I have to admit, I am a researcher and a curriculum junkie!
I love so much that it's very difficult to narrow my choices and decide!
However, I always do have to make a decision, so what are my picks for
this year?
DRUM ROLL
PLEASE...........................................................................................................................
I will start with
my youngest. She will be in Kindergarten. I really wanted to start
her off right by using more Charlotte Mason friendly materials right from the
start (instead of waiting because of insecurities or not knowing how to
implement the method - which is why I struggled to implement CM's ideas earlier
with my older two). So, for Phonics I chose Reading Made Easy and to add
in some "fun" Happy Phonics to supplement. I am hoping by using
both she will get the instruction she needs, but also the application through
fun games. I chose A Reason for Handwriting level A for her printing
practice. For Bible, I am going to be using A Child's Book of Character
Building (Books 1 & 2) and also Leading Little Ones to God. For Math,
I will be beginning Math-U-See Primer. For Science, I am going to use
Living Learning Books Science Level 1 (First Edition). I used this with
my older children when they were young, and it was so much fun, I had to do it
again. It covers animals, insects, plants, and the human body (Life
Science). I will also be doing a U.S. State Study and our State Study
using Cantering the Country and Fifty States Under God and Missouri State
History. And a tad bit of Early American History as she follows along
with her older sister's TruthQuest and Beautiful Feet Guides. For fun,
she will be listening in on Apologia's Who Am I? Worldview study and using the
coloring book that goes along with the program. And, though I am not
completely decided, I may go with Artistic Pursuits for art. She is
loving to draw, color, paint and create and I think it would be a great fit in
helping her develop those skills. I also have chosen a few Rod & Staff
workbooks (D, E, & F) for fun that she can practice more on cutting,
pasting, matching and other fine motor and logic skills. We used
some for pre-school this year and she really enjoyed them, so I just got a few
more for her Kindergarten year. Seems very FULL, but we will see how it
all works out. I doubt we will do all of the subjects every day, and I
will try to make it LOADS of fun. I want her to have a LOVE for school
early on, and to look forward to each day with bright eyes.
A RECAP FOR KINDERGARTEN
CHOICES:
Phonics: Reading
Made Easy and Happy Phonics
Handwriting:
A Reason for Handwriting A
Bible: Apologia's "Who Am I?" (tagging along with older bro &
sis) and Leading Little Ones to God
Character: A Child's Book or Character Building (Books 1 & 2)
Math: Math-U-See
Primer
Science: Living Learning Books Level 1 (Life Science First Edition)
History: Cantering the Country with U.S. State Study (tagging along in Early Am.
History w/ older sis)
Art: Artistic
Pursuits
Fine Motor &
Logic: Rod & Staff workbooks
For my 6th grader,
I have made a tough decision to step away from Heart of Dakota for a year so
that she will get more out of the next program in line. I look forward to
returning to it for 7th grade, though. But, in the mean time, I have
decided to use Apologia's Who Am I? Worldview study for Bible and Memory Verses
and for character, Wisdom and the Miller's and Prudence and the Miller's.
For language arts I'm taking a complete CM dive! LOL! I am
going to use Living Grammar Books for the main instruction. One is called
Grammar Land and another Eats Shoots and
Ladders. There is also a series by Ruth Heller I can check out from my
library. Then, to supplement and for a hands on component, I will be
using Winston Grammar. I've heard it is the Math-U-See of Grammar.
I am really looking forward to seeing how this compares to a much
stricter method my son will be using. For writing, I am going to give
Write Shop a try. I've struggled finding a good fit for Language Arts for
seven years now, so I hope these plans will finally be a match! I plan to
stick with Dictation as well. It is great for reinforcing spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, and grammar usage. For reading, I'm sticking
with Heart of Dakota's Drawn into the Heart of Reading. We have enjoyed
it this year and want to continue. The book choices have been fabulous
through Heart of Dakota and I don't have to worry about complaints! For
vocabulary I'm just going to throw in some Vocabulary Cartoons. It looks
like a fun way to do vocabulary. I am hoping she can continue practicing
her cursive using A Reason for Handwriting Level C, and also begin learning how
to type. We are sticking with Math-U-See for Math, and I am considering
adding in Life of Fred Fractions for fun. For Science, I've decided to go
with Simply Charlotte Mason's 106 Days of Creation which also incorporates
Considering God's Creation with Nature Study. I think this will be a lot
of fun! She will also be doing a U.S. State Study using Fifty States
Under God and Missouri State History. I think the notebooks are really
going to turn out nicely! I am looking forward to going back to geography
using the Trail Guide to U.S. Geography. We've used the Trail Guides
before and they are FANTASTIC and easy to implement. I will also
supplement the geography a bit with Cantering the Country. Then, for
History, I am combining Beautiful Feet Books Early American History
Intermediate with the TruthQuest Age of Revolution 1's commentary and a few
book choices. It's taking some work to get it all organized, but I think
it will work out very nicely! I love TruthQuest and have used it in the
past, and had a very hard time leaving it to go to Heart of Dakota last year,
but TQ is time-consuming in the planning while HOD is completely open and go,
so I felt that is where the Lord led me (as my time has been greatly restricted
with opening a computer business with my husband this year). This year,
though, I am hoping to have the summer to plan and organize everything so that
it will go smoothly in the fall. I am also planning to get Artistic Pursuits
for art. This is an area she feels she struggles in and I'm hoping taking
a course will build her confidence. I am planning to use the Simply
Charlotte Mason rotations for Poetry, Picture Study, and Music Appreciation.
