Curriculum Choices

You think its too early to be picking curriculum for next year? Think again!

The biggest problem with picking curriculum for next year....is that I want to be finished with the ones we're using now! Still have a few weeks to go in this school year though!

Sweetling's possible courses for 2012-2013

•  One Year Adventure Novel
(Sweetling found this one herself at the convention and is excited about it. We bought it, so this is a "for sure" for next year.)

• Formal Logic

(For Sweetling's high school years, I want to incorporate some elements of classical education. Sweetling spoke to the author of this book at the convention and is excited about doing logic next year. We're going to hang out on the waterbed and read this book together.)

• Japanese
(another awesome Sweetling find at the convention.)
• The World of the Bible: Matthew-Acts
• American Literature (yeah, we don't have a curriculum or a reading list yet. I'm working on it.)
• American History (led by the Jedi.)
• German (with the Jedi)
• Shakespeare (at co-op)
• General Science (at co-op)
• Spanish 3 (at co-op)
• American Sign Language 1 (at co-op) 
• Drawing (at co-op)
• Vocabulary from Classical Roots (We need to get back to this. I think I'll do this course with her, so we can try to use the words in our regular speech more often.)
• Algebra 2 or Pre-Calculus (I'm going to look for a decent, used Algebra 2 text. Then, with each chapter, we will pretest. If she already knows it, we're not doing it again. If she doesn't know the chapter, or is missing pieces, then we'll just do those sections. The Algebra 2 book I saw from A Beka primarily contained material Sweetling already mastered a few years ago.  I'm going to look at some books from Holt McDougal as well. We might need to go to pre-calculus to find some new math concepts for Sweetling.)

Sound like a lot for a Sweetling? Maybe. But some of these won't take much time per day or even much time per week. I think she can handle it and we'll scale back if need be. The important part of this curriculum is that she picked out most of it herself. She loves languages, and is so quick to pick them up, so I'm letting her run with it!

Toa of Boy's possible courses for 2012-2013

• Logic of English 

(I bought a course which includes spelling, handwriting, grammar, light vocabulary, simple composition....with exercises and directions geared toward the kinesthetic learner. The presenter sold me when she was incorporating relay races, scavenger hunts, and nerf guns into spelling lessons. )

 

America the Beautiful

 (This is designed as a one year history/geography curriculum....but I looked at it and we're going to do it over two years to give us time to read historical fiction and do cool hands-on projects. I like how each small unit includes a lesson overviewing that particular period of history, a lesson on a natural landmark, a lesson on daily life at the time, a brief biography of a noteworthy American, and a lesson on a man-made landmark. Each unit also has a hands on art, cooking, or building project as well as mapping and timeline activities.)

• The World of the Bible: Matthew-Acts
(Sweetling, Toa, and I will be doing this together.) 

• Finish off Elementary Math. (I'm going bookless for this one. I can't find a fifth grade math curriculum worth our time. I think we'll take half a year to finish off fractions, decimals, ratios, probability, and geometry. I'll use my Teaching Children Mathematics textbook from college to help me cover all the concepts in a reasonable order. Then we're moving on to fun math....like "It's ALIVE: Math that Makes You Squirm!") 
• Reading (Toa of Boy wants the opportunity to throw a pie in my face if he reads a certain number of books during the school year. Lovely.)


• Mythbusters: Don't Try This at Home (Unless We Tell You To) (Cause what is cooler for science than watching a Mythbusters episode, then reading a bit about the science behind the experiments, AND THEN TRYING ONE YOURSELF).
• EDIT TO ADD: Toa of Boy just told me he wants to learn about the human body...so we might be doing Apologia's Anatomy and Physiology instead. 
• Art by Deep Space Sparkle. (I just love this site. I want to be a bit more intentional about Toa's art, because he is so gifted. I found a great curriculum at the convention, but it was a bit pricey...and I think that I'm going to wait one more year before going more 'formal' with Toa's art instruction. Meanwhile, Deep Space Sparkle has lots of terrific lessons which showcase important 'building blocks' of good art.)
• Chess (at co-op)
• General Art (at co-op)
• Travel USA (at co-op)
• Phys Ed (at co-op)
• Lego Creation (at co-op)

 Looks good, doesn't it?

And finally, for the mom...(that's me, by the way)...I found a really interesting planning site at PlanBook.com. Now, if only I could find myself a robot, fairy, or brownie that would do most of the housework for me, I'd be set to go!