Our 2016-2017 Curriculum

 It has been an eventful year. I am thankful for each day I have with my family. We homeschool our daughters because God has led us here. The beauty of doing school at home is that we can do school around our schedule. We just need to meet 180 days. I have already bought our books for the the coming school year because we are considering starting in July. There are many reasons tied into this decision including something we have always wanted to do and take the whole month of December off.

We follow a classical education style:

Note: I will do a separate post with their read alouds.
  M is going to be in 2nd grade!

Math: CLE 2 and 3, and Life of Fred Cats ( I am hoping to squeeze in a few chapters during our break; Dogs (maybe Edgewood)

Grammar: First Language Lessons 2

Writing: Writing with Ease 2

Science: Elemental Science-Earth Science for the Grammar Stage

History Odyssey: Level 1 Middle Ages

Phonics & Reading: Phonics Pathways (wrapping up), Explode the Code 5-6, McGuffey Level 2 reader, and Sonlight recommended readers (her choice)

Spelling: I am trying a different approach this year to tests with M. We are going to do more dictation, and use words from ETC and McGuffey. If I see she needs more help then I will add a different spelling curriculum. We have been learning the rules through our other curriculum.

Handwriting: Zaner-Bloser 2c -cursive

Art: ArtPac 2, Usborne drawing books
Music: still up in the air, but will include Story of the Orchestra and various composer studies
Extra: Analogies for Critical Thinking, Mind Benders

Latin: Song School Latin

We are also going to let her take monthly classes at our local zoo.

E is going to be in Kindergarten!

Math: finishing up Singapore Essentials B then moving toward 1A. I am not sure if she will be ready for 1B after 1A. We may supplement with some FlashKids workbooks. Life of Fred- Apples

Science: Elemental Science: Intro to Science

History & Geography: lots of reading (overview of world history) Usborne Time Traveler, Story of Exploration are our spines. We will also read lots of Magic Treehouse and Imagination Station books.
Evan Moor Beginning Geography book.

Handwriting: Zaner-Bloser K

Phonics and Reading: Explode the Code 1-2, Phonics Pathways, BOB books, McGuffey Primer, Learning to Read (from Pathway reader)

Rod & Staff F-I books. These cover a variety of subjects. E loves them!

Art: ArtPac 1 as we see fits her skill level

Extra: Critical Thinking Company's Mind Benders 

A is in Nursery School and along for the ride!

Potty training is on the list for this year. We are reluctantly training her right now, but not really just yet.
I bought her a few books to entertain her while I do school with the bigger girls. 

1.Rod &Staff preschool books: About 3, Color, Count, and Cut
2.Dollar Tree sticker books
3.Prayers for Children Little Golden Book
4.LeapFrog Letter Factory (best DVD ever!)
5.Before Five in a Row reading list
6. Montessori Letter, Number, and Shape board books 
We will be doing little Montessori activities with her about twice a week like pouring, sorting, folding, etc.
I will be pulling ideas from 1+1+1=1 and the book Slow & Steady Get Me Ready 

Our favorite books

Reading aloud to our girls is one of our favorite things to do with them. We both enjoy books, but reading aloud has proven to be one of our most beneficial choices we have made as parents. We see the benefit in their vocabulary, pretend play, imagination as they compose drawings and their own writing. It is also bonding. As I was gathering our books from various parts of the house I was flooded with memories from our time together. It has not been a huge investment of  time when it is only about 10-20 minutes per day, but those have added up over the years. I love it when people recommend books to us. I love to hear their family's favorites. I simply adore and treasure book lists. Please dear friends keep the suggestions coming.

Bubba and Beau books by Kathi Appelt
Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (you may hear me quoting this to my girls when we are at the store)
Duck at the Door by Jackie Urbanovic
I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
We are Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen (we go on bear hunts in our house- I somehow usually the bear :)
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown (love this author!)
The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Play With Me by Marie Hallets
Baby Animals by Gyo Fujikawa (my favorite illustrator!) A has a read this to her MANY times!
I am a Bunny by Richard Scarry (A will climb up and say "bunny peas!")
I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak (one of M's favorites)
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (seriously what is not to love?)
Goodnight Sweet Butterflies by Bentley
The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
Guess How Much I love You by Sam McBratney
Moo, Baa, La, La, La by Sandra Boynton (almost all her books are great)
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson (love this series)
Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae
Duck and Goose by Tad Hills (we love them so!)
In My Meadow by Sara Gillingham
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

