Curriculum Choices 2012-2013

Finally, my updated 2012-2013 Curriculum post! See other curriculum posts here:

Our Homeschool Curriculum 2011-2012 {Tot School, Kindergarten, 4th Grade}
Curriculum Additions and Subtractions 2012-2013

See our new Weekly Wrap-Up posts here where I share more about what our group time together looks like, as well as a peek into Krash and PacMan’s homeschool life!

Ladybug ~ Tot School, age 3 1/2

Animal ABCs
All About Reading Pre Level 1
Tot Books/Packs & Preschool Packs
Tot Time Notebook
Tot Trays
Learning Toys
Many, many BOOKS!
Read my post, “Following the Lead of the Child” to see more of my heart behind her curriculum choices.
Coming Soon ~ Raising Rock Stars Preschool {we will begin when she completes Animal ABCs, probably in January 2013}

Krash ~ 1st, age 6

PacMan ~ 5th Grade, age 10

Family

USA Geography USA Geography PowerPoint show, Sticker USA Activity Book
World Geography Little Passports, Wonder Maps, Continent Boxes, Shepperd Software Geography Games Online, geography games on the iPad.
Calendar Connections We are using these mostly for PacMan, but depending on the theme, Krash and Ladybug pick up on the facts too.
What’s in the Bible DVDs ~ See how we are using What’s in the Bible in our Homeschool
We Choose Virtues
iPad We use our iPad for school a lot. It an exceptional learning tool and we are so thankful to have one. See iPad apps for education here, part 2 is here!

FAQ ~

I heard your boys are enrolled in a cyber school, how does this work?

Yes, they are and we have a VERY unique situation. We are enrolled in a cyber school but we traditionally homeschool just like someone using Calvert who bought it from their site. The only difference is that my kids get their supplies, curriculum, computer, printer, and MUCH support for free. We are so incredibly blessed to have this option, it is working for us right now. I teach them every single subject, and we use traditional Calvert texts and books…hardly anything is done online for my boys-except fun games and such we have access to. This is another perk for us we have free access to: First in Math, Study Island, Let’s Go Learn, Brain Pop, and more. These sites are amazing.

If you are wondering what state we live in, you can email me privately. I just don’t publicly share the name of our specific school and location online. Let me emphasize that all sates are different and ALL cyber schools are different. I personally do not know ANYONE else who has a situation like mine {except a few who are enrolled in my particular cyber school}, most are much more controlled from what I have heard. Here is a place on Calvert’s website that allows you to seek out using Calvert with a partner school in your state.

Would you use Calvert even if you didn’t get it for free through your state?

I am not sure. I do love it, but I think I would look into something like Sonlight or My Father’s World ~ with a more Christian backbone. I have heard great things about those. I also think Mystery of History and many products from Bright Ideas Press look awesome. I would probably piece together subject by subject, although the box curriculum approach is really nice and works for us. So, maybe I would stick with Calvert, maybe not. I honestly don’t know! I have NO problems with Calvert, and it has served us well since PacMan’s PreK year. I specifically have really enjoyed Calvert from grade 2 on, which is the beginning of where I am not as comfortable teaching! I absolutely love Calvert this year {5th grade} and am really benefitting from the box approach in a grade I am so uncomfortable teaching!

Why are you using All About Reading for Krash if Calvert has a good reading program within it?

Honestly-I got AAR to review and decided to review it fully to help my blog readers. I do not need a program to teach reading, I have done it with hundreds of children and it just comes naturally for me {I am a former Kindergarten teacher for any new readers}. Something I truly love. I followed Calvert’s program with Pac, but still basically did my own thing, which is what I have done with Krash too. BUT, I get tons of questions from moms who tell me that teaching reading does not come naturally for them! They want me to recommend a program and up until now I couldn’t since I had no experience with any homeschool reading program {other than Calvert}. I can’t recommend Calvert’s reading program separately {it is great, but it only comes with the complete box curriculum}. When given the opportunity to review AAR Level 1, I jumped at the chance, knowing this would give me the experience I needed to give my readers an opinion on this reading program-which so far is amazing and definitely what I recommend! I used All About Spelling Levels 1 & 2 with Pac and loved it. We went to AAS when he began struggling early on. He has now went back to the Calvert spelling program and does fine. Our great experience with All About Spelling led me to want to review All About Reading.

Will you enroll Ladybug in the cyber school when she is in PreK?

Probably not, I am thinking of taking PreK-1st and doing it myself for her. But, that may change and we may enroll her if Calvert is still available. Being a former K teacher, I just really, really enjoy doing my own things for these lower grades!

Will you always homeschool?

We believe in making this decision on a year-by-year, kid-by-kid basis. We had no idea we would ever be homeschoolers, so we realize that we have no clue what God has in store for our family. For now, we cannot imagine not homeschooling, and are very thankful to have been led here.

Are you against public/private school?

Absolutely NOT! I believe that the decision of schooling needs to be made by individual families based on so many different circumstances. I NEVER thought we would homeschool, but now am so glad we do {although it was very rough for me the first year}. Some homeschooling families need to go back to group education for various reasons or during different seasons of life and who knows-that may be us one day. I know the Lord will guide us each year in making this decision and I trust He guides families individually in this area.

Why do you homeschool?

Honestly we started because of the area we live in. We are inner city missionaries living in one of America’s toughest neighborhoods and the schools aren’t anything to jump for joy about. We looked into private school but it just wasn’t in the budget, and it wasn’t something we really felt called to. We have fellow missionaries on our team who homeschool and even though at first I thought they were a bit nuts-ha ha, I now adore them and the knowledge they have shared with me. Although the decision to homeschool was made due to circumstances, we now feel we would continue even if we had the opportunity to send our kids to a great public school.

Do you have a daily schedule or routine? How do you “do it all”?

Updated: See our A Day in Our Homeschool Series Here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 {part 4 coming eventually}.

Loosely, yes…but we seem to work better being a bit more flexible. We know what we need to accomplish and we usually do that-but we tend to go with the flow more since Ladybug often has sassy attitude problems and throws our mornings off a bit. We school intensely each afternoon while she naps…even if she doesn’t sleep she is in her bed from at least 1-3:00. This afternoon quiet time is vital to our day!

We try to keep a basic outline of a routine…Calendar Notebooks first thing, Pac upstairs to accomplish independent work while I play with the little 2 {focusing on Ladybug for at least 30 minutes each morning}. Snack, recess, lunch… Then nap for L-bug and individual school for the boys. We usually finish up all school around 3pm each day. In the middle of it all we fit everything in somehow!

We still use a lesson plan blog for PacMan, and Krash is pretty easy going with following my lead for school, so we don’t have a super cool plan, we just get things done. I now categorize Pac’s blog by colors {green-independent, blue-possibly need help, red-with mom}. It is SO easy and we both love it.

It is hard for me…the whole schedule thing. We have good and bad days. We have on and off-routine days. We get things done most of the time and then there are days when I let the little 2 watch too many “educational” DVDs. There are days I adore being with my kids all day long and days I wish I could bury my head in the pillow and not emerge for hours, or possibly days! If you are struggling with creating a routine/schedule that works…know you are not alone. I have been at this homeschooling things for 5 years now and I still struggle. We get through yes-but it is still a struggle for me. I often get asked how I “do it all” and I wrote a post about that here if you’ve wondered my thoughts on this topic. The post is older but still applies!

If you have any other general questions about our curriculum, please leave in the comments below and I will do my best to add the answers to this list!