Hi everyone, it’s that time of year again! And I’ve been getting tons of emails asking what we’ll be using for our 2014-2015 school year!
So without further ado, here are our curriculum choices for the 2014-2015 school year.
Teeny Tot: Kindergarten
- Daily Learning Notebook: I’m mixing pages from my elementary and preschool notebook this year so she can write her own calendar numbers.
- Art: World’s Greatest Artists 2 and See the Light Art DVDs
- Phonics/Reading: K4 Curriculum, Abeka K5 Letters & Sounds, Phonics Road Level 1 (A new product we’re reviewing!)
- Logical Thinking: Abeka K5 Think and Learn
- Math: Math U See Primer & Spielgaben
- Bible: Picture Smart Bible (Trying new this year), Grapevine Traceable Units
- P.E.: Family Time Fitness
- Other: We will be doing The Middle Ages by Homeschool in the Woods this year, and the Teeny Tot will be participating in the fun crafts and activities that go along with that, though she won’t be expected to do any of the other work.
Tinkerbell: 3rd Grade
- Daily Learning Notebook: She’ll be doing the Cursive Notebook this year.
- Art: World’s Greatest Artists 2 and See the Light Art DVDs
- Bible: Picture Smart Bible & Grapevine Studies
- Spelling: All About Spelling Levels 2 & 3
- Phonics: Abeka Language 3
- Reading: Abeka Reading 3 & Read & Think Skill Sheets 3
- Math: Math U See Gamma
- Handwriting: BJU Handwriting 3
- History: The Middle Ages – Time Traveler Unit & my Colorado State Study
- Literature: Classical Literature Units
- Science: Abeka Science 5 (We do this as a group) & one of my scientist units if we can fit it in!
- P.E.: Family Time Fitness
- Typing: Typing Instructor Platinum (CD Version)
- Vocabulary: Vocabulary Workshop (This is our first year trying this so our thoughts on it are TBD.)
- Robotics: LEGO Education We’re continuing with our co-op group and the Simple Mechanisms set this year.
Turbo: 5th Grade
- Daily Learning Notebook: He’ll be doing the Cursive Notebook this year.
- Art: World’s Greatest Artists 2 and See the Light Art DVDs
- Bible: Picture Smart Bible & Grapevine Studies
- English/Grammar: BJU English 5
- Handwriting: BJU Handwriting 5
- History: The Middle Ages – Time Traveler Unit & my Colorado State Study
- Literature: Classical Literature Units
- Math: Math U See Epsilon
- P.E.: Family Time Fitness
- Photography: The Foto Finch Composition & Photojournalism (Review coming soon!)
- Reading: Abeka Reading 5 & Read & Comprehend Skill Sheets 5
- Robotics: LEGO Education We’re continuing with our co-op group and the Simple Mechanisms set this year.
- Science: Abeka Science 5 & one of my scientist units if we can fit it in!
- Spelling: All About Spelling Level 4 & 5, & Spelling You See C
- Typing: Typing Instructor Platinum (CD Version)
- Vocabulary: Vocabulary Workshop (This is our first year trying this per a friend’s suggestion.)
- Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing
Strawberry Shortcake: 6th grade
- Art: World’s Greatest Artists 2 and See the Light Art DVDs
- Bible: Picture Smart Bible & Grapevine Studies
- English/Grammar: BJU English 6
- History: The Middle Ages – Time Traveler Unit & my Colorado State Study
- Literature: Classical Literature Units
- Math: Math U See Zeta
- P.E.: Family Time Fitness
- Photography: The Foto Finch Composition & Photojournalism (Review coming soon!)
- Reading: Abeka Reading 6 & Read & Comprehend Skill Sheets 5
- Robotics: LEGO Education We’re continuing with our co-op group and the Simple Mechanisms set this year.
- Science: Abeka Science 5 & one of my scientist units if we can fit it in!
- Spelling: All About Spelling Level 7 & Spelling You See D
- Typing: Typing Instructor Platinum (CD Version)
- Vocabulary: Vocabulary Workshop (This is our first year trying this per a friend’s suggestion.)
- Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing
Extra-Curricular Activities:
- Keepers of the Faith
- Contenders of the Faith
- LEGO Education We’re continuing with our co-op group and the Simple Mechanisms set this year.
NEW!!!
We are trying out a new history program this year, the Homeschooling in the Woods Time Traveler’s units. They look like a lot of fun, and we’re excited to give them a whirl! Right off the bat I will say that they’re kind of labor intensive to prepare. It took me a solid FULL day to print everything, organize it all, then another day to add it to my lesson plans for the year. But it’s more hands on and exciting than Abeka and we’re just ready for a change. Honestly Abeka is fine and we’ll probably go back to it at some point, but I wanted to do some more fun things while my kids are still young and we’re not worried about high school credits…which is just around the corner for us…ugh!
We’re also trying a new Bible program The Picture Smart Bible. My kids have loved Grapevine, but we’ve done almost all of their units, and the Picture Smart Bible looks like it’s an excellent choice for a little older kiddos as well. So we’re really excited to try something new.
Strawberry Shortcake chose photography for her extra elective this year. My friend Ernie at Foto Finch has developed a photography curriculum for Jr. High to High School students, but I took a look at the lessons and think that she’ll do fine with the Composition & Photojournalism one. I’ll have a review coming up soon once we get more into the program. But I can tell you she’s excited to get to start photography. Maybe she can take over my blog someday ;o)
The last new to us curriculum we’re trying out is the Vocabulary Workshop. I wasn’t thrilled with Wordlywise, and so I moved to Evan-Moor Vocabulary Fundamentals which were fine for last year. But I had a friend who teaches English that suggested Vocabulary Workshop so we’re going to try it out for a year. Just a note…it is a secular curriculum.
