Amazingly, this will be our 9th official year to school at home!

(Above: preparing schedules and journal sheets for our five children)

I think this year has been the most difficult to plan yet, but I know that God is good… He’s got this!  He has us in the palm of His loving hand and He will help each of us to learn and grow how He intends during the course of this year!

Here is a breakdown of our curriculum choices for the 2015-2016 school year – grade by grade – for Kindergarten through 8th grade.

our Kindergartener…

• Reading/Phonics:
  Alphabet Review – sounds and handwriting;
  Lots of Word Work – CVC, silent e, word families, sight words;
  Lots of Early Readers – Bob Books, Animal Antics, Playful Pals, A Beka K readers, etc.;
  Explode the Code books 1-2 (3?)
  
  (Above:  in the middle of my kindergarten literacy planning)
• Math:  Horizons K
• Science:  Apologia Exploring Creation with Flying Creatures 
  (with his 2nd grade sister)
  

(Above: I don’t think my little guy is quite ready for the Jr. Notebook that his older sister will be using, so I made him his own ‘My Nature Notebook: Birds, Bats, and Bugs!’)

• Social Studies:  Beautiful Feet Books: Early American History, Primary
  (with his 2nd grade sister)
• AWANA:  1st year Sparks
• Bible and Worldview:  Morning Worship (hymns and Training Hearts,Training Minds), Big Truths for Little Kids, Scripture Memorization (Exodus 20:1-17)
• Music:  piano
• Additions:  Fit Kids, possibly taking part in Trail Life, participating in a homeschool co-op one day every other week

our 2nd Grader…

• Reading:  A Beka readers (2^nd and 3^rd grade), Explode the Code books 6-7
• Writing/Grammar:  BJU English 2;  Joyful Heart Spelling Skills,  Draw Write Now (animals that correspond with science)
  
  (Above: Our second grader will be continuing in Joyful Heart Spelling Skills.)
  Math: Horizons 2, Xtra Math fact practice
• Science:  Apologia Exploring Creation with Flying Creatures (using the accompanying Jr. Notebook)  (with her Kindergarten brother)
• Social Studies:  Beautiful Feet Books: Early American History, Primary
  (with her Kindergarten brother)
  
  (Above: a lovely spread of books from Beautiful Feet Books’ Early American History, Primary that we plan to use with our K child and second grader)
• AWANA:  3rd year Sparks
• Bible and Worldview:  Apologia Worldview, Reading through the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs and completing a daily devotional sheet, Morning Worship (Scripture passage review, hymns, and Training Hearts,Training Minds)
• Music:  Choir, beginning Violin Lessons, piano
• Additions:  Fit Kids, participating in a homeschool co-op one day every other week

our 4^th Grader…

• Reading/Literature:  Memoria Press
  (including Homer Price, Dangerous Journey, A Bear Called Paddington, The Blue Fairy Book)
• Writing/Grammar/Composition/Spelling:  BJU English 4; Joyful Heart Spelling through Scripture (dictation for spelling and handwriting), A Reason For Handwriting (cursive practice)
• Math:  Horizons 4, Xtra Math fact practice
• Science:  Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics
  (with his 6th grade sister)
  
  (Above: Our 4th and 6th graders are so excited to begin this hands on science course form Apologia!)
• Social Studies:  Beautiful Feet Books: Early American History, Intermediate
  (with his 6th grade sister)
• AWANA:  2nd year T&T
• Bible and Worldview:  Apologia Worldview, completing Boyhood and Beyond,
  Reading through the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs and completing a daily devotional sheet, Morning Worship (Scripture passage review, hymns, and Training Hearts, Training Minds)
• Music:  Choir
• Additions:  Fit Kids, possibly taking part in Trail Life, and participating in a homeschool co-op one day every other week

our 6^th Grader…

• Reading/Literature:  Memoria Press
  (including Anne of Green Gables, The Bronze Bow, The Hobbit, Twenty One Balloons)
• Writing/Grammar/Composition/Spelling:  BJU English 6; Joyful Heart Spelling through Scripture (dictation for spelling and handwriting)
  
