~Bona Vita~

Children’s education is always on my heart.  We have been homeschooling our children for about 15 years now.  More than ever, I realize that most mothers play a vital role in their children’s education.  Many homeschool their children full-time as I do.  Even more spend countless hours with their children in the evenings after they return home from their public or private schools.

Home education begins by maintaining terrific reading material for all ages.  Tap into your local library.  Take advantage of the available resources that list age-appropriate books.  I will begin to share my favorite children’s books as time goes on.

If you choose to formally educate your children at home, you must decide how to tackle the subject matter.  The curriculum choices are wide and varied.  It is necessary to plan ahead in order to not become overwhelmed with your options.

Plan your course of action and then choose your curriculum to match your needs.  I cannot stress enough the importance of this point.  Your family is unique and has special needs and desires concerning the education of your children.  Discuss these with your husband.  Write down your educational plans and goals for your family. Then, choose your curriculum.

The unpleasant alternative to this is perusing and purchasing wild amounts of curriculum and subject matter, much of which you will never actually utilize.  I have experienced this first-hand on a small scale and I have witnessed it countless times.  The available curriculum choices can actually paralyze your ability to homeschool.  Be wise, be thoughtful, be careful, be selective.

I customize my curriculum every year to  match my child’s academic, social and emotional needs. I also take into account my husband’s and family’s general schedule and needs for the upcoming year.  If I find myself looking forward to a stressful year full of time constraints etc., I will streamline my curriculum accordingly.  I have even  taken this step mid-year.

I will now share the subjects, by grade level, and some of the accompanying texts that I utilized for the 2007-2008 school year.  By no means is this list exhaustive, my favorites, nor a panacea for homeschooling success.  It just happened to work for us this past year.

Pre-K:

1. Circle Time:  Including games, songs and stories
2. Math prep
3. Reading prep
4. Penmanship
5. Music prep
6. Art (lots of art!)

Kindergarten

1. Circle Time
2. Math
3. Phonics
4. Reading
5. Spelling
6. Penmanship
7. Piano
8. Physical Education
9. Art

1st Grade

1. Circle Time
2. Math
3. Phonics
4. Language
5. Reading
6. Spelling
7. Penmanship
8. Piano
9. Physical Education
10. Art

In the lower elementary grades I may not cover every subject every day.  Our children do begin formal piano  studies in Kindergarten or 1st grade.  My primary textbooks in these early years are from Abeka.  I prefer A Reason For Handwriting for penmanship. We love circle time and art.  We leave plenty of time in our day for just playing.

5th Grade

1. Math – Abeka
2. Language – Abeka
3. History – Christian Liberty
4. Science – Abeka
5. Spelling – Christian Liberty
6. Writing -Alethea Academy (on-line)
7. Literature -Alethea Academy (on-line)
8. Penmanship – A Reason For Handwriting
9. Piano
10. Reading Comprehension – Abeka
11. Physical Education – Tennis and Golf
12. Bible

8th Grade

1. Math – Saxon 1/2 Pre-Algebra
2. Language – Abeka
3. History – Sonlight
4. Science – Abeka
5. Spelling – Christian Liberty
6. Writing -Alethea Academy (on-line)
7. Literature -Alethea Academy (on-line) and Sonlight
8. Piano
9. Latin – Schola Tutorials (on-line)
10. Physical Education – Tennis and Golf
11. Bible

9th Grade

1. Math – Saxon Algebra 1
2. Language – Abeka
3. History -World Geography - Abeka (began Bob Jones World History)
4. Latin-Schola Tutorials (on-line)
5. Biology – Abeka
6. Writing -Alethea Academy (on-line)
7. Literature -Alethea Academy (on-line) and Abeka
8. Piano
9. Physical Education – Tennis and Golf
10. Bible

11th Grade

1. Math – Teaching Textbooks Algebra II
2. Language and Writing included in English Literature
3. History -World History, Bob Jones
4. Latin- Scholars OnLine Academy (on-line)
5. Chemistry - Apologia
6. Literature - English Literature (prepares  student for the AP English Literature exam)
7. Physical Education – Tennis and Golf
8. Piano
9. Bible

I hope this is helpful.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  I would love to hear how you all work with your children.

“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.” – Prov. 1:8

Tags: books, curriculum, homeschooling, resources

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 8:02 pm and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.