Our Curriculum {2015-2016}

Happy end of summer?!?  Last year we tried a hybrid....this year we are back to full time Homeschool and I am so excited.  Why we nixed the hybrid is another post... 

7th Grader

Bible - Christian Studies II by Memoria Press and Who is God by Apologia

Math - Abeka Basic Mathematics (7th grade math)

Latin - First Form Latin from Memoria Press

Grammar - Rod & Staff English 7 and Classical Conversations Essentials
Grammar - Fit It! Grammar 2 - Robin Hood

Writing - IEW US History based writing
Writing - Classical Composition - Fable and Narrative (Accelerated plan)

Spelling - Spelling Power

Vocabulary - Vocabulary from Classical Roots A

Literature Units - Tapestry of Grace Year 3: Dialectic level

History - Tapestry of GraceYear 3: Dialectic level

Science - Anatomy and Physiology from Apologia

Geography - Tapestry of GraceYear 3 and Road Trip USA (for fun) by Confessions of a Homeschooler

P.E. - USAG Girls Gymnastics Team level 8

5th Grader

Bible - Christian Studies II by Memoria Press and Who is God by Apologia

Handwriting - A Reason For Handwriting

Math - Abeka Arithmetic 5

Latin - Latina Christiana I from Memoria Press 

Grammar - Rod and Staff English 5
Grammar - Fit It! Grammar 1 - The Nose Tree

Writing - IEW US History based writing
Writing - Classical Composition - Fable and Narrative (Accelerated plan)

Spelling - Spelling Power

Vocabulary - Vocabulary from Classical Roots 5

Literature Units - Tapestry of GraceYear 3: Dialectic level

History - Tapestry of GraceYear 3: Dialectic level

Science - Anatomy and Physiology from Apologia

Geography - Tapestry of GraceYear 3 and Road Trip USA (for fun) by Confessions of a Homeschooler

Classical Conversations Foundations Cycle 1 CDs

P.E. - USAG Girls Gymnastics Team level 5/7

3rd Grader

Bible - Listening to Christian Studies II by Memoria Press 

Handwriting - A Reason For Handwriting

Math - Abeka Arithmetic 3

Latin - Prima Latina from Memoria Press

Grammar - Rod & Staff English 3

Writing - IEW Bible Heros

Spelling - Spelling Power
Vocabulary - Vocabulary from Classical Roots 4
Literature Units - Tapestry of GraceYear 3: Upper Grammar level
History - Tapestry of GraceYear 3: Upper Grammar level

History - Story of the World: The Middle Ages

Science - Anatomy and Physiology from Apologia

Geography - Tapestry of GraceYear 3 and Road Trip USA (for fun) by Confessions of a Homeschooler

Classical Conversations Foundations Cycle 1 CDs

P.E. - USAG Boys Gymnastics Team level 4

Kindergarten/1st

Bible - ABC Bible Verses

Handwriting - A Reason For Handwriting

Math - Abeka Arithmetic 1

Phonics - Primary Phonics 

Phonics - First Start Reading from Memoria Press
Reading - Bob books and Primary Phonics books

Classical Conversations Foundations Cycle 1 CDs

P.E. - Gymnastics

Update: We don't do ALL of this every, single, day.  (I will post my sample schedules that I use for the kids soon.) For what I call our "core" curriculum, we do bible, math, history, latin, grammar, and writing every day.  Two to three times a week we do spelling, vocabulary, science, and geography. Then there is some other little "daily work" that the kids do, deepening on their age/grade.

Our Curriculum {2014-2015}

Its already August, and I know some states start school in August and some in September.  We are more of a year-round-school family, so our curriculum is ongoing and can sometimes change mid year. This year, we are trying a Hybrid school (kids in school 2 days a week).  Some curriculum is school (KCA) required and the rest we are doing here on our own.

This list might scare some, but know that we don't do everything every. single. day.  

Some things are once or twice a week.  Somethings are once a month. Some things are 5 mns a day, some are 15 mns a day. So.....while it might look like a lot its manageable....most days.  If/when it get to be too much, some of the extras slide.  I'm ok with that.  After all, I'm the teacher, right? 

