Another year and another season of planning, preparing and purchasing. If you are getting ready to pick out your upcoming school books, check out our Homeschool Curriculum Choices for 2019-2020 first.

I just love the arrival of the new curriculum and all of the visions of a fresh start to the school year!

In the coming school year, we will have two 6th graders, one 3rd grader, and a little 1st grader!!

WOW!

They each continue to evolve into little unique personalities. Their learning styles vary and so therefore, so does our curriculum choices. I really try hard to pray and pick the best curriculums to grow their learning and skill sets.

2019-2020 CURRICULUM CHOICES

So that I don’t get caught up in where I think my child “should be”, I evaluate them based on where they were at the beginning of the prior year. This way I see their growth and what worked and what didn’t. See how I anchor my year at this post.

No comparing!!

This way I get to set them on the best path for them as an individual for top success. I want them to grow academically, but I also want them to love learning and learn to learn. Good manners and character are always in the forefront of what they learn.

Related Post: Why We Homeschool

6th Grade

This incredible pre-teen will be advancing and taking on some new things as she enters the new year. changes that we are just beginning to navigate! UGH! She had a great repeat year last year so this coming season will mean big opportunity for her learning.

These are the independent subjects and curriculum that she will be using:

Language Arts/Spelling: The Good and the Beautiful, Level 3 & 4. This continues to be a good fit for my Sweetie. It reinforces her phonics and promotes strong spelling. This curriculum groups all of the Language Arts pieces into one program – spelling, grammar, poetry, writing, art, and even some geography!!! This program also contains plenty of repetition IF you need it. We do go at a slower pace and in her binder, I split the grammar/poetry and the spelling pieces so it is not as overwhelming. This enables her to be able to work more independently with little check boxes to complete for each section on a page.
Handwriting: The Good & The Beautiful Handwriting, Level 4 – Since she needs the regular practice of her handwriting skills, she will be continuing this handwriting program from G&B.
Math: Master Math, Living Math. We are making a change for math this year. Math-U-See has been great for her math learning, however, I have seen that the lack of review is no longer working for my Sweetie. She is having difficulty remembering former skills, which is critical for building new ones. This living math will give her some new ways to learn that will also aid in her life skills. It is tricky when you have a child with special needs and get a good curriculum fit as they grow. Praying this works well.
Typing: The Good & The Beautiful Typing 1 — Continuing with the simple goodness of this curriculum, G&B does not disappoint with the beauty and ease of this typing program.
Character Training & Life Skills: Regular reading of her devotionals is key in character training. She will read with me A Girl After God’s own Heart. Her key character words are Respectful, Responsible, and Teachable and this book will help foster encouragment in these areas. Reflective of her growth areas, these keywords help her evaluate her attitude. She is passionate but is very stubborn. Keeping her on track for character growth is a fundamental life skill.

6th Grade

My charming, perfectionist, first born son is growing leaps and bounds. He will continue with many of the same curriculums as last year, but I will be adding to them. This young man learns quick and finishes fast, so to keep him engaged and learning these are his independent subjects and curriculum for this year:

Language Arts – This guy will have another year in the Essentials Program at our Classical Conversations (CC) co-op.
- Essentials Program – This program will review and introduce classic sentence structure, parts of speech, and lots of diagramming.
- The Good & The Beautiful Language Arts, Level 5 – He will continue to supplement the Essentials program with additional grammar. He will read the included good books also. The only part he will not do will be the writing portions since that is covered exceptionally well in his IEW curriculum.
Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), Medieval History — This is part of the CC coop program and it does the perfect job with introducing good writing skills. This writing curriculum chooses source texts that are consistent with the time period that we are learning in history for our CC Cycle 2 Foundations coop group. Students learn how to write descriptive paragraphs using source texts and creating bibliographies. There are some creative writing assignments too using pictures and creating their own story. This program can be used without being part of a CC Community and there is a time period for the different times in history.
Handwriting: The Good & The Beautiful Handwriting, Level 5 + 6 — Since my big guy writes most other subjects in manuscript, this will give him continued cursive writing practice. He has been doing cursive for 2 years and enjoys practicing in script. One key item to this curriculum is they use grammar and spelling rules as text to copy. Additionally, there are bible verses and other good character qualities stated within to copy.
Math: Teaching Textbooks, Level 6 – Continuing in our TT has been terrific for this guy and it frees me up to spend more hands on time with the littles. He is able to do the lecture, complete the assignment, and the grade book tracks it all.
Typing: The Good & The Beautiful Typing 1 — He will continue to learn basic keyboard typing skills. This guy types more than the other kids for his writing program, so the skill will remain one he works on growing in.
Character Training: To keep up with growing in grace, respect, and integrity, my son will be reading through this book Boyhood and Beyond. It provides practical wisdom and encouragement for young teen boys growing in these days,

