Tuesday, July 26, 2011

2011-2012 Curriculum Line Up

I'm about to begin my 6th year homeschooling. 6 years! Magnus is in 5th grade and Thane in 3rd. Crazy. Here's the plan:

Subjects the Boys are Doing Together
Tapestry of Grace Year 1 Ancients This will cover History, Bible, Geography, Literature, and Arts & Crafts. Thane will start the year in Lower Grammar but move to Upper Grammar. Magnus will start in Upper Grammar and quickly move into the Dialectic level. We are so excited to be returning to the Ancients.

Science
We're going to give Apologia Zoology 3 a try. I didn't purchase the notebooking pages available from the publisher, but chose to use the FREE ones Jeannie Fulbright provides on her blog.

Math
The combination of Teaching Textbooks and Math Mammoth worked well for us last year. We're going to continue using them.

Magnus 5th Grade
Writing
We'll be using a combination of IEW Ancient History Theme Based Writing and Story Starters by Karen Andreola.

Grammar
We're going to try something new this year but also continue working through MCT Language Arts (Town Level). We both really LOVE MCT's program but I felt Magnus needed a bit more help with mechanics. He's going to be working through Rod & Staff too. It may be over-kill, but I can always drop one if I need to.

Spelling
He'll be moving ahead with IEW's Phonetic Zoo.

Other Stuff

Building Thinking Skills
Typing Instruction for Kids

Activities

Brazilian Jui-Jitzu Drama with the local theater company

Thane 3rd Grade

Writing
IEW came out with a new writing program geared towards younger kids. I plan to use IEW writing products with him just as I have with Magnus, but I don't think he is ready for the SWI Level A. The PAL Writing course is going to be a gentle introduction to the Style and Structure IEW teaches. We'll be skipping part 1 and heavily modifying part 2, but we'll use part 3 as written.

Grammar

We made it through Levels 1 & 2 of First Language Lessons. It was a great introduction to grammar. This year we are going to use Rod & Staff but do most of the lessons orally.

Spelling

Still working our way through the levels of All About Spelling. He likes the program and is able to recall the phonetic rules while his is reading.

Reading
Sam's reading has improved by leaps and bounds! I am so proud of the strides he has made. I want to continue having him read aloud to me every day, so I thought we'd try the Sonlight Readers.

Phonics
He'll continue working through ETC Online this year.

Other Stuff
Building Thinking Skills
Typing Instructor for Kids

Activities
Brazilian Jui-Jitzu