As a homeschool family, our “back to school” is obviously a little non-traditional. Nobody regularly loads onto a big yellow bus with her backpack and lunchbox in tow, although 4-year-old Laurel did finally get to ride a big yellow bus this summer on a family field trip to a local dairy farm.
She was thrilled! And even without a big yellow bus to catch daily, we have many little thrills to enjoy when school begins!
Our daily routine and pace change once September arrives and activities like dance and art class start up again. And we do have new fall clothes to wear and new school supplies to unwrap. I seriously love buying school supplies. But — best of all — we have new books and curriculum! Some are still arriving in packages on our front doorstep. How thrilling to unwrap it all, crack open those books, and dig in!
In light of that impending excitement and this being “Curriculum Week” for Heart of the Matter’s Not Back-to-School Blog Hop, I’d like to share what books and curriculum we are planning to use this fall. (By the way, if you read this post, I am happy to announce that some of this has just been decided in the last 48 hours. Yippee!)
DOING TOGETHER:
- Art: Come Look with Me: Enjoying Art with Children and Come Look with Me: Exploring Landscape Art with Children
- Science: Exploring Creation with Astronomy
- Bible: Leading Little Ones to God: A Child’s Book of Bible Teachings and Mighty Acts of God
- Missions: corresponding with Dawit, a little boy in Ethiopia whom we sponsor through Children’s HopeChest; corresponding with our Adopt-A-Pastor family in Nicaragua; and one or two White Cross Mission Service Projects (to be determined)
- Sunday School (and maybe Awana)
SECOND GRADER
- Math: RightStart Level C
- Bible: Bible in 90 Days Challenge, general focus on Old Testament stories
- Language Arts: First Language Lessons, A Reason for Handwriting T (transition to cursive), Spelling Workout B
- History: Story of the World Volume I
- Geography: A Child’s Geography
- Art Lessons: Mother Hen’s Art Experience
- Phy Ed: jazz lessons, swimming lessons
- Music: piano lessons
- Foreign Language: Rosetta Stone Spanish
PRE-SCHOOLER (turning 5 this fall):
- Math: calendar, 100 days, writing numerals, wooden pattern blocks
- Reading/Language Arts: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (includes handwriting), Cuisenaire Rods and Alphabet Book, A-Z Crepe Letters by Lauri
- History and Geography: participate in read-alouds and activities, when appropriate/cooperative
- Phy Ed: dance fundamentals, swimming lessons
- Music: to be determined
To read the curriculum plans of other homeschool families, click the button below and enjoy the Blog Hop!
Starlight Writer 
How cute!! (photo) My fourth grader is doing the Apologia Astronomy this year! I am excited about all the projects. Thank you for sharing your curriculum with the Blog Hop! I am enjoying reading everyone’s post.
Looks like a wonderful plan for your precious little girls. I love how you worded “participate in read-alouds when appropriate/cooperative.” I can relate! God bless your year!
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who is still deciding on curriculum! I finally clicked “Purchase” last night and am still sighing in relief. Now for the wait on shipping. = )
It is fun getting new school supplies, but I am so thankful that for us, mid-August does not mean stressful mornings, packing lunches, worrying about physical & emotional safety, and especially separation from my kids! I think there is an electronic charge in the school supplies section at Wal-mart. You can just feel people’s blood pressure going up while there. ; )
Thanks for posting the details, and the link to the blog hop. I’m still looking for guidance for my prek-er, and this is all so helpful.
The school bus picture is too cute! My daughter is always asking if we can ride a bus. 🙂
Sweet Picture! Thanks for inviting us to see your “home” school curriculum! 🙂
What a fun variety you’ve got! I’ll be interested to read how you like the two art curricula you’ve selected. This will be my fifth year of homeschooling, and I have yet to find an art curriculum that I love (not that I’ve looked THAT hard, to be quite honest). 🙂
Glad I found you on the curriculum blog hop.
Kari