2015-2016 ElCloud Homeschool students:
- 5 year old preschool V
- 7 year old 1st grade G
- 9 year old 4th grade L
- 11 year old 6th grade M
- 14 year old 9th grade J
- 16 year old 11th grade C
In addition to these 6 homeschool students, I will also have a busy 2 year old at home, building train sets, learning his colors, learning to count, and making messes.
Our oldest two daughters have graduated and will be attending college next year. One lives on-campus across the state from us, and the other is hoping to move into an apartment in town while attending college locally.
2015-2016 ElCloud Curriculum:
Preschool Curriculum 5 yo V:
Our 4 year old will turn 5 in September, but we're keeping her in preschool this upcoming year. When we began homeschooling we put 5 year old children into Kindergarten. Now I wait until they're 6 or at least closer to it.
- Before Five In A Row and Five In A Row - basically we will be reading a lot, but will use these unit studies loosely
- Handwriting workbook - we're going to use the A Reason For Writing Kindergarten book
- Multiple workbooks that introduce math and language skills
- Games, play, puzzles, crafts, educational DVDs, and lots of free time
First Grade 7 yo G:
- Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (continued from kindergarten)
- Explode the Code 1
- A Reason For Handwriting A
- Horizons Math 1st Grade
- Christian Liberty Nature Readers
- Mystery of History 4 (tagging along with older siblings)
- A Child's Geography of the World (tagging along)
Fourth Grade 9 yo L:
- Spelling Power
- Grammar (Daily Skill Builders) workbook
- Jump In! writing (tagging along with older brother)
- A Reason For Handwriting C (cursive workbook)
- Saxon 54
- Mystery of History 4 (with siblings)
- Big Book of History timeline
- A Child's Geography of the World (with siblings)
- Apologia Exploring Creation Swimming Creatures and then Land Animals
Sixth Grade 11 yo M:
- A Reason For Handwriting D (cursive)
- Jump In! writing
- Saxon 76
- Easy Grammar Grade 5 - finishing it
- Mystery of History 4 (with siblings)
- A Child's Geography of the World
- Spectrum 6th Grade Spelling
- Spectrum 6th Grade Writing
- Christian Kids Explore Chemistry
- It Couldn't Just Happen
- I'm still working on a list of literature books for him to read ...
Ninth Grade 14 yo J:
Saxon Algebra 1Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1- Apologia Exploring Creation with Biology
- World Physical Geography by Runkle
- Windows Programming and Game Programming
- English 1 - Apples for Spelling, Easy Grammar Plus, and Progeny Press literature guides (Lord of the Flies, Old Man and the Sea, Fahrenheit 451 for starters)
- Physical Education - pieced together from running, video workouts, and whatever else interests him
Eleventh Grade 16 yo C:
- English will be an ElCloud specially-designed study of Shakespeare with essays and research papers, as well as a study of Greek Morphemes to enhance vocabulary
- Algebra 2 from Teaching Textbooks
- American History by James Stobaugh (new to us!)
- Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry
- Second Form Latin for Latin 2
- Foundations in Personal Finance by Dave Ramsey - 1/2 credit
- Computer Keyboarding - 1/2 credit
2015-2016 Changes in Curriculum:
We're trying lots of new curriculum this year, and I'm excited about it!
I have been working to replace our high school history and geography curriculum, which were all Abeka and BJU. Three daughters have used them so far, but they were dry to read and very heavy on the busy-work review questions. With sons coming along, who don't handle dry reading very well, I was looking for not only more interesting textbooks, but also ones that didn't have 4 and 5 components per subject. There are newer curriculum designed more specifically for homeschools that are simpler to navigate and more engaging for students! Stobaugh's American History and Runkle's World Physical Geography are part of my replacement plan.
We're also transitioning from Saxon to Teaching Textbooks for high school math. We haven't used Teaching Textbooks before, but I'm hoping it will help our high school students have a better long-term understanding of the math they study. Our daughters have always earned A's and B's in their math, but their internal understanding and retention hasn't been the best.
Write Shop and Sharon Watson's writing programs are new to our family. I'm not sure which one I'll end up preferring, but they seem more manageable for me than IEW, and easier to actually apply than the built-in writing we attempted to use from Classic Tapestry of Grace.
Although I have owned all three of the Mystery of History textbooks, I haven't used them for a full year with multiple students. I've had junior high and high school students use them on their own, and I've used them as a reference. This year, I'm planning to use Mystery of History 4 with my elementary and middle school students, and I'm looking forward to it!
What about you?
What are your homeschool curriculum plans for next year? Will you be trying anything new? What are you looking forward to most?
Back to Homeschool Blog Hop is brought to you courtesy of the Schoolhouse Review Crew and Homeschool Blogging Connection. You can view all the hosts for this week's Back to Homeschool Blog Hop at the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog, or here on my blog. If you'd like a shortcut, you can visit these twelve ladies today and stop by tomorrow to visit some more great blogs for some back to homeschool encouragement:
Monique @ Living Life and LearningRebecca @ RaventhreadsRebekah @ There Will Be A $5 Charge For WhiningBrenda @ Counting PineconesTara @ This Sweet LifeTara @ Embark on the JourneyJennifer @ Chestnut Grove AcademyAnnette @ In All You DoLisa @ Farm Fresh AdventuresTauna @ Proverbial HomemakerJoanie @ Simple Living Mama
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May your new school year be greatly blessed!
April E.
