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This may be the first time ever I’m sharing our curriculum picks after we’ve already started our school year! At least I got this year’s morning basket and group subjects shared in fairly good time, but we’re already nearly two weeks into the school year and I’m just now sitting down to share our core individual subjects. It’s been such a busy season!
I started splitting up our curriculum pick posts between group and independent subjects a few years back. Things get a bit more complex each year as we add new subjects and the kids get older. The amazing thing is that, as our subject matter gets a little more complex and “time consuming”, a lot of that time is accomplished without my help. They’re getting more independent! And I’m starting to feel the transition into being more of a facilitator than an instructor.
Squeaks (10 years old) can easily read the instructions on her work, make her way through a task list without my help, and even log in to her online classes! Little Dude (8 years old) is getting much better at reading, can be given a list of several things to do, and can focus and get them done without reminding. Flash (newly 7 years old) still needs a bit of help with reading instructions, but once I tell him what needs to be done, he’s off and running!
All that to say, I’m excited to see the progress we’re making as a group, and even more excited to see each of my children taking responsibility for their own educations a bit more.
Let’s start our first round of core subject curriculum picks with Flash in second grade.
Not a lot has changed for Flash this year. He participates beautifully during our group subjects and his core subjects are about the same as they were in his first grade year.
We’re continuing on with Horizon’s math and All About Reading (level 2). Both of these curriculums have been a great fit for him.
Horizon’s is quick, just a page a day, and he’s familiar with the layout so he’s working through it easily once I read him the instructions.
All About Reading is the same. He’s familiar with the layout and we can usually complete at least two full lessons per week. He still isn’t a huge fan of the warm up pages and would prefer to move on the the actual story reading or the activities (which I allow sometimes), but his reading has already come so far! I can’t say enough good things about the AAR program.
One new thing I’m adding for Flash this year is FixIt! Grammar.
He and Little Dude are doing Level 1 together and they’re both picking it up quickly. FixIt! Grammar is another page-a-day set up. Simply fix the day’s sentence, identifying any errors and marking the parts of speech. Level one starts out simple with nouns and articles. Then they rewrite it with corrections. It takes us maybe five to ten minutes. Super efficient.
Lastly, we’re adding some penmanship practice this year.
Flash is alternating between my ABC Bible Verses book and his Journal four days a week. Mondays and Thursdays he traces a verse for that week’s letter of the alphabet. Tuesdays and Fridays he chooses a page from a Draw Write Now book and uses his Journal to draw and write out the sentences. Then he has Wednesday off. He’s done great so far with this routine and I can already see an improvement in his handwriting.
Little Dude has several new curriculum picks this year!
This guy has been my most challenging of the three, simply because his learning style doesn’t match mine. So it stretches me, which can actually be kind of fun if I let it! Lol!
This year Little Dude requested Teaching Textbooks for math.
Squeaks has used Teaching Textbooks for a couple years and LD always thought it was cool that she got to do it on her iPad. I hesitated at first since he tends to be my screen-loving guy, plus he was doing well with Horizons, just a bit board with it. I decided to let him give it a try though (the kid is beyond charming, just like his dad, and wore me down). He loves it! He did six lessons in the first day! We had a brief hiccup where he got overly confident, tried to skip the lecture part of the lesson, and had to go back to fix a few low scores. Once he understood the process though he did amazing and has even asked several times to do extra math.
Little Dude is thriving with All About Reading!
Being able to go at his pace has been key. I split the lessons into multiple days and try to keep things as interactive as possible. Letting him stand (and wiggle) while he reads, lining up jelly beans as a reward for each line read, playing “beat the clock” and timing his so he can see how fast he can get through a page. The activities already included in the curriculum have been such a huge hit too and make the lessons seem so much less overwhelming.
Because of how hectic last school year was, he does have a bit of Level 2 he’s finishing up this year. Even so, if we stay on track and he continues to enjoy it, we’re on track to finish the small bit of Level 2 and Level 3 this year.
FixIt! Grammar is also new for Little Dude this year.
It’s fun to see both the boys enjoying this simple activity together. The book starts slow enough that Flash can keep up with big brother, but it’s challenging enough that they both feel accomplished when they complete it. I couldn’t be happier with this pick so far.
Spelling and penmanship are last for Little Dude’s third grade core curriculum picks.
We decided to drop All About Spelling this year. It was a good extra boost for LD’s reading skills last year, but it added just a bit too much to his school day and he started getting overwhelmed. As much as I love the All About Learning curriculum in general, All About Spelling was a bit redundant when we were already doing All About Reading.
