Monday, July 11, 2011

Curriculum I will be using with my son this year.

Wow, we are about to start full swing into school again this year.

We usually don't take the summer off, but I have had a lot of extra things going on around here this summer.

I am super excited about this years curriculum. I think we are really going to enjoy this year.

Today I am going to share with you what my son and I are going to be doing for school this year.

My son is 6, and is going into the first grade. Not that we care about grade levels, lol.

For Bible/Worldview we are going to be using Who Is God by Apologia.

Who Is God?

I am actually using this with both of my children, as this program is geared for children ages 6-14, of which I happen to have a 6 year old and a 14 year old!

There is an accompanying Notebooking Journal, Audio, and Coloring Book to go along with this book.

I do not have any of them, but I am thinking of ordering the coloring book for my 6 year old. 

Reading is what we are focusing on the most this year. We are using PAL (Primary Arts of Language) by Jill Pike, and put out by The Institute for Excellence in Writing. (My absolute favorite curriculum company.)

There are two parts to this program. They can be used together, or separately. I recommend using them together if you can, but you can use only one. 

We are only using the Reading portion. 


We are not using the Writing portion, because we already have a handwriting program that we really like. (HWT)

But, I do like the fact that these two programs work together to teach the child to write the same sounds as they are reading.

I recommend using these together, if possible, and honestly, if I had the extra money, I might just buy the Writing portion as well.

Included in the Writing portion is All About Spelling, which I do plan to use with my son.

I want to get through more of the Reading Program first, and then purchase All About Spelling Level 1.



I'll let you know when I do get it, and how we like it. 

To go along with our Reading program, we are still using the I See Sam Readers. (You can read my review here.)

Love these readers!!!

Deluxe Read to Succeed Gift Set

For math we are using A Beka's 1st grade math workbook.


For handwriting, we are using Handwriting Without Tears

For science and history we are using books from Christian Liberty Press.

The World God Made   -     
        By: Edward J. Shewan

The American People & Nation   -     
        By: Michael McHugh


I love the fact that Christian Liberty Press is very Christian, and really cheap! lol

The pages in most of their books for younger students are very beautiful.

They are not large books, as young children don't need a huge textbook for these subjects. Well, no subjects really. :)

Also for history this year we will be using The Light and the Glory for Children.


The Light and the Glory for Children : Discovering God's Plan for America from Christopher Columbus to George Washington

I will be using this with both of my kids. To make it suit my younger child I will be using The Light and the Glory Activity Book for younger children. 

Light and the Glory Children's Activity Book, The [Book] 
This is made for children ages 5-8. This is great! They can color and listen while you are reading to the older ones. 
One of my son's favorite things to do for school is Kinderbach. (You can read my review here.)
View Larger Picture 

We reviewed this last year, and my son loved it sooooo much! lol
We had a coupon code, and we bought sets 1-3. The weird thing is that after we got it, we haven't really used it. But that is because I have been super busy. We will start it back this week, hopefully. 

He would love that. 

I am also going to try and make an effort to do more lapbooks this year, as we have a lifetime membership to Hands of a Child, but haven't used it very much. 

If you have never tried lapbooking before, Hands of a Child has a freebie right now. They actually change out the freebies every quarter, I believe. 

I also want to incorporate more read alouds with both of the kiddos. I think this is really important. Unfortunately I don't seem to make the time for it. 

Now, of course we aren't going to try to do all of this every day. I will be making a schedule soon and will share it with you when I have a good one figured out. 

Well, that's about it for my 6 year old's homeschool curriculum. 

I will be posting about my daughter's soon. 

I will also post their schedules when I get them figured out. 

I hope this helps some of you to see what other people do for their homeschools, and that maybe it gives you some curriculum ideas!






19 comments:

Kelly said...

Great List! If you know anyone who wants to buy HWT wkbks new. Send them my way. I picked up some for $1.00 or so and would be willing to mail them at cost. :-)
Kelly

Elizabeth Herr said...

WOW! Great post with pics and all!! Very inspiring.

Blessings,

Mary said...

Cool line up! My little guy is almost finished with the Abeka Arithmetic 1 - I love Abeka Math!

Melissa N. said...

It sounds like you have a great plan for the kids! Enjoy!

Thanks for sharing all these great reviews and your list at NOBH!

Heather Hart said...

Looks like you have it all ready to go! I hope you have a fabulous school year. I'm stopping in to visit you from the curriculum link-up at Training Children up for Christ. Blessings!

Christa said...

Thanks for doing this... looking forward to reading everyone's posts!

Beth said...

I like your choices :0) Sounds like a busy but fun year you have planned. Ill be looking for your schedule for more inspiration.

Blossom Barden (NorthLaurel) said...

I used the Christian Liberty Press Science with my dd when she was in K and I loved it! I like CLP too :)
Looking forward to what you're using with your dd :)

Our Peculiar Lives said...

I'm curious about how you end up liking the Apologia book! I've been reading about those books and the ones from AiG. . . can't decide! Our curriculum has "what to study" for science, but I need to find "reference" books.

Rodna Allman said...

We are not that far into the Apologia book, but we are liking it so far.

I really would have to get further into it to really say. We just started.

I don't have any of the AIG books, but I bet they would be good too.

The Apologia book is beautiful though.

Sharla said...

Thanks for sharing your curriculum plans. I always like hearing what other homeschoolers are using and what works well for them. It sounds like you are all set for the year!

Catherine said...

It looks like you're going to have a great year. I loved the Who is God book, and anything IEW is wonderful. thanks for the link up!
-Catherine

the Mcclanahan 7 said...

Looks like a good list for the year.

Anonymous said...

I am following from NOBH and I was wondering what makes you love Institute for Excellence in Writing? (Not saying you shouldn't - just wondering what puts them over the top for you.)

Rodna Allman said...

ECS, Last year I reviwed IEW's Student Writing Intensive Level B, and that is when I fell in love with IEW.
I love the way Andrew teaches. he is funny and entertaining, and explains things in such a way that makes sense.
My daughter likes to write, and we have used many writing curriculums, but none of them have held a candle to IEw.

I am also using IEW's PAl(Primary Arts of Learning) Reading program with my son, and we are really enjoying it.

For both of these products I must say that my children LOVE using them,and that makes a big difference.

Here is the link to my review on the SWI level B, so that you can get a better idea of what it is and why I like it SO much.

http://trainingchildrenupforchrist.blogspot.com/2011/05/iews-student-writing-intensive-tos.html

And here is the link the my review of the first five lessons of PAL,s o you can see that too.

http://trainingchildrenupforchrist.blogspot.com/2011/06/pal-primary-arts-of-learning-reading.html

I think these will give you a better idea of why I love this company, but if you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for asking.

Wonderfully Chaotic said...

My son is going into first this year as well. Well, he'll be 6 in less than a month...we're not strict about grade levels either! I also love those things about Christian Liberty Press, haha. We definitely plan to keep using them. And we're also going to work on lapbooking more. :)

Unknown said...

Great plan! We love our Who is God. Apologia is such a great company.

Lora @ my blessed life said...

Looks like you have a wonderful year planned! That Bible curriculum from Apologia looks really good, I may look into that in a year or so for my kids.

Crystal said...

I also bought Who Is God and was super excited to use it this year. I must have spent hours at our homeschool convention reading different curriculum before deciding on this one.
I guess in the rush of things somehow I lost this book!! I've been looking and praying but still havent found it. :(
How are you liking it?

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