reading, writing and arithmetic

I really like to keep things simple here at our house and so if something works for us, I just continue using it. Even if something “better” comes along. Now if something isn’t working I switch it up until I either find something that works or decide its something we should not be doing anyway.

This is where I find myself as we begin this new school year. Christian is in his last year and so I feel like I’ve pretty much figured out what works for us for each subject. Occasionally we’ll add something in or change something for one child. But for the most part I just use the same stuff we’ve used all these years and don’t even really look at the new “better” stuff that is being published. It’s kind of freeing.

These are our main school bookshelves. The 3 black bucks on the left are for Gabriel, Phoebe and Benjamin. We keep the cuisenaire rods,  wooden pattern blocks and the Leap Pad on the bottom shelf. The white bucket has some math flash cards and some other math enrichment stuff. Christian and Josiah keep their school work in their rooms.

So here’s the low down on what our school year curriculum will look like this year

{Christian} 
Art, Speech and Computer at our local community college
SAT Prep Class (co-op)
Literature (co-op)
Drama
Apologia Chemistry (focus on writing lab reports as he has already taken this class)
Teaching Textbooks Geometry (finish up last bit from last year)

{Josiah}
Apologia Chemistry (co-op)
Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2
SAT Prep (co-op)
Literature (co-op)
Notgrass World History, Literature and Bible
Drama

For the Easy Grammar I just have the teacher book. It has the worksheet on the left and the answers on the right. It is reproducible, but I just cut a plastic page protector and slip it over the page and let them write with a dry erase marker. When they are done, they remove the page I have to cover the answers on the right and check their own work.

{Gabriel}
Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1
Apples Spelling vol. 2
Easy Grammar Plus
Literature (co-op)
Creative writing (co-op)

{Phoebe}
Teaching Textbooks Math 6
Apples Spelling vol. 1
Easy Grammar Plus
Literature (co-op)
Creative writing (co-op)
 Art (co-op)

{Benjamin}
Miquon Math Purple Book
Teaching Textbooks Math 5
Spelling – to be determined
Art (co-op)
Creative writing (co-op)

I am so very excited about this addition to our homeschool this year. I’ve read almost the entire book! We are sharing the book so instead of ripping out the page to write on I bought composition books for us. I know…big spender!

{Together Time}
Bible Reading
Rip the Page – Adventures in Creative Writing
Christian Kids Explore Chemistry (Christian and Josiah won’t be doing this)
Mystery of History 3 (Christian and Josiah won’t be doing this)

I’ll be posting some ideas for Esther soon. She really needs to be kept busy!

So this is our year. I’m excited, I think I have the right balance of fun and academic. Most of all, I don’t feel overwhelmed when I look at what we’ve planned. And that is always a good thing.

To see what others are doing in their homeschools, check out Hip Homeschool Hop and “Not” Back to School Blog Hop

Thanks for sharing with your friends!