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Our 2009-2010 Curriculum

The season is upon us. Not the holiday season, the back to school season! The get back on our school schedule, pull out the new school books, stock up on school supplies and no more sleeping in late season.

Not that we ever sleep in late around here. Ahem.

Typically speaking we take the month of August off after having schooled for the whole remainder of the year. This year, however, we’re still going and we’re doing a bit of something during the month of August to help transition into the new school year.

Princess, Age 9.3

We’re using the 4th Grade Brain Quest Workbook to transition from our 3rd grade curriculum last year to the 4th & 5th grade curriculum for this year. At the beginning of September we’ll begin our new year with the following curriculum:

Language Arts/Science/Bible: 5th Grade Switched on Schoolhouse
Math: 4th Grade SOS
History: The Mystery of History Vol 1; Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, Treasures of Knowledge, Teacher Edition & My America (an A Beka Book similar to this one.)
Handwriting: Proverbs from the Bible
Other:

Drama Queen, Age 6.3

We’re using the 1st Grade Brain Quest Workbook to both review some of the first grade concepts she began last year and also, pick up where she left off and practice the new concepts. Once she really gets the hang of reading, she’ll be able to move on:

Reading: McGuffey’s Eclectic Primer, Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane and Friends, and various vintage readers and workbooks
Handwriting: Proverbs from the Bible
Grammar (as we get to it): First Language Lessons, Grades 1 and 2
Math: Spectrum Math Grade 1 (Math U See Manipulatives for hands on)
Science: Discovering God’s World, participate in experiments with Princess
Other:
- Health, Safety and Manners 1
- History – TMOH, Carmen Sandiego & My America with Princess
- DK Smart Steps First Grade
- Now I’m Reading!
- Dora’s Backpack Adventure and Lost City Adventure

Little Prince, Age 3.7

He also has a Brain Quest Workbook, Pre-K, and he’s doing some early pages out of that as his willingness and ability allows. Other than that his schooling will consist mainly of:

Learning to write some letters and his name.
Hands on play time with his blocks, animals and trains.
Watching Sid the Science Kid, SuperWhy and WordWorld. (Yeah, I just put cartoons down as school curriculum – so what?)
Playing his Caillou Thinking Skills and Caillou Alphabet games. I’d like to also get the Caillou Counting game.
Trying to play his Blue’s Clues Kingergarten game.
Keeping him from destroying school work by entertaining him with all of the above.

A lot of these have been given to us over the years, many of them have been passed down from child to child. Some of them I found on sale somewhere and many of them I hunted down specifically trying to find the best deal. I choose things based on how well they meet my goals for the child and often personal recommendations from friends but if it doesn’t work as well as I’d like or if I find something that looks better, we happily try something new next year. We’re very laid back that way. Well, when I say we, I mean “I.” My husband would prefer I was a little less laid back and so I’m working on that.

How is the upcoming year looking for you? How do you find and choose your curriculum? I’m interested to know.

This post is happily submitted to the NOT Back to School Blog Hop: Curriculum Week at Darcy’s My 3 Boybarians.

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10 Responses to "Our 2009-2010 Curriculum"

Wendy @Sun-Kissed Savages says:

August 4, 2009 at 10:00 pm

I’ve heard so many good things about Switched on Schoolhouse. However, it’s one of those too-expensive-to-buy-and-try things. I’d have to be certain. How long have you used it?

Wow, you school all year? As much as I love teaching and learning (and all the good stuff that comes with it, too,) I need the summer break as much as the kids do.
I’m impressed.

Brain Quest– we’ve really enjoyed the card packs, too. So much fun! I use the 2nd grade kit for all three of the older kids.

Reply
1. Amber says:
  
  August 4, 2009 at 11:48 pm
  
  Wendy, I’ve heard a lot of good things about SOS too and am really eager to try it! This is our first year to use it, a friend gave it to us! But a good place to find it a little bit cheaper is ebay – you just gotta pay attn to the publication year (I don’t mind going back a year or two, but I wouldn’t want to go back any farther than that for history you know!), the condition, the seller’s rating and the price w/shipping – some of them are selling for the same amt as you’d pay brand new! But if you dig through you’ll find a good deal – that’s what I’m doing to get the SOS 4th grade math.
  
  Yeah, we go all year, but not EVERY DAY all year! We plan a week off a month and all of August off. But since we are often inconsistent and get out of our groove, we need the summer time to catch up! We can use our week off to go visit my mom, celebrate holidays, and/or catch up on things around the house. Also, it’s too hard for us to get back into the groove if we take too long a break. Blech.
  
  I really like these BrainQuest books! I was really tempted to buy the card packs too but I didn’t. =\
  
  Reply
Juliana says:

August 6, 2009 at 10:01 am

Okay…here’s a weird thing. I looked at your BLues Clues kindergarden link just yesterday and thinking “Aaron really loves BC now, I bet he would eat that up”. Went to the Dollar Store last night and guess what I scored for $1.80? You guessed it! Just gotta get a kid-friendly mouse instead of a track pad or track-ball. Thanks for the idea! Also, who goes to the dollar store when they are on a very rare date night? I do!