6th Grader

Bible - *Big Truths for Young Hearts

Math - *Saxon *8/7

Latin - First Form Latin from Memoria Press

Grammar - Rod & Staff English 6 and Classical Conversations Essentials

Writing - *IEW Middle Ages

Spelling - Spelling Power

Vocabulary - *Vocabulary from Classical Roots 6

Literature Units - *Tapestry of Grace (through the hybrid)

Classical Studies - Famous Men of the Middle Ages from Memoria Press

History - *Tapestry of Grace (through the hybrid)

Science -*Chemistry (through the hybrid)

Geography - Road Trip USA by Confessions of a Homeschooler

Fine Arts - through KCA

Classical Conversations Foundations Cycle 3 CDs

P.E. - USA Girls Gymnastics Team

4th Grader

Bible - through the hybrid

Handwriting - A Reason For Handwriting

Math - *Horizons 4

Latin - Latina Christiana I from Memoria Press and *Song School Latin

Grammar - Rod and Staff English 4  and Classical Conversations Essentials

Writing - *IEW Fables, Myths and Fairy Tales

Spelling - Spelling Power

Literature Units -  5th grade from Memoria Press and *Tapestry of Grace (through the hybrid)

Classical Studies - Famous Men of the Middle Ages from Memoria Press

History - Story of the World: The Middle Ages

Science - *Chemistry through KCA

Geography -  Road Trip USA by Confessions of a Homeschooler

Fine Arts - through the hybrid

Classical Conversations Foundations Cycle 3 CDs

P.E. - USA Girls Gymnastics Team

2nd Grader

Bible - through the hybrid

Handwriting - A Reason For Handwriting

Math - *Horizons

Latin - Prima Latina from Memoria Press and *Song School Latin

Grammar - Rod & Staff English 2

Writing - Writing With Ease Level 2 and *IEW Bible Heros

Spelling - Spelling Power

History - Story of the World: The Middle Ages

Science - *Chemistry through KCA

Geography - Road Trip USA by Confessions of a Homeschooler

Fine Arts - through the hybrid

Classical Conversations Foundations Cycle 3 CDs

P.E. - Gymnastics

Preschooler/Early Kindergarten

Bible - ABC Bible Verses and Big Thoughts for Little People

Handwriting - A Reason For Handwriting

Math - Abeka Arithmetic K and Numbers 1 and 2 from Memoria Press

Latin - *Song School Latin

Alphabet - Letter of the Week (simplified) from COAH  and Alphabet 1 and 2 from Memoria Press

Phonics - Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading

Reading - First Start Reading from Memoria Press

Classical Conversations Foundations Cycle 3 CDs

P.E. - Gymnastics

The items marked with the * are the books that are required from our Hybrid school.  There are more books within the history, literature and bible classes there, but those are course and time period (Middle Ages) specific.

Curriculum Series {Christian Studies}

There are SOOO many great bible studies and curriculum available today, this (surprisingly) was one of the hardest for me to choose.  I wanted an actual curriculum, not just a bible study.  We have plenty of time for that in the future, so for now I wanted them to learn the bible stories....the classical way; from the beginning.

Christian Studies I and II from Memoria Press

They have a wonderfully laid out schedule for all their curriculum.  This specific book is suggested for their 3rd grade year.  I have my 3rd and 5th grader starting together.  We will finish this book, and hopefully through the Christian Studies II, as well, this year.

Most of Memoria Press' curriculum is laid out very similarly.  There is a section on Fact to Know, Vocabulary (Bible Verse in this case), Comprehension Questions, and Activities.  They are broken down into 5 lesson, then a review throughout the book.  The further we get into MP books, the more I'm tailoring them to our needs.

SIDE NOTE: (The beauty of homeschooling.  I'm the teacher.  I make the decisions about what we do and don't do.  The single hardest thing for me to get into my noggin.)

There are a few different ways you can attack the "how to" with these.  You can do the whole lesson all in one shot, or break it down throughout the week.  We've done both ways depending on how our week looks.  For me, this is helping my girls learn more independent study.

