Our 2009-2010 Homeschool Curriculum Plans

It’s that time of year again when homeschoolers around the country are putting together their plans for the 2009 – 2010 school year. We are not exceptions. I think that I finally have it put together.

This year, we will be doing 4th grade, 3rd grade, and PreK. My boys (the older ages) are mostly doing the same things together. Sometimes they are doing the same thing, but different levels (like in Math, for instance). I’ll go through what we’re doing for the boys first, and then I’ll add some things we plan to do with Molly.

I am moving a lot of our Language Arts work into workbooks. This is partially to move the boys to working on some things more independently, and also because I felt like we were really lacking in the language arts area last year.

Oh, and one more quick note — we are, obviously, not doing everything on the list on every single day of school. (Some of the things listed, for instance, are only once or twice per week.)

Language Arts:

Phonics: Spectrum Phonics

Vocabulary: Wordly Wise

Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears (this for level for part of the year, and then this level)

Spelling: Sequential Spelling

Grammar: Language of God — this is the grammar program through Catholic Heritage Curricula (the boys are using two different levels on this, only because that was how we started out)

Writing: Writing Strands (one week) and Spectrum Writing (opposite weeks)

Reading:

As per the reading schedule in Winter Promise’s American Story I plan, plus the 3rd Grade Readers in the Language Arts Plan

Silent Free Reading Time Each Day (Kids’ Choice)

Math:

Horizons Math (Level Two and Three, as this program was above what they were doing in public school, so I had to start them both at the level one below their grade level)

Drills on Math Is Fun (free website)

Religion:

Our Life with Jesus – Faith & Life Series

Religion Books with Winter Promise’s American Story I set

Weekly Religious Education (aka: CCD) at Church

Saints for Young Readers for Every Day (Vol 1 and Vol 2) — start each day with the short reading of the Feast Day for that day

Social Studies:

Winter Promise – American Story I

State History Class at Co-op

Science:

Winter Promise – Shoot & Sprout, Buzz & Bite

Art:

Artistic Pursuits (K – 3, Book 1)

Various arts and crafts activities with Winter Promise curriculum

Jack — Art Class at Co-op

Music:

The Story of the Orchestra (I broke it down into about 40 “lessons” — this is a very neat book and CD combo)

Music Lessons – Violin for Jack, Piano for Noah

Gym:

Weekly open gym time

Foreign Language:

Rosetta Stone – Spanish (Latin America) Level 1 (we actually own the level 1 & 2 set)

Typing Instruction:

Mavis Beacon Deluxe

Other:

At co-op (twice a month), the boys will also be taking a Chess class, and Noah is also taking a Life Skills Class.

For Molly (PreK):

We will be doing a lot of free activities, as well as inviting her to join us for all of the activities that she is able to do with the boys’ schooling. (She has always listened along to books, done science with us, joined in on hands on projects, etc.)

When we are working on more formal things, we will work on:

Handwriting Without Tears – Get Ready for School Edition

Who Am I? — Preschool Edition (Religious Instruction) (Book A and Book B)

Get Ready for the Code – Book A

Getting Your Preschooler Ready for Math

Activities from Montessori on a Shoestring

And lots of educational toys and games, plus just free play! (She will also be taking a preschool class and songs class at our co-op, as well as going to open gym time with us.)

Can I admit that I’m a little tired just typing it all out? I’m really excited about all of the materials that I have picked out for this year though. They are very different from last year, and I hope that will lead us to a more successful (and less stressful) year this year. Last year, I planned every little bit of it myself, so I’m hoping that by letting Winter Promise do some of the work, then I’ll be a little less stressed.

This post is linked to: Thirsty Thursday, Weekly Wrap Up (Special Curriculum Edition), and Not Back-to-School Blog Hop.

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