2012-2013 Homeschool Curriculum

I had planned on homeschooling throughout the summer, but having a newborn made that quite difficult. We did the occasional lesson and were involved with 2 different Summer Reading Programs and VBS's but didn't do much else. I have also been trying very hard to find time to organize this coming year's homeschool materials. Again, not very easy with a tiny baby who does NOT like to be put down. (I remember having this exact same problem 2 years ago when Hannah was a baby, yet somehow I was able to get organized, I even have a post to prove it.)

Anyhow, the plan is to start back to school this coming Monday, August 13th. I have been planning some fun First Day of School traditions. With Tabitha starting Kindergarten it seems more official and I am going to be practicing keeping records and such (fortunately in PA we do not need to report to the school district for another few years so I have time to get in the habit and see what works and doesn't work). So, onto our curriculum picks for this year.

I knew I needed to go in a different direction than last year because last year's curriculum choice did not work for our family (for the children's learning style or my teaching style). I knew I needed to pick a curriculum that I can eventually combine the children. At one point I had looked at the Weaver curriculum because a family in our church uses it with great success. But after borrowing some of the curriculum I found that wasn't for us either. For the past few years I have read homeschooling books, looked at different philosophies and styles. I know that I am not really interested in a "School at home" approach and I am not very big on a bunch of textbooks. I even read books (and posted a bit) about unschooling. Which still wasn't for me.  I love the idea of living books and Charlotte Mason. Love her ideas of narration and dictation among other things. I looked into Sonlight and last year we tried Five in a Row. But nothing was clicking. 

Then I found My Father's World.

I think we have found a curriculum that will work for us long term. I love the way it is organized (for Kindergarten at least). It seems to be my teaching style and I think it will work well with the children as there is a lot of hand's on learning. There is some Charlotte Mason influence and it is a unit study approach. In addition, each unit (after the introductory unit on Creation) will revolve around a letter so I can do Letter of the Week with Hannah who this year IS ready to really be involved with learning. Each unit has us focusing on a specific part of God's creation. As a unit study approach we will be learning hands on about each topic. We will hit on science, social studies, art, math and Bible. Each unit has a character trait to reinforce with the children. 

Our 2012-2013 curriculum:

Our core curriculum:

Tabitha Kindergarten and Amelia K4

Our Father's World in which we will learn the following subjects:

Science, Social Studies, Math, Bible, Art, Music and Reading

We will be supplementing math for Tabitha with Singapore Essentials Kindergarten A and B.

As Tabitha already knows how to read we will be using ideas in the manual and from the message boards to expand the activities. We will focus on spelling, handwriting, listening and problem-solving skills.

I am also using My Father's World Preschool Curriculum which contains lots of hands on fine motor skills activities. The main focus will be with Amelia and Hannah, but I have a feeling Tabitha will want to join in.

 I will also be using Teach My Preschooler with Amelia.
We will also complete their Brain Quest workbooks that didn't get worked on very much last year.

Hannah Toddler/Preschool

We will be using a letter of the Week approach as I did with Tabitha and Amelia. We will go in the order of the My Father's World units. I plan on using a bunch of the ideas from 2009-2010 school yr and 2010-2011 school year.

We will also work on Fine Motor Skills with Montessori type activities. 

We will continue to use Teach My Toddler for "Hannah-Mommy Time" which focuses on Alphabet, Numbers, Shapes and Colors.

Home Ec (Or whatever you want to call it)
We will be starting our Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen time back up. I will be posting my weekly linky again

(maybe I'll actually have a button this year).

Spanish
We will be using Early Expert Spanish Online Subscription
(Check out my Sponsor Spotlight for more information)

I'm sure I forgot something.

Stop back next week for a look at our "school room."

Also linking up with: