Oh my goodness, I can’t believe another year has gone by, and it’s time to start planning for the 2015-16 school year! I’ve had so many requests for our curriculum choices, so I thought I better put up a post with our choices for next year.
Group and Independent work
I’m listing the full curriculum per grade level below, and anything you see in orange is a group activity. This means that we do it together with all of kiddos combined. I like to choose a variety of both teacher led, independent, and group curriculum so that I’m not too overwhelmed with teaching 4 students at different levels all at the same time. Group activities are done together, and I just expect a little different level of work out of my children depending on their grade and skill level.
Announcing…
But first I’d like to announce the Teeny Tot’s new blog name! Since I’ve started blogging back in 2008, you’ll see that the teeny tot has gotten just a wee big bigger. And since she really isn’t a teeny tot anymore, I’d like to present to you her new and much more grown up alias…presenting Miss Lady Bug!
And yes, I just cried a little.
It was fun finding photos of her for this post. I don’t know if you can tell, but in the photo on the left she’s sitting in one of our workboxes. Her favorite activity used to be dumping out the contents of the boxes and sitting in them. That and climbing up them. Our workboxes took quite a beating that year. Ahh…those were the days!
But she’s all big and independent now. Doesn’t need me as much, and can do just about everything on her own. But she still has the same great smile, and loves hugs and kisses. So I guess I’ll have to be okay with my baby growing up! If you’d like to take a trip down memory lane you can grab a box of tissues and browse through my Teeny Tot School Posts.
But moving on…here is her curriculum for the year. She’s in first grade this year, and wow. For some reason prek-kindergarten always seems like they’re still babies. But first grade. Man. Big kid in the house!
Miss Lady Bug: 1st Grade
- Daily Learning Notebook She’ll be using the Elementary level manuscript version.
- Art: Combo of World’s Greatest Artists 2 , Home Art Studio, and See the Light Art DVDs
- Bible: Grapevine Traceable Units & Word of Life Challenger Quiet Time devotion
- Handwriting: BJU Handwriting 1 Worktext
- Literature: Classical Literature Units (We’ll do read alouds using books from my Vol. 1 list)
- Math: Math U See Alpha, Kumon Dollars & Cents, Kumon Telling Time
- History: The Renaissance & Reformation (We do this as a group)
- Music: World’s Greatest Composers Vol 1 (Continued from last year)
- Language/Phonics: Abeka Letters & Sounds 1, Language 1, & Phonics Road Level 1 (A new product we’re reviewing!)
- Reading: Abeka 1 readers
- Spelling: Spelling You See B & All About Spelling Level 1 (for phonics rules memorization)
- Science: Expedition Earth Geography/Science Curriculum
- Piano: Teach Yourself Piano
- P.E. : Swim Team & Co-op
- Vocabulary: Vocabulary Workshop Grade 1 Level Red (This is a test I’ve never done vocab in grade 1 before, so it might be a bust. TBD)
Tinkerbell: 4th Grade
- Daily Learning Notebook: She’ll be doing the Cursive Notebook this year.
- Art: Combo of: World’s Greatest Artists 2 , Home Art Studio, and See the Light Art DVDs
- Bible: Grapevine Bible Study & Word of Life Challenger Quiet Time devotion
- Spelling: All About Spelling & Spelling You See Level C
- English/Grammar: BJU English 4
- Reading: Abeka Read & Comprehend Skill Sheets Level 4 (I use these to test comprehension and speed.)
- Math: Math U See Delta
- History: The Renaissance & Reformation
- Literature: Classical Literature Units
- Music: World’s Greatest Composers Vol 1 (Continued from last year)
- Science: Expedition Earth Geography/Science Curriculum & maybe a scientist unit if we can fit it in!
- P.E.: Swim Team, Hockey, & Co-op
- Handwriting: Spelling You See (Since it is mostly copy work, I think it works well for handwriting practice too.)
- Typing: Typing Web (This is a free online program and works well!)
- Piano: Teach Yourself Piano
- Vocabulary: Vocabulary Workshop (Orange Grade 4)
- Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing (We do this as a group and will be using IEW Group A Continuation next year).
Turbo: 6th Grade
- Art: Combo of: World’s Greatest Artists 2 , Home Art Studio, and See the Light Art DVDs
- Bible: Grapevine Bible Study & Word of Life Challenger Quiet Time devotion
- English/Grammar: BJU English 5
- History: The Renaissance & Reformation
- Literature: Classical Literature Units & Book Shark (I will be specifically selecting a list of appropriate books for my kids from this resource since it was free through our options program!)
- Math: Math U See Zeta
- Music: World’s Greatest Composers Vol 1 (Continued from last year)
- P.E.: Swim Team & Hockey
- Photography: The Foto Finch Elementary Curriculum (Review coming soon!)
- Reading: Read & Comprehend Skill Sheets 6
- Science: Expedition Earth Geography/Science Curriculum & maybe a scientist unit if we can fit it in!
