co-ops. Kim is the owner and editor of The Homeschool Village and Not Consumed where she encourages others to rest victoriously in the hands of God, rather than allowing life's difficult circumstances to consume.
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LOVE the Apologia books – we are going to start the third one this year!!!! Looks like a GREAT line up!
I find it so interesting to read about what works for other families and why. I especially appreciate that you shared a bit of your schedule of when you do things and for how long as that is the project for this year that I am currently working on and I’m looking for all the ideas I can get!!! Have a great year!
I checked out the link to We Choose Virtues. It looks great, and I’m going to have to keep that in mind for next year.
Such great selections! My son loved Reading Eggs and he learned so much. I can see how CC could help families with more than one child.
(I found you through the NBTS hop.)
I am so glad you shared this. I’m starting to homeschool this year (preK, nothing “formal”) and we are hoping to pursue classical education.
I’ll be back for your Organizing Classical Homeschool series. Can’t wait!!
P.S. Stopping by from The Better Mom. I blog at Domestic Bliss Diaries, where I write about making and managing home:
http://www.domesticblissdiaries.com
love getting a peek into your process! i am just getting mine finalized. it’s been bubbling all summer and now i’m filtering it into a useable format. though i’m dreading the ridiculously long hours (we’re at it from dawn ’til dusk over here), i too love the pristine new folders, smell of sharpened pencils, and the new energy that goes with a fresh start.
What a fun year you have planned out! I love your reading plan of having the fun reading and the mom picked out reading built into your day! Stopping by from the Not Back to School Blog Hop
I will be very interested to read your Classical Conversations series. We also using WWE and are very classical in our approach – we’re headed almost 100% that way this year, actually.
You have a great plan for the year. I especially like all of the learning your kids can do TOGETHER.
Looks great! I also have an 8 year old.
Thank you for sharing! I love Reading Eggs and what you are doing for you reading time. My oldest just found a real love for books so going to borrow your ideas
We do the classical method of homeschooling as well. My biggest weakness is writing for sure. Thanks for sharing. I found you on the Not Back To School Blog Hop.
I have a number of friends who use Classical Conversations. And I think you are one of many I’ve seen using We Choose Virtues. I think I’m going to have to look at that.
Thanks for sharing. I am using CC to frame our memory work this year. We will not be attending the co-op though. Last year we sampled Reading Eggs and my boys loved it, I need to consider purchasing it.
Thanks for sharing about We Choose Virtues. Think that would work as something for us to use here as well. Am always intrigued by CC and have gone to meetings about it, but we are still more eclectic at this point. Love reading what those who use CC love about it so enjoyed your post!
Popped by from the “Not-Back-to-School” Blog Hop: Curriculum
Week!
Hope that you have a happy homeschool year! Happy planning
for 2012-2013!
Hope that you will pop by to say hello over at my blog and
my Pinterest boards too!
Colleen a.k.a. Pinterest Mama
http://pinterest.com/f5th/
Sunrise Learning Lab
http://sunriselearninglab.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-school-year-right-around-corner.html
We love Teaching Textbooks.My youngest is in 10th grade this year and is doing Algebra 2.My older son graduated in the spring and is working twords his bacholers degree in Marine Sciences.