CURRICULUM 2014-2015

I rather enjoy reading curriculum choices that others make.

Certainly not because it will change my decisions, but the diversity of it all is nice--plus, sometimes I will run across something that looks like it is worth checking out.

2014/2015 will see us with a 3rd grader, 1/2 grader (I'll say 2nd grade officially), and a K/1 grader.

I really don't think that #4 is ready for any official schooling and at 3 1/2 years old, I'm not pushing.  If he decides to join us, great!  If not, no problem.

So, what are we using?

* p.s. all the pictures are coming off of amazon.com, rather than take my own*

Bible:  Veritas Press Judges through Kings 

Along with:

 

for morning and/or evening reading.

We are about halfway through "Long Story Short" and if we finish, there is the New Testament continuation.

History:  My Father's World  Exploring Countries and Cultures

(There is a different cover on our book, but still 2nd edition)

This year's history curriculum is actually more geography based

Science:  Apologia Exploring Creation with Zoology 3:  Land Animals of the Sixth Day

We are using the Junior Notebooks, which I find to be more than adequate for both kids

 (2nd and 3rd Grade).

I only ordered 2, so if Missy wants to do the notebooking pages, we will make our own to fit her skills.

Also, we are continuing this:

from last year.  Michael only did 1 animal per week last school year and it will fit nicely with the science for this year as well.

Math:  MCP Mathematics Level B & C

and Horizons Level K

I ordered Horizons for K, really only because I already had the Teacher's manual and it was a bit less expensive to buy just the K workbooks rather than the whole MCP level K set.  We used Horizons K for our first homeschool year and it worked just fine for us.

We also supplement with Life of Fred for a change.

We borrowed this from a friend last school year, and I'm hoping we can use the next book for this coming year.  It is a complete change of pace and the kids enjoy it.  We would use the meatier curriculum 3 or 4 days a week and then Life of Fred once a week.

Writing:  Handwriting Without Tears K

Cursive Connections for 2 & Writing Strands

     

Patriotic Penmanship for 3 & Writing Strands

          

Along with weekly journal writing.

Language:  We have a mixture of things.  Language Lessons for Today, 

 (there is a new cover, but we also have this book that we will be using)

Write a Super Sentence.

How to Report on Books.

Art:  Global Art (works in conjunction with History)

and 

Easy Origami (also works with our History program)

and 

Masterpiece of the Month

I'm sure there will be other projects as well, along the way.

Music:  Wee Sing Around the World (again, works with our History)

and I'm hoping we can continue piano lessons. 

 That remains to be seen at this point.

We also use Then Sings My Soul weekly.

Some other fun things for this year:

Writing Poetry with Children

The Quiet Arts Series:  Level 1

Lessons in Responsibility for Girls

Manners Made Easy for the Family

You Can Change the World (volume 1)

Some of these things I am hoping to incorporate into a Morning Meeting type thing.  

We will be trying it as something new this year.

I'm also hoping to purchase a Spanish Curriculum, but I haven't yet.

We will see if it happens or not.

I am not doing a formal Spelling curriculum.  We read a lot, and if necessary, I will pull out words from our literature.  

What do we plan on reading?

I won't list them all, but some on my list include:

"Adara"

"Justin Morgan had a Horse"

"The Sword in the Tree"

"Sign of the Beaver"

"Homer Price"

"Tirzah"

"The Sign of the Beaver"

"Kingdom's Dawn"

and more.

Whew!  I think I got just about everything in there.

Of course, we then have our extra-curricular activities!

I have not yet written out a weekly plan, but I shooting for a 4 day school week once again, with day 5 for errands, catch-up, projects etc.

I'll let you know how it all works out!