2016-2017 Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Preschool Thru High School
Today is August 1. How is your homeschool planning coming along? We plan to start school at the end of the month, and I still have a few things to order and A LOT of organization to do! But, I’m happy to say that most decisions about curriculum have been made, and I am glad to share our 2016-2017 Homeschool Curriculum Choices with you today.
One huge change this year is that my oldest will be attending public high school. He is a sophomore, and we’re praying it’s a good experience for him. He (like all of my kids) has always been homeschooled. My second son is a freshman, and I’m glad I still get to homeschool him. Homeschooling high school is great!
Science:Bright Ideas PressChristian Kids Explore Creation Science. [Update: She started this but found it too easy, so she switched to Apologia General Science for the rest of the year.]
Music: Private violin lessons, Private piano lessons and theory, Music Appreciation at homeschool co-op (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical–taught by me. Look for this new curriculum to be available in 2017!)
Theater: Classes and Musicals through Christian Youth Theater, Scenes with Shakespeare at homeschool co-op
Other Activities for various kids throughout the year:
Swim Lessons E, I, L, and T
Basketball for J
Worldview Academy for J
Speech tournaments for M and J
Piano recitals J, M, R, T, and L
Piano competition, festival, and theory exam for J and M
Violin recital for M, T, L, and I
Geography Bee for T, M, and J
Our Homeschool Schedule:
6:00 Mom gets up, Quiet Time, shower, exercise
7:15 Kids up, get ready, eat breakfast, morning chores
8:00-9:00 Kids start individual work and instrument practice
9:00-10:00 Couch Time for elementary and preschool kids (Choose from: Bible, Literature, Memory Work, History, Science, Spanish, ICC practice speeches, music/hymn study. Not every subject every day!)
10:00-11:30 Reading and Spelling lessons with R (has dyslexia and needs extra one-on-one time) and phonics lessons with I and E
11:30-12:30 Lunch Break and lunch chores (Mom does emails, phone calls, bills)
12:30-1:30 Help kids with individual work
1:30-4:30 Mom’s computer work time (blogging, product creation). Older kids continue school-work until finished.
4:30-5:30 Afternoon chores and dinner prep
5:30 Dinner and dinner chores
Changes to schedule:
Tuesday: Piano from 1-2:30, Spotlight Youth Theater at 4:45 for winter and spring
Wednesday: Tapestry co-op from 9:30-12:30, Afternoon co-op from 12:30-2:30
Thursday: Violin lessons from 9:30-12, ICC every other week 1:00-3:00, Spotlight Youth Theater at 4:45 for fall
We Just LOVE anything Science !!This giveaway is AMAZING!!What a Blessing to a deserving home school family!And you are truly an AMAZING woman for home schooling 8 children I just gotta say WOW!May you ALWAYS be Blessed and can you come teach me how to do this crazy thing called home schooling I only have 3 and you make it look so AWESOME!Lol Really though May you & yours be Blessed!
Thank you for all you do for those that are lost like me 🙂
~Dona O. Texas homeschooling Mom
Like I said pretty lady I have 3 so I can only Imagine how hard daily life is :)Never is it easy for anyone !But Wonderful Mothers like you make it more AMAZING by being so Wonderful and Uplifting!The Lord is truly with you and I Thank you for bringing me Hope :)I pray I can be even a smidge as AMAZING one day through my journey:)
~Dona
My daughter loves learning about ALL things science. She says to me that one day she will build me a new leg (I lost it in an accident) that I can afford and don’t have to pay for.
I love to teach about the human body. It’s amazing to see how our bodies are so integrated and created so intricate. Of course by an amazing Creator. That is what makes it even more interesting to study.
They are so good at playing! They ride bikes, roller blade, play in the yard (swingset), play board games, dolls/Legos/pretend, listen to audio books, and have a 30-minute turn on the computer or iPad.
Do you have any kind of a schedule for them that rotates activities or are they just on their own to choose? I’m just afraid of neglecting my little one in the busyness of school demands for the big guys! ?
