2015-2016 Curriculum
I think I have finally got our schedule and curriculum down for the 2015-2016 school year. This will be our 3rd year homeschooling and I feel like I am just now starting to find a rhythm. Of course, every time I think that, something changes!
Here is the curriculum I am planning on doing for CJ, 10 years old and my only homeschooler:
History
Bookshark History, Readers and Read Alouds, 4th grade level, year 2 American History.
Even though CJ will technically be in 5th grade, I am going with the 4th grade level because this year we did Sonlight Core D, which is year 1 American History. I want to finish out American History by doing year 2 this coming year. I'm looking forward to trying Bookshark. See my post here for reasons why I am switching.
Hard to believe I know but we have changed curriculum choices.... we are going to try History Odyssey Level 2 Ancients. Honestly the reason we are switching is because CJ was really not looking forward to all the reading that comes with BookShark. He loves to read.... as long as it is Dr. Who or Star Wars related. So, I started looking at some other options. I was torn between sticking with BookShark anyway or trying History Odyssey or Oak Meadow. After giving myself a headache trying to decide, I had an idea. I printed off sample lesson plans of each curriculum, showed them to CJ and talked to him about each one and the differences between them. Then I asked him which he would like to do. He impressed me by really thinking about it and asking me some questions. He chose History Odyssey. So, that was that. We will try it. He said he "liked that is was part reading and part research and part book work". He also liked that it was very student led. He likes to be able to do his work without me hoovering over him. I'm excited about it! I think it will be a good fit for us.
Language Arts
Spelling - We are going to try Spelling Workout E. We have tried All About Spelling and Sequential Spelling, neither worked very well for us. They were both great programs. I think the problem is just that spelling is not our favorite subject and seems to always get pu
t on the back burner so we don't seem to ever get into a good routine with spelling. So, we'll try Spelling Workout and see what happens.
Grammar - For grammar we are going with
Jr. Analytical Grammar. This year we used Shurley English and I really like it. CJ has learned so much with it. It is quick (we do the grammar only, not the writing) and the question and answer flow to classify sentences is easy to follow. The only problem I have with it is it does not
