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our curriculum for 10th grade ~ 2013-2014

our curriculum for 10th grade ~ 2013-2014

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.
 This year, I will also have a 10th grade student.  I thought I would share what curriculum we will be using for her, since I shared what curriculum we will be using with the younger children.  I am also joining in with the iHomeschool Network and the 5th Annual “Not” Back-to-School Blog Hop.

10th grade curriculumSome people think that it isn’t possible to homeschool your children in high school.  Well, I say it is possible.  Not only do we have a 10th grade student this year, we have also already graduated one a couple of years ago.  You can do it, if you take the time to prepare and keep great records and a transcript through their high school years.  I plan on sharing with you soon on how I keep track of the records for my high school students.  For now though, here is a list of the curriculum we will be using for our 10th grade year.

{History and Geography}

Last year, we came across the author James P. Stobaugh.  We were able to use his World History Literature and my daughter LOVED it!  So I was really excited when I found out he had written an American History and Literature curriculum.  This is a Christian based curriculum that is published by Master Books, a section of New Leaf Publishing Group.  I chose to use the American History since I will be doing American History with the younger kids.  It will help me out by staying on the same time period with all of the kids.  For Geography, my daughter will be participating in a high school co-op.  They will be using Visualize World Geography.  I have never heard of this curriculum before, but it does sound really interesting.

{English ~ Literature/Writing/Grammar}

As I mentioned above, we had a chance to review a curriculum by James P. Stobaugh last year and will be using his American Literature curriculum this year.  She is really excited about the books that are required to read along with the lessons.  I will be posting all the books that she will be reading in a separate post.  There are 20 books to read!  Along with all of the reading, there will be essays and papers to go along with the lessons in her book.  For Grammar, we will be using The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation.  I also have a book called SAT Vocabulary Prep that we will be using for Spelling and Vocabulary.  Sarah will also be taking a Writing class with the co-op she will be attending, as well as a Public Speaking class.  We haven’t gotten any information on the Writing class yet, but she will be using the book Sound Speech: Public Speaking Student Text.

{Math}

This year for math, we will continue on with A+ TutorSoft.  She will finish up Pre-Algebra and then move on to Algebra.  Math does not come easy with her and we have had a hard time finding a program that would work with Sarah.  Sarah started using this math program back in February and has done much better with the A+ TutorSoft program.  She enjoys how they explain the problems to where that she can understand how to do the concepts that they are teaching.  This has made learning math a lot easier for us.

{Science}

We have been using Apologia Science curriculum for 7 years now and will continue to use it this year.  Last year, Sarah completed the Biology curriculum and will move to the Marine Biology this year.

{Bible}

I had bought Who is God?, from Apologia last year.  I had planned on using this curriculum with all of my children, but when we moved, we were all a little overwhelmed, so I sat this aside.  I will use this with all 3 kids and we will do it together.  There is a Notebooking Journal for Who is God?, that Sarah will work in.

{Fine Arts}

Sarah will be continuing with See The Light Art Project DVD’s. She has finished a couple of the dvd’s this last year and really enjoyed the way Pat Knepley teaches the different techniques.  She will also be taking part in a musical theater production of Pilgrim with the high school co-op.  Sarah has also expressed interest in taking music lessons from her dad.  She wants to learn to play the cello, but will start with the upright bass.

{Foreign Language}

Sarah is wanting to learn German or Russian as her foreign language.  I am still looking for a good and affordable program to use with her.  One that she can do on her own.  Do you have any suggestions?

{Electives}

For electives, Sarah will be taking sewing and cooking lessons.  This will be her Home Economics elective for the school year.  I will be teaching her how to cook and our neighbor will be taking time with her a couple of times a week, helping her with sewing.

{Extra Curricular Activities}

Sarah will be taking dance lessons this year.  We have finally found a lovely studio right down the road from us.  Sarah will be taking Tap and Jazz classes.  She will also continue to take riding lessons from a friend of ours.  Sarah is also active in the Youth group at church and participates in a small group class with several girls from church.

As of now, this is how Sarah’s 10th grade year is looking.  She will definitely be a busy teenager this next year.  It does seem like a lot, but it also helps that she will be doing some of this with the high school co-op.  As with anything, once the year starts, we will be able to tell if we will accomplish all that we have planned or if we will need to cut back on a few things.  Being able to tailor the curriculum to your child’s interests and needs is one of the joys of homeschooling.  As our children get older, it is important to our family that we include them in the decisions and choices that we make for their schooling.  What may work for us, may not work for you.  It is very important to pray and ask God to help guide your steps.

What are your plans for the school year?  I would love to see the exciting plans you have made for you and your family!

