Our 2010 Curriculum

August 4, 2010 by Filed Under: homeschool

lhop

Students:

Clementine 7th

Emeline 5th

Milo K-1st

Math-U-See  (All)

After some thought, research and much discussion about switching to Teaching Textbooks, I decided to stay with Math-U-See. It has worked so far with all my kids, so sticking with it is easier than changing.

Institute for Excellence in Writing (C and E)

We’ve just started this and so far, I like it. It’s easy to follow and to implement. It requires very little prep time, which is high on my list of good curriculum qualities.

Shurley English (E)

I am currently only using this with Emeline. Clementine has completed book 6 and I am still in the process of deciding what I want her to do for 7th grade.

History (All)

We have used Veritas Press and then The Mystery of History in an effort to teach history chronologically and Christian based. However, when we complete Volume III (which we will do in the next few weeks), there will not be a volume IV yet to purchase.

So, I am researching history curriculum. I am considering the Story of the World, or just getting books from the library and doing a Charlotte Mason approach. Since we are going to be in Early Modern Times and U.S. history, I think I might could pull that off.

Science (All)

We have had great success and enjoyment using Apologia’s Exploring Creation With… series. This year we are going to use Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy.

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (C and E)

Literature (C and E)

Novels I choose and they read, including quizzes, literary devices, vocabulary and dictation.

book shelf 2

Just Milo:

Phonics Pathways and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

Explode the Code and (maybe) add Drops in the Bucket

Italic Handwriting Series (because I already have the books)

Extracurricular:

Violin (E)

Piano (All)

Ballet (C and E)

Not Back to School Blog Hop

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23 Comments
  • http://www.ourcountryroad.blogspot.com Our Country Road

    Thank you for sharing your resources! I am rather new to the world of curriculum, and hadnt heard of The Mystery of History before. I went and checked out their site and am very impressed. Thanks for the link. Another mother in our HS group had the Apologia Science book you are using this year and it looked great! I am sure you will enjoy it. Good luck on your year!

  • http://www.thejoyfulchaos.com Suzanne ~ TheJoyfulChaos

    Hey, I think I have all my Usborne Human Body stuff we did earlier this year if you want it to supplement with the Apologia stuff – would be more geared toward Milo, but my kids loved it. Wanna borrow it?

  • mamaduso

    You might want to look into MFW for history. But it may be more of an expense than you are looking for since it includes science and bible. You could just use the Sonlight book list for that year too. Not sure what drops in the bucket is–I'll go check it out.

  • http://www.othersuchhappenings.com marsha@othersuchhappenings

    what do you like most about apologia? do you follow it closely or loosely?

  • L2L

    i love, love, love italic and am loving it even more now that we realized our 6 year old is a lefty!!!! we are hoping that this discovery will help us to enjoy things alot better this year!!! BTW is that Nace Drew or the Hardy Boys on your shelf, great books!!!!

  • Sandi

    We are doing Apologia Human body too. I bought the notebook this time around…looks like fun. I am considering Math U See for my 7 year old..we tried Right Start this year but it isn't going to great. Why have your kids done well with MUS do you think? I am reluctant to spend anymore money till I am convinced. He does have some learning struggles so I am still looking for the right fit.

    My oldest grade 5 is going into TT 6 this year from Horizons. She has grown to dislike math and I thought it would be a fun new way to do math. We will see how that goes. We are also using Phonics Pathways.

    I looked into IEW but decided to wait till next year and we are doing Writing Tales 2 and finishing R&S grammar from last year.

    Thanks for sharing this was fun. I am so in planning mode for school right now.

  • http://toliverstotexas.blogspot.com Gwen T

    We have a love/hate relationship with Mavis Beacon. I love her, my kids hate her. Okay, okay, I tell them we save our hate for sin, but for Mavis they're willing to make an exception. : ) Have you ever tried to play the games yourself?? They're quite fun until you look at her assessment of your progress – Mavis said instead of my 80 wpm, I should be aiming for 100 wpm. Whew – she's tough. :)

    My 12 yo is on Vol. 3 of Story of the World and it's been great. He IS a huge history buff, but the format is really good. We do the tests sometimes oral (I approach more like Charlotte Mason) and sometimes written. Instead of the textbook (which really is a narrative, not a “textbook”) we listen to Jim Weiss reading it on audio CD. Our whole family listens to it in the car and enjoys it – so well done.

    Are your bookshelves really that neat and orderly? I'm very impressed!

    Would love to hear your input on Math U See – am struggling with Math curriculum for my 12yo boy. Thanks Melissa!

  • Talysa

    My son loved all the Story of the World books. We used them through Sonlight…who I LOVE by the way.

    Have you used Mavis Beacon yet? I'm looking for a typing curriculum for my 14 yr old. Just curious if you like it.

    Also, my son did IEW this year in his tutorial and Oh. my. word. It unlocked a whole new world for me even with the writing process! Love it!

