I just placed the orders for our homeschool curriculum for this year. I am so excited and a little bit scared. I have these ideas of what I want our homeschool to look like but I won't know what works for us until we try it out.
Here's what our homeschool looks like for this year:
Circle Time
Just a few short minutes in the morning for us to come together to...sing a song about bible truths (Vol. 1- Questions and Answers: God and Creation CD), recite memory bible verse, recite memory work (states and capitals, books of the bible, counting by 2s, etc.), sing spanish song (Spanish Champs Level 1 CD), and pray for each other and our day.
Handwriting
B1 and B2 will be doing Handwriting Without Tears Get Set For School workbook along with the other Handwriting Without Tears Activities. B1 already know all of uppercase and lowercase alphabet and their sounds while B2 can only name the capital B "because that spells my name!" she says. It will be interesting to see how they work together and how she can learn from big brother.
10 min 4 days a week
Phonics
B1 will continue with Explode the Code at a leisurely pace. There are 3 books in the Kindergarten set and he has done about 3/4 of the first book in about 15 days so we will slow down as much as he wants.
10 min 4 days a week
Math
B1 and B2 will be playing lots of math games this year. Most of which I will either make myself or print from online resources like www.filefolderfun.com. B2 will be working on number recognition, patterns, matching and sequencing. T1 will be workign on the same. In the fall B1 will also begin using Singapore Math.
about 20 min 4 days a week
Read alouds
Read Aloud stories from the library will make up the majority of our "schooltime" hours. My #1 goal for this school year is to help them fall in love with books!
any chance we can!
Spanish
This one's easy (although a little expensive). I found 2 great dvd based programs that we will be using together, Spanish Champs and Whistlefritz. What I love about Whistlefritz is that it uses immersion, which means that there is no english spoken. We will all watch the dvds together.
about 20 min 4 days a week
People and Places
The Usborne Internet-Linked Children's World Atlas will be our primary text. From that I will follow their interests and check out library books and visit websites to learn more about the people and places around the world. And a giant inflatable globe!
about 1 hour 2 days a week
Science
The World God Made from Christian Liberty Press will be our point of reference along with the Christian Liberty Nature Reader. We will keep additional reference books on hand like Usborne First Book of Nature, Usborne First Encyclopedia of Animals, and Usborne Internet-Linked Children's Encyclopedia for further study or just to learn about something we happen to be interested in that day. Lots of library trips in this category too, of course, and plenty of outside time for nature study. There will also be a weekly science expiriment that's sure to amaze! (you know like making slime, sucking an egg into a bottle, or creating hot ice).
about 1 hour 3 days a week
Art
Using Artistic Pursuits: The Way They See It.
1 hour 1 day a week
Bible
We will learn catechisms through song during circle time. The Bible for Children will be our main storybook. Also, B1 will practice his own reading skills a little each day with Day-By-Day Begin to Read Bible.
15 min 4 days a week
This may look like a lot for a preschooler and a kindergartener but it will not really be difficult. First, I will let them choose whether or not they want to participate in any given activity on any given day, with a few exceptions. I feel that these precious few years they have until they are 7 or 8 are best spent playing. This does not mean that they will have the choice to watch tv instead of read a story (I am slowly working on implementing a "no tv between X:00 and X:00) but if they would rather go outside and swing or ride bikes or look for bugs or even play My Little Ponies or Bakugan I will not demand that they sit down and copy a line of letters or listen as I read about tigers.
Now I have to say that my children generally like to listen to me read to them and often times actually beg me to read them a story. And they are naturally curious and want to learn. The most important thing I can do right now is to help them fall in love with learning. I can't do that by force but by being there when they are ready and willing and by exposing them to all the wonderful things there are to learn in this world. I can't wait!