  (Above: I’m excited to start Spelling Through Scripture with our oldest students so that they can focus on correct capitalization, spacing, punctuation, grammar, handwriting, and spelling within the context of God’s Word!)
• Math:  Horizons 6; Xtra Math fact practice
• Science: Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics
  (with her 4th grade brother)
• Social Studies:  Beautiful Feet Books: Early American History, Intermediate
  (with her 4th grade brother)
  
  (Above: great books from Beautiful Feet Books’ early American History, Intermediate that we plan to use with our fourth and sixth grade students)
• AWANA:  1st year Trek, serving as a Leader in Training with a preschool Gopher Buddies class
• Bible and Worldview:  Apologia Worldview, middle school Bible study, Beauty in the Heart: A Study of Godly Beauty for Young Women, Morning Worship (Scripture passage review, hymns, and Training Hearts,Training Minds)
• Music:  Violin lessons, Piano, Choir
• Additions:  Faithful Workouts, You Can Sew, and participating in a homeschool co-op one day every other week

our 8^th Grader…

• Reading/Literature:  Veritas Press Omnibus 1, Secondary
  (including Chosen by God, Till We Have Faces, all books in The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Best Things in Life, Unaborted Socrates, The Eagle of the Ninth, The Screwtape Letters, and The Holiness of God)
  
  (Above:  I think our eighth grader is most excited about digging into this self paced, online, biblically based literature course from Veritas Press!)
• Writing/Composition/Spelling:  Editor in Chief, Gumdrops, Write with the Best (possibly followed by a Time for Writing online course), Joyful Heart Spelling Through Scripture (dictation for spelling and handwriting)
  
  (Above:  Our eighth grader has used BJU English on previous years and we feel she has a firm grasp on grammar skills.  This year, her final year before entering high school, we desire for her to improve her writing and plan to place a greater emphasis on composition and editing skills.)
  Math:  Saxon 8/7 Pre Algebra
  (continuation from last year and then possibly Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1)
• Science:  Apologia Physical Science
  
  (Above: We found Apologia’s General Science to be both thorough and challenging.  Continuing with their series, our daughter will be learning from their Physical Science course and participating/completing labs within a homeschool co-op.)
• Social Studies:  A Beka 8^th Grade- America: Land I Love; additional historical books that correspond to the time periods studied
  
• AWANA:  Trek, serving as a Leader in Training with a preschool Gopher Buddies class
• Bible and Worldview:  Apologia Worldview, middle school Bible study, Beauty in the Heart: A Study of Godly Beauty for Young Women, Morning Worship (Scripture passage review, hymns, and Training Hearts,Training Minds)
• Music:  Violin lessons, Piano, Choir
• Additions:  Faithful Workouts, You Can Sew, and participating in a homeschool co-op one day every other week

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Would you like to see our previous year’s curriculum choices?
2014-2015 (7th, 5th, 3rd, 1st, PreK)
2013-2014 (6th, 4th, 2nd, K, preschool)
2012-2013 (5th, 3rd, 1st, PreK, 2 year old)
2011-2012 (4th, 2nd, K, 3’s preschool, toddler)
2010-2011 (3rd, 1st, PreK, 2 year old, 4 mo old baby)
2009-2010 (2nd, K, 3’s preschool, toddler, baby arrived end of year)
2008-2009 (1st, PreK, 2 year old, 6 mo old baby)
2007-2008 (K, 3’s preschool, toddler, baby arrived mid year)
2006-2007 (PreK, 2 year old, 7 mo old baby) – Joyful Heart Character
2005-2006 (3’s preschool, toddler, baby arrived mid year) – Joyful Heart Bible and Rhyme
2004-2005 (2 year old, 6 mo old baby) – Joyful Heart Learning

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This post is part of the 7th annual “Not” Back-To-School Blog Hop over at the iHomeschool Network.  Check out what other homeschool families are choosing to use for their children this coming school year!