  • http://afamiliarpath.com/ Melissa Stover

    that sounds great!

  • http://twitter.com/SavannahB Savannah B

    Oh my word! I love the picture of your little reader, and your bookshelf looks almost identical to mine. :)
    We are starting our first homeschool year in a few weeks. I have B1 who'll be doing 1st and 2nd grade stuff, B2 who is on a pre-k level, and B3 who will be in the way… she's 19 months old.

    I have a friend who loves Math u See, how long have you used it? Is it easy? We're starting the Mystery of History and I am so excited! My literature plan is just like yours- they'll read (or be read to) novels I choose and we'll discuss the technical and emotional aspects.

    I feel like I made a new blog friend, just from this post! I'm excited to keep up with you through the internet this school year. :)

  • http://afamiliarpath.com/ Melissa Stover

    we've used math u see from the beginning and i like it because math is my
    weak point and it comes with instructional dvds. glad to have a new friend!

  • http://afamiliarpath.com/ Melissa Stover

    we have used mavis beacon. it's not wonderful so if someone knows something better try it!

  • http://afamiliarpath.com/ Melissa Stover

    that's only one small bookshelf.

    i'm not sure if i would suggest math u see to someone who hasn't used it from the start because it's a little different. while some math programs jump around from concept to concept, math u see sticks with one thing at a time and makes sure your kid knows it before moving on. i like it because i'm weak in math and it comes with an instructional dvd.

  • http://afamiliarpath.com/ Melissa Stover

    we like math u see. the kids have all done well with it. when i considered switching and mentioned it to my oldest daughter she begged me not to. she really enjoys it (as much as you can enjoy math :) ).

  • http://afamiliarpath.com/ Melissa Stover

    i follow it loosely. i like the charlotte mason style of just reading about something and i like that i can do it with all my kids. we don't do tests, we do notebooks. they draw a picture and write what they learned from each chapter. astronomy was my favorite book.

  • http://afamiliarpath.com/ Melissa Stover

    i looked at mfw last night and it did look like a lot more than i wanted to do.

  • Barb

    How about using All American History from the same publisher as Mystery of History. It is similar in nature in that you can do all grades with it. It has a text book, student pages and a teacher's guide with tons of extra information and booklists.

    Barb

  • Susan

    yikes! it's hard to believe summer is nearly over :-0 !!

    hey, fwiw, my whole family has enjoyed Story of the World. It's a series that certainly lends itself to the Charlotte Mason approach and supplementary reading from library books … only note of caution is that SOTW4 is definitely a more advanced “level” than the first 3 and might be “too much” for your youngest.

    thx for your kind words at my blog today :-)

  • Laughingstars66

    I enjoyed perusing your plans — they look great. And hooray for Laura Ingalls Wilder!

  • AStableBeginning

    I have a question for you…I am using MOH, Vol.1 this year for my 2nd grader, would you suggest the folder books or are there enough activities to keep us busy? Your plans look great and I will be adding your book selection to our reading list. Thanks for your help!

  • http://afamiliarpath.com/ Melissa Stover

    if you like to do activities there are enough to be busy. we don't. that's
    why i prefer the notebook.

  • 40winkzzz

    my kids like typing instructor. besides the lessons & games, there is even a feature whereby you can choose from a selection of topical articles for your kids to type– science-related, history-related, literature snippets, etc. (since i love to integrate subjects, i keep thinking i'm going to use that feature to type in their typing w/other things we're studying, but i haven't really made good use of it yet.) wish i could tell you about the program based on my OWN experience rather than my kids', but sadly, my plans to do typing instructor myself didn't last too much beyond setting up my account. which is why i've already gone back to correct numerous typos in this comment.

  • 40winkzzz

    “…considering story of the world or just getting books from the library and doing a charlotte mason approach.” i say, do BOTH. base on s.o.w. and add lots of lit!!! that's what i did. s.o.w. makes SUCH a great read-aloud. when i discovered it seven yrs ago, my students were 12/13, 8, & 5, and they ALL loved it. i was so thrilled to be able to read something together despite their age differences. i have continued to read s.o.w. aloud to my kids every year since, right up thru last spring when my students were 14 & 11 and we FINALLY finished the history cycle. (yes, it took us 7 years instead of 4. we took our good old time with yrs 3-4 because of all that good literature and the fact that i supplemented s.o.w. with a history of us.) i enjoy bauer's writing style so much that now i am contemplating using her new grown-up world history volumes for my high-schooler.

    i did not always follow s.o.w. in chapter order, which is pretty chronological, but rather tended to organize our reading more geographically/topically. one resource i found helpful for this was biblioplan (http://www.biblioplan.net), which also has some great lit suggestions. i used bp VERY loosely, and i must add that i don't like the 2008-09 rewrite nearly as much as my 2005 versions. still, it's an inexpensive resource you might want to check out.