2011-2012

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It's that time of year again, we are gearing up for school.  Last year I didn't even post our plans for the year, I was probably sending out 75 resumes for Justin...it was just an off year for us.  This year though I am participating in the Not-Back-To-School Blog Hop over at Heart of the Matter Online.  I did it two years ago and it was fun to see what other homeschoolers have planned for their year, where they do school, who their students are, etc....

Texas is a green state for homeschooling, very green, as in GO! GO! GO!...which I love.  Basically if you homeschool you are considered a private school so the state stays out of your business as long as you are teaching the basics: reading, spelling, grammar, math and good citizenship in a visual form that isn't a sham.

Caeden will be in fourth grade this year!!!  I can't believe it.

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Math:  We are going to try Teaching Textbooks this year.  We have steered clear of any computer software curriculum in the past but since we are adding in Maleiah more this year I thought having the time with her during his time on the computer {which he loves. Score!} would be a good fit.  It's a visually fun program, it tracks all of his work, and they break down the concepts in an understandable way.

Grammar/Writing: Primary Language Lessons will take us into grammar and writing.  It's more of a gentle approach to Language Arts {see Charlotte Mason}.  I also purchased 500 Writing Prompts for Children to add to our writing.  Caeden will have a journal and he will write a few times a week.  We did this in second grade and he really liked it.  Also, as a family we are going to play around with a cool book called Rip the Page!

Spelling:  We are actually not going to be doing a formal spelling program this year.  Caeden is a fantastic speller so we will fix any spelling errors as we come across them.  We are going to make a switch and focus more on vocabulary that we find in our other subjects.

History:  We finished up the Middle Ages during third grade and are moving on to Early Modern Times, {1600-1850's} and a little bit of Modern Times {1850-current} with more of a focus on the people of that time and not so much about the wars and ugliness that I think are just too heavy for fourth grade.  We are using Biblioplan for our scheduling with Story of the World as our spine.  I am excited about American History and the great books we will read through the year!

Geography:  How about a trip through the US?  Well, kind of.  On our wall we are making a map that we will color in as we learn about each state.  We are loosely using Cantering the Country for geography.  We would love to take some trips along the southern states since we are so close and it takes only 9 hours to get to Florida!

Science:  Caeden's favorite!  We are finishing up Swimming Creatures from Apologia and when we are finished we will move on to Land Animals.  This is our favorite curriculum.  Absolutely.  I love the reading, Caeden loves the projects.  Win-Win.

Fine Arts:  I purchased Harmony Art's curriculum that corresponds with the time period we are learning about this year. Every four weeks we will learn about a composer and artist using literature, picture studies and art projects.

Maleiah is so ready for school...so we are doing Kindergarten this year and at the end of the year we can evaluate how she did and decide if she needs an extra year or not.  She is only 4 so she will be a young kindergartener.

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She will fold into what Caeden is doing for Science, History, Geography and Fine Arts...just at her level.

Math: I thought we would use Saxon for math but at the last minute I chose Horizons.  She is a completely different learner than Caeden and I think she will do well with it.

Reading/Phonics:  She is already trying to read, we pulled out the Bob Books and she is determined to get to the purple books, but there are four red books she has to read well first.  We will continue to use The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading as well as the Explode the Code, books A, B and C for phonics.

There are so many awesome activities we get to participate in through our homeschool group and we will be taking lots of field trips, discovering more and more about the state of Texas.

***We aren't doing all of this everyday...it's broken up through the week (that's another post?).  :)

***We purchase most of our curriculum from Rainbow Resource (awesome prices!) and Amazon with a few used book purchases as well.*** 

***Visit Heart of the Matter Online for more!