Curricula Favorites

I'm in the mood to talk about some of my favorite curricula.

 

I either have really nerdy kids, or maybe since we home-school they don't know it's not cool to sit around reading your text books, or maybe their textbooks are just that interesting.

 

I also wonder if it is odd that my Justin and Jonathan talk among themselves about the difference between commutative or non-commutative numbers.  Maybe it's odd that Justin tells us when we use a hyperbole.

 

 I might think it is a combination of all three, but I'm more likely to think it's because of the awesome way their curricula are written.   At first, I had a little difficulty pulling away from my traditional thinking about these things.   After hearing rave reviews, I decided to check out some different curricula for Math and Science.  After all, I am the parent and the teacher and yes, I am free to direct the education of my children.  So last year, I took the plunge.  I am not disappointed.    Learning should be fun, shouldn't it?  It should also stick.  I have come to the conclusion that when learning is fun, it naturally sticks.

 

You know books are fun when your children read them:

 #1 Without much coaxing

 #2 over and over....and over

 

Life of Fred Math:

 

My favorite thing about Life of Fred books - besides the fact the kids love them- is that they teach in a holistic way.  In other words, the kids learn about biology, history, and other topics along with the math instead of separating math from life.  As a matter of fact, just to name a couple of the titles: Pre-algebra with Biology and Pre-algebra with Economics. 

 

The coolest math books ever written:

Life of Fred Math 

One of the lower elementary books

*I do supplement by using math problems from other textbooks as well, but the author assures the me that it is not necessary* 

 

 

The coolest science books ever written:

Apologia Science

 

 

Justin, reading Apologia astronomy purely out of interest 

 

I think what I love so much about Apologia is that it is more of a living book, meaning that it reads more like a novel.  There are plenty of fun projects.  Instead of just answering questions, the boys narrate the information back to me.  They take notes in their notebooks.  They are allowed to draw pictures.   They seem to enjoy narration and notebooking. What kid doesn't love talking about the things they are learning?  Especially an auditory learner. They also enjoy going back and looking at the pictures they have drawn and the things they have written. 

Ryan's

 

 

Jonathan's

 



Justin's

 

 It's hard to break free from the thought process that says that learning has to be boring, but we are doing it.  I believe that more is retained when it is enjoyed.

September 2012: First day of School

 

Today was our first day back to school after having a month-long break. Here are the boys after enjoying some time running around outside in the sunshine.

 

A few curriculum additions we have made this year are the following. I've linked the book titles to outside sources as a way to provide more information about the titles I am using:

• Lessons in Responsibility for Boys. 

• For Bible we are going through Nathan Brown's "Discipling New Converts". 
• We are all learning Latin & Greek roots this year.   

 

•   Peter Marshall's History Series.  One of the books is pictured in the red pan below.
 
• Last but not least, I am just thrilled to have figured out an easy way to keep books in order.  Dishpans!  Yes, they are for Justin & Jonathan's books (Ryan uses his desk). I am simply posting about it just because I'm excited that I found something that works well for keeping books in their place.  They use the kitchen table for seat-work, and this makes it a breeze to clean up.

•  

Curriculum savings

I was so excited to find that Amazon sells used ABeka books!  So... I used my swagbucks to get a discount on my teacher curriculum for Jonathan's next math book.  My total was $9.98!  If I were to order it new from Abeka, I would pay $24.00 plus a minimum of $6 shipping.  Just really excited about being able to save that much money that I had to document it!

Ryan's first copybook

Ryan started his first official copybook today. It is All Thing Bright and Beautiful: Copying the Hymns - Christian Devotional Copywork by the Bogart Family. It starts with the key verse: Genesis 1:1 and then goes into the song. (and yes, it was a freebie download that I printed!)

He has traced letters in Pre-K workbooks, but he feels like a big boy now because he is actually copying sentences. He said "I am glad I get to do copywork now!"

I am glad as well. :-)

Update

I haven't posted very much lately because we have been so busy around here. But as a courtesy to our family member readers and because this blog is part of my records, I need to give a little update.

We have continued with year-round schooling because of its convenience and benefits.

We are still using Proverbs for Parenting for Scripture memory, Arthur Maxwell's The Bible Story, and ABeka workbooks.


As a suplement to language arts, earlier today I downloaded our very own copy of the McGuffey Eclectic Spelling book (1879!). I had bought a copy of Spelling Power last year when we started out (at the suggestion of a well-meaning friend), but I just couldn't make myself be happy with it. I have it waiting on the shelf and I intend to list it on Ebay.

