It's not unusual for strangers to come up to me and say, "Hey, you're a teacher, right?" And I answer, "No, but I play one on TV."
I don't know what it is about me, but I must walk and talk like a teacher. No, not the sweet kindergarten type. The large-and-in-charge know-it-all type. It's these traits that cause me to create my own curriculum from scratch each year. It's also these traits that allow me to go nutso at the same time. A win all around!
I'm entering my seventh year of homeschooling, with three kids who are in fifth, third, and first grades. I've gotta tell you--these are fun, fun years in our little one-room schoolhouse. The subject matter is manageable and my kids still adore me. Well, until I give them an assignment they dislike, which happens only ninety percent of the time. So you see? Bliss.
Here's my subject-by-subject plan for the upcoming school year. Read at your own level of risk interest.
Math
I have used
Math-U-See since the beginning and it works for all sorts of styles. I have two math geeks and one artsy child with learning disabilities on the side--and even she 'gets' math, thanks to the lessons on DVD, the simple workbook, and manipulatives.
Critical Thinking
I love logic and thinking and I
really have to stop myself from doing every single page of my kids' workbooks when they're not looking. Each kid will use a different book this year, but they're all in the same critical thinking activity series:
Grades K-3,
Grades 4-6, and
Grades 7-12.
Science
We're spending a full year on the human body, which equals to about three weeks on each system plus some time spent on health and medicine. I'll use the library almost exclusively for this subject.
The Complete Book of the Human Body is my spine (pun intended!), and we'll fill in with picture books from there. Easy peasy. My kids will be enthralled with the
reproduction segment, of that I am certain.
History
Oh, history. We're doing half of world history this year, using
The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History and
A Little History of the World as our guides. I have read and read and asked and asked and looked and looked for a satisfactory grade school curriculum that is both age-appropriate and unbiased. Ha. Unbiased. As my husband likes to quote, "History is written by the winners."
Geography
Another one of my loves. Such a neat and tidy subject! We'll study the Eastern hemisphere this year and the Western the next. My kids will learn the names and locations of countries using
online games, and we'll do the questions and map work found in the
Trail Guide To World Geography. We're also memorizing famous world landmarks, which is a different post for a different day. Gnarly dude!
Poetry
We're going to spend the whole year going through
Favorite Poems Old and New. I'm hoping my husband will orate so that the poems sound more like "beauty" and less like "the beast."
Foreign Language
We hobble along each year trying to pick up some new vocabulary or grammar. This year, I'm borrowing the
Vocabulearn Spanish CDs from the library, and my grand plan is to listen to a bit each day. I've also picked out fifteen new
Latin roots to memorize. Ambitious, right?!
Music
I teach my kids piano during their early years, as I simply can't stomach thirty dollars for a half-hour lesson on the basics. In a few years, I might change my tune (PUN ABSOLUTELY INTENDED), but for now I like not leaving the house. And since both my husband and I are band geeks, one with a music ed degree and one who played sax--my blessed fifth grader is getting lessons on how to play. Let the honking begin.
Art
Throughout the year, I find things for the kids to draw that match up with their schoolwork. In our study of artists, I'm attempting my very first
lap book, which may or may not give me the hives.
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Grammar
Both my third grader and fifth grader will be doing
Easy Grammar and
Daily Grams. These workbooks are quick and to the point. My first grader will continue through the
Explode the Code workbooks, which are very good for a child still learning to read.
Spelling
I've used the Sequential Spelling workbooks since the early days. I've got two who are natural spellers, so they breeze through their lessons. For my one who has a hard time with spelling, the pace is much slower and I plan to use
Spelling City to help her along the way.
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Outside of our work at home, we participate in monthly field trips with other homeschoolers, and we take classes at the community center when the mood so strikes.
That's the essence of my plan. I've got it printed out and stuck in a binder, which my ten-year-old lovingly refers to as, "The Torture Book." See what fun we're going to have?
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