It’s August! Whew! I just spent a big chunk of July — and a big chunk of money, it seems — selecting and purchasing books for the upcoming school year.

Since I am the type of person who is motivated by themes, I really do best with unit studies. This year’s theme is “Let the Nations Be Glad” from Psalm 67:4, with a strong world geography undertone.

We are using some parts of the My Father’s World Exploring Countries and Cultures curriculum — and some things that I’ve added in — to go around the globe. We’ll “visit” one or more countries in each continent. For each country, we’ll learn about and pray for the people groups who live there, learn about the ecosystems, and learn about one or two missionaries who served there and the biblical virtues they each exemplify. The girls each have passports and flag stickers, and the rumor is they are going to travel hither and yon in an airplane made out of a large cardboard box.

I am most excited to read all the missionary stories — they fascinate me — and to tie in lessons about the biblical virtues these people demonstrated in their lives. And I am eager to learn alongside my children as we peer at various countries with the perspective of a compassionate, biblical worldview.

We will continue to use the NIrV Discoverer’s Bible for Early Readers and some other books that have been on our shelves for a while, but here’s what’s new (or mostly new) to our shelves:

Math:

RightStart Math Level D (for 3rd grader)

RightStart Math Level A (for Kindergartener)

Music:

Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn about the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music! by Robert Levine

Wee Sing Around the World

Language Arts:

A Reason for Handwriting K (for Kindergartener)

Spelling Workout Level C Pupil Edition by Phil Trocki  (for 3rd grader)

First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind: Level 3 Instructor Guide by Jessie Wise (for 3rd grader)

First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind: Level 1 by Jessie Wise (for Kindergartener; we used Level 2 last year with my second grader)

Writing Strands Level 3  (for 3rd grader)

Reading:

Hero Tales book series by Dave and Neta Jackson (read aloud)

Pathway Readers Days Go By and More Days Go By (for Kindergartener)

Little Lights (a series of books about missionaries) by Catherine Mackenzie (for Kindergartener)

Ten Girls Who… (a series of books about missionaries and other great women of faith) by Irene Howat (for 3rd grader)

Christian Liberty Nature Readers (book #3 and #4 for 3rd grader)

Foreign Language:

Rosetta Stone Spanish (for 3rd grader)

Science:

The Usborne Book of Wild Places: Mountains, Jungles and Deserts  (for both)

Properties of Ecosystems by Answers in Genesis

A Child’s Geography: Explore His Earth by Ann Voskamp (for 3rd grader)

My Father’s World from A to Z Kindergarten (just the units we didn’t tackle last year in pre-K)

Geography Read-Alouds, References and Tools:

Window on the World by Daphne Spraggett with Jill Johnstone

The Illustrated World Atlas by Dr. Alisdair Rogers

A Trip Around the World and Another Trip Around the World (from Carson Dellosa Publishing)

Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation

Maps & Globes by Jack Knowlton and Harriet Barton

Geography from A to Z by Jack Knowlton and Harriet Barton

Rand McNally World Atlas

Rand McNally Children’s Illustrated Atlas of the World

Flags of the World: DK Ultimate Sticker Book

Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney

 

Be sure to check out other homeschoolers’ curriculum plans in the “Not” Back to School Blog Hop going on this month at Heart of the Matter.