This is our (idea) week:
Monday - Copy the bible verse into their spiral
Tuesday - CC day (no extra schoolwork)
Wednesday - Lesson day
Thursday - Activity
Friday - Review facts on Quizlet

This is our third year homeschooling and each year I'm learning to be more flexible and roll with "life" when it happens.  Some days we get all wild and crazy and cover the whole lesson on Monday, instead of breaking it down.  Some days, we do two lessons a day.  It just all depends on what our week looks like.  As long as the whole lesson get covered by the end of the week....we're good!

Modifications I've made for us...

We don't do the memory verse memory work.
(Gasp!)
I know, I know...but we do read it and they do copy it into their spiral.  (We have other bible memory work that we are doing.  For me, its more important they they are memorizing the verses we are working on that builds their character.)

We don't always do the Activities.
My priorities are reading the bible and getting through the questions.

I don't always make them answer in complete sentences.
Its funny to me that my 5th grade asks every. single. time! She is my one that does NOT like to write.  How the question/answer is worded helps my decision.  It goes on a question by question basis.

We don't do the review sections in full.
These I might just ask them about.  Or we work on in a timeline.  Or they work them on their own.  Or they do half of it (up to mom's discretion.)  You are the teacher.  You make the call.  (Embracing the power! :)

Quizlet review
I set all the "Facts to Know" up in Quizlet by Unit.  Once a week I have they play a game, do a matching quiz, use the flashcards...something to review all the facts for that unit.  Once we get further in, I'm sure I'll spot check and randomly have them do earlier units.

 Golden Children's' Bible

Buy this bible for the study!  (Don't make the mistake I made.)  I had already ordered the Jesus Storybook Bible for my kiddos, thinking this would cover it.  MP recommends Golden for a reason.  They lessons give you specific pages for this bible AND have extra activities using the pictures IN the Golden Children's Bible.  Don't settle.  Get the book.  Its a great book.  Stories are well written and pictures nicely done.  The Jesus Storybook Bible is not as thorough more for younger kids.  Still a great book, but I use it for my 3 year old and 1st grader.

This is an area where we tried a curriculum (God's Great Covenant) that didn't work for us.  We only got a few lessons in, but I just couldn't find a comfortable stride with it.  I can count on one hand the number of curriculum choices I've made that haven't worked and that I've changed.  This is the only one so far that I didn't finish, and dumped mid use.   

Curriculum Series {Phonics}

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading 

The OPG is our Phonics book of choice.  True story, I bought this book the summer (or two?) before I even thought about homeschooling.  I have NO idea why I bought it, other than I was planning to do an "Alphabet Summer."  I'm not sure how this book fit into A-B-C activities??  Looking back, it was a God thing.  (I realized that after I started reading The Well Trained Mind.)

The lessons are scripted and quick.  About 5 minutes per lesson.  Some days we do 1, some 2, or some none.  Whatever time allows and whatever the kiddos will sit still for.  They will quickly be reading small sentences and fun little "stories" which are really a few related sentences put together.  Its neat to see the transition from focusing on sounding out each individual word to understanding the full sentences and stories.

I used this book with my 2nd kiddo when I pulled her out of school mid-1st grade.  I opened the book up and started asking her questions.  (I find it sad that before I homeschooled, I didn't really know where she was in reading, other than she wasn't struggling at all.)  When I got to the first lesson she couldn't easily do, that's where we started.  

My son (at 4) asked me to teach him to read like his sisters.  I picked this book up and we started at the beginning.  I quickly realized I didn't like the repetitive nature of the letter sounds plus (we had the Letter Factory) he already knew them all. I simply skipped ahead and started in Section II.  We've been going strong since then and he's almost done with the book.  Somehow this kid just instinctively knows how to read, so its very little work for me.  I don't even go over the "instructor" part at the top of each lesson anymore because he just starts reading "his" part on the pages. 

I know I lucked out (so far) in the phonic department and that teaching kids to read has not been a struggle for us.  I know it is a huge struggle for some though.

The Little Miss (3) keeps asking about it, so I guess I'll have to start her soon too.  She runs the show around here so I think it'll be a little different trying to teach her. :)  She already knows all her letter sounds (thank you Leap Frog) and some sight words (thank you Preschool Prep). 

 (No we don't to school by DVD, but we do spend a lot of time in the car driving children to extracurricular activities and waiting to pick them up.)

We also use the BOB books.  

