Category: homeschool

My oldest daughter will start high school this fall!!  Cue the record keeping, transcripts, credits, and so forth.  I think we’ve got a good start lined up for ninth grade.  I’ve pulled from Heart of Dakota and other curriculums and curated what I think will work best for us.  New this year, Lucy will be taking an online class through Saint Raphael School.  Having discussions with other Orthodox kids and the teacher will be good for her, especially since she isn’t working alongside Julia as much.

*I wrote this in the spring as I worked on planning.  A few things changed along the way and as we got started I changed a bit more.  Added those changes today (October).*

9th grade – Lucy

History and Literature – St Raphael Orthodox School online (2 credits)

Science – PAC Integrated Physics and Chemistry (1 credit)

Math – Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 (1 credit) – switched to Unlock Math

Grammar – Fix It Grammar

Spelling – Rod and Staff 8

Writing – Institute for Excellence in Writing Student Writing Intensive C, using Help for Highschool from Bravewriter instead

Spanish – Lifepac Spanish 1 (1 credit)

Piano – (1 fine arts credit) 

Ballet – (1 physical education credit)

Art – Sketchbox combined with some lessons online (1/2 credit)

Logic – The Art of Argument (1/2 credit) took this out for now, it was too much for her.  Not sure if we’ll add the business course in the Spring or not:

Intro to Business – Whatever Happened to Penny Candy, Usborne Understanding Business, Common Sense Business for Kids (second semester, 1/2 credit)

Over the spring/summer we plan to listen to audio CDs of Story of the World 4 because we’ve just never gotten to much modern history.  Lucy also just started typing lessons online and will continue those over the summer.  (We didn’t get this done!  Lucy did request that I buy Mystery of History book 4 because she enjoyed reading book 3 last year.  She’s reading through it on her own.)

 

7th grade – Julia has been paired up with Lucy for much of her schooling so far.  With Lucy headed into high school, Julia will be working with Esther on a few things.  I’m excited about their IEW writing course, I think they will both enjoy that.  They’ll also be working together on history and science this coming year.

History – Around the World 2 – Beautiful Feet Books

Science – Apologia Zoology

Math – Teaching Textbooks 7

Reading – Reading Detective A1

Grammar – Fix It Grammar

Writing – IEW Fables, Myths, and Fairy Tales Bravewriter

Spelling – Rod and Staff 6

Piano

Art – Sketchbox combined with some lessons online

Byzantine Chant 101

Gymnastics

Spanish – Duolingo, Spanish for Children Primer A from CAP

 

4th grade – Esther  We’ve loved our Beautiful Feet Around the World studies.  We’re starting Part 2 in the next month or so and will continue on in the fall.  After Part 2, we’ll choose another Beautiful Feet program to work through together (Julia, Esther, and Isaac).

History – Around the World 2

Science – Apologia Zoology

Math – Math Mammoth 4

Reading – Reading Detective Beginning

Grammar – Fix It Grammar

Writing – IEW Fables, Myths, and Fairy Tales Bravewriter

Spelling – Rod and Staff 4

Piano

Art – Sketchbox combined with some lessons online

Gymnastics

Spanish – Duolingo, Spanish for Children Primer A from CAP

Lego education kit – gears, wheels, levers, etc

 

2nd grade – Isaac 

History – Around the World 2

Science – Apologia Zoology

Math – Math Mammoth 2

Reading – Sonlight readers with comprehension questions

Phonics – Rod and Staff Phonics 2

Spelling – Rod and Staff Spelling 2

Grammar – Fix It Grammar (he does the fixes in the book but not the copywork)

Cooking – Raddish Kids

Lego education kit – gears, wheels, levers, etc

Handwriting – Zaner-Bloser Handwriting 2M  What was I thinking?  Writing spelling words, writing in his phonics book, and writing in math is all this guy can handle.  🙂

 

Kindergarten!  We’ll have a kindergartener this fall!  Colin will use My Father’s World Kindergarten, modified slightly.  We’ll use the learn to read, math, and handwriting worksheets but skip the science/ unit studies portion.  I’ll also pull activities from A Year of Playing Skillfully, my favorite preschool program.

 

I don’t have Bible listed as a subject above because its something we do together in the mornings (or aim to!).  We meet first thing in the morning for prayers together, reading a saint story, and reading through some catachesis type books.

That’s my plan for now!  Any thoughts?  Care to share what you’re planning or working on?  Feel free to leave a comment.  🙂

Its that time again!  Mid-year I enjoy evaluating our curriculum and making a plan for the coming year.  When spring arrives, I’m ready to shelve the books and get outside, so January is a good time to make my plans for the next year.  I’ll start with a quick review of what we’ve been doing and post again soon with my plans for the next year.  Here is my blog post with what we’re currently using: Curriculum Fall 2018.

