Busy bee... That's me! I am trying to do way too many things at once, right now. Getting ready for a yard sale. Sorting through and reorganizing our homeschool books and records. Researching, purchasing, and planning for our upcoming homeschool year for four boys. I'll have one son finishing school and another one beginning this year!

Surprisingly, I'm very excited about our school this year. We are going to be using Galloping the Globe for Isaac (3rd) and Levi (K), while adding in some unit studies and Five in a Row. Thankfully, Jolanthe, at Homeschool Creations, has shared her plans and printables from their world geography study and made life planning a little easier for me. Of course, we have several Usborne Books to supplement our studies, like Usborne's IL Encyclopedia of World Geography, Usborne Book of Peoples of the World, and Usborne Flags Sticker Book.

The other curriculum we are looking forward to is Exploring Creation with Astronomy. We are going to have a mini co-op class in our home with a couple of other families with boys close in age to Isaac. To say Isaac is excited would be an understatement. He keeps asking when we will be starting. Hopefully, his enthusiasm won't fade before August.

We are also going to try Singapore Math for Isaac, after using JUMP Math last semester. JUMP Math is great for children who are not strong in math or get stuck and need a step-by-step break down of math concepts. It was very helpful in getting Noah past his math road-block.

Speaking of Noah, I am still unsure of what all we're doing for his 8th grade year, other than Easy Grammar and Apologia General Science. So, I'll post about that another time.

Mason will have a fairly heavy senior year, as he needs to fill in a few gaps and catch up on his reading list. His courses will include Lifepac Civics, Art History & Appreciation {unit study}, Around the World in 180 Days {world geography}, Jensen's Format Writing, and maybe Jacobs' Geometry. He will also be using Chemistry 101 since he is not planning on attending a four-year college. He is leaning very heavily toward a technical school for auto mechanics. Mason has spent more than enough hours earning a credit for an elective auto mechanics course. Papa Bear and I are so proud of how much he has learned on his own through reading, researching online, talking to local experts, and his own blood, sweat and tears poured into his car.

How is your planning going? What are you using in your homeschool in the fall?




Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through any of them, I will receive compensation. 

2011-12 Homeschool Curriculum

Thankfully, my slump has passed and I am operating at normal speed again for this school year. Not to say that I don't still feel overwhelmed at times or want to quit. That comes with the territory. Last year was rough for all of us and we have some catching up to do. Also, keep in mind that the following list of curriculum is subject to change at any point if we find that it isn't working.

History
For our study of Ancient History, I'm using A Child's History of the World as my spine, along with the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia and various other books. I still have A World of Adventure, but I will probably only use it as a resource. At this point, I have researched and seen enough history studies, that I feel okay winging it. My biggest issue is keeping to a time frame. 

IB ~ 2nd Grade
Math Mammoth

Alpha-Phonics

A Reason for Handwriting

Considering God's Creation - I used this with my older boys when they were younger also and we love it. IB will also be participating in an elementary science co-op class twice a month.

NG ~ 7th Grade
Math Mammoth - NG needs to master a few more basic math skills before we move on to Life of Fred Fractions and Decimals & Percents.

Learning Language Arts Through Literature: Tan - I'll probably continue to supplement with Easy Grammar curriculum that I've had for years.

Apologia General Science - He'll attend a co-op class twice a month for labs.

M1 ~ 11th  Grade
M1 will continue to fulfill elective credits by researching and working on his car (Auto Mechanics), by expanding his knowledge and experience with his expensive camera (Photography), and by learning many vital life skills (Practical Living Skills).

Streams of Civilization I - This is the spine M1 will use for Ancient History and I'll be adding supplemental books, especially classics like the Illiad.

Life of Fred Beginning and Advanced Algebra - Yes, he has been doing Algebra for a while, but he hit a wall with Teaching Textbooks and we are back-tracking with Life of Fred to help him master it. If it works for him, then we may continue with LOF Geometry.