My son adored these each time we would check them out from the library.  It was far and few between since they were always checked out.  I gave up and bought the series.  I figured I have another one who will use them and I can always resell when we are done. These are a great confidence builder.  Very quickly, they are able to read the whole book by themselves!  They are 12 to a set (I believe) and worth they cost in my opinion.  I bought one set at a time.

Other Phonics curriculum we've tried and let go of....

Explode the Code books

This was really just busy work for my son so he felt like he was doing "workbooks" like the girls.  I decided there was no reason to spend money on busy work.

Reading Eggs online

This program I did like.  I set all three kid up with an account about 18 months ago using a handful of promo codes.  Then they recalled them and we only had 2 weeks. At the time, I didn't want to pay for it, so we dropped it.  I just tested my 6 year old again to set up another account and he surprisingly passed all the reading levels, so...no point in paying for something we don't need. I will use this for the Little Miss when she starts "school."  Hopefully by then, it will all be on the iPad.

Curriculum Series {Latin}

Its a "dead" language, right?  So why study it???

Friends who have their kiddos in public/private school always give me that look when they find out Latin is part of our curriculum.  

First I'll go over what we use and why.  Then I'll go over why Latin (the cliff notes version!)

Prima Latina and Latina Christiana I from Memoria Press and Classical Conversations Latin memory work

I bought the Prima Latina series last year (maybe the year before?) and we are just now really getting into it.  I started my (then) 4th grader, but we only made it a few lessons on our own and it always seemed to get pushed for other items on our "to do" list.  I didn't really get Latin or why to teach it and I didn't know it myself, so I couldn't really teach it.  At that point in time, I wasn't wanting to spend the cash on the DVDs, partly because they were an "extra" as far as I was concerned and partly because I didn't want my kiddos to be "doing school" in front of the TV.  

I got over it.  

I'm so glad I did!  

Here's what we have and how we use it...

Prima Latina (link) and Latina Christiana (link)

We use spiral notebooks, the DVDs, the student workbook, teacher manual and occasionally the flashcards.  We have the CDs, but haven't used them yet.  We also use Quizlet for this subject as well.

My girls are going at two different paces.  My 5th grade, is double timing it through the course with 2 lessons a week and my 3rd grade is taking it at a normal pace.

DVD course

These lessons are about 15 minutes each.  They each watch their assigned lesson for the week and have their student book handy to follow along with, underline derivatives and anything else brought up in the lesson. Although they are not the most exciting videos to watch, they are able to hear the pronunciation, see the words, and bottom line....Leigh Lowe (the creator) knows Latin and teaches it well.

Spiral Notebook

Next they do their copy work.  (I'm kind of addicted to spirals this year....not sure how I've made it this far without them!?!?) The girls copy the Practical Latin section, the Vocabulary section, and the Latin Prayer section.  They do this once for each lesson and I have them do it before they do their book work.  

Student Book

I have them review the lesson in the book, then do the bookwork.  (This takes around 15 as well.)  The lesson covers Latin sayings, vocabulary, prayer, memory work, derivatives, etc.They are able to look up the work in the lesson if they need to since the lesson is on a two page spread and the book work on the next two page spread.  There is more copy work there, so they have now copied their vocabulary words a few times at this point.  

Flashcards

I bought the flashcards separately before they were with "Prima Latina" when they were "Latina Christiana."  My youngest has used them, but not my oldest.  The reason being, they cards aren't marked for what lesson that are in so I only pull them apart when my 3rd grade gets to a new lesson.  My 5th grade uses Quizlet (see next point)

Quizlet (link)

Have I mentioned before how much I love this site? :)  Maybe just once or twice?  Really, you'd think they are paying me to advertise for them, but no.  I just really, really like it!!! Both of my girls use this to "play" on the iPad.  I'm amazed at what I can get them to do when I give that to them! I group the quizlet sets in 5 chapter sets, so 1-5, 6-10 etc. ThiS causes them to learn words ahead (but is easier than having 25 sets of words) and gives them a cumulative section review each time they study. 

Teacher Manual

Just the same as the student book but with the answers. I use this for correcting.

CD

We should be listening to the CD for pronunciation, but don't.  Its just one more thing.  Maybe I'll start playing it at night as they fall asleep like we do for the bible and books on CD?  Osmosis???