Lucy (8th grade) – Heart of Dakota has been going well for her.  She’s learning some good skills that will prepare her for high school; the IEW writing course has been great.  Apologia astronomy was a neat book – now I want to use other Apologia elementary books with the younger kids.  Overall, Heart of Dakota is… a lot.  A lot of history, a lot of extra work, a little too much that I want to tweak.  I’ve pulled heavily from their recommendations for next year, but our direction has changed just a bit.  We’ll complete this year and then move on to other things.  Teaching Textbooks is still working well for math for both her and Julia.

Julia (6th grade) – Heart of Dakota ended up being a bit much for Julia and what she can handle this year.  We’re in the middle of some health challenges with her and have needed to lighten her load.  She is doing some basic things – math, copywork, reading, Spanish on the ipad, piano.  As Lucy heads into high school, Julia will work more with Esther and Isaac on history, science, and a few other things.  I love that with homeschooling we can adapt as we go and meet her where she is right now.

Esther and Isaac (3rd and 1st) are working through Around the World and loving it.  The short units work wonderfully for us- we can pause when sick or needing a break for whatever reason and easily pick things up again without feeling behind.  We never used the Evan Moor science that I purchased for them, we’ve had plenty to study in Around the World.  The only other change is that Isaac has been copying down words from Zelda instead of using his handwriting curriculum book.  Hey, he’s happy and we’re rolling with it!   Math, phonics, spelling, everything else is right on level for both of them and working well.  This is the first time we’ve used Cheerful Cursive and I really like it.  Esther is doing well with cursive.

Next year starts high school and keeping a transcript for Lucy!  I think I’ve got a good plan down and some exciting things lines up.  I’ll post the full plan for everyone soon.

Beautiful Feet Books publishes homeschool curriculum.  We are using Around the World with Picture Books this year for Isaac and Esther, my first and third graders.  We just finished a two week section on China and had so much fun!

 

It was a bit hard to tell from the Beautiful Feet website what exactly we were getting into, so I will do my best to describe things here.  I wish they had better, clearer samples up for people to look through.  I’m going to write this post question style with some of the questions that came to mind as I was researching this guide.  Feel free to ask more in the comments and I will try to answer.  The kids and I are loving this curriculum so far!

What do you do each day?  

We sit down with the guide and do whatever the next lesson or section tells us to do.  There are picture books to read with discussion questions included, videos to look up online and watch, pictures to color and paste into a notebook, and so on.  The guide is full color and includes photos to look at with the children.  The book Maps is one of the super cool resources that my kids love looking at.  The recommended picture books have been great too.

How long does it take?

Each day we work for about 30 minutes to an hour.  We do this daily but it can also be used just a few times a week.  The guide is really flexible in that you could spend more time researching things the kids are interested in, or you can do something quicker on days you have less time.  We’ve been finding it hard to move on to our other subjects each day because there is so much to look at and learn in the guide.

How much prep work is there?

I actually love looking through the guide because it is so pretty.  I have spent a little bit of time looking for recipes, adding a few small ideas of my own, and putting books on hold at the library.  Once you have the books, the guide is fairly open and go.  I’ve added a few little things that were just “extras”.  For example, I looked through the international aisle at my grocery store and picked up some candy from Japan for our next unit.  🙂

Are the library books necessary?

Yes!  While the guide comes with picture books that are recommended for purchase and sold on Beautiful Feet Books website right along with the guide… there ARE also books that you will want to buy or get from the library.  In the China section for example there were three library books that had discussion questions included for them, six more books on various historical events and people, and five picture books to read just for fun – aside from the books you purchase.  I highly recommend getting the library books, they have all been fabulous choices and really round out the guide.  We read some of the books over lunch or in the evenings with Daddy.  I look at the unit ahead of time and request everything we need from the library and maybe purchase one or two if I can’t find them.  The books seem to be fairly popular titles as my library has had several copies of each and I’ve not had too much trouble getting them so far.

What do we add?  

In addition to Around the World, my first grader does Math Mammoth, Rod and Staff phonics, handwriting, and reading (using the Emerging Readers Set from Heart of Dakota).

My third grader does Math Mammoth, Rod and Staff phonics, handwriting, and reading (using the Emerging Readers Set from Heart of Dakota) plus Rod and Staff spelling, piano, and Duolingo Spanish.

I bought Evan Moor Skill Sharpeners Science Grade 2 for them both to do, but it probably wasn’t necessary.  Studying the animals in the guide has been plenty for my kids and could easily be expanded just a bit by looking up more information on each one.  I haven’t pulled out the Evan Moor science yet and I’m hoping my kids forget about it.  Ha.

I feel there really is a lot in the guide.  We added a few fun touches – I bought some plastic pandas (because I have younger kids to entertain too), a small bamboo plant from the grocery store (to draw in our journal and for the pandas to climb on), and we decorated for our Chinese feast with lanterns and banners.  These were just fun things that we ended up doing; I didn’t feel the need to go searching for more ideas or add to what is already in the guide.

