Skip to main content

Curriculum Planning For Our 2013 Homeschool


The Christmas break has been an awesome opportunity for me to rest and reflect on what we want to achieve as a homeschool this year. I admit that I love planning for a new year and a few weeks ago I completed our homeschool daily planner for 2013.

So, now I thought I would list the curriculum we are planning to use for Term 1 and beyond.

Devotion / Bible Study - 10 days of character studies 


Confessions of a homeschooler is one of my favorite non-Australian blogs. It is beautifully written and she offers great insight, tips, curriculum reviews and also free material such as the character study  What I love about this character study is that it's ready to go and includes memory verses (which I print and laminate) as well as cute little apples to stick on the wall for each character trait which include patience, self-control, diligence,  honesty etc.

Maths - Singapore Maths

 

I am a huge fan of Singapore maths. My boys both really love maths which I want to nurture as I always struggled with maths in school. Each lesson in this curriculum begins with suggesting games and activities using manipulatives (I'm addicted to maths manipulatives) and then scripts a whole lesson with reinforcement from an easy to read text book and workbook.

I also source maths games from k-3 teaching resources and enchanted learning and I also use the targeting maths CDroms for when I work individually with one child. I am actively looking for some supplements to what we are doing for review.

NEW - We are introducing studyladder this year!

Grammar - First Language Lessons For The Well-Trained Mind


 I love this. These are super quick, simple lessons that build on knowledge each time. There is a lot of repetition but we often skip this.

Spelling - We will continue with sequential spelling until we decide on an alternative.

Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears

 
This is another curriculum we love! Handwriting is not my boys, um, strength. I purchased the first 3 complete sets of these books secondhand from another homeschooler. We also have HWOT app for the Ipad.  These are easy, quick lessons and so far there have been absolutely no tears!

Phonics - Reading Eggs Online

DS5 will continue using reading eggs and some sight words. He seems to be doing well with his reading so we don't feel any need at this stage for a phonics curriculum. We also have phonics fundamentals which we use an occasional supplement.

Writing - NEW writeshop



I am super excited about starting this curriculum and will let you know how it goes!

History - Story Of The World

homeschool history


We began this curriculum last year and although a little heavy at times for DS5 and DS7 I like the fact that it utilises a read-aloud. I found it a little boring at times (did I really just say that?) so wavered in my motivation with this one. It is quite challenging also and I found myself getting frustrated that the kids couldn't remember key elements until I realised, neither could I!

Science - Considering God's creation

 This is NEW - I will let you know how this one goes!

Music - Composer Study



This is also NEW.

So, here is a basic outline of what we will be doing for this homeschooling year. Of course, it is subject to change if something doesn't work out or the kids needs evolve but this is the plan. Flexibility is just one of the many benefits of homeschooling. We also have a few other bits and pieces we use as well as Ipad apps. If you are interested in finding out what those are please comment below and I will let you know.
Labels:

Comments

  1. KylieJanuary 18, 2013 at 2:11 AM

    Hello, just stumbled across your blog. Love finding Aussie homeschool blogs. I wanted to invite you to add yours to the homeschool Bloggers In Oz list - http://ourworldwideclassroom.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Aussie%20Homeschool%20Blogs/

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inspiring Character That Lasts - We Choose Virtues Giveaway!

One of the benefits of homeschooling is the opportunity to help shape our children's character. In fact, one of the points from our own homeschooling mission statement is that I desire....     To build strong character in my children believing that good character is more important than academic success        Children are not born with a set of values and beliefs about the world - they are taught. This means they do not always naturally become kind, patient, content and diligent - they need to be guided, gently corrected and encouraged to embrace the kind of virtues that God desires within us. I find this a challenge with my incredibly spirited, strong-willed children (yes, all of them fit this description). I have often allowed myself to feel discouraged and disappointed in their behavior rather than see it as an opportunity to teach and shape their character.  Another benefit of homeschooling is that we can encourage these vir...
42 comments
Read more

Why I Chose Skwirk For Homeschooling

Over the years we've used a few different online learning resources but I'm particularly excited about trying something NEW for 2015. Skwirk has had a make-over and quite frankly, it's awesome. There is nothing quite like it around at the moment and it has some great functions that work well with homeschooling. It provides animation based lessons for younger ones as well as great options for independent learning for older kids all the way up to year 10. As an educational tool it is aligned with the Australian curriculum so if that's important to you, or you just like to occasionally see where your kids sit in relation to their peers (like I do) this is a good thing. The subjects it includes are maths, English, science, geography and history. My plan was to use this for my 5 year old who is 'technically' in his first year of school next year. However, once I learnt all the features of the program I'm thinking it will be a great resource for encour...
5 comments
Read more

Homeschooling On The Rise in South Australia - Article In The Media

This is my family as pictured in an article on homeschooling in the Adelaide Advertiser. We look happy don't we? Laughing with joy as we learn together. It's true. We are happy. In fact, very happy to have the opportunity to be homeschooling. However, this recent article pointed out that the current rise in home education is not due to parents recognising homeschooling as a valid way to educate a child but because so many troubled children are being kicked out of school. Apparently, there are hoards of unhappy parents being forced to homeschool their children because the department of education no longer wants them in their system. My response is this: I've met lots of homeschoolers and interact with many online and I have never once encountered one who homeschools because the department kicked their child out of school - not even one. I'm not denying these families exist but they are clearly the minority. Many troubled children display troubled behaviors b...
5 comments
Read more