Classical Conversations Latin memory work

The kiddos have weekly memory work for CC, which they practice each week.  I figure it will just benefit them when they get to conjugations in Prima Latina and Latina Christiana.

. . . . . . .

So this post is already long enough....I'll post tomorrow on the "why" of Latin tomorrow.

Curriculum Series {Science}

Apologia is our go to Science curriculum for elementary.  (We are in the elementary stage still, but they do have Jr/Sr. High books too!) I like them for a few reason.  The main being its Christian based.  The lessons are very well laid out and can be split up a few different ways, if you so choose.  

We have started meeting once a week with another family to cover a chapter of the book.  We read the lesson, ask the questions and have the kids write/draw something they learned throughout the lesson.  We will then do an experiment or two, time permitting.  There are sometimes little things in the middle of the reading to do, otherwise they are at the end.  

You can buy the additional notebooking journals (which we did) or make up your own.  The Apologia journals are spiral bound and come with a lot of extras.  There are mini books, vocabulary puzzles, copy work and coloring pictures, to name a few.  They come in regular and junior.  I would definitely recommend Jr for 1st-3rd. 3rd graders could really go with either bock and 4th on up should use the regular journal.  The Jr. journals do have the coloring page (which my 5th grade LOVES), and the kids color while they listen to us read.  They could very easily draw their own pictures (space is available for that) or you could find and print one for them to color and paste into the book.

Our plan of attack using these books...

Astronomy (almost finished)

Botany

Zoology 1 - Flying Creatures of the 5th Day

Zoology 2 - Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day

Zoology 3 - Land Animals of the 6th Day

Human Body (probably here, but maybe after Botany since it will fit with CC Science schedule) 

Chemistry and Physics

The books average about 15 chapters.  There is a "Lab List" in each, broken down by lesson so you know what supplies to have and when for the experiments.  For Zoology there are flashcards you can download and print (but we aren't there yet).

Classical Conversations Science

The kiddos also do a science experiment or two each week at CC.  (Which takes some of the pressure of if we don't get to the experiments and projects for Apologia.) In addition to experiments, they have their weekly memorization, which will serve them (and me) well when we hit that area in our curriculum.  Those memorization "pegs" I tell ya....pretty amazing!!!

Curriculum Series {History}

We have a few different aspects of our History curriculum: History, Classical Literature, and Classical Conversations.  I'm going to cover History here with a little CC, and hit the Classical Literature later in the series.

We are Story of the World folks, all the way.  

We love, love, love these books.

Its a four volume series: Ancient Times, Middle Ages, Early Modern and Modern.

We use the books (shown above) and the accompanying workbooks (1 shown below).  To date, we have complete Ancients and are almost done with the Middle Ages.  Modern times is on my shelf begging to be opened. (At which time I will cross reference with CC Timeline cards like I did here and here.)

We do not use the tests and answer key book.  I'll explain why below.

The first year, I bought the text, one workbook and tests.  In one sitting, I would read the source text out loud to the girls while they colored the pictures in the workbook.  I pulled out the consumable sections of the workbook and made copies so each of the girls had their own.  We would go through the comprehension question/answers in the book and I had them do a narration page.  We did this for each section (there are 2-4 sections per chapter) and we would finish up with the mapping work.  All in all it took 30-60 minutes depending on how long/short they wrote and if we had to re-read if they didn't pay attention. :)  

My rule on that....if they miss more than 3-4 of the answers we re-read the section.  

Keep in mind its at my discretion.  If they are questions that even I didn't remember I let it slide.  If they were even close I let it slide.  I'm thorough....but not mean! ;)

At the beginning of our homeschooling adventure, I didn't realize how much I'd be reading out loud.  

Now I do. 

I bought the CDs (in addition to the text) for round two and three....and will for all.  :)

I downloaded the CDs to my Mac and they are now on the iPad, iPhone and computer.  I open up the file and we all listen.  This is great because it saves my voice, but the only downside....I don't listen as well. :)  Whoops!  But...I will get to go through these a few times, right? A HUGE advantage of the CDs....we can take them on road trips.  We have a lot of driving to gym meets and back.  We can easily get a History lesson done on the way/back.  I pop in the CD and we go through the same routine.

The stories are very well written and well read;  I even enjoy listening!

