School of Fish: Our Curriculum for Grades K, 2, 4, 6, & 9
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The next natural step in the Getting Started in Homeschoolingseries is to share what we’re actually going to be studying this year. I spent a fair amount of time this past month researching the new texts and resources to add to our homeschool this year. Overall, I’m pretty excited about each of these items. May my enthusiasm infect my kids!
Typically, I put together a document similar to this one which lists each child’s name, grade, and course outlines for the year. I keep this in my master homeschool binder so that everything is in one place. Additionally, I photocopy the table of contents of each of their main texts so that I have a record of the topics covered during the year.
This year I also created a grid that maps out every subject and kid so that I can see who overlaps where.
(Versions of the worksheets and planning pages we use are represented in the Homeschooling Add-On Pack available for purchase in the LifeasMOM estore.)
Please remember that ours is only one of the many, many ways to approach teaching your kids at home.
Kindergarten
Bible: The Children’s Illustrated Bible and The Jesus Storybook Bible
Math: Saxon Math K
Science: Exploring Creation with Botany, Apologia
Reading/Spelling: Phonics Pathways, Spell to Write and Read
Literature and History: Tapestry of Grace, Year 1, Lower Grammar
Art: Meet the Masters
PE: Swimming and Gymnastics
2nd Grade
Bible: The Children’s Illustrated Bible and The Jesus Storybook Bible
Math: Saxon Math 2
Science: Exploring Creation with Botany, Apologia
Reading/Spelling: Spell to Write and Read, various early readers
Grammar: First Language Lessons
Literature and History: Tapestry of Grace, Year 1, Lower Grammar
Art: Meet the Masters
PE: Roller blading, Swimming, and Karate
4th Grade
Bible: The New Testament, The Victor Journey through the Bible
Math: Saxon Math 54
Science: Exploring Creation with Botany, Apologia
Spelling: Spell to Write and Read
Grammar: First Language Lessons
Literature and History: Tapestry of Grace, Year 1, Upper Grammar
Composition: Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons
Foreign Language: L’art de Lire (if it ever arrives from the publisher)
Music: Piano
Art: Meet the Masters
PE: Roller blading, Swimming, and Karate
Computer: Keyboarding with Mavis Beacon
6th Grade
Bible: The New Testament, The Victor Journey through the Bible
Math: Saxon Math 65
Science: Exploring Creation with Botany, Apologia
Spelling: Apples: Daily Spelling Drills for Secondary Students
Grammar: Fix-It, Winston Grammar
Literature and History: Tapestry of Grace, Year 1, Dialectic
Composition: Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons
Foreign Language: Visual Latin
Art: Meet the Masters
PE: Roller blading, Swimming, and Karate
Computer: Keyboarding with Mavis Beacon
Logic: The Fallacy Detective
9th Grade
Bible: The New Testament, The Victor Journey through the Bible
Math: Chalk Dust Algebra 1
Science: Exploring Creation with Biology + Labs, Apologia
Spelling: Apples: Daily Spelling Drills for Secondary Students
Grammar: Fix-It, Winston Grammar
Literature, Art History, and History: Tapestry of Grace, Year 1, Rhetoric
Composition: Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons
Foreign Language: Visual Latin
PE: Roller blading, Swimming, and Karate
Computer: Keyboarding with Mavis Beacon
Logic: The Fallacy Detective
I said it was gonna be a busy year, didn’t I?
About this series – If you’re interested in getting started in homeschooling, this is a series recounting our experiences in teaching our children at home, the things that I’ve learned, and some resources I’ve discovered along the way. But this way isn’t the only way. Your mileage may vary. Coming up next time – Affordable Homeschooling.
Related reading:
- History and Literature for Homeschooling and Afterschooling
- Language Arts for Homeschooling and Afterschooling
- Math, Science, & Foreign Language – Homeschool Curriculum Ideas for Grammar & Middle School
- A Preschool Experience at Home
To help you organize your homeschool, consider purchasing the Organizing Life as MOM Homeschool Pack which includes a wealth of planning pages for teachers and kids. Buy the book here.
I just bought The Story of the World. I really liked the idea of teaching from the beginning of when the world began. But, I’m having a hard time getting into it and not becoming bogged down by all of the assignments and activities. I like how the Apologia Sciences give you a schedule. I’m not sure how long each lesson is supposed to take in SOTW or if I’m supposed to choose my favorite activity. Can you help explain how you did it? (and any other information you want to throw in there would be great) Thank you!
I’m sure you could use google to find a schedule that someone has created. We just went at our own pace. I decided how many chapters needed to get done in a week or month and just paced ourselves. Sometimes we just read the chapter; other times we did some of the activities. You’re not meant to do it all. They just give lots of choices. Hope that helps.