The Pigeon books all of them by Mo Willems (E adores them.)
The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen
Rosie Revere Engineer by Andrea Beaty (we love Iggy Peck too, and are excited about her new book too!)
Thundercake by Patricia Polacco (We also adore The Bee Tree by her too.)
Mossy by Jan Brett (we look for Mossy every time we see a pond-just in case :)
Otis by Loren Long (such a sweet book)
Petunia by Roger Duvosin (love his illustrations too, and we think this silly goose is quite hysterical)
The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde H. Swift
Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell (we think the last page is perfect)
A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Anatole by Eve Titus
Anatole and the Cat by Eve Titus (this mouse is inspirational)
Goodnight Cowtown by Jennifer Gaines Drez & Robin Beal Bumstead
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parrish
Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird (the whole series is well loved by E)
The Happy Lion by Louise Fato (it is such fun to hear J try to pronounce some of the French words, and the girls love to giggle during this)
Brave Irene by William Steig (I started reading this book the first time and the girls kept getting closer and closer to me. We were very much into this tale of courage.)
Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik
Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo (We LOVE this pig!)
ABC by Dr. Seuss (J and I pretty much have this memorized)
Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire
Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant (these books make our girls giggle-A LOT!)
Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo
Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems

 Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (the chapter where Ma slaps the bear sealed the deal for our girls and were in love from that moment on)
Milly Molly Mandy Storybook by Joyce Lankester Brisley
Mary on Horseback by Rosemary Wells
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse by Thornton Burgess
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
In Grandma's Attic by Arleta Richardson
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey (We are eagerly waiting till Centerburg Tales comes up in our list.)
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Mr. Poppers Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong (this book started out SO slowly that we almost shelved it! We are glad that continued because every day was excitement to hear what happened next!)
Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry (M dreams of being Gooney Bird)
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary (all the goldfish bowls comes up in conversation even though we read this almost a year ago)
Paddington by Michael Bond holds a very special place in M's heart. She simply cannot get enough of him. She dreams of visiting Paddington Station.
The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis 

I did not take a picture of them. However, pretty much on a daily basis I will find a child with their nose deeply buried in one of our many Richard Scarry books. If I did not have the space for many books these are what I would make room for in our house. Plus you can usually find them used even though I am having trouble imagining ever parting with ours.

Semester thoughts and Upcoming Adjustments

I can hardly believe that the fall semester is drawing to a close. The red writing are my new thoughts!

FIRST GRADE
I am glad that we chose to follow The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer as a template for M's first grade year. The classical education approach so far seems like a good fit for her.

2015-2016

Bible/Devotional: We went with Thoughts to Make your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd Jones. The girls enjoy doing our morning reading alongside prayer together. We each pray through ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication). E thanks God for making the animals every day ;) When we finish I think we are going to use Leading Little Ones to God by Maria Schoolland, or something else- recommendations are very much welcome!

Spelling: Building Spelling Skills Book 1 -Love this! Perfect fit for M.
Language Arts: Language Smarts B (Critical Thinking Company) Neither M or I really like this book. I see the value and how it could be a good fit for others, but just not for us. She is half way done, and I am going to pick and choose lessons from here on out. I have specific thoughts on why I do not like it, but that is for another place. and First Language Lessons by Susan Wise Bauer- The lessons in this book are just what we needed. We are half way done with first grade and will then move to second grade immediately after that. Ask M next time you see her what poem she has memorized recently. I think that is her favorite part.
Writing: Writing With Ease 1 by Susan Wise Bauer We will continue with this program. M loves the narration, and I like how it follows nicely with FLL.
Reading and Phonics: McGuffey Reader 1, Phonics Pathways by Dolores Hiskes, and Explode the Code 3&4 and Beyond the Code 1 by Nancy Hall- She is plugging away at each of these.
We are also going to be studying some poems by Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson.

Science: Elemental Science Biology for the Grammar Stage by Paige Hudson  This was a super hard decision for me, but we chose this one because the plans are designed to use 2 days or 5 days a week. We need this kind of flexibility. Also, E can join us during science which is a huge plus.
This has been a great find for our family. It fits all our science needs and wants. We are already planning on buying Earth Science for M next year, Intro to Science for E, and Learning through Science Colors for A.

