The past couple years, we've kept our homeschooling really simple. Really.Simple. I've been taking advantage of a free online curriculum that was put together by a fellow homeschool mom. I love the convenience of just hopping on and not having much preparation involved. I've been supplementing as needed, and I pretty much left everything as the curriculum states~ Easy Peasy. It is wonderful because it is all on the computer and you just print worksheets as you go, or as I often do, print everything a week or two or three in advance.
Now, the reason I'm giving up this "easy peasy" way of schooling for next year is because our entire family has a real computer problem. Well, any form of electronic/battery operated media is a problem. I find that it is too tempting, especially for the older kids who do much of their work on their own, to slip on over to their favorite games (*cough cough* Minecraft) during our school hours. It's very easy for Ms. Mommy to check Facebook as well. Yeah, I'm guilty and I'm just keeping it real. ;) I still plan on using Easy Peasy for a couple of the younger kids' subjects, and possibly for the electives she provides, but for the most part, we're trying to get back to the books. :) I love books.... but that is a topic for another post.
I've completed my wishlist, which very well could be tweaked once... or twenty times before we start our new school year next fall, but I am thrilled with it as of now. We've used most of these programs in the past (and are currently using a couple). There are three that are completely new. I thought I'd be a gem and post links for you to explore if you are trying to find the perfect fit for your family. What works for us may not work for you, but hey, it's worth a little look-see, don't you think? :)
***Make sure to click on the links I've highlighted for you.***
Programs We'll Continue to Use:
In fact, any number of the kids might be using one of these at this very moment. ;)
Math & Language Arts for the younger kids.
Electives (art, music, health, etc.) for all.
Foreign Language (simple, but opens up a whole new world for the kids)
A family could use this entire program for a stress-free way of schooling. We did.
Math Supplement for kids 1st grade and higher.
This is great for reinforcement and there are videos to teach new concepts, among other things. They offer more than just math (i.e. computer programming, science, economics), but so far we've just used it for math. You know, I'm sure my computer whiz son probably checked out the other stuff as well. Anyway, it's great!
*For Bible, we do devotions as a family out of the Life Application Bible for Students. We just skip over certain topics that the younger kids might not be ready for. I've had a beautiful leather version of this since I was a young teen. In fact, I talked about it here.
Programs We've Used in the Past:
These are a couple of our favorites that we're bringing back next year.
We'll use this for our kids 3rd grade and higher. I love it because your child reads a novel and works through a study guide to sharpen his/her grammar, spelling, and other language skills. It's an enjoyable way to learn, especially for kids who like to get lost in a good book. Most of the books available are classics appropriate to grade level, as well.
We have the Exploring Creation with Astronomy textbook and LOVE it. It is colorful, an easy read (which is important for reading aloud with the family) and includes things like discussion starters and notebooking activities. I will use this book for my K & 1st graders, along with the Jr. Notebooking Journals. The older kids will be studying Botany and General Science with Notebooking Journals suitable to their ages.
Programs Completely New to Us:
I've been keeping my eye on these and am so excited to use them. After much research, reading through reviews, contemplation, and prayer, I've finally come to the conclusion that these are the perfect tools for our family. I will keep you updated as we use them.
This will be our core math curriculum for our kids 1st grade and higher. I'm sure our soon-to-be kindergartener will want in on the action, too. So far, we don't have any math "lovers" in this house. This isn't my strongest subject, and frankly, most of us find it to be incredibly boring. Enter "Life of Fred." From what I've seen, this is going to be an excellent way to bring math to life for our family. Just go to the website... you'll see what I'm talking about. :)
Okay, this is exciting to me. It is a history/geography curriculum that allows the whole family to study together. We'll read the lessons aloud and then do age appropriate activities to help it all sink in. It was written in chronological order and takes you to different parts of the world so that a child can connect points of time in history and compare what was happening in different countries. We will be studying Volume I, and the author combines Biblical and world history within the lessons. So cool!
We're back to multimedia learning. This dude went all out to make history come alive for the whole family. He covers the Holy Land, American History, and Ancient History. Honestly, I want to start purchasing these now because they will be fantastically entertaining! This won't be part of our "hardcore" curriculum, but rather a way to see history in a new light during our family nights... or whenever we feel the urge to watch. The icing on the cake is that they provide downloadable discussion guides. Boom. Done. No need to talk further on this one!
Whether you're starting your planning journey now, testing the waters of the homeschooling life, or are just curious to see what other options are out there, I hope you found this to be somewhat useful. I always appreciate curriculum suggestions, so I thought, what the hey? Might as well pay it forward, right? ;) Happy schooling!!!
~Em
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