Curriculum for 2010-2011

Wow, it's so weird to think Little Bean is moving on into 1st grade work soon! He is still such a little guy in so many ways, it's hard for me to believe that he is almost done with all his Kindergarten curriculum and is moving on to the next level. But, it's happening! He is turning 5 in a few weeks, and if I were to send him to public school, he could start Kinder there this September (Kinder is not mandatory in CA though). So he is a little over a year ahead of where the kids his age are right now. Most of our curriculum for this year is quickly coming to a close, so I spent some time the other day ordering all the curriculum I will use for him next year.

Here is what I chose:

We are going a little more Charlotte Mason style this year, which I am excited about!

Reading/Phonics: We will stick with Explode the Code Book 2 (which he is half way through now), and Book 3, and continue with Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading

Spelling: We are sticking with All About Spelling and so we will do Level 2 for first grade. I said in the past that I was not loving this program, but it has gotten more interesting since we have finally passed the basics, and frankly, it makes sense and it works, so we are sticking with it.

Handwriting: We will continue Handwriting Without Tears. He finished the Kinder book a while back, and has started the first grade book already. After that, we will hold off on cursive, which I believe is the next book, and instead will use copy work (probably poems or Bible verses or famous quotes from his history program) for handwriting practice.

Math: Right Start Level B, the next level in the curriculum we are currently using. I don't foresee us changing from this program until they have nothing left to offer him--I love it!

Science: We are making a switching from McRuffy Science to Winter Promise The World Around Me, which also incorporates nature study

History: Winter Promise Hideaways in History. I'm SO excited about this curriculum, which uses all four Story of the World books in one year (we may either stretch it out through 2nd grade, or repeat the whole thing for both 1st and 2nd, which would mean Miss O would catch it in her Kinder year). I've started some of the read alouds with Little Bean, and he always begs for more. We will be doing notebooking and will be making our own hideaways with this curriculum .

Bible: We are using a book called Hands-On Bible Exploration (part of the Winter Promise curriculum) as well as one called The Memory Bible, where the kids will have a chance to memorize 52 verses next year.

Art: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists--we will do one artist per term (4 per year) using these books. So far I have chosen Paul Klee and Picasso. I have an art curriculum book left over from my student teaching days that I will incorporate as well.

Miss O will continue with her preschool stuff--lots of coloring, cutting (which she is a total pro at now, btw), pasting, stringing, etc. She has not mastered number recognition yet (though I admit I haven't worked too hard at teaching her that), so that will continue to be a goal. She has mastered all her letter sounds and some names. The names aren't important to me though, since you don't need them for reading. She is plugging along in 100 Lessons, so we will continue that as long as she shows interest. There have been a few days where she has said she doesn't want a reading lesson, but for the most part she is enjoying them still.

As for handwriting, she knows ALL the stroke orders for the upper case letters, so once she finishes the Kumon Uppercase we are on now, I have to decide whether she is ready to try the Handwriting Without Tears Kinder book, or if she needs more practice tracing. I have to decide soon here, because she only has a few pages left in the Kumon workbook! Other than that, Miss O will continue to join us when she feels like it for the other subjects. She already does that very often, almost always for science and sometimes for math. I suspect history and art will catch her interest next year, and I plan to regularly include her in our Bible study as well.