WOW! That seems like a lot! And, it is, but I'm trying to
prepare her for the upcoming guide in HOD that will be much more challenging,
yet give her an enjoyable year. I think this will all be a great fit and
am looking forward to trying the new things as well as coming back to some favorites!
A RECAP FOR SIXTH
GRADE CHOICES:
Bible: Apologia's "Who Am I?"
Character: Wisdom and the Miller's & Prudence and the Miller's
Vocabulary: Vocabulary Cartoons
Handwriting:
A Reason for Handwriting C
Typing: Typing Instructor Deluxe
Writing: Write Shop
Grammar:
Living Grammar Books (Grammar Land, Eats Shoots and Leaves, and Ruth Heller Series) with Winston Grammar for
the hands on element
Math: Math-U-See
Epsilon with Life of Fred Fractions
Science: 106 Days of Creation with Considering God's Creation and Nature Study
Geography: Trail Guide to U.S. Geography supplementing Cantering the Country
State Study:
Fifty
States Under God and Missouri
State Study
Poetry, Picture
Study, Music Appreciation: Simply
Charlotte Mason's Rotation
Art: Artistic Pursuits
For my son going
into High School in the fall, I wanted to keep it challenging! So, for
him we are sticking with Heart of Dakota and moving up to the Revival to
Revolution guide. We will be using it mostly as written, but tweaking a
few things. History will be early American history and will be as written
through the guide, as well as the Fifty States Under God study. (Now you
see where I got the idea for the girls!) He will also be doing a study on
the Signers. I will be adding in several Government videos to go along
with the history study in hopes of gaining a government credit. I'm
excited about watching all of them. They look like they will be
fantastic! Math will be Math-U-See Algebra 1, no supplements needed.
He begged me to go back to the Trail Guides for Geography, so we are!
I'm sure he'll be thrilled, as he did not like HOD's geography very
well. For language arts, we are sticking with Dictation through HOD and
Rod & Staff English. It is very rigorous but he likes it. And,
to make it more CM friendly, we do it almost completely orally. For
Literature, I chose to go with Progeny Press Guides. I am hoping he will
like this as well or better than Drawn into the Heart of Reading. I am
also going to give Vocabulary Cartoons a try for vocabulary. I want to
make sure he is typing correctly as he LOVES to "play" on the
computer, so I will be having him practice typing correctly using Typing
Instructor Deluxe. For Writing, we are going to be using Write Shop, but
going at a more rigorous rate than his younger sister. I plan to complete
the course in one year for him, while taking 2 or more years for his sister.
We are using HOD's recommended science as written. It is
Exploration Education's Intermediate Physical Science course with labs. I
think the computer based program with the hands on element will be greatly
enjoyed! He will also be doing Apologia's Who Am I? Worldview study and
memory verses. I think it will be great! We loved the first book in
the series and look forward to this next one! For character, I've chosen
A Young Man After God's Own Heart and Thoughts for Young Men. I will be
adding in Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish 1 for foreign language. I
am really hoping to find a good fit in a coop next year. Especially for
my son. He needs some teenage buddies that also homeschool. His
schedule will be quite full, and definitely high school credit worthy. I
don't think I need to worry about rigor with Heart of Dakota! It is such
a great program! And, since my kids have never studied American history,
I think they will really enjoy the upcoming year! I know I'm excited to
learn it in a Charlotte Mason way, instead of the boring text book way that I
learned. I'm sure I will learn more than I ever did when I went to school.
Oh the joys of homeschooling!
A RECAP FOR NINTH
GRADE CHOICES:
Bible: Apologia's "Who Am I?"
Character: A Young Man After God's Own Heart and Thoughts for Young Men
Reading/Literature:
Progeny Press Guides
Vocabulary: Vocabulary Cartoons 1
Typing: Typing Instructor Deluxe
Writing: Write Shop
Grammar: Rod & Staff English
Math: Math-U-See Algebra 1
Geography: Trail Guide to U.S. Geography
History, State Study,
Poetry, Sketching, Inventor Study, Composer Study, Notebooking,
Timeline, Signers Study, Primary Source Document Study and Dictation: Heart of Dakota Revival to Revolution
Government: The American Heritage Series, The American Heritage Collection and The American Testimony DVD set
Foreign Language:
Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish 1
I hope to post
soon about how I organize our homeschool. So, keep watching for that post!
Thanks for sharing! We will have an 9th grader also as well as a 6th, 1st, and a PreK! Visiting from the Curriculum Choice Link up! Happy Homeschooling!
ReplyDeleteWe use Happy Phonics to supplement too.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading your line-up for the year.
Blessings,
Sarah
This will be our first year using Happy Phonics as I did not find it until a few years ago. But, I've been intrigued by it ever since! Can't wait to try it out!
Delete