With summer almost half over, I’m getting that feeling that I should have already been working diligently on next year’s plan of attack! So, after about 4 weeks of total procrastination I think I’ve finally got a working plan. Here’s our list of curriculum choices for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year:
Preschool: Since I”m not ready to launch my 4 year old into Kindergarten, we’re going to repeat our Letter of the Week curriculum, but this year we’ll be “kicking-up-a-notch”, think Emeril BAM! Of course I’ll post the printables as we go. My preschooler will also participate in the art, geography and science along with the other kiddos.
Art: We’re doing a Geography based year so we’ll be using Global Art by MaryAnn F. Kohl. I’ll also finish up with last year’s I Can Do All Things and How to Teach Art to Children if we have time.
Bible: I’m planning on continuing on with our Abeka Bible Series along with Nest Family Videos. Our children LOVE these videos and I have to say it’s been one of the more successful Bible programs we’ve tried. The videos are a tad pricey, {check your local library before buying} but they come with all kinds of worksheets for various age levels and each video ends with a quiz that your children do right on the TV using the remote. They really LOVE this series, if you can try one out I’d suggest it!
Geography: I’m putting together my own Geography based curriculum this year, {please pray for me!} so this is proving to be my hardest area to organize. I’m planning to combine a few different resources along with my own brilliant ideas (LOL). This deserves a post all it’s own, so I’ll do that once I’ve got things solidified, I have lots swirling around in my mind. Things like “Why do I do this to myself?”and “What was I thinking?”. Edited: Click here for my completed Expedition Earth Geography Curriculum!
Handwriting: I am excited to try A Reason For Handwriting this year. We’re going to do the transition from manuscript to cursive for my 2nd grader and they have a wonderful a manuscript to cursive Transition book. I LOVE that they use Bible Verses to practice handwriting. For my 1st grader I’m sticking with Abeka Handwriting just because I have it already, but if I didn’t I think I’d go with A Reason For Handwriting for him as well.
History: I’ll be using Abeka for this, but also plan on including what I can that correlates with our Geography plan. You can see I have my work cut out for me here…
Language/Grammar/Phonics: I’m sticking with Abeka for this. I really do like their language and phonics curriculum, it’s just solid in my opinion.
Math: We’re going to use Math U See in combination with Abeka for 1st and 2nd grade. I like the concept behind Math U See and my kiddos like the colorful worksheets from Abeka, so we combine them by using the MUS Blocks to do the Abeka work. I will probably have my 2nd grader do some of the MUS worksheets and videos as I really do love their approach to math.
Reading: I’m sticking with Abeka for this as well, my kiddos love their readers and I like that the stories include reading comprehension questions at the end of each story. We’ll also be doing some reading that goes along with our Geography Lessons.
Science: We’re taking it easy on science this year, I incorporated our Science with our Geography curriculum. For example when we’re studying Brazil, we’ll learn about Rain Forests, etc. I also added in the animal unit study and we learn about animals from each region as well as classify them as we go.
Spanish: I’m continuing on with PowerSpeak Spanish for now, we are really loving this program! For a review of PowerSpeak click here!
Spelling: We started using All About Spelling this year, and I am so excited! We absolutely LOVE this program, and if you haven’t tried it, go see for yourself. It’s a multisensory phonics and spelling curriculum that is super easy to use and the kids are loving it!
P.E.: The kids have requested to do Gymnastics this year, so we’ve signed up for that. We may also cover this via a co-op but that’s still up in the air. My husband feels strongly about this subject so I’ve recruited him to come up with some weekly activities we can do at home. I’ll post those once he get’s his plan completed {ahem, husband, that’s your call to action} !
I’ll be posting as we go of course, and possibly updating this post if anything changes, but for now that’s our plan!
Sounds like a great plan! I've heard such wonderful things about Abeka. I'm curious what their phonics/language program is like. I'll go check it out.
Just stopping by and following from the TOS Crew Blog Walk. Love your blog and so glad I stopped by to "meet you". Your digital scrapbook sets are really cute. I keep thinking that one day I'll take up that hobby. Enjoyed reading your curriculum plan for the new school year. If you take any field trips, I'd love if you'd consider linking up to Field Trip Friday on my blog. Blessings to you as you embark on a new year!:)
I was considering ordering Abeka! Now I've heard a mom's review who knows! Thanks!!
We are going to start homeschooling next school year. Our daughter will be in Kindergarten. I will be using Abeka as my base since I have materials due to a friend giving it to me and I did teach in a Christian school where this is what I taught and I feel very comfortable with it. But….my question is…What are your thoughts on Science/History??? I was thinking of ordering Abeka and then getting your Expedition Earth and your Geography curriculum. I love what I have read about it. From what I gather, I would do a short version of it and then add to it as the years go on…what would be your suggestion. This will be our first year and I am affraid of jumping in with too much. I do not want to overwhelm her or myself. She does have a great foundation..she has been in a morning preschool program since 2 on certain days of the week….I need to hear from an experience homeschool mom!! Thanks for all your great ideas!!
Munchin's Mommy: That's what I do. I use Abeka for phonics, grammar and I do read their history text for now though next year i'll probably do something else. I do my EE for science this year. I'll do a different thing next year as I don't think Abeka's science is that exciting, but it does cover basics if you don't find something else.I would suggest when starting to take it simple. If you're comfortable with Abeka start there. Since Abeka is pretty planned out for you its easy to follow and that leaves you with some free time to add in some fun things that can compliment your core work but aren't worksheets/boring :o)
We are thinking of using All About Spelling next year along with Abeka Phonics/language. Do you find that there are any conflicts between the All about spelling phonic and Abeka? For instance, does Abeka explain rules one way and AAS another? I hope that makes sense!
Mike: No, if anything AAS explains things better than Abeka in my opinion anyway. I like that AAS has flashcards to help them review, Abeka mentions it in a lesson, then maybe again in another lesson, but it's not drilled like it is in AAS.Right now I use AAS for the teaching, then Abeka for the worksheets. It's probably overkill doing both though.
Erica,Would you consider posting a "review" of your year? (AKA what worked, what didn't, what you added or dropped…) LOVE your blog, and am wondering how your curriculum choices panned out for you this year.Sarah
Sarah: Yep, its on my list! :o) As well as a 2011-2012 curriculum plan
Hi sis, Do you have any recommendations for a Bible curriculum for 5 yo and 2yo? thank you!