It’s hard to believe we are nearing single digits for weeks of the school year left. All the kids are diligently working on their subjects. Which reminds me, I get asked all the time what curriculum I use for school.
I have tried lots of different curriculum and teaching techniques and styles. In the end I decided on a more eclectic style of homeschooling. Being able to pick and choose what I use is wonderful!
I am big on living books! I avoid text books as much as possible. We do use text books for science; Apologia has an amazing curriculum series for science called “Exploring Creation with…” The curriculum spans K through 12th grade.
My grandmother introduced me to Handwriting Without Tears when Aaron started 3rd grade. She really wanted my kids to learn to read and write cursive. I found they had print curriculum too. This made teaching the kids to write so much easier, and it improved my handwriting too!
Teaching kids to read is no easy task, but when we joined Wycliffe I was introduced to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. This resource really helped me when teaching my dyslexic kids to read.
I am so thankful for an Education Resource Center (ERC) right next door. It’s full of great resources for teaching. I only had to bring two totes for school instead of ten. This valuable resource is a huge thing I am thankful for.
We had some White Ants (termites) invade one of the book shelves, so we were cleaning up the mess and purging the bad books
I basically keep a list of things I use or have used for school and anytime anyone asks me I copy and paste that list in a message to them. So here is what I send out when I am asked:
Five In A Row (FIAR) – prek through 4th grade, all subjects together
Handwriting without tears- pre-K through 4th grade
Free online things like khanacademy, typingclub
Spelling Power- 2nd through 12th grade
Blast Off to Reading- reading and spelling (2-4 grade)
Apologia Science- “Exploring Creation Through…” All grades.
I had a book called “All through the ages” and it listed good “living books” for history in chronological order.
I really liked this set of science readers:
Christian Liberty Nature Reader (6 book set, grades K-5)
Life with Fred (math) all grades
Ambleside- https://www.amblesideonline.org/New.shtml
Simply Charlotte Mason-https://simplycharlottemason.com/
We also get something called “Creation Magazine” which we love!!!! Highly recommend!
We pay to be patrons of the Brooklyn Public Library, which has the most electronic book resources in the country.
A great book for over all Homeschooling is Educating the Wholehearted Child. Super awesome!