I decided this year that we are going to listen to the entire series each summer.  Its a great refresher AND we can take some quiet time each day or put them on at bedtime.  My kiddos usually listen to the bible at night, but these would be great too!

The Text

40-42 chapters broken down into 2-4 sections per chapter

Timeline in the back.

Pronunciation guide in back (helpful for all the names! :)

Index which I used extensively to cross reference by CC Timeline.

The Workbooks

The workbook is broken down into two sections.  One for the teacher and one for the consumable pages.  I'll cover the teachers pages first.

Information for each chapter with pages to cross reference from 4 different encyclopedias.   

The first year I "assigned" the reading on our off History days.  As the year progressed, we added more curriculum and became busier.  The "extra" reading was slowly forgotten....until right about NOW as I'm review it all!  Should probably pick that back up again....

Comprehension Questions

As stated above, we do these after each section.  Questions are thorough but not too difficult.  Honestly....I'm surprised at what they remember.  My old brain would probably not do as well!  I sometimes ask a specific child and sometimes just call out for the answers.  If its a really easy question, I'll ask the first grader.  Otherwise the older two get them.  

Mapping Work

Quick and easy mapping directions.

Additional Reading

A list of books for addition reading, both fiction and non-fiction.  If the library in this town was a little bigger, I'm sure I'd enjoy this part more.  They only have about 30-40% of the books.  I still (almost every week) go through the list, cross reference with what our library has and send in my list to be pulled.  I usually pick up 2-3 chapters worth of books at a time and put them in our "book basket" for the kids to go through at their leisure.  They very surprisingly (at least to me) read these!!!  Some of the books are too much, so those go right back, but most are great.  We will even have an evening or two where I use them as read-alouds for the family.

Two of the reoccurring checkouts are the Ten Kings and Ten Queens books.  I finally just got on Amazon and bought them. 

Additional Activities

These are great....but we rarely use them.  Not enough time.  I know that this is the kind of stuff that makes the lessons stick in their brain so I should use them more.  They are on my to do list, but we never seem to get to them.  One of the things I'd like to do more of this school year....the activities and projects.  

Maps

For the mapping work in the lesson.  Answers included.

Coloring Pages

These are great.  My kids LOVE to color while they are listening.  Sometimes the pages come out wonderfully.  Other times they like to see how many different colors they can put on the page.

Activity and Game Pages

The directions for these are in the teachers section (as noted above).

The Tests and Answer Key

Pretty self explanatory.

I bought these and had my oldest (3rd Grade at the time) take the first couple of tests.  That was back when we were newbies at this (not that I'm sooo experienced now).  I was trying the "school at home" approach; I quickly realized that style of schooling was not going to work for us.  I sold the booklet and never regretted it.  With our style of schooling (Classical) she/they will get the information again...and again so I'm not as concerned if she/they remember every nuance the first time around.

. . . . . . .

Classical Conversations History Timeline and Sentences

In addition to The Story of the World, we are in Classical Conversations.  My kiddos memorize the Timeline and their weekly History Facts.  We listen to the Timeline song almost every day in the car.  So much that my 3 year old can sing along with almost all of it.  We know where we are on our CC timeline compared to where we are in Story of the World.  You will also hear children in my house/car/playground randomly bust out in the History Sentence songs.  (Cracks me up!)

. . . . . . .

Some random notes....

We also do a few of the Memoria Press Classical Literature like Famous Men of the Middle Ages and D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths.  Both of which are great, but I will cover those under Classical Studies since this post is already waaay longer than I intended.

Also, I'm currently working on a History timeline for our schoolroom.  I've had about a ga-zillion different ideas in my head about how and what.  I just can't decide.  If anyone has any suggestions, please holler.  I know it would be so great for them to tie all the other aspects of our school into one giant timeline.

Lastly, let me just say.....I am really enjoying History this time around.  

(I didn't appreciate it at all going through school.  I memorized what I needed to know to ace the test and it quickly deleted the information from my brain to make room for the next batch of facts.)  

Curriculum Series {Writing}

Next up....Writing!

