Big Red turned eight this Spring so I knew that it was time to up his academics a little bit this Fall. He is a very inquisitive child who is very good at mental math. He can read on his own quite well even though he was never given formal phonics or reading lessons. I share how I taught him to read in another post for those whom might be interested.
Last year we decided to pick a history and science that everyone would learn together which helped me to keep my sanity. I decided to do the same thing for this year and use Mystery of History Volume 1 as our main spine.
Bible-
We listen to a couple of chapters of the Bible each day via the YouVersion or Bible Gateway app. We try to stay on schedule with the scriptures assigned for Mystery of History Volume 1 but some weeks there are a lots of chapters assigned! Both younger boys also enjoy hearing and playing with the Bible for Kids App from Life.Church. We do own a nice selection of Bibles including the NIV Polar Adventure Edition.
Spelling-
We are using K12 Reader’s Spelling worksheets for Big Red this year. Since this is his 2nd year having actual spelling I decided to finish out the worksheets that I printed for 1st grade and then move onto 2nd grade. We are not concerned with the level that he is reading and spelling but more the mechanics of writing the words. He has pretty good pencil grip now but before he did we used fish grips for his pencils.
Reading-
We are working our way through some great audiobooks and not using a formal reading program at this time. We are reading through the Little House on the Prairie series as well as watching it on Amazon Prime! I hope to add some hands-on learning with our garden and some related activities from Prairie Primer curriculum. So far we have read aka listened to the following books:
Math-
We started the year off with math worksheets from Bridges Blackline Masters grade 2 and 3. We decided to switch to Teaching Textbooks 3.0 for the high schoolers. When Big Red was given the placement test for Math 4 he answered the placement test with enough correct answer to enroll in Teaching Textbooks 3.0 Math 4! He absolutely loves being able to login online and complete the lessons after a short lecture and a handful of practice problem.
Science-
We have done some nature scavenger hunt worksheets and misc nature walks while I was working on the homeschool herbalism course. Since the herbalism course overlaps with Botany we decided to go ahead and begin Guest Hollow’s Botany course with everyone. We will be supplementing this course with worksheets at an elementary level which go along with Nature Anatomy as well as books from our monthly nature book club.
History-
We are using Mystery of History Volume 1 this year along with the high school siblings. It’s much easier to all use the same basic curriculum but throw in books and videos at an elementary level. We own the MOH Volume 1 audio book set and have been diligent in listening to each lesson. We usually do this while eating a meal so everyone is quiet and can hear. We borrow big sis’ portable cd player. I will warn newbie homeschool mom’s that Mystery of History can be very intense if you do all of the assignments and try to read extra books. Just pick what your schedule allows which for us is the audio plus a book or 2 per week on non busy weeks.
Geography-
I was cleaning and organizing over Christmas break and came across some States and Capitals worksheets which peaked Big Red’s interest so we have added in USA Geography to our curriculum. He reminded me that he liked playing Stack the States game and that he wanted to learn more about each state. Since I love finding homeschool curriculum resources I began searching for some new things and have created an entire post with easy ways to teach the States and Capitals.
Art/Music-
We look for free local programs that involve art or music. We also just enjoy various art projects and we listen to lots of different styles of music since big sis is also taking Music Appreciation for High School.
Foreign Language-
Big Red has decided that he wants to learn German! Not French like Princess or Spanish like Eldest but GERMAN! I think he might be too young for Rosetta Stone so I am using Little Pim German which I found on Amazon Prime or can borrow through our library using the Hoopla App! Eventually I will create an entire resource post for elementary German resources including free printables and games.
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