I have hesitated from posting this because in many ways choosing the curriculum is easy whereas making it interesting and relevant is the challenge. That challenge generally involves using the curriculum plus other resources. This post is like presenting the bare bones of our education without the muscles and skin.
My youngest is six and so would be in year 2 next year. Hmm, I can't quite believe this. Anyway:
Bible
We are currently reading through the Catherine Vos Children's Story Bible and plan to continue this. Alongside this, Youngest Son is working on Bible memory work and we sing a hymn from Our own hymnbook or Psalms and Hymns of Reformed Worship each morning. Youngest Son would like to sing How pleased and blest was I every day but in order to achieve family harmony, this doesn't happen.
English
Reading:Youngest Son is currently using Dancing Bears.
We plan to continue with this although it doesn't always cause the greatest enthusiasm. We hope to supplement this with some other books.
I almost forgot to write about our reading aloud but this is a vital part of our day. I read aloud several times a day including some older picture books, poetry and chapter books. I list the chapter books and some of the longer picture books in the Books Read section of my blog.
Grammar and Spelling: Jolly Grammar 2 Pupil Workbook.
We find that grammar is best learned when accompanied by action games!
Handwriting: Schofield and Sims workbooks and some practice in sand/playdough etc.
Writing: This is a bit of a mixture: some ideas from Writestart, others from Pie Corbett's books and the daily emails from Bravewriter. The plan is to do a mix of fiction and non-fiction with much of the writing sparked from books that we have read together.
Maths
This year, we started using the Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching materials. These have worked well and we plan to continue to use these. We buy the workbooks rather than printing off sheets (less for me to lose). I do wish that the lesson plans could be put on my Kindle.
Science
I'm working on my own resources for science, following the themes from the year 3 National Curriculum but with a Christian worldview. I teach science to both of the younger children together hence the choice of year 3 themes. We have started using this over the last term but it needs more work and refining.
History
Youngest Son watches some of the Veritas Self-Paced with his sister. The history song and the games tend to be popular but some of the detail of the Council of Chalcedon was rather difficult! Youngest Son is just below the recommended age for Veritas. We use the Veritas at the end of the morning and after maths and English so sometimes, Younger Son plays at this point.
He usually joins in with listening to the read alouds. We have also been using the Story of the World Middle Ages and its accompanying activity book to re-enforce what the children have learned about with Veritas. Youngest Son enjoys this and we plan to continue using this.
Viking bread was particularly popular. Apparently, it tastes best with tomato ketchup.
Geography
Our home education group is doing a world project, focusing on a different continent each term. We hope to build on this at home.
Languages
I would love to introduce Younger Son to some foreign language, probably Spanish. I recently reviewed a book that should help to provide a Spanish culture but still need to choose something else to go alongside this.
Music
We sing each morning and I hope to introduce Younger Song to the basics of the keyboard and reading music in the coming year. I hope to add a composer of the term and use the resources on Classics for Kids and Classic FM.
Art
We plan to continue to have regular art sessions at home and will probably use some of the Usborne resources.
Sport
The greatest component of this is almost daily cycling but also includes swimming and football.
Please let me know which resources you have used for this age and particularly, what you have found sparks an interest in reading independently.
My youngest is six and so would be in year 2 next year. Hmm, I can't quite believe this. Anyway:
Bible
We are currently reading through the Catherine Vos Children's Story Bible and plan to continue this. Alongside this, Youngest Son is working on Bible memory work and we sing a hymn from Our own hymnbook or Psalms and Hymns of Reformed Worship each morning. Youngest Son would like to sing How pleased and blest was I every day but in order to achieve family harmony, this doesn't happen.
English
Reading:Youngest Son is currently using Dancing Bears.
I almost forgot to write about our reading aloud but this is a vital part of our day. I read aloud several times a day including some older picture books, poetry and chapter books. I list the chapter books and some of the longer picture books in the Books Read section of my blog.
Grammar and Spelling: Jolly Grammar 2 Pupil Workbook.
Handwriting: Schofield and Sims workbooks and some practice in sand/playdough etc.
Writing: This is a bit of a mixture: some ideas from Writestart, others from Pie Corbett's books and the daily emails from Bravewriter. The plan is to do a mix of fiction and non-fiction with much of the writing sparked from books that we have read together.
Maths
This year, we started using the Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching materials. These have worked well and we plan to continue to use these. We buy the workbooks rather than printing off sheets (less for me to lose). I do wish that the lesson plans could be put on my Kindle.
Science
I'm working on my own resources for science, following the themes from the year 3 National Curriculum but with a Christian worldview. I teach science to both of the younger children together hence the choice of year 3 themes. We have started using this over the last term but it needs more work and refining.
History
Youngest Son watches some of the Veritas Self-Paced with his sister. The history song and the games tend to be popular but some of the detail of the Council of Chalcedon was rather difficult! Youngest Son is just below the recommended age for Veritas. We use the Veritas at the end of the morning and after maths and English so sometimes, Younger Son plays at this point.
He usually joins in with listening to the read alouds. We have also been using the Story of the World Middle Ages and its accompanying activity book to re-enforce what the children have learned about with Veritas. Youngest Son enjoys this and we plan to continue using this.
Viking bread was particularly popular. Apparently, it tastes best with tomato ketchup.
Geography
Our home education group is doing a world project, focusing on a different continent each term. We hope to build on this at home.
Languages
I would love to introduce Younger Son to some foreign language, probably Spanish. I recently reviewed a book that should help to provide a Spanish culture but still need to choose something else to go alongside this.
Music
We sing each morning and I hope to introduce Younger Song to the basics of the keyboard and reading music in the coming year. I hope to add a composer of the term and use the resources on Classics for Kids and Classic FM.
Art
We plan to continue to have regular art sessions at home and will probably use some of the Usborne resources.
Sport
The greatest component of this is almost daily cycling but also includes swimming and football.
Please let me know which resources you have used for this age and particularly, what you have found sparks an interest in reading independently.
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