Large Family Curriculum Choices for 2015-2016

Well, I think I have finally done it – made final curriculum choices for the 2015-2016 school year. 

We are a year-round homeschooling family, but we always have our ‘new’ year start just after my oldest son’s first birthday, which is at the beginning of September.  It’s nice to have a point during our year where we just kind of start fresh.

This year I will officially be homeschooling all 7 of my children.  I will have a 7th, 5th, 3rd, and 1st grader, and 3 little preschoolers (ages 2, 4, and 4).

It’s a tradition in the homeschool blogging community to share what your curriculum picks are each school year, plus all of us homeschoolers enjoy taking a peek inside other homeschools to see what they use, so here is my post, sharing what we will be using for 2015-2016.

Preschool

I will start with preschool because that will cover my 3 youngest kids and then the rest of the list will pertain to my 4 oldest kids.

For preschool we will be using Heart of Dakota’s Little Hands to Heaven.

This is the very first preschool curriculum I ever used.  It’s still our favorite and I will be doing this with all 3 little ones (ages 2, 4, and 4) this year, along with a little Before Five in a Row thrown in here and there.  They will also sit in on our group Bible time and participate as they can.

Bible

So that brings us to Bible.  All of the kids will be doing Grapevine Studies.  We will be doing the Old Testament Overview, but I haven’t decided which level(s) to use yet.

My 7th, 5th, and 3rd grader will also be doing Apologia’s Who is God?

And my 4 youngest will be doing Sound Words for Kids and some Bible Lego Challenges as well.

Math

We are trying a new math curriculum this year.  My 4 oldest kids will be using CTC Math.  I can’t wait to see if this will be a good fit for our entire family.  Besides the great reviews I’ve read about CTC Math, I couldn’t beat the price for all 4 of my kids to do one math program – I got a coupon code in the HEDUA coupon book for 60% off of 18 months!

My 4 oldest children will also be doing MathRider to help hone their math facts.

Science

If you are a regular reader of My Joy-Filled Life, it will probably come to no surprise that we will be using Apologia’s Young Explorer Series for science.  This year we will be doing Human Anatomy & Physiology.  Since I will have 4 kids taking this course, I decided to save a little dough by putting together our own notebooking journals.

I plan on putting together a much lighter human anatomy and physiology course for my preschoolers, and possibly my first grader (she might just bounce between the two levels).  I’m excited to see what I come up with (human anatomy is one of my favorite subjects); hopefully I’m pleased with it; if so, I’ll be sharing it with you all.

My 7th grader will also be trying out the new Experience Astronomy online course.  I’m thinking of having him do this with his dad – a chance for them to spend one-on-one time together.

History & Geography

For history, my 1st, 3rd, and 5th grader will be doing Mystery of History Vol. 1; this will be our second time using it and I’m hoping to do a better job of blogging through our journey.

My 7th grader will be doing the second half of America the Beautiful from Notgrass and when he finishes that he will move onto Uncle Sam and You.  We really love Notgrass history and plan to use it through high school.

Geography will be done along with each curriculum above, as they both incorporate map work and geography into the curriculum.

Phonics

My 1st and 3rd grader will continue to use All About Reading.  I will also be using Explode the Code workbooks with them as needed.

We will also be using the Usborne Very First Reading Program.  Usborne Very First Reading is an inspired series of fifteen books, designed to give children the best possible start when learning to read.  The series combines the enjoyment of shared reading with an adult, the support of a well-researched framework, and above all the appeal of imaginative rhyming stories and irresistible illustrations.  Each book contains:

• an enchanting story with a theme that really appeals to children
• fun puzzles and games that test children’s understanding and provide further reading practice
• gentle, accessible guidance on using the books with your child
• concise notes on what your child learns in each book

We will also use Usborne Phonics Readers for further reading practice and enjoyment.

Language Arts

Grammar
We are trying a new grammar curriculum this year; I am going to be doing Fix It Grammar – The Nose Tree from IEW for my 3 oldest kids (7th, 5th, and 3rd).

My 1st grader will be using Growing with Grammar. 

Spellling
My 5th and 7th grader will continue to use Soaring with Spelling and my 1st and 3rd grader will be using All About Spelling.  My 1st grader probably won’t start using it until mid-year though.

Composition
We are trying something new in this area too.  I’ve decided to give WriteShop a try.  I will be doing level A with my 1st and 3rd grader and level E with my 5th and 7th grader.

I will also be using the Write Your Own Storybook and My First Story Writing Book from Usborne Books.  They also have an adventure story one and a comics one.

Vocabulary
My 7th, 5th, and 3rd grader will continue using Wordly Wise 3000.  We have been using this curriculum for years.

Literature
My 7th, 5th, and 3rd graders will be using Progeny Press literature guides for literature study.  They will read various books throughout the year, but will do literature studies for 4 of the books they read.

My 5th and 7th grader struggle a little with comprehending literature, so they will do guides that are a little below their grade level.  Here are the guides each of them will be doing this year:

7th grade
The Whipping Boy
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Little House in the Big Woods
Shiloh

5th grade
Bears on Hemlock Mountain
The Minstrel in the Tower
The Sword in the Tree
The Dragon’s Hoard

3rd grade
Frog and Toad Together
The Josefina Story Quilt
Long Way to a New Land
Sam the Minuteman

Fine Arts

We don’t do a whole lot in the way of Fine Arts in our homeschool.  This year I will be focusing on art.  My goal is to do an art project each quarter.  We will be using See the Light for art.

Foreign Language

My 7th grader will be starting Latin this year.  I decided to use Compass Classroom’s Visual Latin because, well, I won it; so it was a no-brainer to save some money.  However, I’ve  heard good things about it so I’m excited to give it a try.

I think that’s it!  I’d love to hear what you will be using this upcoming school year.  Will you be trying anything new?  Share in the comments!