2013/2014 Curriculum Choices & Our Routine

We started back to school on Monday. I probably should have waited a few weeks to finish up my canning but we were all ready to get back to some routine. So right now our days are filled will school and our evenings are filled with canning. Its busy but worth it.

Our first day of school traditions are always fun. We begin the day with a breakfast of junk food. Oh you know, sugar em up really well before school. This year, it was cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk. Luckily, our first day doesn't actually involve much school. I hand out all their school supplies, we talk about what I expect this year and we go over our yearly plan. Of course, we also get first day of school pictures.

I made a MAJOR change this year. We love the Weaver Curriculum but I dropped it. I can not even believe I am saying that! It was time though. It was just not working for us. I love Weaver and would recommend it in a second but I could not make it work for us anymore.

I try to teach all the kids together for most subjects for two reasons. It is just easier on me and because that way Taylor doesn't feel left out. I can water it down or add to it depending on the child. It just works.

Here is a run down of what we are doing this year.

Together:
Character Study ~ Character Building for Families Volume 1
Bible ~ Apologia Who is God?
Science ~ Apologia Exploring Creation
History ~ The Mystery of History Volume 1
Art ~ ARTistic Pursuits

Taylor:
ALL (Accessible Literacy Learning) Reading Program
TouchMath
Home Speech Home

Alyssa:
Learning Language Arts Through Literature
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Math Essentials & Life of Fred

Morgan:
Learning Language Arts through Literature
Math Mammoth
Explode the Code

Carter:
Logic to English Essentials
Math Mammoth
Explode the Code

I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl. Schedules make my skin crawl. I have to have some routine though for this house to run smoothly. So we follow a "routine" instead of a rigid "schedule".

Here is how our day plays out. Most of the time.

 6:00 – Wake

            Mommy time (Read Bible, Get ready for day)

 7:00 – Wake kids

            Chores

            Breakfast

            Dress/Brush Teeth/Make Beds

  8:00 – *School Starts

            Character Study

            Math

            Memory Work

  9:30 – English ~Alyssa, Morgan, Carter

            Computer ~Taylor

10:00 – Nature Journals/Composer Study

11:00 – Lunch

12:00 – English & Speech ~Taylor

            IEW ~Alyssa

            Copywork/Explode the Code ~Morgan, Carter

  1:00 – History/Art (M&W)

            Bible/Science (T&TH)

  3:00 – Afternoon chores

            Snack

  5:30 – Dinner

  7:30 – Showers/Bedtime Routine

  8:00 – Run/Exercise

            Adventures in Odyssey ~Kids

  8:30 – Family Read Aloud

  9:00 – Lights Out ~Kids

10:30 – Bedtime
 

Now those official times might look pretty rigid but I assure I could not handle that. They are approximates. The times help me to see how well we are doing each day. But it is just a guide. Daddy gets home from work at 3:30 every day. So I try to have everything done before then. We like our daddy time.

There are some days that we get so engrossed in a read aloud that barely any bookwork gets done and I am 100% okay with that. That is the freedom of homeschooling. We make it work. We get done what we can and most importantly build deep relationships along the way.

We only do school 4 days a week so Fridays are a bit different. Taylor has Physical Therapy at 8:30am. I try to save all my errands for after therapy. Grocery, library, etc. We also sneak in field trips or trips to the Wilderness Center.

Its going to be a fun year!

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