History & Reading
Last year we finished up our walk through American History. We had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories, but, oh my, am I happy to be switching gears! Two years is a long time!
After reading the suggestions on the Sonlight Forums and praying for wisdom, I decided to skip Core 5 (what is that now...Core E?) and go straight to Core 6 (G). We already used Story of the World: Ancient Times when our oldest was younger, so I knew that it was going to be great for my 5, 7, and 9 year-olds. I also bought a lot of the books from Cores 1 and 2 for my little guy.
Science
This year I did something I never dreamed that I would do--I pieced together our OWN curriculum! Ha! Honestly, between Sonlight and our core subjects, well...I spent most of the curriculum budget. BUT, necessity is the mother of, um, I guess not invention but creativity at least. I made a list of things my kids always ask me about and in just an afternoon I had compiled a two-unit science curriculum. First we'll study flight and astronomy and then we'll learn all about bridges. A few of the books had been given to me, one was found at a library sale last year, and a few others were purchased from Rainbow Resource.
Math, Language, Spelling
I went with the old wisdom of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" for these subjects. The kids have gotten such a wonderful foundation from A Beka and I think we'll stick with them, at least through 6th grade. We are also using their Read & Think book for reading comprehension exercises.
I added Wordly Wise workbooks for all three kids. It's great for supplemental vocabulary work, and they enjoy them so much that it isn't work.
Bible
I purchased Remembering God's Awesome Acts for Bible, but quickly realized that it was way over my kids' grade levels. We've modified it and are now just using it as a Bible reading guide. We also have been using Jesus Freaks, Window on the World, as well as Then Sings My Soul as a hymn study guide. I picked out one hymn to study for each month of the school year. Above, Jackson is singing along to our first hymn of the year, "All Creatures of our God and King."
Foreign Language
We're going to start over with Rosetta Stone Spanish because we never really got into the swing of using it every day and then our puppy ate the microphone.
Logic
For logic, the kids are using Logic Links and the Mind Benders computer program.
Art
I've resigned myself to the reality that I am not an art teacher. I don't enjoy being creative unless it's with words or food.
So, just as we did last year with Vincent van Gogh, we are going to study the work of one artist all year long. This year the kids and I picked Leonardo da Vinci, which ties in well because of his involvement in the study of flight (our 1st semester science topic.) I'd like to say I meant to do that, but I didn't.
I stocked their craft closet with lots of goodies this summer and got a few great crafting books from the library. Jordan has decided that she wants to learn to make cards, so she is working her way through a card making book for kids. The girls are painting with watercolors even as I type this, so they are going to be just fine without a formal art program, I think. :)
That's it! It looks like fun to me, how about you? :)