History: History Odyssey Ancients Level One by Pandia Press There are several other books recommended to buy for this set, but I am still deciding on a timeline to purchase. I am also going to check out some others at the library. We are also going to start reading the Imagination Station series by by Paul McCusker and Marianne Hering
We all have been enjoying this history program. They have a plethora of projects to choose from, and could do this every day if we had time ;)

 Math: She is almost done with Horizon Math 1 Book1, and then will work on Book 2. When she is done we are leaning toward her using Christian Light math grade 2. The My Calendar Book is from Christian Light. She will also continue her "Fred Fridays". She loves Life of Fred so she will continue into the Butterflies (and probably Cats too) book by Dr. Stanley Schmidt.
Horizons Book 2 is almost complete (projected to be done early Feb.) We have debated and I have researched math curriculum to exhaustion. We have begun purchasing Christian Light Math 2, although Horizons has been good for her we just feel that there is something better out there. We have not been doing Life of Fred as often, because we bought some FlashSkills workbooks for her to fine tune some individual skills.

Art: M is so excited about starting these Usborne drawing books. I can hardly keep her away from them. I am probably going to cave and give them to her soon. I am going to admit that I have not been doing art with any of the girls very frequently this semester. She does enjoy the Big Drawing Book quite a bit all the same.

Critical thinking:
We have not touched these books although we love them! Christmas break?

Read alouds are such a sweet time for her and her dad. I just have not bought all of them yet, but I imagine this will be a good start.

Paddington Races Ahead by Michael Bond (this is her choice-she adores Paddington.We did not actually read this one. We read Paddington Helps Out. Paddington is amazing to M.
Usborne Greek Myths She enjoyed these. This book is a good introduction to Greek mythology.
A Tree for Peter by Kate Seredy (J and I love this book, and are excited about sharing it with her.)
Hitty her first hundred years by Rachel Field I think I enjoyed this book the most. J did not care for it, and had me read most of it. M found parts of it to be exciting and engaging, but this may not be the best for read aloud time.
Amy Carmichael by Janet and Geoff Benge
The Wheel on the School by Meindert Dejong The beginning of this book is SO slow! J almost shelved it, but then got to a certain chapter, and after that they fell in love with it. They we were so excited to tell me what happened next.
The Golden Book Family Treasury of Poetry by Louis Untermeyer

Not pictured:
Homer Price by Robert Mccloskey We read this in August, and I still hear about the doughnut machine. If your child has not read this- it is a must! We want to read the sequel Centerburg Tales soon!
Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry This is one of M's new favorite book. She adores Gooney Bird.
The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill
Little Pear by Eleanor Frances Lattimore
The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson This is such a sweet story. We wished we would have saved it for this month.
All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Pasteur's Fight Against Microbes by Beverly Birch
Missionary Stories with the Millers by Mildred Martin
Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates "A man must have a care to what he puts in his mind, for when he's alone on a hillside and draws it out he'll want treasures to be his company, not regrets." This book is a treasure of fantastic writing. Some of it was lost on M, but something to be revisited again. 
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling We are half way done with this book, and we like some and find others odd. I feel that is the way with Kipling.

Preschool:

She has already started Uppercase Letters, but will pursue the others at her pace. She was writing letters on the cement with chalk, and we thought well she is ready for handwriting. ;) 
She is done with the letters books, and we have not started formal cutting yet.

These books focus on a variety of skills and concepts. They are from the Rod and Staff series. We like the story flow of these books and the scope and sequence of what is covered.
She is almost done with Do it Carefully.

  She has begun the Singapore Essential Math Kindergarten A book, and the learning to write numbers 1-30 in the Kumon book. We will begin the Rod and Staff Counting with Numbers when she has completed the Kumon book first. I will alternate days based on her level between these two books. Did you notice the Rod & Staff are in alphabetical order? I am going to buy G-I, just to have on hand when she finishes the others. We like them that much.
She loved math! The Singapore Essential is a very good fit for this numbers girl. She is almost done with A and I need to purchase B soon. She is also almost done with Numbers 1-30 and Counting with Numbers.