 

 

our curriculum for the younger kids ~ 2013-2014

our curriculum for the younger kids ~ 2013-2014

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.

our curriculum

{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!

that beautiful moment ~ an amazing sunset

that beautiful moment ~ an amazing sunset

For the last couple of weeks, I have been seeing a link-up called “That Beautiful Moment“, over at Meghan’s blog. I had been wanting to join in, but haven’t really been taking pictures much lately.  That is until I saw this sunset.  There was huge clouds that kept rolling and changing shapes.  It was absolutely beautiful.  All I could think of was that God created the clouds and the sun.  He was making this amazing sunset right before our eyes.  It truly was a sight to behold.

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Stop by to see others who have linked up their beautiful moment.

organizing and making plans for the new school year

organizing and making plans for the new school year

I have seen a lot homeschooling bloggers posting about them getting ready for the new school year.   Everyone does things differently, the most important thing is to do what is best for you and your family.  So, I thought I would share how I organize and prepare for the new school year.  Hopefully some of my suggestions will help you out, when you are planning for your new school year.

So what is the first thing on my list that I do?

PRAY.

Yes, I pray.  I ask God to open my eyes on what we had done the previous year.  Did I teach them what they needed to know.  Did we cover all the necessary information.  Did what we do, glorify God?  I then pray about what we need to cover during the new school year.

After I pray and ask God to open my eyes on what we covered and did cover, I start making a list for the new school year.  I continue to pray for od to guide me as I look through curriculum, asking Him to guide me to make the best choices.

scissors, rulers, popsicle sticks and paper/toilet paper rolls, oh my!

scissors, rulers, popsicle sticks and paper/toilet paper rolls, oh my!

Once I start researching and making a list of curriculum for the upcoming school year, I start cleaning and organizing.  I first go through the kids’ rooms and clean them out.  School supplies always seem to creep back into their rooms when they make things.  Once I get their rooms in order, I then move on to the homeschool areas in our living room and dining room.  We are living in a small apartment and do not have much room.  However, I have this great shelf above the desk area and I have been able to stack up!

trying to organize all of our craft and school supplies.

trying to organize all of our craft and school supplies.

As you can see, plastic shoe boxes have become my new best organizing tool!  They are see through and I can put labels on the end, so we all know what is the container!  I knew we had a lot of crafting materials, but I didn’t know how much, until I started breaking it down.  Now that I have all of the crafting material organized, next is the homeschool bookshelves.  I have two of those (only two will fit in the homeschool area), one for our oldest daughter, who is in 10th grade this upcoming year and then one for our 2nd and 3rd grade children. Each cubby on the shelves will be dedicated to a certain subject.  I also hope to have enough room here for their readers as well.

school bookshelves in need of cleaning and organizing.

school bookshelves in need of cleaning and organizing.

Once I get the shelves organized, I am able to see what all we have and will be able to use for the following school year.  I will then compare that list to the one I made for the curriculum that we need for the upcoming school year.  I have noticed in years’ past, by doing this, I am not ordering something that I already have.  After I compare the lists, I am able then to make a new one, so that I can order the rest of our curriculum.

Over the years, by doing the few things, it has helped me to not stress out as much about the new school year.  We are able to start the school year on a positive and happy note with a mom who is not so stressed out.

What are some ways that you prepare for the new school year?  I would love for you to share with us!

Forney Transportation Museum ~ field trip

Forney Transportation Museum ~ field trip

Our family loves looking at old cars, trucks and basically anything on wheels.  We were so excited to go to the Forney Transportation Museum in Denver, Colorado. When we first arrived at the museum, they told us a little about the history and where some of the cars came from.  Then we were free to roam the huge warehouse that was loaded with some really unique, odd and old vehicles.

This field trip was several months ago and I am just now sharing it with you all.  I chose some of the vehicles that stood out to me the most.  They even had bicycles, motorcycles, carriages and stage coaches!  I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Forney Museum sign

Forney Museum sign

kids looking at a car

kids looking at a car

Steam Train

Steam Train

Amelia Earhart owned a car just like this one.

Amelia Earhart owned a car just like this one.

I think these were Ford cars.

I think these were Ford cars.

Truck

Truck

Motorcycle and sidecar

Motorcycle and sidecar

bicycles

bicycles

odd cars

a covered wagon like the one Buffalo Bill used in his WIld West Shows

a covered wagon like the one Buffalo Bill used in his WIld West Shows

As you can tell, they really had a variety of trains, cars, trucks, bicycles and motorcycles.  Basically, if it had wheels, they show it off in this amazing museum.  We enjoyed this place a lot.  The history that they have underneath one roof is truly amazing.  The kids and I are wanting to go back and take their dad with us.  We know he would enjoy it as much as we did.  The transportation museum is a great field trip to go with the family.  There is something there for the whole family.

Have you ever been to a Transportation Museum?  What is your favorite old vehicle?  Is it a truck?  Car?  I must say, I really enjoyed looking at the carriages and covered wagons!