Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Step 2. Choosing Curriculum for 2019-20

After completing seven years of formal homeschooling and having six children, I knew more than nothing (still far less than everything), but I still took Pam Barnhill's course "Put Your Homeschool on Auto-Pilot" for $69. This course was worth every penny and my time watching the self-paced videos. Unless you feel like a superstar homeschooling mama who knows what she is doing (does she exist?) I highly, highly recommend it.

I am beginning my annual blog series on planning one's homeschool year! This year, I am publishing 4-6 weeks early because we are going to be moving homes, so my homeschool year has to be done being planned this very week. (Then it's on to two weeks of packing up boxes, Moving Day, three weeks of unpacking the house, and school begins with my Orientation Week!)

How Do I Choose Curriculum for my Homeschool?

Step 2 is to plan my curriculum.

I'm starting my eighth year of homeschooling full-time (ninth year if you count that I did formal, daily preschool for one year) and I know a smidgen more with each year that goes by, so maybe there will be some readers who will learn something from what I can offer . . . for whatever it's worth!

As I like to say, I don't know nothin' anymore.

Take what works and leave the rest behind.

I'm not an unschooler, or even very relaxed. I'm a DIY homeschooler who likes to create my own curriculum based on our family's needs. I am Catholic and prefer choosing religious materials that teach the traditional Latin Mass. I appreciate the rigor of Classical education and the "living" books and literature encouraged by Charlotte Mason. I like books that are old (anything newer than around 1950 has to earn its way past my suspicions) and free of twaddle. And, of course, all of these ideals are being balanced by the fact that I have six children and cannot manage teacher-intensive curriculum or even reading aloud anymore, and am instead moving them all toward educational independence.

I will be homeschooling first, third, fifth, and seventh grades in 2019-20. Our Mater Dei Catholic School "mascots" will be two- and four-year-old boys!

(One can read all of my past years' curriculum choices by clicking on my Homeschooling Page.)

First Grade

The first grade plan for my fourth child, when I have olders with a heavy workload, plus two wee ones in the mix, looks different than what I planned for my firstborn. Whatever I pick, my first grader will get about one solid hour per day from me. He will also learn alongside older siblings and have siblings read aloud to him.
  • RELIGION
  • LANGUAGE ARTS
  • MATH
    • Right Start Math (I tried Horizon Math last year and disliked it, so mid-way through the year switched back to the Right Start I have used for years.)
    • Supplement with CTC Math online subscription
    • Skip counting and drilling math facts with various resources
  • HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY: American History Cycle
    • Listen along to TAN Story of Civilization with his big sister.
    • Work on memorizing the U.S. states and capitals using puzzles and songs.
  • SCIENCE
    • Various simple science resources existing on my bookshelf on no schedule
    • Children's videos on safety subjects on YouTube
  • MUSIC
    • Piano, folk music (banjo, guitar), and music theory classes
  • MISCELLANEOUS
    • Draw Write Now
    • Typesy (after a few years of Keyboarding Without Tears, our family has been using Typesy for three months now)
  • PHYSICAL EDUCATION (various over the course of the whole year)
    • Ice skating lessons
    • Tennis lessons
    • Swimming
    • Once monthly boys' homeschool sports program (basketball and football)

Grade 3

  • RELIGION
    • Scripture
      • Still choosing which Bible to use among our many versions. I might have the third grader read aloud the entirety of The Golden Children's Bible to the first grader, which kills two birds with one stone.
    • Catechism
    • Saints
  • LANGUAGE ARTS
  • MATH
  • HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY: American History Cycle
  • SCIENCE
    • Apologia: Zoology paired with the MP3 files online (read and listen simultaneously)
  • LATIN
    • Prima Latina (DVD)--The various curriculum providers recommend starting Latin at widely varying ages so as to make a parent's head spin. They say to start anywhere from second grade to middle school or even high-school! We are going to try our third grader on Prima Latina but only because her seventh grade brother is going to tutor and grade it, as I do not have time at this stage.
  • MUSIC
    • Violin, piano, folk music, and music theory classes
  • MISCELLANEOUS
    • Draw Write Now
    • Typesy (after a few years of Keyboarding Without Tears, our family has been using Typesy for three months now)
  • PHYSICAL EDUCATION (various over the course of the whole year)
    • Tennis lessons
    • Swimming
    • Scottish Country Dance weekly


Grade 5



Grade 7


The next installments will be about planning one's daily schedule and writing procedure binders.


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5 comments:

  1. Priscilla BensonAugust 29, 2019 at 9:27:00 PM EDT

    Looks like an awesome year planned Katherine! I hope the first week went well. I'm just getting all mine on paper and wanted to peek at yours.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Frannie RuthApril 23, 2020 at 8:19:00 PM EDT

    are you not using/doing Catholic schoolhouse anymore?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katherine T. LauerMay 19, 2020 at 8:32:00 AM EDT

      Frannie Ruth,

      We participated in Catholic Schoolhouse at a local parish for only one year, I think when my oldest was in first grade. Then we did a co-op at our local parish for a few years. Then we did CCE Elementary for some years and CCE Middle School for one year. This past year, we were involved in no group organization.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousMay 5, 2020 at 10:50:00 AM EDT

    Hello,
    I am interested on your thoughts about the Apologia Anatomy and Physiology. I am trying to decide on a science curriculum for my soon to be 5th grader. She is the oldest of 4, baby number 5 is coming in September so I'm not going to have a surplus of time to be involved in teaching her science. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks so much and God Bless,
    Natalie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katherine T. LauerMay 5, 2020 at 11:06:00 AM EDT

      Hello, Natalie!

      My belief is that science needs to be broad and light during elementary school and even middle school. It should spark joy and wonder in God's creation. Serious science study, memorization, and labs will all be covered in high-school.

      That said, I assign my kids science books to read but I assign NO WORK. Just reading and nothing else and my children score many years ahead on the Woodcock-Johnson standardized test--my sixth grader last year scoring at the college level in science by doing nothing but reading.

      I do not have time to teach or grade science--like you! With Apologia, I also purchase the MP3 audio recordings. This helps the students hear how the scientific words are pronounced properly. We do science over the summer to lighten our load during the school year. One of two times per week, my children listen and read along to one chapter.

      Fyi, I use Tiner science--just reading--for middle school.

      Delete

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