- Spelling: BJU Spelling 6 (mainly for list practice), & Spelling You See D (which also doubles as handwriting)
- Typing: Typing Web
- Vocabulary: Vocabulary Workshop (Level A, Grade 6)
- Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing Group A Continuation
Strawberry Shortcake: 7th grade
- Art: Combo of: World’s Greatest Artists 2 , Home Art Studio, and See the Light Art DVDs
- Bible: Grapevine Bible Study & Word of Life Challenger Quiet Time devotion
- English/Grammar: BJU English 7
- History: The Renaissance & Reformation
- Literature: Classical Literature Units & Book Shark (From our options program)
- Math: Math U See Pre-Algebra (yikes!)
- Music: World’s Greatest Composers Vol 1 (Continued from last year)
- P.E.: Swim Team
- Photography: The Foto Finch Composition
- Science: Expedition Earth Geography/Science Curriculum & maybe a scientist unit if we can fit it in!
- Spelling: Spelling You See E
- Typing: Typing Web
- Vocabulary: Vocabulary Workshop (Level B, Grade 7)
- Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing Group A Continuation
Extra-Curricular & Group Activities:
We do writing as a group with my 4th, 6th, and 7th graders together. We’ll be continuing on with Institute for Excellence in Writing Group A Continuation program for next year.
We’ll also be using the The Renaissance & Reformation time traveler unit, after we finish up with our Middle Ages one from last year.
And everyone is super excited to be going through my Expedition Earth Geography/Science Curriculum as well this year!
Here are a few other things we do on the side, and I’ll post our schedules by grade as well soon!
- Options: This is a once a week co-op that we go to through our school district. Classes for my younger kiddos are mostly elective types like Spanish, science, art, music, & PE. Strawberry Shortcake has cool things like speech & debate, drama, computers, yearbook, literacy in film, home economics, and game theory.
- Keepers of the Faith
- Contenders of the Faith
- Co-Op: DI Instant Challenges This is a once a month group of friends who get together, previously our LEGO group. We’re going to try making our own set of instant challenges for our co-op this year using the DI list as a guide.
- Hockey & Swimming year round
Whew! Summer is blazing by, so I should probably go get some of this stuff planned eh?
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Hey there. May I ask you why you use IEW and BJU English when BJU has a writing portion built in?
We have gone very slowly with our writing (rising 6th grade daughter) as we have been working through a dyslexia diagnosis. We love BJU english and I am wondering if you think the writing chapters are not sufficient? Thanks so much for your input!
Hi Stephanie,
I don’t like the writing that comes in BJU English at all. My son, who struggles with ideas and what to write, did not do well with BJU’s writing program. I also think it’s a little weak in teaching writing but that’s just my opinion 🙂 So we skip those chapters and just do the English/Grammar chapters which are normally all of the odd chapters in BJU English. Then I use IEW for writing which we really like.
Do you use the “teacher portion” or do you let your kids just do it on their own? I am debating whether I need to purchase the
Teaching Writing: Structure and Style, Second Edition [DVD Seminar, Workbook, Premium Subscription]?
Thanks
Thank you for sharing. We are starting Homeschool in the Woods this year and are very excited! My daughter is also starting first grade and we are using Abeka as you are. When do you start teaching cursive? My 2 older kids got it early, but my daughter has been slower with reading and writing , so I am waiting till the second grade for cursive. What do you think?
I normally start cursive at around 3rd grade. For my kids, I think it seems like their fine-motor skills were ready for it around that age. But you can do whatever works best for your child. Honestly I think schools are pushing cursive too young these days, some start in kindergarten. And I think it’s important to know how to print well because it helps with neater handwriting, and you still have to print on any forms you fill out etc.
We usually start cursive at 3rd grade. I think their fine-motor skills are more ready for cursive at that time. But whatever works best for her 🙂 My kids weren’t quite ready for cursive in 2nd grade yet, so it was frustrating for them.
Gosh this post brought back memories! I think I started reading your blog just around the time you first posted that pic of Teeny Tot sitting in the workboxes! You guys have always inspired us, and after reading this post I checked out the Time Travelers series from Homeschool in the Woods, and we’ve added the Explorers to our curriculum for this Fall. I’m super excited about it, as I’ve really struggled to find a history curriculum that includes Christianity and its role in history but still rings true in historical accuracy. Thanks again!
Hey Erica! We live in the mountains above Colorado Springs:) I saw that you do Keepers of the Faith on the side. Do you have a local number or someone I can contact to see if there is a group up here in the mountains? Thanks for all you do!
Hi Nicole,
we do it with a group of friends, and we just started our own group. And I don’t think there’s really a number you can call to find a group. I would look on their website. But mainly from my understanding it’s individual groups that people form on their own, and not an organization type like Girl Scouts if that makes sense?
Erica,
Just wanted to know if you use the online Vocabulary Workshop site or just the workbook? I did a search and found that they do offer free answers online to many of their books as the teacher’s manual seem pricey. We have used Wordly Wise and the online site for that. Just wondered if you could compare the online portion at all?
