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“Not” Back-to-School Hop: Curriculum Week
I am so excited that the blog hop is finally here! And I am equally thrilled that my beloved friend (and very distant cousin) Darcy started this 3 years ago and turned it over to me last year.
If you have been reading my blog for awhile, or if you know me at all, you’ll know that I like to plan. Yet my son does not like school being scheduled. Why? Because he doesn’t like the whole “we’ll do this chapter today, and these pages tomorrow, and read that book next week.” This is annoying to him. He is right, why should I insist that we only do certain things on certain days. And why only certain pages?
So we don’t plan what exactly we are going to cover each day. However, having a list of subjects that we work on each day is a must. We will do history every day, but if we want to do 2 chapters instead of 1, we do – because nothing is planned. We will do science every day, but if we want to skip Apologia and watch animal videos on Netflix, we do – because nothing is planned. It is very freeing.
So this is what my weekly sheet looks like and I only fill it out day by day. I may start out with Proverbs 3 in the Bible spot on Tuesday, but if he wants to read on to Proverbs 5, I’ll just fill it in later.
What we are using right now, specifically:
Bible
The Hand-on Bible by Tyndale. I researched a lot of Bibles that were suitable for young boys and this one stood out the most. He really likes it too, especially the Bible hero biographies.
Math
Teaching Textbooks!!! Oh, holy moly this curriculum is THE best math curriculum in the world. They have a demo on their homepage that you must see.
Language Arts
Copywork/Cursive
It is very funny that my son writes so much better in cursive than in print. I have heard the same from many moms of boys too. It must be because cursive flows better and there is less picking up of the pencil. Every day I do have him copy something in cursive, whether it be a Bible verse, or a few sentences from whatever we are reading in history or science. I make my own copywork sheets.
Grammar
First Language Lessons: level 3 by Susan Wise Bauer. My kid loves diagramming and this book is chocked full of diagramming! I think he loves it so much because it is a very visual way to learn grammar.
Latin
Latin for Children, A by Classical Academic Press. We have loved everything CAP puts out. Did you know there is a video of my son (when he was 5 years old) on their website! Check it out! Oh my goodness, melts my heart, he looks sooo little.
Memory Work
We are going into our second year of Classical Conversations, which is loaded with memory work. Kids truly love to memorize and then show off what they know, and CC gives him plenty of tidbits to memorize. He listens to the memory work CD’s several nights a week at bedtime and together during school time we review the timeline cards. You can see one of them in our Breakfast Board.
Speaking of the Breakfast Board, that is another section of learning that is not really included in “school time,” however he learns A LOT from the items I put on the board.
Spelling
We are currently flying through All About Spelling. He says it is too easy, so I am hoping it will get more challenging very soon. He really loves the magnetic board and tiles though!
Writing
The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease by Susan Wise Bauer. We LOVE this book. There is a short story for your child to read, then a page for them to narrate to you what they story was about. The lessons in the book help the child learn to properly summarize and look for main ideas. The last part is dictation, where you choose something (preferably 2 sentences) for your child to write down. I like to make up sentences, not from the story, but related to the idea of the story.
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History
We are currently in Story of the World 3, learning about Henry Hudson. We read lots of books for every chapter and do the activities in the Activity Book.
Reading
I read aloud to him everyday and we both treasure this time. We are making our way through all the books in the Classic Starts series. There are DOZENS! Currently we are reading War of the Worlds.
Science
Since my son wants to be a scientist when he grows up, science is very important in my house. We are loving Land Animals of the Sixth Day by Jeannie Fulbright! Along with that, we are using the lapbook from A Journey Through Learning.
In addition to all the above resources, I can’t forget the extra things that we do almost every day that aren’t considered “school”:
BrainPop
I can’t recommend this site enough. It is loaded with fun and educational videos. My son could stay on there for hours! A one-year subscription is $99
Chess
My son is getting ready to start entering tournaments and he has lessons with a private tutor once a week. He plays almost daily using Fritz and Chesster.
Thanks for sharing your curricula choices! I always enjoy reading what others choose each year.
Many blessing in your upcoming year!
~Tamara
We use First Language Lessons and All About Spelling, too! I love how the lesson plans are already done. All I have to do is read the instructions. Hope y'all have a great year!
FUN! Thank you for sharing! Coming to visit from the blog hop!
