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Our Family's Journey Through
Life, Lyme, & Homeschooling
"Above all, love each other deeply..." 1 Peter 4:8
NOTE: Our family prefers to study as many subjects TOGETHER as possible, so we search for curricula that will be engaging & challenging for everyone in the home. The following options, unless otherwise noted, are excellent resources for a variety of ages.
We've tried Story of the World and Biblioplan, but Mystery of History is still our fav. The lessons are chronological and easy to teach, and everything is included in A SINGLE BOOK (bonus points!). Best feature: there are FANTASTIC, easy-to-implement craft/project ideas following each lesson (plus, there are different suggestions for elementary, middle, and high school kids). Love this!
History
We've thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of the science books from Apologia's Exploring Creation series, and we've discovered that we prefer Apologia's "deep dive" into one topic over the "a-little-of-this-and-a-little-of-that" approach that's often favored by other science texts. We also love the experiments associated with each lesson, as well as the optional notebooking journals. (Confession: We don't always have time for the notebooking journals, but we think they're excellent tools for reinforcing key concepts; we certainly enjoy the journals whenever we can squeeze them into our days!)
Apologia suggests that folks begin with the Astronomy book, but we've found that the order of study (at least in the elementary years) doesn't matter. We skip around according to our boys' current interests. :-)
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Looking ahead, we're planning to use Apologia's science texts for as long as we continue to homeschool. We've heard that the middle- and high-school books are just as thorough/interesting as the elementary texts. So, unless things change, we're planning to stick with Apologia for the long haul!
The boys LOVE science, so I'm always adding extra (read: random!) science experiments as time permits. We've pulled some great ideas from these sources:
Bonus Science Stuff
Science
Full disclaimer: Math is not my kids' favorite subject. That said, the Singapore style (Primary Mathematics) has treated us well. The boys seem to have a solid understanding of the key concepts (meaning they score well on standardized tests), and they don't weep at the sight of their math books - that's pretty much all I can ask for in this department.
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Since the Primary Mathematics series is intended for grades K-6, the boys will switch to Art of Problem Solving in grade 7 (unless something else strikes our fancy when the time rolls around). ;-)
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For those with kindergarten students (or even pre-K kiddos), you might take a look at RightStart Mathematics. I supplemented our Primary Mathematics workbooks with RightStart games, songs, and worksheets during the early years. (My personal opinion is that RightStart is not robust enough to stand on its own as a comprehensive curriculum beyond first grade. But, that's just my opinion. I have friends who've used RightStart throughout the elementary years, and they've had great success with it.)
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*Note: Math is obviously one of those subjects that needs to be tailored to each student's age and ability, so I order separate textbooks and workbooks for the boys. We've always used the Standards Edition of the Primary Mathematics books because it seems to be the most comprehensive.
Math
I think there are four solid options in this category: WriteShop, Brave Writer, IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing), and Classical Academic Press's Writing & Rhetoric.
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If you want an open-and-go writing curriculum, then WriteShop is your answer. The lessons are engaging and thorough, and you won't wonder if you're missing anything. Both of my boys have enjoyed this program! (WriteShop definitely falls more on the "fun" side of the writing spectrum, with Brave Writer being the most fun of all the options.)
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Both IEW and Classical Academic Press offer excellent, comprehensive programs. However, these writing curricula are definitely more dry than the others... they're both highly formulaic, and they emphasize how to write rather than what to write. (Brave Writer, on the other hand, places far more emphasis on developing original thoughts and then expressing those thoughts in an original/authentic voice; polishing a student's grammar and sentence structure IS covered by Brave Writer, but to a lesser degree. WriteShop falls somewhere in the middle... it's more formulaic than Brave Writer, but less so than IEW and CAP.) Have IEW and CAP been helpful to my boys? YES. Do the boys enjoy these programs? Nope! So we don't use them frequently. ;-)
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Of all the options on the market today, I'm sure you've guessed that Brave Writer is easily my favorite. I adore Julie Bogart (the author of Brave Writer), and her writing-should-be-enjoyable philosophy is in line with my own. When taught well, writing assignments can - and should be! - JOYFUL, SOUL-NOURISHING exercises. If you're willing to embrace a more relaxed (and FUN!) writing program, then I highly encourage you to explore Brave Writer's options. (Start by reading The Writer's Jungle - or take The Brave Writer 101 Online Class - and then dive into one of the writing projects, such as Jot It Down, Partnership Writing, or Help for High School. You might even consider one of Brave Writer's online courses. Oh - and the copywork exercises available through the Dart, Arrow, and Boomerang are fantastic too!)
