Our curriculum choices often flow from one year into the next, so while much of this is new for this school year, some of it is just an extension of our previous year.
I never attempt to squeeze things into a 36-week schedule because it would require way too much editing as the year progresses! Instead, I schedule out our year week-by-week and go for quality vs. quantity. Our schedule depends on how quickly they grasp concepts. There’s no rush and if it takes longer than the curriculum plans for, that’s fine! I have pushed pause to ensure they understand a concept before moving on and I’ve sped things up as well.
Sometimes we finish something up before the year ends and carry on with something new right away. Other times we don’t finish something and carry it into the next year. Either way is fine, as long as we are learning and progressing at a pace that works for us, it doesn’t matter how much time it takes to get through something. Our curriculum serves us (not the other way around).
Here is what our typical school day looks like. You can read more about how we schedule our school days here. This is one of many ways to schedule a school week. There is no one right way. Different seasons will call for different schedules. Flexibility is key. We aren’t a slave to our schedule but it does help keep us on track. It helps me relax because it’s one less thing I have to figure out on the fly. With five kids, that’s a good thing!
Below is a quick rundown of the curriculum we’ll be using this year. I’ll go into more detail on how we plan to use our curriculum in later posts. If there is something specific you’d like to know more about, please let me know!
I have to add here that these are just a few ideas! There are many simply outstanding options available. I certainly don’t think we have chosen the absolute best out there. What I do know, is I’ve chosen what works really well for me and my children, but every family is different. Children’s needs are different. Parent’s personalities are different. Our homeschools will reflect the uniqueness of our families and that’s a beautiful thing! I hope you will enjoy seeing what we have chosen to use. For those still needing ideas, this should point you to some great options.
So without further ado, here are my curriculum choices for the 2020/2021 school year!
Morning Time
Devotions
We start our mornings together around the table with prayer and the Bible. In addition to what I have pictured, we also learn and sing a hymn every month and memorize Scripture and our catechism. This is without question the most important part of our school day and our Morning Time. If the day goes south, as long as we have accomplished this, I am satisfied.
Enrichment
Enrichment encompasses quite a bit for us and is another part of our school day that we all do together around the table. It includes artist study, composer study, poetry, Shakespeare, science, nature study, social studies, geography, cultures and art. Some of this we do daily and some once/week. I’ll go into more detail on each aspect in future posts.
Artist, Composer, Folksong – We follow the Ambleside Online Artist Schedule and the Ambleside Online Composer Schedule. We view the artwork online and listen to the composer for long durations each day using Amazon Music because it’s what I enjoy listening to. We utilize YouTube if we are interested in learning more about our artist/composer of the month. We also follow the Ambleside Online Folksong Schedule and listen to those during lunch. It’s one of our favorite things!
Read-Alouds
Reading literature aloud is a defining aspect of our homeschool. We love books! Even my most energetic, fidgety, active children focus their full attention and fall into a subdued trance when I read aloud (and I often use that to my advantage). Allowing them to color, sew, Perler bead (the Biggie Beads work great for the smallest hands) or use play dough while I read keeps their hands busy. We read a large stack of books each year for the pure enjoyment of it, knowing that the benefits are numerous (I’ll share more about the benefits we’ve observed firsthand in a future post).
I fill our shelves with the books I’ve carefully selected to read aloud but I allow them to choose the order in which we read them. We also get many, many books from the library. I choose quality, unabridged books using several book lists including Classical Academic Press’ Classical Reader, Read Aloud Revival, Ambleside Online, and I also check out Sonlight, Veritas Press, Memoria Press for ideas. For the younger ones, I try to read through all of the Five in a Row suggestions each year. There are so many wonderful books and we want to read them all!
Individual Studies
3rd Grade
For literature she’ll have a stack of books to read through on her own. We utilize the library to save money and purchase anything we’d like for her to read that we’re unable to find there. I don’t have her do book reports but use oral narration to evaluate her comprehension.
Self-Paced is an online course that she’s able to do independently. We got through the first half of the teacher intensive You Teach version but with the addition of our 5th baby last spring, I promptly took advantage of the Self-Paced online courses. They are excellent and include ample literature to bring it to life.
I don’t have the time to participate with her in viewing the courses but I do like to stay on top of what she is learning. I love history too! I’ve found that by reading aloud the timeline flash cards at the beginning of each week as well as reading aloud the reference books, historical fiction and Bible texts with her, I am able to do just that.
We are finishing up Genesis to Joshua (Bible) and Old Testament and Ancient Egypt (history) currently and will move on to Judges to Kings (Bible) and New Testament, Greece and Rome (history) by October.
1st Grade
For 1st grade we’ll be using the next levels of all the same curriculum we used for Kindergarten with the only addition being Latin. My #1 goal for her this year is to give her a solid foundation in phonics and to help her progress in reading. She’s already off to a great start!
Pre-K
My 4 year old wants to be just like her older siblings and asks, pleads, begs to do school just like them. I personally don’t think it’s necessary to start formal schooling at this age; however, I’m not opposed to doing a little if the desire is there- and it is! For preschool and pre-K I prefer to let them play to their heart’s content, read to them plenty of quality literature and then read some more, teach them good habits, and as far as skill work goes I keep it brief, light and child led. We are very flexible with it. If she isn’t in the mood on any particular day we skip it, but we do a little (10-15 minutes/ day at most) if she asks.
So there you have it! If you’re just starting out, this probably looks like a lot. You might wonder, “How does she fit it all in?” First, we don’t do every subject every day. Second, we are on our 5th year (counting from my oldest child’s pre-K year). We have grown into this over the years. Remember, your school is just that – It’s YOURS! This is only one small example of what a homeschool can look like. I hope it helps and encourages you and gives you some ideas to consider. Trust me, if we can do this, anyone can.
I will be explaining how we plan to use our curriculum choices in future posts. If there is something mentioned here that you’d like to know more about, please let me know. I hope this has been helpful to you as you set out to make your own choices.
If you know other families who would benefit from this information, please share! With so many new people starting out on their homeschool journeys, my hope is to help ease the overwhelm and provide useful information. I’d be grateful to see this get into the hands of those who might be blessed by it!
Our Lovely Ordinary 