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Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2010-2011

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This year our oldest three {Zachary ~1st, McKenna ~ 3rd, & Laurianna ~ 4th grade} will be working together and focusing on Early American History. This list focuses on the curriculum that we will be using for our older three {preschool excluded…since I’m still tweaking that!}. Otherwise, this is what we have in place for each subject this coming year along with the how often we’ll be working on that subject each week.

Language ~ First Language Lessons was a great addition to our library last year. I love the scripted lessons and the depth that they cover {making it easier for me!}. Zachary will be working through FLL Year 1 and both girls will be working through First Language Lessons Year 3. Is it wrong to say that I am almost giddy that the girls will be learning how to diagram this year?

If you are using First Language Lessons Years 1 & 2 don’t forget the poem printables I made to go along with the memorization. I’m working on the ones for Level 3 right now and will share them soon! {Daily}

Math  ~ Teaching Textbooks is our primary curriculum for the girls. They have been working on lessons this summer and should be moving up to the next level mid-year. For now, McKenna is using Teaching Textbooks Level 3 and Laurianna is using Teaching Textbooks Level 4.

Zachary will be using ABeka Arithmetic 1. He really liked it last year, so we’ll continue it now until he is ready to move into Teaching Textbooks. {Daily}

History ~ This is the ‘core’ of what we’ll be focusing on this year. We’re blending two things together ~ Homeschool in the Woods Time Traveler’s units and Beautiful Feet Early American History for primary grades.

The literature, read-alouds and independent reading choices for the year will primarily come from the Beautiful Feet book choices. Our hands-on activities and lapbooks will all be from Homeschool in the Woods and their Time Traveler’s units {they are absolutely amazing!}. We’re starting with New World Explorers and working up all the way through the early 19th Century. {Daily}

Science ~ This is one area that I am very excited about this year! We’ll be using Nancy Larson Science 1. Science 1 can cover between ages 5 to 9, so we can all use this together {hooray!}. During the year, we’ll be focusing on Life Science {bug, trees, human body and more}. The Science 1 Homeschool kit comes with everything I’ll need to use for the entire year…so I don’t have to go searching for things to do our projects and lessons! {Bi-Weekly}

Spelling ~ It shouldn’t be a surprise that we will be using All About Spelling this year. :) We’re working on Level 1 with Zachary and Level 3 with the girls. As they progress through the level, we’ll move onto the next one. We’re also going to be using All About Homophones with everyone during the year. {Bi-Weekly}

Handwriting ~ A Reason for Handwriting was new to us last year and the kids enjoyed it. The girls will be continuing with cursive with Levels C & D. Zachary will be working on printing with Level A. We will also continue to use ABeka K4 cursive for him since he has enjoyed learning cursive {grins}. {Daily}

Bible ~ All four kids will be attending Awana again this year, so we’ll be learning the verses that go along with their books and using our Awana printables and I’ll be making more to go along with the Cubbies book, Truth & Training and the new SkyStormer book.

I’m also working on some more family time devotions that will incorporate the Seeds Family Worship CDs, but have yet to sit down and get all my thought out for that. {Daily}

Writing ~ The girls will be using Complete Writer Level 4 and Zachary will be using Complete Writer Level 1. These are books that I have cut the binding off and can duplicate to use with other children since they have a copyright permission for families. {Daily}

Independent Reading ~ The girls will be reading books that are suggested in Beautiful Feet.  Zachary will be working on our All About Reading books {and I can’t wait for their new program to be released this fall!!}.

Spanish ~ All three kids will work on Rosetta Stone Latin America Level 1 {Homeschool version}. The homeschool program allows up to 10 users to work on the program at their own pace, so Rick and I are planning to work along on Spanish also. Should any of the kids finish Level 1, we’ll move onto Level 2. {Bi-Weekly}

PE ~ We’ll hopefully be participating in a class at a local college again and also have classes at co-op. {2-3 times Weekly}

Art ~ Twice a month we’ll be doing an artist study and using the book Discovering Great Artists by MaryAnn Kohl to try our hand at some different art techniques. The book has art activities for kids based on famous artist along with a brief bio on each artist.