So this year I decided to simplify a bit to fit my independent little guy. He started typing lessons with Touch-Type Read and Spell! While this is foremost a typing program it definitely adds a spelling benefit. Plus it uses the Orton-Gillingham method to teach just like All About Reading. It’s multi-sensory and it’s not graded on speed, but on accuracy. It’s also not game-based so it doesn’t have a bunch of flashing or distracting things on the screen, which I think is super helpful for Little Dude’s focus. So far he loves it, and this is another one where he asks to do more during the week. A win for sure!
Penmanship for Little Dude is the same as for Flash this year. Instead of alternating with tracing though, he’s alternating with typing. Every other day LD does a Draw Write Now book with his Journal to get a bit of writing practice in. Simple!
My big girl is last with her fifth grade curriculum picks, and just typing that makes me want to cry!
I will forever be amazed at how fast Squeaks is growing up. She is the definition of a curious kid and it’s so much fun to watch her learn. She’s ultra conversational which can lead to distractions if she’s working at the same table with her brothers. But once she gets going she completes the majority of her core subjects without any input from me (other than checking it when she’s finished).
Squeaks math this year was a quick u turn.
She ended last year thinking she’d like to try Horizon’s. She’s more of a paper and pencil gal usually. Three lessons into Horizon’s level 5 she changed her mind, and we switched back to Teaching Textbooks. She might enjoy the tactile pencil and paper, but she’s also not big on change and immediately wanted the familiar rhythm back. No problem! Homeschool is all about flexibility. So she’s back to Teaching Textbooks for the third year in a row and she’s doing great.
I am most excited to see Squeaks dive into her language arts line up this year.
IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) Structure and Style was super intimidating to even order. This one curriculum pick took me forever to pull the trigger on because it seemed so serious and daunting. Even once I actually purchased it, simply unpacking it was a mind bender. I kept hearing such amazing things about it though! So here we are, on our second week, and Squeaks has already said it might be her new favorite subject.
I remember feeling the same overwhelm about all the moving parts with All About Reading. It was the same thing though. Once we got started we never looked back. I’m starting to think quality curriculum just has this feel.
Squeaks has always been interested in writing. She wrote an entire book- a full on illustrated book- about all her favorite bird varieties, just for fun. The thing is huge! And that’s not the only book she’s written. My favorite is the one about silly fictional animal combinations. Her hawk-ram drawing is epic. Suffice it to say, the kid loves writing. I’m all about encouraging that and IEW seems to genuinely fit the bill.
Even though the program seems overwhelming (the included binder is something else), I can already see the benefit in the way it’s designed. The lessons aren’t too long for Squeaks, and the instructor in the videos is super sweet and funny.
Squeaks doesn’t have a formal reading curriculum this year.
We picked out some age appropriate books for her and she simply reads (these are some of our favorite chapter books). She reads as much as she likes every day, occasionally writing a paragraph or two about her reading in her Journal. When she finishes a book we’ll do a book report. This works great for her, and it’s another subject she’s able to complete independently (if you don’t count the twenty minute monologue I get after each chapter- which I LOVE!).
Squeaks is starting FixIt! Grammar this year too, but is using level 2.
After the very formal and sometimes dry First Language Lessons curriculum we used last year, FixIt! Grammar feels very approachable. I could have even started Squeaks on level 3 and she would have been good. FLL might have been a bit ridged but it sure got the job done. The only reason we didn’t stick with it for a third year is because it was simply too repetitive. It’s an excellent curriculum. It fit the season we were in and did it’s job perfectly. FixIt! Grammar fits our current season a bit better though, and it’s been another great fit for independent work since Squeaks can easily read the lessons on her own.
Typing Is the last rung on Squeaks’ language arts wheel.
She’s on her third year using Touch-Type Read and Spell and still loving it. She’s getting faster and more accurate. She loves doing their themed typing modules after some of the regular lessons too. She recently started an art module typing out words and longer sentences with art themed vocabulary. I check her progress as she goes, but she works independently and it even doubles as spelling practice.
Squeaks’ last core subject is her piano lessons.
She has been working her way through the Hoffman Academy program for three years now. The only thing “slowing her down” is her own creativity. She’ll learn a new scale or song and spend a week or two coming up with her own songs or changing the lesson’s song into her own. It’s so fun to listen to and I love her creativity. She’s in no rush to get to the next level of lessons and neither am I. I simply require her to practice a minimum of 10 minutes four times a week. She meets, and usually exceeds that easily.
So that’s where we are for our 2024-25 curriculum picks! I’m excited for this school year and am already amazed at how independent my kids are becoming. We all start out wondering “how will I teach them all at once!?” Then we get to this place where they start teaching themselves and it’s amazing. A real gift to watch.
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