And there’s our 2014-2015 curriculum choices!
Need HELP GETTING STARTED????? Get your copy of Homeschooling 101: A guide to getting started!
Need PLANNERS? Check out my fun homeschool lesson planners!
Need MORE IDEAS? Check out the awesome curriculum available on my website!
Aside from the preschool and kindergarten curriculum all of my units are geared towards elementary aged students from about kinder-6th grade.
Road Trip USA & Road Trip USA Animals!
Expedition Earth World Geography & Animals of the World:
World’s Greatest Artists Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
World’s Greatest Composers Vol 1 (Vol. 2 NOW AVAIL!)
Classic Literature Unit Studies (Vol. 2 & 3 NOW AVAIL!)
Scientists & Inventors Unit Studies:
Hi Erica,
I have enjoyed following your blog for several years and always glean so many great ideas. I am in my 19th year of homeschooling and have one 3rd grader besides the after school kids that I tutor. Here’s what we are doing this year http://www.sherryssong.blogspot.com/.
Keep up the good work!
Blessings,
Sherry
Hi Erica,
I love your blog! I haven’t ever ordered anything from BJU and I am wondering if you order the CD’s? Online? OR just books? I am looking at it for my 3rd and 4th graders for English?
Do you have a post on how you organize for the whole year?? That seems so daunting 🙂
Hi! I am blown away with you and your homeschooling techniques and materials from every year! I haven’t been all around your blog yet but I was wondering if you worked from home to help with income or if you are just a full time mother and teacher? As well as, what are you planning to do for the middle and high school years, or if you had any ideas? I am in the public school system right now and we all learn things like chemistry and algebra and I was wondering if you were going to maybe teach them things like that as well?
Absolutely beautiful blog and beautiful way of life. I am planning on the home-schooling route considering the public school system is so tiring and has too much pressure. God bless.. 🙂
Hi Lily,
Thank you, there are several options for high school, and for now our plan is to continue to homeschool. Curriculum is readily available these days even for the upper subjects. Students can also participate in a local school district for specific elective classes and there are also a lot of online options if you’re apprehensive about teaching the upper grades.
We used your K4 curriculum and Letter of the Week this last year for my two kids and loved them both. Thanks for all the careful consideration you have put into all your materials! My son just turned 5 and really enjoys math. We need to switch curriculum because the materials I had selected for the year are too easy and not particularly exciting for him to do (Singapore Math). The last few weeks I’ve tried complementing it like crazy with Pinterest games, but I’d like to find a more interesting, hands-on curriculum that interests him. Considering you introduce some more advanced math topics in your K4 than what some people would teach a 4 year-old, has Teeny Tot been bored at all with the Math U See Primer? I was wondering if we should skip up to the Alpha level. My son grasps math really easy and has had exposure to all of the topics in Primer, but hasn’t mastered all of them. Since he’s a young 5 I want him to have fun with it, but don’t want him to keep telling me he knows everything already. Any insight you have would be great. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing your curriculum choices. I love going to different websites to see what everyone else is doing! I guess it gives me reassurance that we are doing great! I really enjoyed All About Spelling when I used it. It is a wonderful program. Now with the iPad, its even more amazing!
Thanks for sharing! We got lots of great ideas from this 🙂
I will be starting homeschooling my children next year (3rd and 4th graders). A few questions. I was wondering what is the expense in buying different subjects from different publishers instead of buying the whole grade kit from one publisher. I would like to do what you do, but seems like a lot of money to buy all the different subject material from different places. Also, are the materials re-usable? I wasn’t for sure if my youngest could use my oldest sons materials after he is finished or do you have to buy everything new again for each child. Your blog has been so helpful:) Thank you so much.
Hi Nicole,
That really depends on which curriculum you purchase. I tend to spend around $400/year total for all of my kids. I spend the most on curriculum for my oldest, then I reuse it for the younger ones. And of course I do my best to get used curriculum whenever possible. But I do have to get new workbooks for everyone as they’re consumable.
Call me wind because I am abtusolely blown away.
I was wondering if you wrote a review for Wordly Wise 3000. We’re considering it and would love to read your comments. Thank you! 🙂
Hi, I see that you use Math U See and I am trying it right now, but I do have a few concerns and I am wondering if you can help me by telling me what you do please. I am looking through the alpha book and it is all addition and subtraction of single digit numbers. This book roughly corresponds with grade one and my concern is that the grade one curriculum in this book has no units/chapters on fractions, money, measurement, graphing, addition and subtraction of double digits etc. I am wondering do you use additional resources to cover these topics or what do you do please? I love all of your work and I love how you share your faith and your time and resources with everyone! Thank you so much.
Heather
Hi heather,
Math U See is set up differently so that you r students master 1 skill/concept before moving on to another one. My oldest is now in Zeta and I have to say that I am very pleased with this method. Since she had absolutely mastered her addition/subtraction/multiplication facts it made learning division, fractions, and now decimals so much easier. So the alpha focuses on addition and some subtraction, but mostly addition including carrying numbers and multiple digit addition towards the end of the year. Beta will move into subtraction and multiple digit subtraction including borrowing numbers. Gamma goes into multiplication, Delta Division, and so on. So they will cover those concepts just at a later time when they’re more prepared for them.
As far as time and money, they are included as well, however I don’t think they cover them well enough, so I’ve always supplemented the Kumon Counting Money, and Kumon Telling Time at about 2nd grade for those subjects.