We started our 8th year of homeschooling a few weeks ago. Yes, we start early. It was too hot to be outside with temps of over 90 degrees & sweltering humidity. Plus we like to end our school year early to enjoy the nicer weather. Believe it or not, it was at my kids insistence that we started (they wanted to try some of our new curriculum). We start out slow only introducing a few subjects at a time. My children get some of their core subjects at our homeschool co-op (more on that later this week). There are also some subjects we do together. Some of the read alouds (like Mystery of History, Zoology & Bible) we all read together.
We have learned through the years what works and doesn't work with each child. We use a variety of different publishers as I feel a boxed set lacks in some ways (for us). I've also discovered what works for one child might not always work for another, which is the beauty of homeschooling. I can customize their learning to not only what fits each child but also to incorporate specific things they want to learn about outside of our required subjects. (last year Susan had a passion to research and learn more about the Titanic which I made happen for her).
The easiest way to share what we are using this year is to just list them by grades so here ya go:
4th Grade:
Bob Jones 4
Teaching Textbooks 4 (math)
Spotlight on American & real books
Spanish in 10 min a day (CD) & Speekee (online)
6th Grade:
Spelling/Vocabulary City (online)
Mastering Vocabulary
Bob Jones 6
Teaching Textbooks (math) 6
Thomas Jefferson Education-This week in History
Spanish in 10 minutes a day (CD) & Speekee (online)
GrapeVine Bible Study Joseph
7th Grade: (the twins)
Spelling/Vocabulary City
Bob Jones
Teaching Textbooks (math) 7
Zoology 3
Mystery of History 2
Thomas Jefferson Education-This week in History
GrapeVine Bible Study Joseph
I also have a subscription to Schoolhouse Teachers.com where I receive some of our curriculum that I use for art, daily writing prompts for journaling and a lot of other things just to change it up so the kids don't get bored. We also do extra curricular activities besides our book work and of course frequent the library almost weekly. We even use some apps on the iPad for learning!
I've learned to keep an open mind when it comes to curriculum and what better way to get ideas of new things to try than to ask my friends (many of whom has directed me to some of what we now use). What is some of your favorite curriculum?