 Phonics: She is on Get Set for the Code book B right now, and will begin C. When she is finished with that I am going to start Phonics Pathways, and Bob book readers with her. She will also use these Pathway reader workbooks which I realized I really ought to have the teacher's manual for -oops! She will review her letter sounds with the Doodling Dragon book (awesome resource!). Some letters have more sounds than you think, and this book is a gentle way to practice them. We are also going to be reading more poetry and I love that book! She will also memorize nursery rhymes to work on some skills. I read somewhere that if a child can know 4-5 nursery rhymes by age 5 their ease of reading increases by a good percent. I cannot for the life of me find the source nor the percentage, but regardless it cannot hurt! ;)
Somehow the girl learned to read and spell some. I need to be more intentional with her this semester. I really just do about an hour or so with her a couple days a week. I really feel that this child just needs to play, and practice communicating with others. We did just begin a few lessons in Before We Read and LOVE it! She enjoys that they encourage her to use a ruler when drawing lines.

The younger girls at this stage in their lives just need to be read to, and let to play. I will begin some Montessori for A during Christmas break and January to work on some fine motor skills. If you know A large gross motor skills are not a problem for her!

Summer reading and 1st Grade

We LOVE summer reading  in our house. Last year, we did the chains, where we wrote each book read on a slip of paper and connected them. We really enjoyed that, and the girls are already asking to do it again. This year, M is going to be reading some of the books to add to her own chain. We will also most likely be participating in the Half Price books summer reading program because it is our favorite!

M's List that she reads: (most of these are series)
1. Poppleton by Cynthia Rylant
2. Circle C Beginnings by Susan Marlow
3. Pony Scout series by Catherine Hapka
4. Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant
5. Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmot
6. Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa by Erica Silverman
7. Annie and Snowball by Cynthia Rylant
8. First Days Pathway Reader

Read Out Loud:
1. Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter
2. Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary
3. Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
4. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
5. Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

 FIRST GRADE
I started planning first grade last summer when I read Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. I have always held a good opinion about classical education, but after reading that book I really think it is a good fit for our family.

2015-2016

Bible/Devotional: This is still up in the air, but I think we are going to go through Thoughts to Make your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd Jones and/or God's Names by Sally Michael. I have also considered the Adventures in Odyssey Devotional as well.

Spelling: Building Spelling Skills Book 1
Language Arts: Language Smarts B (Critical Thinking Company) and First Language Lessons by Susan Wise Bauer
Writing: Writing With Ease 1 by Susan Wise Bauer
Reading and Phonics: McGuffey Reader 1, Phonics Pathways by Dolores Hiskes, and Explode the Code 3&4 and Beyond the Code 1 by Nancy Hall
We are also going to be studying some poems by Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson.

Science: Elemental Science Biology for the Grammar Stage by Paige Hudson  This was a super hard decision for me, but we chose this one because the plans are designed to use 2 days or 5 days a week. We need this kind of flexibility. Also, E can join us during science which is a huge plus.

History: History Odyssey Ancients Level One by Pandia Press There are several other books recommended to buy for this set, but I am still deciding on a timeline to purchase. I am also going to check out some others at the library. We are also going to start reading the Imagination Station series by

by Paul McCusker and Marianne Hering

Math: She is almost done with Horizon Math 1 Book1, and then will work on Book 2. When she is done we are leaning toward her using Christian Light math grade 2. The My Calendar Book is from Christian Light. She will also continue her "Fred Fridays". She loves Life of Fred so she will continue into the Butterflies (and probably Cats too) book by Dr. Stanley Schmidt.

Art: M is so excited about starting these Usborne drawing books. I can hardly keep her away from them. I am probably going to cave and give them to her soon.

Critical thinking:

Read alouds are such a sweet time for her and her dad. I just have not bought all of them yet, but I imagine this will be a good start.

Paddington Races Ahead by Michael Bond (this is her choice-she adores Paddington.)
Usborne Greek Myths
A Tree for Peter by Kate Seredy (J and I love this book, and are excited about sharing it with her.)
Hitty her first hundred years by Rachel Field
Amy Carmichael by Janet and Geoff Benge
The Wheel on the School by Meindert Dejong
The Golden Book Family Treasury of Poetry by Louis Untermeyer

Not pictured:
Homer Price by Robert Mccloskey
Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry
The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill
Little Pear by Eleanor Frances Lattimore
The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson
All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Pasteur's Fight Against Microbes by Beverly Birch
Missionary Stories with the Millers by Mildred Martin
Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates

E and A's plans for next year

I have been asked by several people what are your plans for next year. I am still tweaking M's first grade plans, and will post when I finally done. J hopes it is soon because I somewhat drag him in on my thinking process. It is a complicated process ;).  I am thankful, and J is too, that I have good friends who shoulder some of the listening and offering suggestions part. You definitely know who you are-thanks!