3rd Grade

My little man remains a fast moving auditory learner. Seriously, he amazes me with what he learns simply by hearing. Since he sits for short sessions, the key is making sure I help him focus and we cover only that which is necessary.

I also like to use the fact that this little guy moves so much to aid his learning. Hopscotch, jumping jacks, even running in circles can all be used to review spelling and math facts. Knowing you child helps you cater to the way they learn.

His subjects and curriculum for the coming year are:

Language Arts/Spelling: The Good & The Beautiful Language Arts, Levels 2-3. He did great at the end of the year so we will be continuing. This goes at a good pace for him and, with the phonetic foundation he has, he can keep up or pass some lessons.
Handwriting – The Good & The Beautiful Handwriting, Level 3 –This kid will continue this curriculum since it worked well last year. He didn’t love the cursive introduced, so this year I will have him continue to develop that skill. This is one really good subject he can also do independently, and at this age, it is helpful for him to see this as a strength.
Math – Teaching Textbooks, Level 3. This will be the first year little man uses a computer math curriculum. I think this will be a good fit and transition as he grows. It will also be more independent learning while watching the lecture and then completing the lesson on his own. I will spend time getting him acclimated then let him fly.

Character Training – Lessons in Responsibility for Young Boys – He will continue to go through this great book for younger boys. It covers many basic and essential life skills about responsibility, hygene, caring for your property, and many other areas. There are some simple review questions at the end of each chapter that is helpful for conversations too.

1st Grade

Here she comes, this little spitfire baby girl who is eager to learn and be part of all this homeschool stuff!

She will continue with simple reading and math skills that are fun fill her day. She is crafty and loves art so I continue to be intentional about doing the fun crafts with her.

Each morning she will start with me to get her work almost fully complete. Then she can play. Playing independently will be something she will need to learn and grow in. She has all her older siblings around, but as they get older, she will get extra play time. I will play music in her room while she plays or short audio books.

The curriculum for Baby girl this year:

Language/Phonics/Reading: Logic of English, Foundations B + C Baby girl did amazing with this program last year. She will continue to complete Level B and move into Level C when ready. She loves the phonics, bright pictures, and is reading at a much higher level than last year.
Handwriting – Handwriting Without Tears, Level 1 — Logic of English does contain some handwriting in its lessons, but I feel that regular practice of proper pencil grip and stroke directions are better explained and reviewed with HWT. This program has pages that are more age appealing for words and letters. She will also still use the chalkboards and mini sponges for perfecting letter formation…and fun! 🙂 These are great hands-on activities her fine motor skills to keep developing.
Math: ABeka, Level 1. She will continue with ABeka for 1st grade. This is such a great early learner curriculum. It builds a strong math skills foundation as well as fostering independence. Each lesson has one page of new concept to do with me, and the other side is indepentdently reviewed. I will help her with both sides initially, and slowly allow her greater responsibility through the year.
Character Training: Baby girl will get to spend time with me reading and learning many character principals. We will read The Children’s Book of Virtues and The Children’s Book of Heroes together. These are simple stories that focus on morals and lessons on good character.

Those are our Homeschool Curriculum Choices for 2019-2020.

Wherever you are in your homeschool journey, I pray that these options help guide you. Be encouraged that changing a curriculum at any time is ok since your child will keep learning. You will make the best decisions, momma.

To see how we learn together, you can head on over to this post about our Circle Time – How We Start our Day.

What are your choices for the coming year? Are you trying anything new? Let me know in the comments!

Best,