Our Simple Homeschool Curriculum for 2012-2013

It's that time of year when I must begin to think seriously about what the next school year will look like. I loved our curriculum last year and plan to continue with most of the same resources. Last year was our first year following the classical education method of home learning and it worked great for all of us.

As with all things, I like to keep things simple. There are so many good options and resources. I have found that the more I am exposed to and collect, the more distracted I become. This is a great opportunity for me to declutter the distractions! 

In keeping with simplicity, I generally follow classical education as outlined in The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jesse Wise so you will see most of their bookshere. Without further ado, here are my choices for our simple homeschool curriculum:

Math: 

• Singapore Math ~ We'll continue daily math work with the Singapore method.
• Life of Fred ~ Although some use these as stand alone math curriculum, we will be using these as supplemental, read-alouds. My girls have enjoyed the first book and we are eager to dive into the second book.

History:

• Story of the World ~ Volume 2: The Middle Ages - Volume 1 as a big hit in our home last year. We are very much looking forward to this next time period in history. I also love that we can do this together, regardless of their grade or level.

Spelling:

• Spelling Workout ~ level A 1st grader and level B for 2nd grader. Both of my girls started these books last year, but we neither finished them so we will just pick up where we left off.

Reading:

• No formal curriculum here. We are just going to read a lot. To ourselves, to each other, me to them, them to me, 2nd grader to 1st grader, 1st grader to 2nd grader. It doesn't really matter how it gets done, as long as we do it! My 2nd grader is a very independent reader (reads at a 5th grade level) and my 1st grader needs lots of help and encouragement.

Writing:

• Writing With Ease - Level 2 - Last year doing Level 1 with both of my girls worked so well. In looking through the workbook for level 2, I'm not sure my 1st grader is ready for it. So I will likely review Level 1 with her, or modify Level 2 for her.

Grammar:

• Language Lessons Level 2 - This is one of those books that works well for kids at different levels. It doesn't seem to matter that my girls are in different grades, this is one that we can do together. 

Spanish:

• This is the piece I have not figured out. I'm leaning towards Rosetta Stone, but might also just finish up The Easy Spanish Jr.

Music:

• This is another area where we don't have a formal curriculum. Both my girls take violin lessons (from me) and we practice daily. It's one of the first things we do every day and takes a good chunk of our morning time. I have all sorts of ways I incorporate music appreciation and education into their lives, but that's another blog.

Bible:

• Telling God's Story: Year 2 ~ We are still working our way through year 1 and will continue with year 2 as soon as we finish. I love this approach to teaching the Bible to my kids. If you are not familiar, the   focus is on the life of Jesus during the elementary school years. As the kids get older, they will be able to grasp and understand the bigger picture of the Bible. This is a new series and Year 2 is brand new.
• What's in the Bible? ~ I recently bought these dvds and the girls have watch a couple of them. Although I just wrote that in their early years I want my kids to focus on the life of Jesus, this is a fun series that will give them a brief overview of the Bible. And these will be great when we need a break from each other.

After typing all that out it doesn't seem so simple. It's true we don't do everything every day. And maybe it's true that there is nothing simple about home educating your children!

I'm linking up to the "Not"-Back-to-School blog hop.