Apologia Chemistry - We may get together with a couple of other families.
Forensics Science - I was having a very difficult time deciding on science for this year, but one of the homeschooling fathers in our group is teaching this co-op class and M1 is really interested in it.

The Art of Argument - Yes, I want my teenage son to learn how to argue...better.

Excellence in Literature: British Literature  - He'll attend a co-op class for book discussion.

The Money Mystery & Solving the Money Mystery, The Clipper Ship Strategy & Applying the Clipper Ship Strategy - We have been using the Uncle Eric books from Bluestocking Press for Economics and Mason really enjoys reading them. He has also read Uncle Eric Talks About Personal, Career, and Financial Security and Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) & Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses

Homeschooling With Charlotte Mason

The Charlotte Mason method has always appealed to me and, for many years, we have used it in some fashion. After trying to use a unit study for the past year, without much success, I have decided to return to our CM methods. I wanted to teach NG and IB together but it just isn't working out the way I had hoped. The AWOA unit study is great, but NG prefers a more self-paced method. We are also returning to workboxes because NG is a child of order and independence; he wants to see how much and what he needs to do and then be set free to do it. You may be wondering why I'm switching gears right at the end of the school year. Well, to be honest, we have fallen behind due to life circumstances, learning issues, and attitudes. Our My plan is to continue through the summer.

If you have been researching Charlotte Mason for any amount of time, you have probably come across Ambleside Online, an excellent introduction and free CM homeschool curriculum. I'll be using it to guide me. Two other popular CM sites are Simply Charlotte Mason and Charlotte Mason Help. The most difficult part of using the CM method is probably the planning and scheduling. I prefer to borrow other people's ideas and found samples of curriculum plans and schedules at Higher Up and Further In. We can also take advantage of Carol Hepburn's years of CM experience by utilizing her sample schedules and CM course planner.

Just like with anything else, I pick what works for me/us and build on that. I am not a strict CM follower. One of my favorite things about CM is short lessons. If you have boys, you will understand. Another idea I like to incorporate is the formation of habit. Hopefully, by using these two concepts, we will be able to slowly undo the bad habits of "dawdling" and lack of attention that drain even my motivation.

Since we don't follow the public school's scope and sequence, NG feels out of the loop when talking with his public-schooled best friend, who likes American history {well, the wars, anyway}. So, besides the focus on literature, I like that CM includes national and world history at the same time. We'll be continuing with ancient Greece and adding early American to it. For ancient world history, my plan is to use A Child's Story of the World and The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia as our spines and adding living books, such as biographies and historical fiction to fill it in. For American history, Noah will be starting the History of US series by Joy Hakim. M1 read them and really enjoyed them. To help IB understand how events and people fit together, we may try this easy historical wall timeline. Now that NG is in the middle grades, I'm going to have him make a Book of Centuries using this template.

Think math doesn't fit into the Charlotte Mason method? This Squidoo lens has lots of ideas on how you can make math come alive for your early learner. And Penny Gardner provides an extensive list of living math books to supplement your regular math curriculum. I'm going to borrow a copy of Family Math from the library to see if it would be worth purchasing for our family. IB has really struggled with math and I think we need to drop the curriculum and focus on learning through games for a while. 

I've got science covered with Considering God's Creation. We had already started on the human body, so we'll continue with that. One area where I always fall short is with nature study.  Handbook of Nature Study is a homeschooling blog and home to the Outdoor Hour Challenge. Barb has ideas for keeping a nature journal and an archive of seasonal challenges. Her other site, Harmony Art Mom, is devoted to art and music study. {By the way, if you want to be inspired to give your children a Charlotte Mason education, read her post, Charlotte Mason Gave Our Homeschool Wings.} For art study, I also found the Metropolitan Museum of Art History's timeline. You can select art/artists from the period of history you are studying.