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Our family is almost always utilizing some combination of all of the above. For those who prefer to use a single curriculum, ANY of these options would be great as a stand-alone course.
Writing
We alternate between Evan-Moor's grammar workbooks and Brave Writer's copywork exercises (a week of grammar followed by a week of copywork).
For grammar, I simply order the appropriate grade-level Evan-Moor workbook for each kiddo through Amazon. The lessons are self-explanatory and can be easily completed independently.
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For copywork, I search the archives of Brave Writer's "The Arrow" (which is a collection of copywork lessons for 3rd-6th grades) to find our current read-aloud book, and then I download the copywork lessons for that particular book. (I don't always find our read-alouds in the archives, but I'd say that 90% of our books are listed on the site.) Alternatively, if you're interested in following Brave Writer's read-aloud schedule for a given school year, then you can subscribe to one of Brave Writer's "Mechanics & Literature" programs (according to your child's age), and then you'll receive copywork lessons for each of the assigned books throughout the year.
Grammar & Copywork
We've used All About Spelling from day one, and we're still enjoying this open-and-go program. The Orton-Gillingham method (which is used by All About Spelling) is perfect for dyslexic kiddos. And the magnetic letter tiles are a tremendous help for kinesthetic learners (like our boys)!
Spelling
We study a different continent each year, drawing maps and delving into the customs, landmarks, and people of its countries. (This year we're focusing on Europe!) We use Kristin Draeger's books to guide our map-drawing efforts, and then we add crafts, books, puzzles, and projects to enhance our study of the various countries. (For example, we might use Lego bricks or Keva blocks to build some famous landmarks, we might read German folktales, etc.) I snag book ideas from Give Your Child the World, and I gather craft/activity ideas from the internet. We always try to make our geography studies as much fun as possible! :-)
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OH, how could I forget?! We also sing Kathy Troxel's geography songs to help us memorize the countries on each continent. She has a song for every continent, plus songs for the states/capitals of the USA. (Many of the songs can be downloaded through Amazon Music and iTunes.)
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And, just to make sure the boys are remembering the previous years' studies, we use this talking globe to help us review ALL of the continents/countries in the world.
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Note: Some families prefer to tie their geography studies into their history studies. This makes complete sense! For our family, though, we found that the chronological study of history resulted in the same few countries being featured over and over again in the early years. Plus, our kids had a desire to learn about modern societies (like the use of bullet trains in Japan, for example), modern conflicts (such as the rise of terrorism in the Middle East), and modern needs (such as clean water in Africa and protection of the rainforests in South America). SO, we decided to separate our history and geography studies, and that plan has worked beautifully for us thus far! ;-)
Geography
We don't emphasize Latin & Greek as intently as our CC friends (Classical Conversations families), but we do incorporate Latin/Greek lessons, flash cards, games, and simple workbooks each week. We have no intention of learning to "speak" the languages, but we are aiming for a solid grasp of Latin/Greek root words. We love the ease & efficiency of these materials!
Latin & Greek
Y'all. Mrs. Wordsmith is TOO. MUCH. FUN! The illustrations are vibrant and memorable (and always hilarious!), and the high-quality flash cards are a teacher's dream. We learn a new word every day (usually during lunch time), and the boys earn iPad minutes every time they correctly use a new word throughout the week. (Suddenly my hair becomes "flawless," the dog's appetite is "voracious," and the weather is "tempestuous." Ha!)
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Some days we play The Storyteller's Card Game (during lunch); other days we play our own homemade games using the same flash cards. (Silliness rules our vocabulary lessons, but the boys seem to be LEARNING & RETAINING the words, so YAY!)
Vocabulary
We began with Rosetta Stone (which is great!), but we're transitioning to DuoLingo this year. DuoLingo is simply easier and cheaper... the boys use the app on their iPads (or they access the website on the laptop) to progress through the lessons at their own pace (individual logins are required).
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We supplement DuoLingo with books from One Third Stories (love these!!!), Spanish TV shows (such as El Perro y El Gato and Sesamo), and we even add Spanish subtitles to some of our favorite movies. ;-)
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None of us are proficient in Spanish (not even close!), but we understand bits and pieces of conversations, and we're improving each year!
Spanish
Finally, here are a few goodies that we love (and actually use):
Extras
