Homeschool Curriculum

This is the 1st week I feel like we have our feet underneath us in this whole homeschooling thing. 

We had some struggles with phonics {aka....no one wanted to do our phonics lessons}....so we scratched it altogether, and because of that decision, we feel good. 

Everyone keeps asking what curriculum we decided on, and now that we're in the swing of things, I feel like I can confidently stand behind what we've picked out. 

For Reading, we originally went with Saxon Phonics, but each lesson was taking us close to 30 minutes. It was too much for all of us. So we have swept any formal phonics lessons under the rug and we are reading like crazy, and Addison loves it. We are also studying sight words and spelling words each week. 

I found an awesome program called bookadventure.com that is very similar to the A.R. program in the schools. Addy can read books, take tests online, and earn points. She is thrilled to read and take tests everyday so much so that her journal entry yesterday read, "I am happy when....I am taking tests." She meant those book tests. We're big fans of Book Adventure, and did I mention it's free. 

For Math, we went with Singapore math. Brian, Addy, and I all love it. Lessons are simple and very well taught, and I like the approach to teaching concepts. It's not all rote memorization. She's learning and understanding concepts. 

For Science, we are using Nancy Larson science. I love this too. Simple while engaging, and I feel like she is already retaining a lot of new information. 

For Geography, I found an awesome curriculum over at confessionsofahomeschooler.com called Road Trip USA. We already love this curriculum. It incorporates history and animals into the basic geography study of each state. Plus, Addison is currently learning all 50 states and their capitals thanks to this fun song on youtube. Plus we got to learn about Colorado while we were in Colorado. How fun is that? 

For History, we picked out Mystery of History. I personally want to work through this curriculum because I know I would learn so much! Seriously. It's a study of World History mixed with Bible history. The only problem is that I think Addison isn't ready for it. It has lesson activities for younger, middle, and older students, but I think we may wait 1 more year (or at least until January) before really diving into it, but we absolutely plan on working through it eventually. We are currently using supplements that go along with US history while we study various states in Geography. 

Art has also become a very important part of our curriculum. Addison LOVES art, so we have made a point to make art fun and creative for her. I am using lots and lots of books I bought on amazon as well as ideas from pinterest.  

And that's about it folks. We're cruising along....feeling good. Happy Homeschoolers over here.

{And I never thought I would say that about us!}