Our main curriculum this year is Heart of Dakota and I'll be using Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory. This curriculum is designed for children 6-8 years old (Chloe will be six in November). I'm thrilled with its emphasis on history and especially God's hand throughout history. I love the emerging readers book set and can't wait to get started on this with Chloe.
For phonics we are finishing up The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, and then we will begin on First Language Lessons.
Math will consist of Singapore Math again, Primary Math 1A and 1B. Last year I was not loving Singapore Math's kindergarten books. We found them to go much too slowly, and frankly, they confused me. They were not easy to use for a homeschool family as many of the activites were directed towards a classroom of kids. I just didn't enjoy them and ended up doing our own thing for our second semester. I decided to try Singapore Math again for first grade because a friend of mine assured me that the kinder book was, in fact, weird and the first grade book was fabulous, so I ordered it! After looking through it I am very excited about it and Chloe is too.
HOD has a great science book but I'm planning on supplementing science with The 3D Body Book since this is an area of interest for Chloe.
If you remember last year we used Five in a Row for our main curriculum. I've had a few people ask me why we've switched....I need something that comes with lesson plans. I need something that has specific grade objectives, which FIAR didn't. I LOVED the literature used in FIAR and thought the activities were wonderful, but it just ended up being too much work for me. I was too unsure of where Chloe should be and needed more guidance for this year. I would definetly consider using FIAR again in a few years when she is a little older and has most of the "basics" down.
Personal goals for this homeschool year:
*More crafts with Chloe! She loves them, I don't usually have the patience!
*Get into a good routine/rythym with our school days. I crave consistency. That being said...
*Be spontaneous and creative! Take advantage of the freedom homeschooling provides!
My niece uses HOD and she loves it! It is definelty on my radar for James when he officially starts 1st grade. He doesn't turn five until November so we have decided to just "wait and see" about when he will start K5 and 1st grade. I have started the Abeka phonics K5 with him, but I really don't know how much he will retain this year. We are just doing little by little and seeing how it goes.
ReplyDeleteOh, I did Language Lessons for awhile and loved it!