2011-2012 Curriculum

Here is an overview of what we decided to use for our 2011-2012 school year! Logan's Kindergarten school year!

Bible: God's Word Book A

Plus we have already learned the 10 Commandments this year and are learning the books of the Bible right now. We have planned too touch on the Armor of God and the Fruit of the Spirit this year as well.

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Handwriting: Weaver Penmanship To Praise (I picked our own 40 Bible verses to learn throughout the year, 1 per week and starting part way through the year Logan had to start writing out the verses he was memorizing for that week. I typed them all out so Logan would have his own little example in front of him each week.) The boys also enjoy using the chalkboards or dry erase boards to practice this names, numbers and letters.

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Phonics: Saxon Phonics K (Great program we have enjoyed this very much so far, very easy to teach and Logan is already starting to read some after only 20 weeks of school! SO proud of him!

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Science: The World God Made (we do science 2 times a week they normally are only short lessons and sometimes we add a experiment or activity to go along with what we are learning.)

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Health: Horizons K Health (we do Health once a week normally Wednesdays, very simple lessons about family or feelings, safety things, different jobs.) I sometimes add extra devotions into this area as well, things like being content or being humble.

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Art: All of our art projects are things I have made up myself that go along with what we are learning about in the other subjects. Sometimes it may just be coloring a picture or drawing our family, to playing with play dough or painting and cutting.

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Math: Lifepac K Math (when I first was checking into math programs it came down to two choices either Lifepac math or Horizons math. Final choice ended up being Lifepac, the price was more reasonable and I liked how it was layed out. Then after doing the first few weeks I was overwhelmed with this feeling like I picked a math that was too easy for Logan. After some more prayer I decided since this was the math program the Lord had lead me to I was going to stick with it. I am so glad we did. I realized that this program lays out the foundation at the beginning of the program that each child needs to be strong at before they can learn more difficult things like adding. So even though we spend weeks reviewing things that were simple to Logan at the time like colors and shapes we now at 20 weeks into the school year are learning how to add number, sets, write number words.)

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History: For history we picked History for Little Pilgrims or American People and Nation, after reviewing both of them I decided History for Little Pilgrims was a little too advanced for a Kindergartner just starting to learn about such things and the American People and Nation touched on many topics but not too in dept, I had to split this book up into my own lessons but it has worked out great. Each week we do our history lesson on Mondays and review things about it during the rest of the week.)

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Beyond these things we have been playing games, putting puzzles together, cooking, learning about maps, telling time, calendar and weather, senses, reading lots of books and just plain enjoying our time together. =0)

Where We Started and Have Been

When we first decided to homeschool there was alot of work to do. I knew I wanted a Bible based curriculum and had no idea about where to start or what was even out there. I would say for a good 2 weeks I surfed the web, reading HUNDREDS of reviews, (mind you I was just looking for a curriculum for pre-k) I was determined to put my whole self into this and really find what God wanted us to use.

After much thought, research and prayer I decided to use the Weaver Interlock Curriculum for both Logan and Zach ages 4 1/2 and 2 1/2. It was wonderful I would completely recommend this curriculum to anyone. We had so much fun learning, the Interlock teaches starting at Genesis and goes through the Flood.

On top of this we also added handwriting, calendar time, reading time and a craft. The Interlock is set up to be used 3 days a week, so we did Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Little minds can learn so much just by playing and don't need as much sit down time. Plus just starting out school, it was a great way to get the children and me started in understanding the concept of organized learning. Any parent knows that teaching listen skills and sitting still are a normal part of raising children, trying to teach your child brings on a whole new level of this.

(FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2010 PRE-K)

That first year we learned so many things from the life cycle of a butterfly, about each day of creation, how to count to 100, learning our address and phone number, even to more in dept things like the Trinity 3 in 1 God the Father, God the Son God the Holy Spirit. I loved how the Weaver curriculum introduced this at such a young age, yes it is something over their heads but as they put it, by teaching it at this age puts a hook or stepping stone for later learning.

By the time we were done with school for our first year I was so happily overwhelmed with how God had used me to teach our children so many things that alot of children placed in a public school setting would have never learned at this age or at all for that matter. It made me excited to start research for the uncoming school year, which we are currently in and also for the future.

As most of our family and friends know I am the kind of person that LOVES a good deal and I love to save money on things we need. I will shop around, use eBay, and buy from classified ads before I would ever purchase anything new.

Again after many hours of reading reviews and even taking a trip to our PA CHAP Homeschool Convention with Matt, I decided our family would use the Weaver Curriculum as our main curriculum starting in 1st grade, it would work great with our children and I could use it for multi grade levels at the same time learning the same things. Then started my hunt for the Volumes 1-5, Supplements 7-12 and other items that would work great with the curriculum. After searching and purchasing I am happy to say I have our whole curriculum up to 12th grade, other then math or other extra subjects we decide to learn and teach. Thankfully we have saved $1000s of dollars already and my hardwork searching for this items as paid off.

It has been so amazing to see how God has provided for us and opened doors for us to find what we need at great prices. It really has just reconfirmed for us that this is His Will for our lives. Some may wonder why I would ever purchase curriculum that far ahead, the answer is simply I love a good deal! Everything I have purchased with the intent to use but with the flexibly to resell if need be. I'm sure others are thinking are they really planning on homeschooling their children all the way through 12th grade, again the answer is simple YES! =0) I have heard some families that decide to homeschool say they are planning on taking a year at a time and see how it goes, that is fine but for us I decided I didn't want to make it easy on myself that I had to put my whole self into this. That it was either all or nothing and that I was going to make a commitment to the Lord to use me to teach our children.