Our Curriculum

2011-2012

 

Yay!  Here it is:  the unveiling of our "this year" curriculum, that I am oh-so-excited about!  (at least until February, when I start to drool over all of the new catalogs and second-guess myself for what's next.)

Together Subjects:

History:

Heart of Dakota, Bigger Hearts for His Glory:  I am so, so, so excited about starting this program.  It is geared for 7-9 year-olds, so it should be perfect for Firefly, and we will use the extension pack for Turtle.

Geography:

Bigger Hearts also covers this subject, and I have also added a state study / lapbook that I ordered from Curriclick.

Poetry:

Covered through Bigger Hearts (can you see why I really like this curriculum?)

Bible:

Combination of Bigger Hearts, Community Bible Study, and Scripture Memory (we use the system listed by Simply Charlotte Mason)

Art, Vocabulary, and Timeline are all also a part of Bigger Hearts for His Glory.

Firefly (Third Grade):

Math:

Switching to Singapore Math 2A this year, in another attempt to take away the tears that come when we open a math book.  We have actually begun the lessons, at a snail's pace,  slowly, and have narrowed the crying down to about 50% of the time.

Science:

This is also covered in Bigger Hearts, but we have also joined a co-op this year that is doing Apologia's Human Anatomy, so we're going to (lightly) cover that with the Junior Notebook.  We'll see how that goes.

Cursive:

Pictures in Cursive, from Queen Homeschool.  I really like this, too.  We can combine picture study with cursive (and I can check off two boxes for the price of one, haha).

Grammar:

First Language Lessons, Book 1.

Reading:

All covered through Bigger Hearts and Drawn Into the Heart of Reading.

Extras:

Occupational Therapy and associated practice, Continued social skills therapy, piano, French (maybe--we used Muzzy for fun last year), and of course, lots and lots of soccer!

Turtle (Sixth Grade):

Math:

We're mixing things up for her a little this year, too, also in an attempt to end the tears (except in her case, they are MY tears as well as hers).  We are continuing with Life of Fred: Fractions, and we are going to try to supplement with some worksheets and Singapore Math 5A.  We'll see how it goes...  We haven't found it in our hearts to start yet.

Science:

Our co-op will be doing science for Turtle's age, too, so we will be tackling Apologia's Exploring Creation with General Science (7th grade, I believe).  Probably a little tough for her, but I'm excited to see how she does.  We may or may not use the extension pack from Bigger Hearts for some science as well.

Handwriting:

Pictures in Cursive

Spelling:

Spelling Power

Grammar:

Since the Heart of Dakota program that I chose is geared toward younger kids, and since Turtle is pretty smart at reading and writing, I decided to "beef" up her language arts by continuing her in our Classical Conversations Essentials program.  She (and I) will meet once a week in class for 45 minutes of grammar, 30 minutes of math drills, and 45 minutes of writing, following the Institute for Excellence in Writing's American History curriculum.  As part of her grammar for Essentials, we'll be using Our Mother Tongue.  Eeek.  Grammar scares me.  Big time.

Latin:

We started this last year by borrowing Power Glide Latin from a homeschool lending library.  I liked it and would like to continue it, but odds are I won't be able to find it again.  So I'd like to continue Latin, but haven't found what I want / can use yet.

Reading and History:

Both will be following the extension pack for Bigger Hearts, as well as some co-op History reading.  We will use Drawn Into the Heart of Reading for 6-8 Grade as well.  I am really excited about some of the fun books we have lined up!

Extras:

Piano lessons, presentations at co-op, lots of life skills training, and, again, lots and lots of soccer.


Bug (Preschool):

Ha!  He's the one I've agonized about (in case you haven't been keeping up with my posts).  Looks like we are going to:

Read

Play

Take walks

Build with Legos

Read

Draw Pictures

Listen to Sisters' Stories

Use Play-Dough

And so on and so on . . .

(Of course, I couldn't completely let go.  There are some really cute workbooks at the Dollar Spot at Target right now, for those just-in-case moments when I really need him to do SOMETHING so that his sisters and I can work ; )

So that's where we are this year.  I'm linked up with Kris at weird, unsocialized homeschoolers for a peek into lots of other curriculum closets!  Can't wait to see what you're using!

2010-2011

We have definitely used a mixed batch for this school year!  I'm not sure where I was headed when I started, but it has been a fun journey so far, to wherever we are going!  Hmmm, maybe for next year I can make a plan that I will stick to and that won't involve lots and lots of cross-outs, lol!

For right now, though, this is what it looks like:

Turtle:        Math:  We started out the year about halfway through Saxon 5/4.  I had gone backwards from where she finished last year to make sure she really had mastery of the math.  She hated it, I hated it, there were lots of arguments   discussions along the way, but she finally finished it!  We had a party--literally!  Now she is working through Life of Fred: Fractions.  We both enjoy it much much much more, and I am supplementing it with timed multiplication and division worksheets and other worksheets I find online that cover the subject in the chapter we are on.  Can I mention again how much we love Life of Fred?

                   Science:  Apologia's Exploring Creation with Astronomy.  We began the year working on this together, but I've found that she seems to be enjoying it more now that she is doing it on her own.  It dove-tailed nicely with the science we did this year in Classical Conversations.  We also went through body changes and growing with The Care and Keeping of You, by American Girl, and a lapbook that went with it that I found on http://www.homeschoolshare.com/.

                    Literature and History:  Here is where we have veered most off course this year.  We started out using living books recommended by Simply Charlotte Mason in Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, and Epistles.  We really did a good job following the schedule--for about a week.  Since then, I have gone back and forth on using Story of the World, Famous Men of the Renaissance and Reformation, and just book lists.  We also studied the Middle Ages and Renaissance in CC. 

                    Grammar and Writing:  Turtle went to the Essentials class in Classical Conversations, which (very thoroughly) covered her grammar and writing for this year.  We used the Institute for Excellence in Writing method and materials for writing.  Our Mother Tongue was recommended for grammar, but we went without it for this year.

                     Spelling:  We are using Spelling Power, and she is in Level E.

                     Latin:  I found Power Glide Latin in a homeschool lending library this fall, and we are enjoying using it (me more than Turtle, I'm afraid).

                     Bible:  We started out the year in Awana, but ended up dropping out after about two months.  Now we study Bible by doing devotions, scripture memory, Bible studies found on http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/, and Bible stories.  I'm really excited about next year's curriculum I found, though.  More on that next time, lol!

                     Everything else:  Turtle loves art, and I found a local artist that was willing to give her art lessons twice a month.  We did that through December, and then it got too taxing on our budget.  Both girls were also enrolled in an art class through the city, which was wonderful, but was cancelled in January.  (I'm finding a trend here . . .)  For now, we have to settle for less structured art activities and artist study.
                       We try to include nature study, poetry, typing, Shakespeare, cooking, yoga, and piano where we can throughout the week, and Turtle is very active in soccer, playing four to five times a week.  Our Classical Conversations Foundations class also covered:  Latin, Geography, Math, Grammar, History, Science, and a Timeline, with artist studies and orchestra lessons, too.

                        Phew.  I'm sure I've forgotten something, and I know I didn't cover what I do with Firefly, but Quiet Time only has six more minutes, and I'm sure they are keeping track!  I'll finish our list up later this week, and I'm almost sure what we're doing next year, so I'll be posting that too.  I'd love to hear what works for your families!