1st-3rd Grade

The Complete Writer: Writing With Ease 

(We've used books 1-3)

4th-? Grade

IEW History Based Writing

I was probably a little swayed as I was choosing my writing (and grammar) curriculum at the beginning.  I read (and re-read) A Well Trained Mind  while deciding.  One of the writers of that book also developed both The Complete Writer series and First Language Lessons, so they, of course, prefer their own books. :)  But....

I was not disappointed!  I was, however, a little worn out after the third book, so fortunately the timing was perfect with my oldest entering Classical Conversations Essentials where we had a new curriculum.  

Writing With Ease

This is a great series to start with.  (I have no opinion of books beyond #4.)  The underlying theory with these books is that children read, copy and dictate correctly written sentences, with great repetition, to build the foundation of their writing skills.  Love it!  The weeks are a four day week, with copy work, narration/dictation, copy work or dictation (depending on the level), then narration/dictation again.  The narration days have excerpts from great books (source book list is included) and have peaked the interest of even my non-reader.

Each lesson is scripted (which is great for this learning mama!) and goes fairly quickly.  The reading selections are great to either have your child real out loud to you, read alone, have an older sibling read out loud or snuggle up and read to them....all depending on their ability, your time, or siblings ability.  (This was a great time for me to listen to each child read aloud.)

These books are consumable, but also reproducible among your family.  I did not make copies of the workbook pages the first time around so will just use regular lined paper for subsequent kids.  After the first kiddo completed a book, I dismantled the book, pulling out the teacher's part and bound it.  (That's another post! :)

My only complaint...My oldest daughter grew a little tired of the series come the end of book 3, and I've heard (from friends) that they stopped partly through book 4 for the same reason.  

IEW History Based Writing

Enrolling in Essentials...this is their writing curriculum.  Although, if you are not using CC, you can work it in with whatever History time frame you are learning about.  Last year we covered Ancients, this year it will be Medieval.  If you are teaching this on your own, definitely buy the teachers manual in addition to the student book.  

The IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) method will all make more sense if you have gone through the TWSS course, but is still manageable without it.  These book all cover different writing structures and stylistic techniques that will aid lifelong writing.  One of the basic building blocks for this series is that students will have a much easier time writing if you them them what to write about.  This series adds a new piece to the writing puzzle with each lesson AND a source text to read/outline for a jumping off point.

Two bonuses....there is a downloadable student resource book (info within the student book) and each book also has vocabulary words/cards to go along with most of the lessons.  

Curriculum Series {Math}

Its been a busy week, so this is an easy one (for me).  For a lot of people, this is a hard curriculum to choose.  Math

Kindergarten - 5th (so far...)
A Beka

I love math and it has always come very easily to me so, luckily, its easy to teach....so far.

When I pulled the girls out of school, the private school they came from used A Beka for Math.  I wasn't sure if "this whole Homeschooling thing" was going to work....so I figured it was important to keep that subject on track with their school....just in case. 

Three years later, its still working for us, so we are keeping it.  

In doing my research, it just kept coming back to "A Beka kids KNOW their math."  There weren't any complaints about missing this or that, or too easy or too slow.  Its a spiral math, so there is plenty of review.  Starting in 3rd, I don't have them do every single problem.  Especially if I know they know the stuff.  But we still review....a lot.  

 I do buy the Child Kit and Parent Kit for each grade level.

The Child Kit contains:
Workbook
Test and Speed Drill Book

The Parent Kit contains:
Curriculum
Workbook Answer Key
Test and Speed Drill Key

At the beginning, I followed the teacher's manual to the letter.  Then I added another kid into this new world of ours....and then my baby was a toddler....and then more subjects were added...and now I barely look at the manual anymore.

I know how to teach it, they are doing great and flying through, so I figure we're ok.  We do at least one lesson a day, sometimes two.  

My (now) 1st grader, is halfway through his 2nd grade book and this is the beginning of the year.  He finished the K book in 2 months.  My (now) 3rd grader is not happy that little brother is catching up so she is working harder.  (A little sibling rivalry never hurts, right? ;)  

I considered Saxon for my oldest, but when asked she said she didn't want to switch.  Teaching Textbooks is another I've considered, but I want to keep them off the computer classes for now. There are plenty of good Math curriculums out there, but A Beka works for us so we are keeping it!  Plus I already have all the manuals and answer keys for K-5.