Reply
Amber says:

August 6, 2009 at 3:44 pm

Juliana -
LOL!! Guess where I got mine? THE DOLLAR GENERAL!
I also got the 2-pack Dora game there. Love the DG! Have you seen those little mini-mice? Seems like I saw someone using one with a laptop, it was about half the size. I’m thinking that I’ll get one of those to use on the desktop since the kids mostly use that system anyway. LIttle Prince was having a hard time with the mouse because it was so big. Also, it is a bit above him, but I sat down with him in my lap and talked him through it, and by the fourth time it wanted him to pick the rhyming word he was able to do it. I’m sure that he’ll catch on pretty quick.

Reply
Kristal says:

August 8, 2009 at 7:50 pm

First Language Lessons is on our list too. Some other things I have to check out too! Thanks for the links!

Reply
Robin E. says:

August 9, 2009 at 5:19 pm

Carmen San Diego is still around? Is it Vista compatible? I recall Carmen San Diego games when I was a kid, but I haven’t seen it recently. My kids would love it, assuming it’s pretty advanced. They are geography nuts, and games such as Professor Noggins’ Countries of the World 1 and 2 are just too easy for them.

Thank you for sharing on the Blog Hop.

Reply
1. Amber says:
  
  August 9, 2009 at 6:45 pm
  
  Robin – Yes! The original company, Broderbund, is now defunct but there have been several remakes since then. I did my homework when I was looking to find one and from the reviews I read, went with the one I linked to here because it sounded the best. Two things to note:
  
  1.) In the original, there were endless combinations of games that could be played, as each game drew a random villian and country out of a list of V.I.L.E. henchmen. In the current versions on the market, they’re structured more like today’s games, where there is one linear progression through the game and once you get to the end, you win. (It seems I did find some listings on the web where you could find copies or original games – but geographically they would be so out of date I didn’t pursue that route.) This particular version has a set of 6 challenges (always chasing Carmen, we don’t get to “meet” her henchmen anymore”) that culminate in finally capturing Carmen at the end.
  On the other hand, even though there is only one linear scenario (which really makes me sad, because I’m convinced my brother and I picked up on so much of the geography through repetition, repetition, repetition!) this one DOES have the advantage of having a database in which children can specifically research specific countries. Even though the game was manufactured a few years ago, it is still the most current version historically and I like the fact that I can use it to research a specific country we’re learning in history.
  
  2.) This edition, being a teacher’s edition also comes with a 3 ring binder full of supplemental activities to enhance the countries your child is going through in each game. Each one correlates to a different step in the journey of each challenge. For example, during the first challenge they have to go to Japan and they find a clue in a paper crane. The activity for that day is making a paper crane. First they have to look at a set of partial instructions and clues and have to try to figure out how it’s done. Then they’re given a set of full instructions and have to try to complete it then. Some of the activities involve maps and other cultural things. So if you choose (as I am going to) to have them play the game one step at a time, they can play and then do an activity which I think will help them remember more about the country they just “visited.”
  
  Reply
Kari "Momma Snail" says:

August 9, 2009 at 9:59 pm

“Watching Sid the Science Kid, SuperWhy and WordWorld. (Yeah, I just put cartoons down as school curriculum – so what?)”

You are so AWESOME! Great list!

Reply
Peggy Brister says:

August 25, 2009 at 8:34 pm

I am a little late commenting on this post. Better late than never I suppose. I use a boxed curriculum, Abeka. I like it because you get lesson plans for every subject every day, what to teach, supplimental activites, board problems, which worksheets to do in which book, etc. It guides me through it without having to come up with my own lesson plans. And my two kids had been previously in private school and they used Abeka in the private school, so the kids were used to it by the time I started homeschooling them. With all 3 of mine (I homeschooled my 24 yr old also) I let them go to school for part of elementary learning the basic reading, writing and math before I stepped in and took over. But, back on topic, curriculum. I see alot of HS moms piece together things from all different curriculums, but that would be alot more work, and I am not into adding alot more work.

Reply
1. Amber says:
  
  August 25, 2009 at 8:40 pm
  
  Believe me – there are days where I wish it all came in a box and was all laid out! But when I think I’m going to do that, seems I step and say, well, I like this piece better, and that piece better.
  Mostly we end up with different things because we’ve never been in the position to afford a new complete system. We are very blessed to have many things passed on to us. But this has been a challenge in some ways, too, I’ll admit that. This year, we were given the Switched on Schoolhouse, but Princess isn’t ready for the math so I need to replace that with a different one. And I really want to try The Mystery of History so I’m replacing that – most of it will be the SOS but there I go again, making changes! I guess I’m going to have to work a little harder to get the eclectic homeschooler out of me. =)
  
  Reply

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