What is your favorite part?

The stories!  I am impressed each time we pick up a new book to read or I flip through the guide reading about what is to come.  The recommended picture books include fun well written fiction books as well as true human interest type stories.  I am just as excited as the kids are to pick up the next book!  Go here and click on each book and take a look at what you’ll be reading, this is what sold me on the guide.  This is just a small taste though because the library books in the guide are equally as fabulous.

Ok, I have one more favorite part – our journals.  Esther and Isaac are doing such a good job with these!  We color and paste in a map of the country, the flag, animals, and various other things that we study.  I actually have my own journal going right along with the kids just because it looked like so much fun.

I’ll admit that yes, we’ve only used the curriculum for a few weeks now, and my opinion may change over time.  I wanted to go ahead and post about it though while my thoughts were fresh in my mind.  This curriculum is a wonderful fit for us right now, my kids are thriving with it, and I look forward to using it on a daily basis.  We’re savoring every bit of it, and I’m already planning on doing part 2 next.

Any questions?  Leave a comment. 🙂

*This post contains affiliate links.  I only share about things I love, compensation is a small bonus!

…(and a toddler and a baby!)  Whew, its going to be one busy year!  While we aren’t even near starting school again, I like to get my curriculum choices set and planned early on so that I can set it all aside and enjoy the summer.  I like to combine my kiddos as much as possible, so a lot of this will look similar.

(top shelf: mom’s books and teacher guides; middle shelf: Lucy and Julia each have a side; bottom shelf: Esther and Isaac)

Lucy, 7th grade:

Bible – Lets Take a Walk Through an Orthodox Church, Keeper of the Light (chapter book about Saint Macrina)

History/ Geography – Story of the World 3, Daily Geography 5 by Evan Moore

Science – Abeka Observing God’s World and Health Book

Math – Teaching Textbooks 7

Reading – chapter books from Heart of Dakota lists, Progeny Press Witch of Blackbird Pond

Lang Arts – Rod and Staff English 4 and Spelling 7, copywork, Bravewriter Projects

Art/ Cooking/ Sewing – Home Art DVDs, Kids Cook Real Food, sewing projects

Other – Logic Countdown book, Duolingo Spanish, Piano lessons, game time, read alouds w Daddy, ballet

Julia, 5th grade:

Bible – Lets Take a Walk Through an Orthodox Church, Keeper of the Light (chapter book about Saint Macrina)

History/ Geography – Story of the World 3, Daily Geography 5 by Evan Moore

Science – Abeka Observing God’s World and Health Book

Math – Math Mammoth 5

Reading – chapter books from Heart of Dakota lists, Progeny Press Witch of Blackbird Pond

Lang Arts – Rod and Staff English 4 and Spelling 5, copywork, Bravewriter Projects

Art/ Cooking/ Sewing – Home Art DVDs, Kids Cook Real Food, sewing projects

Other – Logic Countdown book, Duolingo Spanish, Piano lessons, game time, read alouds w Daddy, ballet

Esther, 2nd grade:

Bible – Lets Take a Walk Through an Orthodox Church, Keeper of the Light (chapter book about Saint Macrina)

History/ Geography – Story of the World 3

Science – Patterns of Nature by Rod and Staff, Usborne Look Inside books

Math – Math Mammoth 2

Reading/ Phonics/ Handwriting/ Spelling – Rod and Staff

Art/ Cooking/ Sewing – Home Art DVDs, Kids Cook Real Food, sewing projects

Other – Little Pim Spanish, Piano lessons, game time, read alouds with Daddy, ballet

Isaac, K:

Bible – Lets Take a Walk Through an Orthodox Church, Keeper of the Light (chapter book about Saint Macrina)

History/ Geography – Story of the World 3

Science – Patterns of Nature by Rod and Staff, Usborne Look Inside books

Math – Evan Moore workbook

Reading/ Phonics/ Handwriting – Rod and Staff

Art/ Cooking/ Sewing – Home Art DVDs, Kids Cook Real Food, sewing projects

Other – Little Pim Spanish, game time, read alouds with Daddy

Colin, 3 years old:

A Year of Playing Skillfully preschool (Isaac and Esther will join him for some of this)

Rod and Staff workbook 

Scheduling Notes:

*We are going to try listening to CDs at lunch (classical music, Spanish, stories, etc).

*Reading time happens with Dad before bed at night.  They go through all sorts of chapter books together.  Its definitely a highlight of our days.

*I’ve always wanted to have “game time”, but we don’t often get around to it.  This fall I blocked off a whole afternoon once a week and cut everyone’s schoolwork a bit that day in order to make it happen.  I’m excited about all of the learning that will happen during game time!  (logic, math, and so on)  Anything from Uno to Monopoly to Catan, etc goes.

* Art/ Cooking/ Sewing – we only do one of these per month. I rotate between them, and sometimes we don’t even get to them at all.  That’s ok!