Homeschool Curriculum Choices
If you have been a reader here for a while- then you know that I have 3 kiddos, whom I also homeschool. Ok- maybe not the 2 year old so much. Homeschooling isn’t something I talk a lot about on my blog- but I do share a few updates throughout the year about our routine and curriculum.
If you are interested you can see past years here: 2011/2012 pre-school, 2012/13: kindergarten, 2013/14: grade one, 2014/15: grade one curriuculum update, 2015/16: grade two+ kindergarten
One thing that drew me to homeschooling is that our kids can learn at a pace that suits them. The great thing is that as their teacher, I am not on an island alone, trying to make everything up as I go along. I have incredible resources, an amazing facilitator with tons of ideas and encouragement, and other homeschooling families to gain ideas from.
When it comes to homeschooling it is important to do what works for you and your family! Homeschooling should suit the teaching style of the parent, and work with the child to help them meet the appropriate outcomes. An average day looks different for every family. This year, our days looks very different than last year- as my kids grow and hit different stages. Matt and I would like our kids to be able to go into traditional school if we want to go that route in the future- so keeping them at a traditional grade level-ish is something that is important to me.
For that reason I find it really helpful to align my curriculum choices in order to meet the learning outcomes of our province in all of the core subjects. It also gives me a guideline to shoot for- and helps us stay on track.
So, with all of that being said- I am going to share our curriculum choices for the school year. I will have 1 in grade one and 1 in grade three (how did that happen!!) Some days it’s pretty interesting around here. 😉 Each day is filled with it’s own challenges as this is my first time teaching 2 full time students while having a 2 year old running around. There have been a few changes in our usual routine which is school from 9-12(ish) and a few activities to finish up in the afternoons. Right now my daughter naps from around 12:00-2:00 or 1:00-3:00, so we have been moving some more work to the afternoons when it is easier for me to give undivided attention. I’m sure we will be adjusting through out the year. We will sort it out as we go!
I often work new resources in throughout the year, so below is a list of what I know we are using now!
Grade 1
We will be using some of the same resources we used for E for grade one- which I talk about a little more in depth in this post. Here is a list at a glance:
- Language Arts:
- Grade 1 Smart Start in Language Arts
- Level 1 All About Spelling
- Book A Canadian Handwriting
- Get Ready for the Code C
- BOB Books and Abeka Readers
- Math:
- Alpha Math U See,
- Jump Math 1.1/1.2
- I really like MUS for in depth understanding, but it was quite repetitive for my other son. It is also no longer an “aligned” resource for us, so we are using JUMP math while supplementing with MUS for mastery
- Science:
- The World of Animals God’s Design for Life
- We also use several curriculum resources through our umbrella school. There are so many FREE resources for science- so take a look online first before you buy. The library is also awesome for bringing home study books.
- Social Studies:
- We have an Alberta Social resource through our umbrella school, which we supplement with library books and videos!
- Bible:
- Who is God? Apologia
- Raising Rock Stars– ABC Memory Verses
- Health:
- Health Safety Manners Abeka
Grade 3
Last year we switched to Singapore Math, and my son loved it. We will be continuing with it this year. New to our program is All About Reading and All About Spelling. Prepping these programs took me some time-there are quite a few manipulatives and cards to punch apart. AKA hundreds. Other than that it has been relatively open and go. We are starting at Level 3 for AAS and Level 4 for AAR. Excellence in Writing has DVD lessons (I love this!) so woo hoo.
- Language Arts:
- Level 4 All about Reading
- Level 3 All about Spelling
- Level 3 Essentials in Writing
- Book C, Canadian Handwriting
- Umbrella School Curriculum
- Math:
- Primary Mathematics 3A and 3B Singapore Math
- Science:
- The World of Animals God’s Design for Life
- Umbrella School Curriculum
- Library Resources
- Social
- Umbrella School Curriculum
- Online and Library Resources
- Bible
- Becoming God’s Champion (Kay Arthur Bible Study)
- Who is God? Apologia
- Health
- Umbrella School Curriculum
- Typing
- Typing.com (this is a free program and his first year doing typing)
Additional websites we use are Raz-Kids and Brain Pop JR.
I plan a rough outline of our entire year- going through how many lessons/tests etc each subject is comprised of. I then divide that number by how many weeks of school (36 for us) and that tells me how many times a week we need to do something to get it finished. (ie. 110 lessons/36=3 times per week)
Most all of our curriculum will run from September to April- with only Math and a G’s LA taking us into May. If we stay on track- we finish nice and early. If not- the schedule allows for some flexibility if there is an off day, sickness etc. I then plan each day’s lessons for the first 4 months of school. We take at least 3 weeks during December/January for holidays. Having a daily lesson plans also holds me accountable to get up and get started so we can go on with our day. Anyone else love lists??
Something new this year is a rewards box. I have 2- one with smaller things like what you see above- and one with larger things like baseball cards, pearler bead crafts etc. My boys are super motivated by this- and I am so happy for the great idea from another homeschooling family.
Right now one of the biggest challenges is finding activities that keep my 2 year old busy and engaged. I’m all ears if you have any great suggestions 😉
She is right on the cusp of being able to play alone, but is not yet 2.5 so still likes to have me, or someone, engaged with her. The mornings have been long and busy, but I am slowly finding a groove after having nearly a month of school under our belts.
I hope you found this informative- if you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments!
-Miss Ash