Thanks -Jennifer
I just use the workbooks, so I’m not sure about the online portion. Last time I looked it seemed like you needed to be an official school to sign up for their online stuff, but I’m not sure 🙂
Do you use the teacher manual and the test booklet?
We just received the vocab workshop level B for our 7th grader and level purple for our 3rd grader that we ordered last week. Upon further review we realized we need a teacher’s manual at least for the 7th grade book. On the Sadlier site it states that a teacher certification is required to purchase the teacher’s manual and we can’t seem to figure out how to do it as homeschoolers. How have you made purchases? Do you purchase the teacher’s manuals?
I’m so glad to see these! I’m so glad I’ll get to see your advice each new year since my son is the same age as your 1st grader 🙂 I have been wondering since you commented on reviewing The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading last year but I haven’t seen a review yet. What do you think? Or was it too much for Miss Lady Bug last year so you’re attempting this year? I can’t make up my mind if I want to go that route or pair All About Spelling with First Language Lessons of a Well-Trained Mind and add in Handwriting w/o Tears. I like that Phonics Road claims to be all-inclusive for language arts but I’m wondering if that’s really true since there isn’t an outline provided online for her courses. He loves to draw so I think the self-illustrated readers sound awesome and I studied linguistics so I’m a fan of the super-intense, as long as it’s manageable and fun for the littles. I actually like the idea of the DVDs, but don’t know if it will get old after a few months or a few years. I became pretty frustrated last year working through Phonics Pathway feeling like it didn’t quite have the support I wanted and a long-term roadmap. I’m really needing more insight into both the AAS/AAR path or the Phonics Road because I want to start one now and be committal. Maybe that’s wishful thinking as a homeschooler, lol. Since you seem to really love All About Spelling, do you think AAS would go well with First Language lessons of a well-trained mind or would I need to consider All About Reading and a separate handwriting course? Thanks for any advice you’re willing to give! I appreciated so much your advice last year on not pushing ahead too much with math considering a kindergartener’s point in development.
The Phonics Road was too much for Miss Lady Bug last year, she just wasn’t quite ready yet so we’re going to give it a try this year and see how it goes 🙂 I’ll post once we’ve had a chance to use it a little. I know that doesn’t help you right now though, sorry! you might want to ask in my community if anyone has used it as well, they might have an answer for you! I have heard the language portion wasn’t as inclusive as my friend had hoped, but again I haven’t used it yet so…
The AAS/AAR is great for younger readers. I really like how they teach the phonics rules and there are also fun readers and activities to go with the AAR as well.
I used First Lang. Lessons years ago, and it just wasn’t for us. Honestly I don’t remember if it would go well with AAS or not, sorry 🙂 I did do a separate handwriting as well.
Hey Erica, Thank you for sharing your homeschool plan for next year. I have a question about Spelling You See. Do you need the Instructor’s handbook or is this a program that can be done with out the handbookl.
I don’t really use the TM. I did read through it quickly when we got it, but the instructions for each day are on the student pages, so I don’t think it’s totally necessary.
Hey Erica!
Looks good – for you! 🙂 Are you going to post your “tentative/skeleton” schedule or routine? IOW, to show just how you’ll be incorporating these things and juggling the four levels?
I’ve been homeschooling for 11+ years – 4 kids, 3 levels…though some kinda mesh – and totally get the group work vs. individual vs. mama-led stuff. 🙂 Believe me. And, there are years where we start out meshing some together until I feel one is ready to branch into a different level of something.
We’re more unschool-y/relaxed homeschoolers, though. And, we live in a VERY homeschooling-friendly state (FL). So, to me, “it’s not that serious” LOL. By “something,” I might mean a book, might mean videos we stream, might mean doing something like Khan for a few months while interested in XXX topic – y’know, that kind of thing. But, I’d love to see how you’re going to juggle these things (I assume you don’t have 5-hour days of “school” planned…?)
BTW: I LOVE when you do “unboxing” video tutorials! I don’t watch every single one, but I’ve especially enjoyed your MUS videos. Thanks so much for showing what’s really inside and talking about what’s really worth the investment vs. what may not be. 🙂 That’s the one area (math) I’d been considering just going with something because of retention and the way an interest in rocket science leads to a discussion of algebra and graphing polynomials….but wait – we were only working on learning multiplication facts in that other book on the table, LOL. So, something more incremental, perhaps? IDK.
~Tasha
We are slowly easing back into our homeschool routine. It generally takes me a couple of weeks to get the older kids into a rhythm before I throw it all into chaos as I add the PreK kiddo and toddler in! We began using our own version of workboxes last year and I really need to do that again this year!!
Erica,
I have been following your blog for a few years, reading your blog and seeing what you do has truly helped me come to my decision to homeschool, I’m extremely excited and nervous about my new adventure! There is SO much info out there, curriculums etc I’m so lost! Which math curriculum do you prefer? Math U See (Alpha) or Saxon (level 1)? Iv’e been doing Funnix Beginning reading with him and am looking into Sonlight but its all so expensive, any advice on how you choose a curriculum. Thanks so much
Morgan