Google-books makes many of the old educational material available today free online! I am VERY impressed with the content and quality of the educational material from the late 1800's and early 1900's. I intend to use quite a bit of those books as teaching tools. I especially like the McGuffey readers and hope to get hard back readers eventually. For now though, I am able to print and use what I want from the Google site until I am able to get copies of them. We are continuing to use the ABeka readers as well.

We are still going through our bee unit study, and enjoying all the neat things we have learned so far. I added those pictures in the above post.

I am currently reading The Chimney Sweep's Ransom by Dave & Neta Jackson to the boys. This series, called "Trailblazer Books", introduces young readers to Christian heroes of the past. The Chimney Sweep's Ransom introduces John Wesley. The last one we read introduced George Mueller. The boys and I have enjoyed them, and Justin in particular is never satisfied with just one chapter.

Curriculum choices, a summation

I am really excited to say that I have finally ordered almost all of the curriculum and workbooks for school! I have already received most of the books, and I am only waiting for one more shipment.

I say "almost" because I have ordered everything we need to start the year, but I will need to order KONOS when Michael gets paid again. I am watching to get the best price on Ebay and since we do not plan to start school until the first week of September, I am giving myself time to find the best price (and time to prepare).

I am using this post to list the books we will be using, and a summation of the "new" curriculum ("new" meaning the different types of curriculum that we haven't used in the past).

I am looking forward to a new approach to teaching the boys, and in my search for curriculum KONOS seemed to be exactly what I was looking for.

About KONOS:
According to their website, it covers the following subjects

Bible

Character

History

Science

Literature

Writing

Practical Living

Field Trips

Critical Thinking

Arts/Crafts

Music

Drama/Speech

Geography

Social Studies

Health/Safety

How is KONOS different
from other curricula?

KONOS is distinct from other curricula in that it features:

· Godly character trait focus

· Units with all subjects integrated

· Hands-on, experiential activities

· Discovery learning

· Multi-level, family teaching

KONOS uses the entire library as a textbook and the whole world as its curriculum.

I have had several high recommendations for it. I love the fact that we as a family will study these subjects as a unit-together, and the fact that it gives me a library reading guide. I love the fact that every subject is based on a character trait.

For the three R's we will be using ABeka Math, Phonics, and Language, the Getty-Dubay Italics handwriting course (I talked about in an earlier post.. if you want to see a picture, go back a few posts), and Spelling Power. Even though KONOS covers reading, I still ordered the ABeka reading curriculum for the simple fact that I love it so much! Justin will be reading Pilgrim's Progress this year, one of my favorites.
So we will be doing both ABeka reading and following the KONOS reading schedule. Needless to say we WILL BE doing a lot of reading!

About Spelling Power:
Spelling Power is complete. It includes lists of the 5,000 most frequently used words organized by Phonetic principles and spelling rules. It can be used all the way through high school!
It came highly recommended by Rhonda Pepple (who taught me high school English & Grammar). I am hoping to have some really good spellers before it's over :-)

In addition to KONOS history (which uses a time-line), we will be using several books I ordered back when my boys were babies. I have been waiting for the right opportunity to teach from them. They are as follows:
Don't Know Much About American History
Don't Know Much About The Fifty States
Scholastics Encyclopedia of the Presidents and their Times
and Pa-pa's gift to Justin: Eyewitness book about Presidents.
I also have a nice set of flashcards teaching the fifty states and their capitals that I ordered "way back when". It's funny that when I ordered those books & flashcards I had no idea I would be home-schooling!

Going back and reading my curriculum list gives me a huge reason to praise the Lord! Even though it has taken a little more planning and time to get good prices on a lot of the items, a lot of them are brand new or like new in condition.
I have been ordering a little bit per paycheck. Here's my praise: I am happy to record that so far, as opposed to last year's $500, I have only spent around $200 for EVERYTHING so far (and ordered at my own leisure) and this includes my teaching resources ! And hopefully after KONOS is ordered, it will still be less than $250! The beauty of this homeschooling thing is that I can research and find resources at my own leisure and time frame. This luxury, in itself, has been a huge financial blessing for us.

Now that I have almost all my curriculum, I need to get my schedule ironed out. September starts Michael's new day shift schedule (perfect timing!). Since I am just now getting my curriculum and still need to order KONOS September seems a whole lot better than August. :-)

Children Who Will Change The World

"If you fear not what people can do to you, you will become dangerous to society" -Dr. Jeff Meyers

I want my children to be fearless to the point of changing the world!