2022/2023 Curriculum Choices: 2nd & 4th grade & Kindergarten
I am delighted to share what we've chosen for our upcoming school year, which we'll begin in mid-July!
Choosing curriculum can be enjoyable and... daunting. While we should definitely do our research, I believe there comes a point when we have to make a decision and rest in it. The Lord called us on this journey and He will sustain us. He cares about our children's growth and flourishing more than we do!
That said, here are my non-negotiables when choosing curriculum:
- Our core curriculum needs to come from a Christian worldview. Knowing who is writing our curriculum and understanding their faith background is essential.
- Our core curriculum needs to be literature-based and family-style. Our 2nd grader and 4th grader share the core subjects and then do their own levels of math and language arts.
- For these ages, we need to finish by lunch time. We begin our homeschool lessons at 9am and end by noon. The afternoon is for rest time, nature study, some reading aloud, and "masterly inactivity" (i.e. purposeful free time for the kids). Bottom line: if the bulk of our work is taking us past lunch time, it's too much.
- I need to be excited to teach it! This sounds obvious, but there have been some curriculums I've tried that I really wanted to like, but they just didn't click for me. If mom isn't enjoying the curriculum, it's likely the kids won't either.
So here we go! We are so excited for 2nd and 4th grade!
Liam (4th grade):
Bible/Morning Time: Morning Time Vol. 3 by Brighter Day Press. This includes:
Geography (1x weekly): US Geography Through Literature by Beautiful Feet Books
Language arts: History notebooking/narration/timeline
Writing (2x weekly): Mail Monday, weekly creative writing prompt
Handwriting (2x weekly): Calligraphy book (he's working through this one) + calligraphy pens set + calligraphy paper
Math (4x weekly): RightStart Level D
Nature study (2x weekly): Weekly nature club, nature journaling, Seasons Afield Nature Study by Beautiful Feet Books
Foreign Language (3x weekly): Spanish (I'm working through this book with him a few times each week)
Extra-curricular (Daily): Piano
- Daily Bible reading
- Daily hymn
- New City Catechism (1 question per week)
- Scripture memory work
- Beauty loop (one per day): Poetry, artist study, composer study
Geography (1x weekly): US Geography Through Literature by Beautiful Feet Books
Language arts: History notebooking/narration/timeline
Writing (2x weekly): Mail Monday, weekly creative writing prompt
Handwriting (2x weekly): Calligraphy book (he's working through this one) + calligraphy pens set + calligraphy paper
Math (4x weekly): RightStart Level D
Nature study (2x weekly): Weekly nature club, nature journaling, Seasons Afield Nature Study by Beautiful Feet Books
Foreign Language (3x weekly): Spanish (I'm working through this book with him a few times each week)
Extra-curricular (Daily): Piano
Lanie (2nd grade):
Bible/Morning Time: Morning Time Vol. 3 by Brighter Day Press
History (3x weekly): Early American History by Beautiful Feet Books
Geography (1x weekly): US Geography Through Literature by Beautiful Feet Books
Language arts: History notebooking/narration/timeline, Explode the Code 4
Writing (1x weekly): Mail Monday
Handwriting (2x weekly): Getty-Dubay Handwriting, Book B
Math (4x weekly): Math U See Beta
Nature study (2x weekly): Weekly nature club, nature journaling, Seasons Afield Nature Study by Beautiful Feet Books
Foreign Language (3x weekly): Spanish (she's working through this simple workbook + we like to play Spanish Bingo about once a week as a family to reinforce vocabulary)
Extra-curricular (1x weekly): Ballet
History (3x weekly): Early American History by Beautiful Feet Books
Geography (1x weekly): US Geography Through Literature by Beautiful Feet Books
Language arts: History notebooking/narration/timeline, Explode the Code 4
Writing (1x weekly): Mail Monday
Handwriting (2x weekly): Getty-Dubay Handwriting, Book B
Math (4x weekly): Math U See Beta
Nature study (2x weekly): Weekly nature club, nature journaling, Seasons Afield Nature Study by Beautiful Feet Books
Foreign Language (3x weekly): Spanish (she's working through this simple workbook + we like to play Spanish Bingo about once a week as a family to reinforce vocabulary)
Extra-curricular (1x weekly): Ballet
Bear (Kindergarten):
I hadn't initially planned to start kindergarten work with Bear (who turned 5 during the summer), but he's been chomping at the bit to "do school" like his big brother and sister and is showing signs of readiness. So we've incorporated a few subjects and spend about 30 minutes each school day working through them. He is thriving! I also read at least 3 picture books to Bear every day. You can find some of our favorites here and here.
- Math: RightStart Math Level A + we play with these Tiny Polka Dot cards for counting practice
- Reading: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons: I'll give a disclaimer that this method does not work for every child (it hasn't worked for all of mine). But Bear has taken to it and is able to read most lower level readers on his own as a result. We do a reading lesson whenever he asks... which is maybe 3 times a week.
- Phonics: Explode the Code 1
- Handwriting: Learning Without Tears - Letters and Numbers for Me
