Our Homeschool Curriculum for 2011-2012

It's that time of year! And I am happy to say that I've finally wrapped up my choices for our school curriculum for 2011-2012. It seems like each year that I research for the longest, looking through catalog after catalog, reading reviews and looking at sample pages.

This year we are sticking with some of the same publishers and switching from others. That's the beauty of homeschooling though, right? I love being able to evaluate my own children and choose what would work best for them for their learning styles.

So here's what we'll be using for The Princess {3rd grade} and Mr. B {1st grade}:

Bible/Character Studies:

Last year we began using the Character Sketches from the Institute for Basic Life Principles. There are three volumes and we didn't even make it completely through one, there is a lot of great material in them! We have been studying one character trait a month, with different definitions of that trait each week. Last year we studied only the corresponding Bible story, but this year I want to incorporate both the Bible lesson and the lesson from nature. The kids really enjoyed these and I think they will love adding the nature lessons as well.

Language Arts:

For handwriting we will continue to use Getty-Dubay Italics series. I am still *old school* in that I feel handwriting, even cursive, is very important...no matter how much we use computers:) The kids have done very well with these books, it's a great program and simple to move from printing to cursive.

We are switching things up a bit in the grammar department this year. I have been very frustrated with the program we've used for The Princess' 1st & 2nd grade years~it was just monotonous worksheets on prefixes, suffixes, etc. and they haven't even introduced parts of speech yet. What she knows is what I've talked with her about and what she's learned from Schoolhouse Rock.

So this year I am starting Mr. B with First Language Lessons and I plan to also include The Princess in our discussions to get her familiarized with all of the parts of speech and also as a refresher for her on the ones she already knows.

For reading, Mr. B will be using some readers from both Calvert and Rod & Staff, among other literature books that we will read together as a family.

The Princess will also be using Total Language Plus this year for her literature, writing and even more grammar. I plan for her to do two of these per semester. I love that these unit studies include art, comprehension, enrichment and writing, grammar, spelling and vocabulary. I think my daughter will love digging into these books:

Math:

Once again I am switching math curriculum. Last year the program we used was okay, but The Princess was just exhausted with all of the repetition and still grew frustrated. Mr. B was just bored. I am starting him at the beginning of the Singapore math program this year. He is very math bright and I think he will do well with it. I have decided to also try The Princess with it, in the hopes that the shorter lessons will encourage her. Then where she may need some extra practice, we can simply do some extra drills.

History:

We are continuing with the Story of the World. We have loved volume I (and are actually still finishing it) and are looking forward to volume 2. We also love the activity books that correspond with them~last year we had a blast doing so many of the crafts and projects and I know we will again this year. History is a *family subject* for us.

Science:

We are once again using Apologia's Young Explorer Series for our science. Last year we started using this and I have been so impressed with it~and the kids LOVE it! We are excited about digging into an in-depth botany study this year. Science is also a *family subject* for us.

Composer & Artist Studies:

We began these studies last year and they were such a hit! Using several books on composers and artists (I've only shown a couple here) as some resources, library books, cd's, plus awesome downloads from Practical Pages and Notebooking Pages and more, I created our own music and art appreciation studies.

Each month we study about one composer and one artist. We listen to the composer's music~often throughout our school day~we read about them, color pictures of them, etc. For our artist we study his/her paintings, color or draw or paint some of those paintings, etc. These studies were definitely a highlight for my children, it was one of their favorite subjects.

You can read about some of our studies from last year here and here.

Physical Education:

This I am still working out. After we complete our move, we are planning to get a family membership to the local Y which will offer many different physical activities for us. Also, we got Vince a 4-bike rack for our car for Father's Day this year~now we can pack up our bikes and take them anywhere for a good biking adventure. Plus there's the Wii Fit for those days at home and my kiddos tend to get a lot of physical activity in just playing in the backyard, climbing trees, etc.

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Ahh...it feels great to have all of my choices made for this year! We even have all of our books already, so we are good to go after we get moved and settled in.

We usually start school right after Labor Day and we are on schedule for this year as well. Yea!

This post is linked to Training Children up for Christ,

the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers,

Hip Homeschool Moms

and the "Not" Back to School Hop at Heart of the Matter.