With all of this glorious hot weather & these lazy pool days, I really don't want to start thinking about school. But C'est la vie. Think, I do & plan, I must soon.
So let's talk about what curriculum choices we will be using for the upcoming year.
Let's start with the obvious here. This will be our 4th year with Tapestry of Grace & Story of the World. Do you KNOW what that means? (come on history cycle users, help me out here...) I DON'T HAVE TO BUY HISTORY ANYMORE!!! **happy dance**
That's right TOG is on a 4 year cycle. So next year I start back with teaching year 2 (which I have already purchased!) Oh, don't worry, I'm sure I will find something to use that , um, extra money on.
We love using TOG. I even found the Pop Quiz CDs at The Homeschool Gathering Place while we were in Raleigh last week. WE have also been blessed to be able to get copies of SOTW on CD. This is a great alternative to me having to read everything!
We will continue memorizing important events in history with the timeline cards by Veritas Press. This is a fun way for the kids (& myself) to remember those events. And you WILL be amazed at how much they learn!
Since we are studying Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, & Bible Times, I picked up a few art books to go along with it. Draw and Write Through History is filled with art lessons, information, & copywork. They have 6 different books that cover the different eras through out history.
The next easy choice was science. We LOVE Apologia Science. It is one of the few Creationist curriculums out there. I let the kids choose between swimming creatures & land animals this year. They were both good choices, but swimming had my vote as well.
I don't personally use the notebooks. Austin hated it the first year & Makenzie really isn't old enough for it yet.
Hold up! Before you ask. Yes, this is the same Latin that we used last year. Unfortunately Latin wasn't a priority for us last year, so we didn't learn much. Oh well. Let's try it again.
Austin will continue using Teaching Textbooks this year. He still has some of 6 to complete, then he will start on 7. Makenzie will work on Horizons 2. We have never used Horizons before, so we will see how this goes.
We will go back to Easy Grammar with Austin. Learning Language Arts Through Literature just wasn't working for us. He will finish Daily Grams 5 because I didn't enough difference in the 5 & 6 books. Besides he still had plenty of lessons left in 5 to complete.
He will also complete the second half of Jump In by Apologia. This is meant to last over 2 years. I am sort of on the fence with this one. I haven't seen much improvement in his writing this year, but I hate to just give up. I am still praying about Institute for Excellence in Writing's Bible Based Lessons. We tried IEW a few years ago, but he resisted so much. It was our first year homeschooling & I was really trying to pick my battles. IEW was not one I chose to fight over, so we dropped it. I wonder now if he really disliked it, disliked writing in general, or was just pushing my buttons. I don't have a clear answer yet, but I can't get it out of my head, so don't be surprised if we switch to that.
He is also using Wordly Wise 300 again this year. Last year was the first time we used it and he didn't fight it much, so that's a good thing!
Makenzie will be using All About Spelling & All About Reading this year. These are both BRAND NEW to her & me too! (I'm scared! They look so intimidating!) She is still struggling to read, so pray for us both!!
Austin has used Explode the Code before & enjoyed it so I thought I would try it with her this year. They even have an online version that I need to look into.
I have a generic 2nd grade work book for her. She seems to like those. I also found an easy writing curriculum to introduce her to the concept.
So, there you have it in a nutshell.
We are starting on Story Of The World this year... Do you all enjoy using it? I've also been looking into Latin curriculum.. If you don ,ind me asking what age did you start using Latin?
ReplyDeleteMy kids (11, 7, & 2) LOVE SOTW. We have the CDs. I usually let them draw a picture or color something during the story. My oldest is getting a little too old for this, but he enjoys it so we will continue.
DeleteI started Latin last year in the hopes that it would help my oldest with grammar. We only managed a few lessons before it fell to the wayside. Hopefully this year will be better.
I've enjoyed following this blog. I plan on starting TOG in the next year or two. I have 2 little ones. Ages 4.5 and 3, so I'll do MFW until we're ready for the 1st grade level. I am also in Raleigh, and I love the Homeschool Gathering Place. I could spend days in there just looking and wishing...
ReplyDeleteJust a note to the blog admin(s). The coloring is really really really hard on the eyes.
I look forward to reading about everyone else's experiences. Thank you all for sharing!
I absolutely LOVE All About Reading. It has worked out wonderfully for my daughter. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi.
ReplyDeleteI know its mid year an' all... but I wanted to encourage you to revisit IEW. My boy was a reluctant writer, and he still puts his heels in from time to time, but IEW has made writing easier. It is a VERY solid, structured approach to writing, with clear guidelines for grading. Is it possible that your son baulked simply because he doesn't like putting pen to paper? My son hates the physical requirements for writing, and dislikes the idea of writing in general, but he can get on board with IEW. (Sometimes he even LIKES it.) BTW, I have the Writing with Ancient History, and find the lessons to be geared towards 6th grade and up. I am not positive about the Bible Writing book, but it might also be geared that way, so it might be too much too fast. IEW is meant to be used like Tapestry, in that you have to customize it to your child's pace. If you can swing the cost, the Teacher's Seminar is worth the investment.
So glad I found this blog!! We have been using Tapestry for 5 years now. This fall will be Year 6!!