This is the most fun, seeing what other homschoolers are going to be up to! Have a great year!!!
Wow, I love your planner. I am so jealous that you are so open with your schedule. I plan everyday, we can do more or less but I need that to say on track, lol!!!! How do you do the check off boxes, I got to know!!!
You look so organized with your plans. We actually have a few plans in common.
Sounds like a good year! Blessings, Lisa
So excited to be participating in the hop this year. I am very interested in BrainPop. Maybe you could write a review for us? Thanks for sharing your curriculum choices as well- you've got some great stuff to get through.
Blessings!
Jenni
I love your recommendations and organization. Austin is one blessed boy!
Still on the fence about Teaching Textbooks. We love MUS and it has always worked so well for us… not sure if we should mess with changing something that isn't broke. Although TT looks like an excellent product, especially how they go through every single problem!
Looks like a great year. I also LOVE Teaching Textbooks! And wish SWB had had her FLL done when my kids were younger. Have a great year.
Oh my goodness, my daughter will be thrilled to know there is a BrainPOP website!! She uses the iPod app and loves it, but hates waiting for a new video each day.
Have a great year!
I have never seen First Language Lessons before. I thought I had all of our plans worked out. Now I am rethinking LA.
Sounds like a great year!
Looks like you have alot of good things planned for the year
. We loved Story of the World 3, hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
I like your idea of just having set subjects for the day but not set amounts to cover. Sounds fun!
It looks like we are at about the same place on our homeschooling journey. We, too, are using WWE 3, FLL3, and SOTW 3. I loved the idea of the breakfast board and have added Fritz and Chester to my amazon wishlist! Thanks for the suggestions!
We are using Teaching Textbooks for the first time this year. I was so worried that it was "too good to be true". My daughter really struggles with me teaching her math and I pray this is the answer for us. So glad to see you love it! Have a great day!
I love your planner! That's been the best one I've seen like I've been wanting!
We LOVE Writing with Ease too! AND we LOVE Story of the World as well!!!
I also love Heart of the Matter–I get so many great ideas there! Thanks!
Thanks for hosting this. I am stumped this year on what to use for many of the subjects though some of what worked for us last year I will be keeping. Reading what works for others helps me so much.
I am considering throwing FLL at the wall- we don't really like it, but we do like WWE, when we remember to do it…I wanted TT to work for us, as it was so easy for me! We are trying LOF this year.
Stopping by from the blog hop! I love your choices! I want to teach my kids how to play chess, but I'm absolutely clueless! lol Looks like you are going to have a great year!
Thanks for sharing your experience. We are starting cursive this year and have heard the same thing about boys being better at it.
Have a Blessed Year.
Great choices! Isn't funny how children can be so different? I think we are the only family in the world that Teaching Textbooks did not work for us. lol!!! I still think it is a great program, just wasn't a good fit for my son.
Great choices for your school year. This is nice to see what others are doing…since I've been hsing for so many years I love to see all the new stuff that I never knew about!
I came over from the blog hop. I love looking at what others are doing. I have three little ones right now (4 1/2 and younger), but I love learning what is available out there.
Your plans sound great. Guess I need to post mine soon.
I love, love, love your "checklist schedule"! May have to add that to my to do list!
Stopping by to visit from the hop!
We have liked First Language Lessons too. I really like your un-scheduled schedule. Thanks for sharing.
Loved reading your list. I'm a mix of you and your son…..love planning, but don't like schedules. Thanks for sharing how flexible you are with your curriculum and your day….that was encouraging to me. That boys bible looks wonderful!
First of all, this blog hop is INVALUABLE! I've been homeschooling for 4 years, but still feel ill-equipped. My friend signed me up the other day and I've THOROUGHLY enjoyed reading fellow homeschoolers plans. For the FIRST YEAR I'm feeling much more ready. Thank you for your work and vision.
I also REALLY appreciated your post about the your schedule. Me and my girls are the same way, and I agree to have a bit of "give" in our learning.
Thank you sooo much for your information.
I can't wait to get to Land Animals. I've got the Hands on Bible for when my kids get a little older, I won it in a giveaway.
last yr was our first to dive into the 'classical' pool. i'm still trying to balance it all… i may just copy and paste your list.
we love TT, too!
enjoyed your blog.
plan to come back soon.