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Day One: Math
Day Two: Science
Day Three: History
Day Four: Computer Programs
Day Five: Reading
Hi there homeschoolers! I am enjoying sharing our favorite home school curriculum with all of you!!
I am a curriculum junkie! I have tried SO many things, and am always willing to try something new!!! I have been home schooling for five years now, and am now home schooling three different grade levels. That's so hard to believe.. so we have tried a lot of things, and I just want to share my heart and my world with you, especially you home school Mommies!
Here are some of the things we have tried for Literature and History, and how we arrived where we are today! Enjoy!!
My Father's World
I'm going to mention this because this is where we started. It doesn't really set as a History curriculum, but since the rest of MFW is history based, I thought it was important to mention! Well, to be fair, we started with Abeka, but I've never liked Abeka in the early years. Don't get me wrong! It's a very extensive program, and very thorough! The private school that my children attended for a few months used Abeka and it worked great for them, the skills that they learned are so strong! However, I always found it overwhelming to me. It's very cut and dry, so if you like that, Abeka is for you.. but I enjoy adding my own to whatever we are using at the time.
After throwing in the towel on Abeka, I happened on My Fathers World, and I LOVED it. I actually used it for two years, for Kinder and First grade for my daughter. MFW really made me love home schooling, and it wasn't overwhelming at all. I loved it. It is far lighter as an early program than Abeka or Horizons, which some people find that lacking and don't enjoy it for that reason. However, it was the biggest reason I did enjoy it. I loved every moment of MFW, and honestly I am thinking about revisiting this after we finish our US History Curriculum. I do like to supplement here and there, but once my Kinder and my 3rd grader start doing things together (right now she is doing History with my 8th grader, who will be doing her own thing in high school next year) I may revisit the MFW curriculum that I loved! But if you're looking for something all inclusive to start with younger kids, I highly recommend!
United States History
Two years ago I started home schooling my oldest daughter for the first time. The other children had homeschooled for years before, but this was the first time I was teaching something other than elementary school! I had a 7th grader and a 2nd grader, as well as my Pre-K kid. I knew my PreK kiddo wasn't ready for a History curriculum so I thought he could just play along! Since I had a combination of younger and older learners, and I was trudging into teaching History for the first time, I zoned in on American History, and that was a great choice!
The first things I picked up were Joy Hakim books, A History of US. I really enjoyed these books! Originally, I was reading them to the kids, then I backed up and read them myself and then taught the kiddos. Finally, I started a different teaching method and passed them off to my 8th grader to do her own more in depth reading, so she reads a chapter (they are short!) and writes a short description each day of what she read. She really enjoys them, and finds them an easy ready! I would certainly recommend them, and you can usually pick them up at your local library. Also, PBS has a site that has a lot of supplemental information you can use throughout the study! http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/We were having fun starting our program, but I still wanted to add more and make it ours! After lots of searching, I happend on this, and I'm SO glad that I did!!!
And here's what we use now!!
Bella-High School
SchoolHouseTeachers.com
My highschooler, Lacey, has been working her way through history on SchoolHouseTeachers.com! It's simple to download, and easy for her to use! There's also several history courses for her to choose from! Come back on Day 4 when I review computer programs and find out more about schoolhouseteachers.com, but its our favorite new find in the homeschooling world!!!
Hudson and Callista- Elementary School
BJU Press: Heritage Studies
I found this on a table for free at a homeschool co-op meeting, and I'm SO glad that I picked it up! I've been so impressed again and again by BJU Press! I've enjoyed everything I've checked out and I will be using several BJU Press tools for our curriculum next year! But for this year, we have enjoyed using this as our core curriculum while supplementing with some other things! I've been so impressed with the easy to read text and the colorful workbooks! I really enjoy this curriculum!
And here are some of our favorite supplemental materials!!!
Portraits of American Girlhood : Seven Unit Studies Using Popular Historical Fiction
I had two girls doing American History, so what better to use than the American Girl series???
This book is wonderful, divided into the different American Girls, its actually a full curriculum, but we only use it for Literature and History, skipping over math and science. I don't think it seems like a complete Math or Science curriculum to me, but that's just me, it may be great for your family! The layout is great, the ideas are great, as well as recommended supplements! I can't say enough good about this, it has been fun!
So far, we have finished Kaya with Native Americans, Felicity and the Revolutionary War, and Josephina with New Mexico. We are starting this week and finishing up our school year with Kirsten and the Pioneer era, so we can begin next year with Addy and the Civil War. Here are a few supplemental things we've used with each of our units, if someone is interested in trying them out!
History of New Mexico with Josephina
Felicity: Revolutionary War
Kaya-Native American Study
We have been working our way through History with Kirsten in the Pioneer period, which I'll be sharing soon! You can follow our entire American Girl History unit here.
Geography:
When I think about the states and their placement, I remember a US Puzzle that my grandfather bought me for Christmas when I was about nine years old. I thought, what a better way to learn! I picked this puzzle, and this game up on Amazon, and we like each of them!!!
I also hung a giant United States map in our home school area, which is near our dinner table. We have had lively conversations over time about each state, and now because of the puzzle and just continually looking at the map, my daughter can put the puzzle together in about five minutes, lol. They know where they are better than I do!
We also use and love 50 States and How to Find them by Barefoot Ragamuff. Great curriculum!
But to end, our favorite History curriculum is one that we found this year! I actually stumbled upon it on a table for free in one of our homeschool co-ops that we visit!
Day four: Computer Programs
Joining our friends over at the iHomeschool Network for a 5 day Homeschool Blogger Hopscotch!
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