E will be starting pre-K in the fall! I am amazed that she will be 4 this summer! I was originally planning to just do the same thing for her as I did for M, but she is not M therefore has different strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, the plan for her is tweaked for her needs and gifts (hopefully a good one). I have learned in my short time homeschooling that the plan is never set in stone, and being able to tweak and stop what is not working and try something else is a blessing.

The 2 pictures below are some of the books that we will read to E. She has been read many of these books before, but some of these we will read multiple times in one week and do activities with them. 

She has already started Uppercase Letters, but will pursue the others at her pace. She was writing letters on the cement with chalk, and we thought well she is ready for handwriting. ;)

These books focus on a variety of skills and concepts. They are from the Rod and Staff series. We like the story flow of these books and the scope and sequence of what is covered.

  She has begun the Singapore Essential Math Kindergarten A book, and the learning to write numbers 1-30 in the Kumon book. We will begin the Rod and Staff Counting with Numbers when she has completed the Kumon book first. I will alternate days based on her level between these two books. Did you notice the Rod & Staff are in alphabetical order? I am going to buy G-I, just to have on hand when she finishes the others. We like them that much.

 Phonics: She is on Get Set for the Code book B right now, and will begin C. When she is finished with that I am going to start Phonics Pathways, and Bob book readers with her. She will also use these Pathway reader workbooks which I realized I really ought to have the teacher's manual for -oops! She will review her letter sounds with the Doodling Dragon book (awesome resource!). Some letters have more sounds than you think, and this book is a gentle way to practice them. We are also going to be reading more poetry and I love that book! She will also memorize nursery rhymes to work on some skills. I read somewhere that if a child can know 4-5 nursery rhymes by age 5 their ease of reading increases by a good percent. I cannot for the life of me find the source nor the percentage, but regardless it cannot hurt! ;)

Science, we will read these books which are awesome! The Biology for the Grammar Stage workbook is actually M's for next year. E will get to follow along in the reading part, and we got coloring pages with a brief (a sentence) in relation to what we are studying. A may also color too (I can hope!).

 Art: She has only done about 5 pages in this faces book. I am hoping to be more consistent in getting this out for her. We are also going to delve into this Come Look with Me book, and explore the questions for each piece.

 E loves these Usborne and the I Spy books. We bought this for an upcoming trip where we will be in the car for a long time. She also enjoys looking at them during quiet time.

Baby A is 14 months! This means that she will be 18 months this August. I usually begin being more intentional with the girls around the 16-18 month. I just try to spend some good one on one time every day with them-playing. This is not always accomplished but I like having it as a goal. We call it tot school, from one of my favorite blogs 1+1+1=1. She has a plethora of ideas, and free printables to help out.

Here are some of my favorite bins for these activities.
1. Wedgits
2. Stacking pegs
3. Large Duplos (A likes to pull them all out and throw them all about the house. Sometimes she will help pick up)

1. Cars- We are a girl house, but my girls still like cars. We just have fun rolling them across the floor right now. We build ramps later on.
2. Playmobil 1-2-3 toy.
3. Some wooden people, animals, and buildings (I set them up and she knocks them down.) These will be used for pretend play as she grows into them.

 Melissa and Doug puzzles-love them! We also love Toob animals. I will get these out and her match them to cards with the same animal (sometimes mama to baby). We also sort by various attributes. She is almost out of the put everything in my mouth phase.

 Hello Sunshine game: We play hide and seek with Sunny, and he came with cards to work on prepositional phrases like "on the chair" with pictures. This will also help in one and two part directions. For example, "put Sunny in the box." Once this is mastered you can add, then come back to the chair.
The ball is a nice bouncy ball for a variety of games. We also like this Curious George book. It touches on body parts, colors, shapes etc. We will also begin using play dough, and getting out the washable crayons. I am excited about this time with her.
A will also begin, once she is 2, a series of board books called Montessori work books, Bobby and June George.
She will also work on some skills using my version of the Montessori method. 

