Sunday, July 31, 2011

Our Curriculum choices for 2011/2012

Well, this is our first year of homeschooling and all of the curriculum has been purchased!  I started looking into curriculum last summer when I first made the decision to homeschool.  I think I made the final decision to go with Sonlight in the spring.  I was a little leery because it is literature based ... and my son is not a big reader.  But, I think that the subject matter is interesting enough that it may change his view on reading.  At least that is what I am praying will happen.  The idea of putting together my own curriculum terrified me so that was not an option!  We haven't started school yet (August 15th - yeah!!) but the Instructor's Guide seems easy to follow and very detailed.  Less work on my part!   So choosing Sonlight was pretty easy.  We are starting with their Core D+E (includes History, Geography, Bible, Readers and Read-Alouds) because B loves American history. And we also added Sonlights Science F - Health, Medicine and Human Anatomy (it looked really cool). 

Sonlight's Language Arts program coordinates with the reading in Core D+E so that was a no brainer.  We are also trying Sequential Spelling for ... you guessed it ... spelling curriculum.  For handwriting we are going to do Handwriting Without Tears.  No reason other than that is what they used in the public school.  I don't think it would be good to teach B a whole new way of writing cursive now!

Now the hard part ... it took me a long time to decide on math and art.  Ok, I haven't officially chosen the math curriculum yet.  I have two and I am going to try both.  My problem was one (Teachable Textbooks 5) seemed too easy.  He took the placement test and got all the problems right.  And the other curriculum (Singapore 5) seemed difficult.  We did a little bit of Singapore 4B this summer to prepare and he did well.  I am going to start with Singapore 5 and use the Teachable Textbooks as more of a review.  That is my thought right now?  It will probably change!  Love that about homeschooling!!  :-)

My hubby is going to help out and use the Money Matters for Teens Workbook with B.  No, he is not a teen yet, but it says it for ages 11-14 (and B is 10).  And my hubby is much better at the money stuff than I am.  I can hear it now ... B "How much money should you save?"  Me "As much as you can unless there is a really good sale at Ann Taylor Loft".  Yep, my hubby will be much better at the money matters workbook.

For Art we are doing the Worlds Greatest Artist's books with the great Unit Study that Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler put together.  If you're interested, I have the link on my curriculum tab.  It looks great!

P.E.  should be pretty easy.  B plays ice hockey (2 practices a week plus 1-2 games a weekend) ... Also, Sonlight's Science includes some health and nutrition as well.

Oh, and I almost forgot, I ordered some DVD's from Mike Huckabee's Learn Our History.  We start with one on 9/11 and then get another video each month.  Can't wait to check them out!!

So, that is pretty much how I came up with the curriculum for the year!  I have everything listed with links on my 2011/2012 curriculum tab.  Check it out!  Thanks for stopping by!
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20 comments:

  1. Have fun with Sonlight! We used Sonlight last year and had a great year :)

    Many blessings!

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  2. S, you are crackin' me up! I love to just hold my Sonlight magazine...read it...drool over it a little bit...ok, just joking about that last one (or was I?). While we haven't used the curriculum, I have found their book selections to be amazing! Whoo-whee, you are going to have fun!!
    Oh -- I hopped over here from HOTM's NOT Back to School Blog Hop! I do hope you'll head over to see what's going on at our homeschool!
    Thank you for sharing, and have a great year!

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  3. Isn't Eric (Confessions of a Homeschooler) just fantastic? I am using two of her e-curriculum !!

    Newest follower to your site - glad to have found in you in the not back to school blog hop!

    Best of luck this homeschool year !!

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  4. I will be a first time homeschooler as well this year. Only, I'm teaching 2nd, K, and pre-k. So glad to have found your blog. I read through your reasons for homeschooling and they sound like our reasons exactly. It's not just one or two main reasons...and like you I'm excited for the time our family will have together. I'll be back to read more...I added you to my igoogle homepage.

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  5. Thanks for all the encouraging comments! :-) I can't wait to get our school started and see how everyone is doing throughout the year!!

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  6. Looks great! Hope your year is full of blessings!

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  7. Hopped over from the blog hop!

    Your year sounds terrific, I hope you have a great first year! There is a lot of support out there if you need it - welcome to homeschooling.

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  8. Your first year sounds really exciting! I've heard some good things about Sonlight and Teaching Textbooks as well. Just stopping by from the blog hop. Many blessings to you as you begin this new journey!

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  9. Welcome to homeschooling! You are going to love it! Looks like you have a great year planned!

    Sometimes you have to do a bit of trial and error, especially with math. I think we tried two or three before we found our way...using one for teaching and one for practice is a great plan!

    Have an awesome year of learning at home! :)

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  10. Here from the HOTM hop. I hope you have a great first year homeschooling!

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  11. Stopping by from the blog hop! Sounds like you have a great year lined up! I understand about the math curriculum. That is the thing that took me the longest to decide on! I'll be using Singapore too, but my oldest will only be in Kindergarten this year!

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  12. Welcome to homeschooling! I hope you enjoy the adventure. :) Good luck on your first year.

    ~Lynn

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  13. We used Sonlight's core for two years...and LOVE the way their readers correspond all the way through your history/language arts! You have a GREAT line up...and I LOVE your blog...Sunflowers are my absolute FAVE!!!!

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  14. Good luck on your 1st year! It will be GREAT! We are starting our first year of Sonlight and 2nd year of HS!

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  15. Thanks for linking up to Three Thinking Mothers!

    This past year was our first year homeschooling - BEST decision! It has changed our family's life for the better in so many ways! I look very forward to following along on your journey this year!!

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  16. It sounds like you have exactly the right attitude about homeschooling to make it work well for your family in that you are going to be trying things and adapting your plan according to what works. Wishing you an incredible first year! I'm sure homeschooling is a decision you won't regret.

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  17. Best of wishes to you on your first year. My son was not a reader either when I chose to go with Sonlight...but I cannot express to you how much he loved and even devoured these books. I wouldn't worry too much. :-)

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  18. Sounds like you've got a good plan going! Good luck on your first year, we're shooting for August 15th as our start date too!

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  19. So we shouldn't teach about an Ann Taylor Loft budget?! Boo!! ;)

    Thanks so much for the comment & encouraging words- seems there are a lot of us "newbies" this year. It was a big decision for us too! Good luck & I'll look forward to checking your blog! :)

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  20. I got a huge chuckle out of the Ann Taylor Loft comment. That's great. Sounds like a great line-up. I love the look of Sonlight and we love reading here but we went another route. Hope you have a tremendously blessed first year of homeschooling!

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I LOVE to read your comments!! They brighten up my day! Thank you so much for taking the time!! :-)