We have a variety of ages in our homeschool this year, and that makes choosing homeschool curriculum even more fun than usual. (I love curriculum!)
This year, I’m helping a young mom homeschool her littles. Her three plus my five (3 daughters, foster baby and nephew) makes eight kids total in our homeschool. We will have two preschoolers, two kindergarteners, a second grader, a seventh grader, a sophomore, and a senior.
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All Ages: Every morning, we meet together for what we call our Morning Meeting. During this time, we cover common subjects that even the youngest learners can glean from.
English from the Roots Up is our choice for Latin and Greek root words to help build vocabulary. We spend about five minutes each morning reviewing the flashcards.
We continue to use our Catechism for Young Children and The Ten Minute Bible Journey during our Bible study. I also hope to incorporate To Every Nation from Not Consumed to cover missionary history and geography.
Preschool: My side-kick mommy will handle preschool this year while I school the big kids. She’ll spend a lot of time outside with these two super-energetic girls, but she’ll also incorporate nursery rhymes, songs, and finger plays.
She’ll read them good books and maybe do a few lessons from my favorite homeschool curriculum for preschoolers, Before Five in a Row. And for indoor play, she’ll add in some Montessori-style learning activities.
Kindergarten: For the two kindergarteners, we’ve selected the following curriculum.
Saxon Math K is our choice for math as I feel it gives a strong foundation in math concepts.
All About Reading is our choice for phonics/learning to read. We’re starting with the Pre-Reading level, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they move through it quickly and make it into Level 1 before the school year is up.
In our experience, Handwriting without Tears, has lived up to its name. So it was a no-brainer when it came time to choose a handwriting curriculum.
Second Grade: We’re sticking with Saxon Math 2 for the second grader. For Language Arts, we’ll be using both All About Reading and All About Spelling.
He’s interested in learning to write in cursive so we’re going with Handwriting without Tears Cursive Student Handbook. And the same company has developed a program called Building Writers that we’ll try this year.
Our science and social studies lessons will come from our Five in a Row lessons that will include the kindergarteners.
Seventh Grade: For Language Arts, my 12-year old will use Easy Grammar and Easy Writing along with lessons from All About Spelling. Teaching Textbooks is our choice for Math.
We’ll use lessons from Science Shepherd’s Astronomy, and she’ll study Modernity from Compass Classroom with her sisters.
Tenth Grade: For Language Arts, she’ll also use Easy Grammar and Easy Writing. We’ll also use Apologia’s American Literature course with her older sister. My girls work at their own pace, so they may be using the same curriculum but at different levels.
She’s halfway through Teaching Textbooks Algebra I so we’ll finish that first semester. We’ll move on to Geometry for the second semester, but we aren’t sure if we’ll stick with Teaching Textbooks or switch to DIVE CDs.
Chemistry 101, and Modernity round out our curriculum choices. We’ll also use selected readings and online resources suggested by Simply Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online.
Twelfth Grade: My senior will use several of the same curriculum choices as her sister(s). Easy Grammar, Easy Writing, Modernity from Compass Classroom, Chemistry 101, and Apologia’s American Literature are the same.
But she’ll also study the Constitution for her government credit. We haven’t decided which curriculum yet. There are so many good options out there, we haven’t had a chance to look at all of them.
She’ll use Economics for Everybody from Compass Classroom for her economics credit. She covers math with a tutor. I also plan for her to continue her dyslexia therapy and work on ACT prep.
All in all, we have a busy year ahead of us. Wondering how we get it all done? I’ll be posting about our daily routine soon.