(After worrying about the beginning homeschooling post for Tri-Moms yesterday – and wondering why the other moms’ posts weren’t up, nor why they weren’t fussing at me – Kathi contacted me and reminded me that we post the 1st and 3rd of every month, not every other week. So, that post isn’t even on the schedule until next week. Good grief, I’m such a slacker! I already had this post in the cue, so today this is what you get and I’ll try to not wait until the last minute for next week’s post!)
This is nearly all of the curriculum we’ve used this year for all four “school age” kids. This includes the 4 year old, 6 year old, 8 year old, and 9 year old. The plan has changed just a little from the beginning of the school year. But not a whole bunch.
This year’s breakdown looks like this:
Preschooler (age: 3/turned 4): BigMan
I’m still using Teach Me Joy – Animal Play. And we’re still loving it. I use it very loosely. I don’t follow a strict 3 day schedule, we just do a little here and there through the week. We’re covering Bible, colors, numbers, shapes, animals, crafts, and the alphabet. Everything he does is dependent on me.
*****
Kindergarten (age 5/turned 6): My Girl
At this age I lean heavily on just the basics. Everything else is just icing.
Phonics – For this child this time around she has loved Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (the 2 older boys liked Hooked On Phonics – I like them both, just depends on the child).
Handwriting – Once she learned all of her letters in manuscript and she asked to learn cursive we moved onto Handwriting Without Tears. I just use the workbook and no other manipulatives.
Sight Words – I teach using this method mostly and supplement with workbooks. Right now we’re using the one pictured, but I’m not wild about it.
Math – Math-U-See, Primer. I love it.
Any science, history, art, or other subjects are gleaned from me working with her brothers and are solely dependent on her interest and attention span. We watch a lot of educational shows together, read a lot, and discuss nature. We supplement with lapbooks.
*****
The Boys (ages 8 and 9) Roughly 2nd grade and 3rdish/4thish grade: TheMiddlest and TheOldest
Amazingly (and it is amazing, I don’t really know how we got here, I couldn’t have imagined it 2 years ago, but it’s just evolved) we are working towards more independence in the older kiddos. When they learned to read fairly independently we started moving some of their work in that direction as well. Some of their subjects they are assigned and know just what to do and some they must wait for me to teach first then they are to complete their assignments. They are always welcome to ask questions, have help with their reading, it’s just that for the most part they are to do it on their own. The subjects that I teach are combined. I don’t teach 2 different grade levels.
The 9 year old’s stack of work.
Combined Teacher-Led Subjects for the 8 and 9 year olds
Science - Jeannie Fulbright’s Astronomy, again you can read how I teach this subject to the boys here.
Language Arts (this is the main thing that has changed since the beginning of the year – we began this around February) Rod & Staff English Book 2. Here you can see my review and how I teach it.
Bible – I read nearly every school day from the Bible, we started in January at Genesis and we’ve gotten to 1 Kings so far. You can keep up with my kids and the Bible posts here.
Art (I have also added this subject since that first curriculum post) – The Lamb’s Book of Art 1, I mention how I teach art from it and what I think of this curriculum at the bottom of this post.
Math – Math-U-See, we are finishing up Alpha now and will be moving into Beta this week. This is a subject that falls into the inbetween categories of Teacher-Led and Independent. When they begin a new lesson I sit with them and we watch the dvd lesson, then they complete their worksheets (I assign 2 worksheets a day). On days that are a review of the previous day’s dvd lesson they are to complete their 2 worksheets independently, they don’t have to wait on me to guide them.
The 8 year old’s stack of work.
Independent work for the 8 and 9 year old boys
Handwriting – They are both in cursive but one is still working in Handwriting Without Tears and one has completed it and has moved onto another workbook. They are to complete one page a day.
U.S. States – I have printed off state maps from Enchanted Learning and put them in a folder for them according to region. They are to highlight the state name, capital, motto, and write out the abbreviation. They are to do one state a day. We will do a more in-depth study when we finish this folder up (which will also be this week). This is just an introduction and overview.
American History Reading – We use Abeka for their American History. I was asked in the comments recently what we use for American History. Here’s my response: “When they can read fairly strongly I begin with http://www.abeka.com/ABekaOnli… (sometimes this is first grade and sometimes this is closer to 3rd grade). Then when they complete that book they move to this one and read it mostly on their own with help from me on some words :http://www.abeka.com/ABekaOnli… Again, when they complete that one they move to this one: http://www.abeka.com/ABekaOnli… My 9 year old is just completing that one and looking forward to moving onto this one in the next couple of days: http://www.abeka.com/ABekaOnli… I plan to have him read a lot of this to me (mainly because I want to learn some of this stuff!) I got these as hand-me-downs and at the time didn’t have the money to get all the consumables. So I just used it as a read-aloud or independent reading. That’s working for us right now.” They know they are to read a section or 2 at a time so they do that on their own.
I use that clip board up there so the 2 older boys can mark off their work as they complete it. It helps them feel more in control and can actually see their progress. One makes one slanted mark and the other crosses it to make an X as they finish each subject for the day.
When I first made the chart we were alternating World History and Art (not covering both all days) so I have them blacked out. However, I learned quickly they like to do art everyday and we could fit World History in each day so they now complete them and mark them off every day.
They cannot play any “screens” (Wii, PS2, DS, computer, watching tv) until they have completed all of their school work. This has proven to be an unbelievable incentive. Most nights they gather their “independent” work and finish it in their beds the night before so that they can watch tv and play video games when they first get up while they are waiting on me to teach the other subjects. Works for me!
This is the first year that our school time has taken all morning long. We take small breaks through the morning, but our work for all 4 now is usually not finished until about 12:30, then we read the Bible together while the 2 younger ones nap. Once naptime is over we have our afternoon free. They do a quick pick up of the house and it’s playtime for the rest of the night. Though mornings are hard, I do like that our afternoons and evenings are free. I really like that!
When I started I could not have imagined that nearly half of their school work would be completed without me. It’s a nice progression. Have you started seeing yours move to a more independent schedule? If you have youngers can you even imagine that yet?!
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