Additional Resources:

If you are unfamiliar with some of the curriculum choices/names above, you can follow the links below to learn about a few of the products that I’ve previously written reviews for. I will be sharing more about Nancy Larson Science and Homeschool in the Woods soon and will update these links as I do.

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Comments

  1. Tammie Paul says

    Hi there! I am thinking about using the First Language Lessons for my 3rd grade daughter but I am trying to figure out what book to start her in. Do you know of any online placement assessments for that particular curriculum? Thanks! I love your site, visit it most everyday!!!
    Tammie

    • we started using First Language Lessons last year with our then 2nd and
      3rd grader. The lessons are short enough that you can do multiple
      lessons in a day {and depending on how much your child already knows,
      you could easily finish them both in less than a year to make sure she
      has a good basis. This year our girls are 3rd and 4th grade and we’re
      using the 3rd grade curriculum with both and learning diagramming.

      Does that help any?

    • That does! I wish they had an placement guideline of some sort but life goes on:-) I think it makes sense to start with level 1 and I can always use if for my son’s in the future. Have you used “Simply Grammer” by Karen Andreola at all? I like it and think it may make a nice supplement to the First Language Lessons. Thank you for being so quick to reply. Also I wanted you to know that I LOVE the work folder idea you had. I have implemented it in our house instead of the boxes and it is much less stressful for me! Thanks so much for the idea!

    • Check here: http://wtm-pdfs.s3.amazonaws.com/fll/fll1sample.pdf

      pages 5-10 have the outline of the level 1 book so you can see what is covered.

      And here is the outline for level 2: http://wtm-pdfs.s3.amazonaws.com/fll/fll2sample.pdf

      that might give you an idea to see what she knows vs. needs to know.

  2. Janine Martin says

    I’m a homeschooling mama with a 1st grader in an online, virtual charter school. I’m not 100% satisfied with our situation and I’m considering venturing out on my own. One reason my husband and I decided to try the online school is that curriculum and all materials are provided, since we don’t have the extra income to purchase our own curriculum. I’m concerned that we’ll have a large added expense if we decide to leave the online school. Also, we’re working through Dave Ramsey’s baby steps and I’m trying to pinch pennies wherever we can. Would you mind discussing this aspect of your homeschooling lives (I don’t expect exact numbers, of course). Thanks!

  3. Purposefulhomemaking says

    Thanks for the tips!

  4. Hi Jolanthe- I’m curious how your year with Rosetta Stone Spanish went… we’re looking into Spanish programs for next year and trying to decide whether to fork out the money for a private tutor. Would love your thoughts about your experience this year.

    Thanks for all of your helpful reviews and lists! Your site really is a ministry to all the homeschooling mamas out there! :)

    • We took it slow this year since we had to transfer stuff to a new
      laptop and the file that stored the info got deleted. The girls both
      had to start over. :) it’s all good and was operator error and the
      girls loved it though. We didn’t rush through since we figured they
      don’t need to be taking a foreign language yet so what we are doing is
      great! Next year will kick it up a notch… :)

  5. Andi Lamond Hogan says

    Hi! I am interested in combining Beautiful Feet with Homeschool in the Wood’s lapbooks. I was wondering how that went with your kids? Did you keep a notebook of the Beautiful Feet items, or just read the books and discuss the questions in the guide and then do all hands on with Homeschool in the Woods?

  6. Did you enjoy the Time Traveler’s units? I’m looking at them for the boys. Joe in particular.

    • We did – but one thing I learned…we did one together as a family, rather than individual lapbooks. There was a lot of detailed cutting, coloring, and directions that was overwhelming when I tried doing it for three separate (and younger) kiddos. When we switched to do just one for all of us – it was a HUGE help!

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