I am also most likely going to incorporate some of these lesson plans from the 12 minute show Monster Math Squad into E and A's school time.

Thoughts and Changes from our first Semester

M's first semester of kindergarten has been one of growth in character for both of us. Our relationship has been pushed in ways it never has before. I think, hope, and pray, that we have learned and are stronger for it.

Math:
M finished her Horizons K math book 1 in mid-October. I slowed her down a bit and focused on place value with another book. She then started Horizons book 2. I quickly realized that she most likely would complete book 2 in early spring. I did some research for more options and decided to add Life of Fred Apples by Dr. Stanley Schmidt as Friday math work. Math is her favorite subject, and she, so far, enjoys her new Apples book too. I am thinking she will go ahead and begin Horizon 1 later this spring.

Phonics and Reading:
She completed Explode the Code book 1 quite early in the fall semester. I am glad that I made the choice to have her do book 1 1/2 before beginning book 2, because she really needed this step. I have been able to slow her down when she is getting frustrated and able to challenge her with this book. Phonics Pathways has been excellent for us. We have been able to make great strides in her reading and spelling with this book. The McGuffey primer she has not used very much this semester, but I am going to start adding it to her reading time. We have not used the Bob Books with her very much as previously planned, but are using other early reader books instead. We will have to wait and see if we will need to add them this spring.

J does a great deal of her read aloud time with her in the evenings. It has been a precious time for them. I am so glad that we have gone on this journey with M, because I have learned so much about children's literature in the process. I have unearthed some wonderful treasures that I am not sure we would have discovered otherwise. If you ever need/want some of our favorite titles please let me know.

History and Science:

Her history is a broad overview of the world, before she begins ancient times next year. She also does work in a beginning geography book. She really enjoys that time a great deal. I am excited about her spring science curriculum because we are going to study how things grow and change. Also, in this picture is her drawing places book which she has somewhat enjoyed doing, but drawing is still not something she gets excited about.

Other:

She does a variety of these books throughout the week. My favorite find is the Critical Thinking Activities by Dale Seymour book. It has stretched her visual and mathematical reasoning. This book is a K-3 book with a wide range of difficulty which hopefully means she will grow with it. I know I will be buying the 4-6 grade level of this book in the future. I would definitely have this and the Critical Thinking Company Mind Bender book even if I was not homeschooling. She is also going to continue to spend time with me in the kitchen and using her Williams and Sonoma Kids baking book. We are going to begin studying the lives and works of a variety of composers. We will focus on a single composer for three weeks before moving on to a new one.

Poetry:

Something I have decided to add this spring is reading from these two excellent books with beautiful illustrations by Gyo Fujikawa.I am super excited about these additions.


E's Preschool:

It has been a great deal of fun teaching E this fall. I changed some of my plans for her school this year. I added Evan Moor's folktales and fairy tales book, and I am so glad I did. She loved reading all the stories and doing all the fun activities that went with each one. When she finished that one I added Evan Moor's nursery rhymes. She is still plugging away at a letter a week. This has been really helpful learning each sound and practicing in isolation. Both older girls have been on the slower and steady end of learning to pronounce all their letter sounds. She loves Get Ready for the Code A and we are almost finished. I just bought the Rod and Staff preschool books pictured at the top, and she has begun Bigger Steps. She is going to be read more fairy tales and nursery tales, and continue to play a lot.

How I Choose My Homeschool Curriculum

When I tell people that we are homeschooling our kindergartener the most common question is how do I find my curriculum. I have yet to have been able to give people a simple answer to this inquiry.

When our daughter was approaching kindergarten we did, what I imagine lots of people do, and explored all our options. I wrote down, with J's help, everything we wanted for her in regards to her education. We then sifted through our public, private, and homeschooling options, along with our family situation. I also, during this time, determined M's learning style, which is auditory and visual.

Homeschooling, for us, was the best option in meeting those wants and needs.

Then, I sorted through the different methods of homeschooling. Did you know there are quite a few? This is a great resource for comparing and finding curriculum that matches that method. We are using a combination of the classical/Charlotte Mason methods.

I really liked aspects of several boxed curriculum so ours is a combination of resources that fit M's learning style. The link above has many of the popular ones listed.

My favorite catalog is over 1,000 pages and is called Rainbow Resource. They sell everything you could possibly need or want, and their catalog has a description for each book and resource available.