I understand your concerns, Jessica. When my oldest boys were babies, I read the book “For the Children’s Sake” by Susan Schaefer MacCauley. It taught me how to provide the tools and opportunities, but to allow lots of time for free play. That was when I talked my husband into getting a fence for our yard. I have seen the benefits of free play in their growth in creativity and imagination.
–Gena
Nope, I’m not organized with my little guys’ learning. 🙂
–Gena
Science is not my strong suit, but I enjoy learning all topics with my kids!
I bet you’ll like these Adventure Homeschool unit studies!
–Gena
Favorite Science topic to teach … ELECTRICITY!!!
That’s one part of science I just don’t understand. 🙂
–Gena
I love science! Its so hands on and fun, I can’t wait to dive in with my littles! My first year homeschooling this year so I’m super excited!!!
I’m excited for you! Hope you have a blast. 🙂
–Gena
What a great giveaway. Thank you
You’re welcome. 🙂
–Gena
I like to teach earth science .
It’s been a while for me–need to teach it again.
–Gena
We are learning about astronomy now and it is definitely my favorite so far.
Try to go to the planetarium if you can!
–Gena
Astronomy is amazing..and that is what we are starting this year.
I always love studying astronomy with my kids!
–Gena
I like all science things
Agreed. 🙂
–Gena
Anything dealing with Earth Science is my favorite science topic to teach.
Right–like weather and volcanoes!
–Gena
Great giveaway!!!
That’s for sure!
–Gena
We Just LOVE anything Science !!This giveaway is AMAZING!!What a Blessing to a deserving home school family!And you are truly an AMAZING woman for home schooling 8 children I just gotta say WOW!May you ALWAYS be Blessed and can you come teach me how to do this crazy thing called home schooling I only have 3 and you make it look so AWESOME!Lol Really though May you & yours be Blessed!
Thank you for all you do for those that are lost like me 🙂
~Dona O. Texas homeschooling Mom
I’m glad you didn’t say I made it look easy, because it’s not! It is awesome, though!
–Gena
Like I said pretty lady I have 3 so I can only Imagine how hard daily life is :)Never is it easy for anyone !But Wonderful Mothers like you make it more AMAZING by being so Wonderful and Uplifting!The Lord is truly with you and I Thank you for bringing me Hope :)I pray I can be even a smidge as AMAZING one day through my journey:)
~Dona
My favorite science topic is Biology!!!
I love the zoology part of biology!
–Gena
My daughter loves learning about ALL things science. She says to me that one day she will build me a new leg (I lost it in an accident) that I can afford and don’t have to pay for.
How beautiful! I pray she is able to do that.
–Gena
I like to teach botany.
We just finished that one this last year. It was more fascinating to me this time around than I had remembered before. 🙂
–Gena
I enjoy teaching anatomy, earth science, and astronomy!
So fun!
–Gena
My favorite to teach is math
Math is the one subject I don’t like teaching. 🙂
–Gena
I run a science lab during VBS so my favorite thing to teach is hands-on experiments that illustrate the day’s scripture or theme.
That is so awesome! I love it!
–Gena
I enjoy teaching earth science
Thanks! I love anything related to science!
You’re welcome!
–Gena
I love to teach about the human body. It’s amazing to see how our bodies are so integrated and created so intricate. Of course by an amazing Creator. That is what makes it even more interesting to study.
What do your little guys do all afternoon while you are blogging?
They are so good at playing! They ride bikes, roller blade, play in the yard (swingset), play board games, dolls/Legos/pretend, listen to audio books, and have a 30-minute turn on the computer or iPad.
Do you have any kind of a schedule for them that rotates activities or are they just on their own to choose? I’m just afraid of neglecting my little one in the busyness of school demands for the big guys! ?
You are just organized with everything else, I was curious to see if you had some kind of structure for the little guys’ learning.
I understand your concerns, Jessica. When my oldest boys were babies, I read the book “For the Children’s Sake” by Susan Schaefer MacCauley. It taught me how to provide the tools and opportunities, but to allow lots of time for free play. That was when I talked my husband into getting a fence for our yard. I have seen the benefits of free play in their growth in creativity and imagination.
–Gena
Nope, I’m not organized with my little guys’ learning. 🙂
–Gena