It’s been a great summer for our family!
Swimming with daddy. The girls had their first sleep over … 8 girlies!
My girls turned 6 and 8 years old! We also had lots of play dates with friends!
….On with our curriculum choices for 1st and 3rd grade!
The new school year is just around the corner so I thought it would be a great time to let you know what curriculum we will be using this year.
Bible, Geography, Science, Read-Alouds, Art and Music
Last year was our first year using My Father’s World. It was our best year. MFW does the lesson planning for me!
We will be using MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures this year. It is a unit study designed for students grades 3-8th. It includes lessons for Bible, history, geography, science, read alouds, art, cooking, nature study, and music!
Why do I love MFW?
- The lessons plans are created for me and I have all the resources I need except a few library books to add to our reading.
- My girls work together on all their subjects except math, language arts and reading … so I only have to teach the subjects just once.
- It’s economical especially since I will reuse the same curriculum again in 5 years but at a more advanced level of study.
- It is easy to do with a co-op group. We have 5 families in our ECC co-op this year!
- Just plain fun. My kids loved doing their MFW science and history last year!
What we will be studying in MFW ECC this year?
Check out their website Exploring Countries and Cultures with MFW
How often are we planning to do each ECC subjects?
Bible ~ daily; Geography ~ 2x/ week; Science ~ 2x/ week; Art ~ 2x/ week; Reading ~ daily; Music ~ 2x/ week; Nature Walk ~ 1x/ week
Our co-op will meet each Thursday morning for 3 hours during which time we will complete ECC projects like crafts, cooking, geography games, missionary/ character lessons, memory verse games, hands-on science projects, and/ or a nature walk lesson. The goal of our ECC co-op is to complete projects and lessons assigned in our ECC curriculum lesson plans.
I will also be adding a few supplements to our year:
- Expedition Earth Curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler
- Heaven’s Heroes by Shibley
- Children Just Like Me by Kindersley
- 10 Girls / 10 Boys Who Changed The World by Howat
Math
Math U See has been our best choice for math curriculum. It teaches mastery without the busy work. The girls are working on MUS Alpha and Beta.
For math drill, we will be using a program I reviewed (and the girls enjoyed) called Mad Dog Math. Check out my review here
The girls will do math lessons and drill 4 times a week.
Language Arts
In January, I starting using the Barton Reading and Spelling program with my older daughter. It is my third and final curriculum purchase to teach her how to read. It has been the BEST program EVER for teaching a dyslexic child how to learn to read. It is an Orton-Gillingham based program so it’s multi-sensory. She will be finishing level 3 soon!
The Barton program teaches: reading, spelling, dictation, fluency, games and phonics. It is expensive and worth every penny. The re-sale value is high!
Check out Susan Barton’s Reading and Spelling programs here:
Barton reading
Bright Solutions For Dyslexia
If you have a child you suspect with dyslexia or reading delay listen to Susan Barton’s webinars for more details! Click the Bright Solutions link above or email me @ m_wharton@yahoo.com
My younger daughter, Marissa, will be using Learning Language Arts through Literature Blue, All About Spelling Level 1, and the Explode the Code workbooks.
Both girls will be doing Language Arts 4 times a week. Spelling will be 2-3 times a week. Reading will be daily.
Foreign Language
I reviewed a product called Song School Latin as part of This Old Schoolhouse CREW last year.
My girls loved the program so much that I plan to complete it this school year. Read my review here
More details on my homeschool planning for the year to come soon! It will be similar to what I did last year with a few updates – click here!
Check our what others are doing this year at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers blog.
Also join me for a blog hop @ Heart of the Matter – Curriculum choices week one