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Curriculum Plans

BacktoHomeschool
Welcome back to the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop. Today we will talk curriculum, homeschoolers' favorite topic. Around this time of the year  most homeschoolers are lining up their curriculum for the upcoming year, if they have not started their year yet. Even when he is already set, a true homeschooler is always on the look out for curriculum and homeschool programs. Lots of us call ourselves "homeschool curriculum junkies".

Before I start I want to share with you an article I came across last week which is very appropriate for our topic today: Before you Choose Curriculum, 3 Things to consider.

Indeed, as I  choose curriculum for each year my primary considerations are:
  1. What do I want to accomplish this year?
  2. Remembering the kind of learners I have: one that hates writing, and one that is very active but does well with worksheets.
  3. My own teaching style: I love teaching but the more they can do on their own, the better.
To go back to the first point (what do I want to accomplish this year?),  this coming year I would like to focus on languages. I have been meaning to teach Zach Latin for the past 3 years, but somehow, it has been pushed to the back. Also, French is my first language and I want my boys to speak it, but again, I have failed to do that for the past 8 years. So this year these will become my primary goal.

As mentioned yesterday, I am primarily a classical homeschooler, so of course our line up will contain classical subjects.

Lastly, because I have a child who hates writing I try to stay away from books that require much writing. I usually try to find curriculum that involves maximun thinking and minimun writing.

So, with that in mind, here is our line up for next year (item in purples are items for which you can find a review for on this blog - just look for them in the review tab at the top):

Languages:
  • Prima Latina (started previously)
  • First Start French (started previously)
  • Le Francais Facile (started previously)
Language Arts:
  • Grammar Town with Town practice (MCT)
  • Paragraph Town (MCT)
  • Building Poems (MCT)
  • Handwriting Without Tears Cursive (started a couple of months ago)
  • Spelling City (Review item)
  • Phonetic Zoo (if it gets bought ???)
  • Writing With Ease (previously started) ???
History and Geography;
  • Tapestry of Grace year 3 (TOG)
  • Story of the World Audios
  • Knowledge Quest Map Trek
  • A Child's Geography (started last year)
Math:
  • Math on the Level (MOTL)
  • Math Essentials (Review item)
  • Professor B (Review item)
  • Math Made Easy (Review item)
Science:
  • Christian Kids Explore Chemistry (review item)
  • Elemental Science  (started previously): plants and human body
  • The Young Scientist Experiment kit
  • 365 Science Experiments
Art and Music:
  • Composer and artist study using Zane Eduction (Review Item)
  • Continue violin and piano lessons
    Religious studies:
    As you can see our line up is very eclectic yet classical as our main curriculum are classically oriented (TOG and MCT and Latin studies):
    • Tapestry of Grace is primarily unit study-based and also heavily literature-based.
    • Math on the Level is mainly living math whereas Math Essentials and Math Made Easy is workbook oriented.
    • Professor B is both web-based and workbook
    • Zane Education is computer/web-based (videos)
    • My Language Arts line up from Michael Clay Thompson LA curriculum doe not really fit in any style. It is an advance curriculum that teaches and requires the students to understand how language works as a whole system, as you study it's components in a story form and daily rigourous exercises. 
    • A Child's Geography is a curriculum you read with your child and it includes notebooking which I do not really do.
    • You will notice that MOTL and my LA curriculum require minimal writing yet are very demanding curriculum when it comes to content covered.
    It can be really hard to find a curriculum that fit exactly what you want, so a lot of time you have to tweak it, that is make it fit your family style and need.

    And there you have it!

    This post is also linked up @

    Homeschool Curriculum Choice, 2012 - 2013
    Not Back to School Blog Hop




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    Comments

    Stefanie said…
    Wonderful line up!!
    July 31, 2012 at 11:02 AM
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