Disclaimer: There are some affiliate links in this post. The little money that I might make from you purchasing through the links, help our family in buying our curriculum.
I always enjoy seeing what curriculum that everyone else is using, so I thought I would share with you our curriculum we will using this upcoming school year. I am also joining in with the iHomeschool Network and the 5th Annual “Not” Back-to-School Blog Hop.
My younger two kids are in 2nd and 3rd grade this year. It is amazing how quickly time is passing us by. I am enjoying being able to be at home with our kids, watching them grow and learn new things everyday. Since there is only 18 months difference between my younger children, I find it a lot easier on our family if we do a lot of the curriculum together. While they are on different levels in math, everything else, we do together.
{History and Geography}
For the first time in a couple of years, I am changing curriculum. While I am excited about this change, I am also nervous. I don’t think I have changed so much in one year since we started homeschooling 11 years ago! The first big change for us is our history. As much as I love Mystery of History and Bright Ideas Press, I wanted to focus this next year on American History. With the way our country is today, it is important for me to teach how the country was founded and why it was founded. After much praying and researching, I decided on My Father’s World, Adventures in U.S. History. We will be doing everything they offer in their deluxe package, with exception of their science. Notebooking will also be a big part of our schooling this year as well. We will be notebooking through the 50 states for history and geography.
{Language Arts}
We will also be switching up our Language Arts curriculum. We will finish the Bob Jones English I have from last year, but we will be adding in Growing with Grammar, A Reason For Spelling and A Reason for Handwriting. I haven’t used a Spelling or Handwriting curriculum with the kids before. I have always printed off worksheets and just worked on the words as we came across them in our English book. I felt like we needed to step it up in this area of our schooling.
{Math}
For Math, we will finish up our Bob Jones curriculum from last year. Once they finish those books, we will begin using A+ TutorSoft. They will be doing the math on the computer. I think this will be a good switch for the kids. I also have the Life of Fred books; Apples, Butterflies, Cats, Dogs and Edgewood. That I got for a great deal and we will be trying those out. Everyone that I have talked with that has used them, has said they have been a success.
{Science}
Since I have been homeschooling for so long, some companies and curriculum have just worked for us. One of those companies is Apologia and their science curriculum. We will be using their new science book, Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics along with their Jr. Notebooking journals. I have used Apologia science curriculum for 7 years now and my children and I thoroughly enjoy reading the lessons and doing their activities. I have learned as much as they have!
{Bible}
We will also be sticking with Apologia for Bible as we go through their curriculum book, Who is God? We will be using their coloring book and their notebooking journal. I bought this book last year, but when we moved, I set it aside since we had so many changes to begin with. We will also be covering Bible lessons that My Father’s World has in Adventures in U.S. History.
{Fine Arts}
My kids love to draw and listen to music, so for Fine Arts we will be using See The Light for art lessons. Pat Knepley is amazing in the See The Light art dvd’s. My kids really enjoy listening to her explain how to draw. For music, we will be using Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers (Bright Ideas Press) and Introduction to Tchaikovsky & the Nutcracker Suite (My Father’s World).
After writing it all out, it seems like an awful lot of work to do and yet, I still feel like I have not added everything that I have planned! We won’t be doing ever subject every day. We will also be adding in field trips with our homeschool group. Our youngest daughter will be taking dance lessons and our youngest son is wanting to play sports. Once you fill in those days, I think it will be a well rounded year for us.
Are you excited about the upcoming school year? I would love for you to share what all you and your family will be doing. Be sure to stop by and link up with iHomeschool Network and see what others are doing. As you will see, all homeschooling families are unique and do what is best for them and their families. THAT is what is so wonderful about homeschooling!
I have learned so much from you about curriculum over the last 2 years! I’m so grateful for your knowledge and look forward to hearing how these things go for you…since we’re a year 2 years behind you, it helps me see what will work for us. HA! 🙂
Thank you so much my dear sweet friend! I love being able to help others in their journey of homeschooling. Just remember, what works for me, may not always work for you. You have to do what is best for you and your family!! Love you!! 🙂
Joy I just started Adventures with my 7 year old! It’s been fun and we are doing lots of notebooking a well.
Awesome, LaToya! Will you be blogging about it? Looking forward to hearing all you do with the Adventures program! 🙂
I can’t wait to hear what you think of the US history program, we struggled with the one we used, so I’m still looking for the perfect fit.
I will let you know how we like it. I will be blogging about it as much as I can. I am still going to continue the History link-up and just open it up to all History. 🙂
Hi there! I signed up for your emails a whole ago, but I still have not had the opportunity to sit and read a lot of your posts. I homeschool 3 of my 5 kiddos right now, but I have been hoping to begin my youngest 2 (3 & 4) together this year do I can begin combining a few more lessons for the sake of time. We have been using the Noah Plan from Foundation for American Christian Education, Right start Mathematics, and Spalding English with the Writing Road to Reading. I am feeling very overwhelmed at the idea if homeschooling all 5 of my babies this year. I am very interested in reading more into your pages and getting a glimpse if how others run their homeschools. Thanks for sharing your knowledge 🙂
Hi Maureen! Thanks for stopping by! First off, it is possible to homeschool all your children. Yes, at times it does seem overwhelming. However, you can do it! Just keep working at it and you will find a way that works best for you and your family. How old are your older children? As for the youngest two, let them play and have a lot of creative time! Yes, it is possible to have them sit down and listen to a few lessons, but they are still young and need that time to use their imagination. I would be more than happy to talk with you in more depth. Just send me an email at jumpforjoy@gmail.com. 🙂
[…] I shared with you what curriculum we will be using for our younger children and our high school student, I also thought I would share our homeschool area. I am also joining […]