For those of you who want more information and like to flip through a real book, I suggest For the Children's Sake, A Charlotte Mason Education, and More Charlotte Mason Education. My next homeschool book purchase will probably be the third edition of Educating the Whole Hearted Child, which is due to be released soon. (affiliate)

After a long season of burn-out that left me with brain fog and little motivation, I am finally finding my way back to normalcy. Making the decision to change directions with our curriculum has been energizing and given me hope. After a talk with NG today, I feel like he is ready for the change also. Time will tell.

Curriculum Review - A World of Adventure

We are in our 11th year of homeschooling and, by now, you know that I have tried many different curriculums. When son #3 joined us in our daily lessons, I began to feel the strain of juggling multiple grades and subjects. It wasn't too bad at first because I focus primarily on teaching phonics and basic math skills during K-1st grades. But this year it changed.

Last spring, I was looking for something different for NG because what we had been doing wasn't a good fit for him. I found Learning Adventures, "a home-based publishing company that provides unit study curriculum guides and accessories." They are chronological history-based unit studies. The last time we used a unit study as our main curriculum, M1 was in 1st grade and it was KONOS. It didn't last long because it was too much work for me. There isn't as much online about Learning Adventures as, say, Truthquest or Mystery of History, but I did find several excellent reviews. It is almost a complete curriculum with all subjects (Bible, language arts, literature, science, social studies, and fine arts) except math. I ordered their first volume, A World of Adventure, and as soon as I received it, I loved it and couldn't wait to see what NG thought of it. The best thing about it for me is that it is scripted and I don't have to spend much time planning. I used to avoid that but I'm all about making things easier these days. It also has a nice blend of living books and hands-on activity. It comes as a hole-punched, loose-leaf packet and you put it in your own binder.

My initial plan was to use it with NG for 6th grade and let Isaac sit in during the read alouds and add some books at his level because the curriculum is geared toward grades 4-8. We took almost half of this year to finish up the rest of our American history {I'll admit, there were some bumpy spots that made it take longer than it should}. Then I broke out AWOA, which begins with Ancient Egypt, and it started off well, until we got to the point where he was to read the book, The Golden Goblet. NG read one chapter and proclaimed that he did not like the book and did not want to read it. Now, there are things that I will make my children do whether they like it or not and others that I will reconsider. When it comes to reading literature, I would prefer it to be pleasurable for my boys. I decided to find an alternate book for him and to skip the discussion questions and activities that centered on The Golden Goblet. Fortunately, I found A Place in the Sun {in the clearance section at Books-A-Million}. It is also about a young boy in Egypt, but it is shorter and an easier read. Remember that the curriculum is a tool; don't be afraid to change what isn't working.

It is also at this point that I discovered that Learning Adventures recently released supplements for Little Adventurers in grades K-3. IB really needed to be more involved but I just didn't have the time and energy to come up with age appropriate activities. So, of course, I ordered the first two units that are available now and I decided to get the AWOA student pages for NG also. They contain the Language Arts exercises that NG would have had to rewrite on his own. The packet is a bit expensive at $20, but as much as my boys hate to write, I didn't mind paying it to save myself some frustration. I will also be supplementing with Easy Grammar where I feel it's necessary. We started using these this week and so far, so good. The Little Adventurers supplements have lots of suggestions for varying abilities, so you can tailor it to fit your child. I have been skipping through it, picking out things to catch Isaac up to where we are. Monday, we'll start working together at the same place.

To sum this long post up...we like A World of Adventure and recommend it to homeschoolers who want a change from the textbook/workbook method, those with boys {although girls will like it too}, and for those Mommas and kids who are suffering from burnout and need to have fun learning together. I hope to be posting more about this curriculum regarding how I'm planning it, extra resources we're using, and what we're doing.

Special note to those of you who may be considering purchasing this curriculum: I am not affiliated with Learning Adventures, but I would like to be able to continue through the whole series if it works out for us. The issue is that they only have three out of the five projected volumes completed and how you choose to get yours determines if they can afford to finish them. Read more.