School Year 2023-24: What We Have Planned

We are going to take a new approach and change it up a bit this year.

Last March, I'd decided on the core curricula we would use for the our third homeschool year. Though we loved everything selected, some unexpected life events occurred and I wasn't able to do as many of the parent involved activities I'd done in years past. My husband retired from the military and couldn't find employment locally. The employment he did find required a move. As we were in the middle of all that business, Covid finally caught up with all of us. That was awful. The kids were sick for a few days. I was sick for more than a month.

Because we primarily use curriculum that is heavily parent involved, something had to change during the time I was sick. Our state requires 1000 hours of work, with at least 600 of those hours in the subjects Reading, Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science so the kids needed to continue to work. Though I prefer to limit technology in our homeschool, thank goodness it was available because we were able to add Night Zookeeper and Beast Academy to the daily work of the kids. They liked both programs so much, we've decided to continue using them.

As for other curricula, we are changing it up a bit from previous years. We've always used Blossom and Root as our main curriculum. The kids love it and do well with it. The problem is, we've done Early Years 2 - Year 3 and there are currently only 2 1/2-3 more levels available. While new levels are planned, a new level will not be released every year. That means the kids may "outgrow" the levels and have to switch to a different curriculum eventually. In an attempt to "slow" things down for us, we are going to switch to Build Your Library as our main curriculum this year while tentatively planning to return to Blossom and Root 4 next year.

Read on to learn more about curricula and supplements we will be using in our homeschool for year 2023-24.

Language Arts - Build Your Library Year 3

Children "...will read a number of quality books this year, in a variety of genres. They’ll enjoy historical fiction like A Lion to Guard Us, non-fiction selections like George vs. George: The Revolutionary War As Seen From Both Sides, and classics like Along Came a Dog, and Les Miserables."

Language Arts - Guest Hollow LA/Beowolf's Grammar

"...an engaging language arts curriculum that is designed to encourage and inspire students to love language arts. Beowulf’s Grammar is an award-winning stand-alone grammar program that includes comics, colorful illustrations, hands-on activities, gentle review, memorable characters, and a combination of approaches to help students not only retain what they are learning, but to actually enjoy grammar."

Supplemental Language Arts

• Explode the Code - An Orton-Gillingham based program that builds the essential literacy skills needed for reading success: phonological awareness, decoding, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and spelling.

• All About Reading - A mastery-based program that covers phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension ensuring no gaps in learning.

• All About Spelling - An award-winning seven-level program that provides complete and comprehensive instruction using the Orton-Gillingham approach.

• Reading Eggs/Eggspress/Fast Phonics - Online supplement that helps children learn to read and increase vocabulary.

• Night Zookeeper - an online learning program that helps children with reading and writing, and unlocks their creativity.

• Additional independent reading.

Mathematics - Math Mammoth

“It is mastery-oriented, and focuses on conceptual understanding. Mental math and number sense are emphasized."

Supplemental Mathematics

• Beast Academy - an engaging, rigorous math curriculum for elementary students.

• Times Tales - introduces the concept of multiplication and practice of the multiplication facts.

• Math Seeds - award‑winning online math program for kids aged 3⁠–⁠9.

History - Build Your Library Level 3

“It was a time of colonization, revolution, discoveries, and inventions – get ready to embark on an adventure through early modern history!"

Cherokee History - (my own curriculum)

We will study the life of Dave Tadpole, a man who was an unwilling Confederate Cherokee soldier that later joined the Union's 3rd Regiment of the Indian Home Guard. He was also a Keetoowah leader, respected orator, and served on the Executive Council of the Cherokee Nation. *Originally planned for last year, but delayed based on the desire of the children to learn more on the same topic they had the previous year.

Geography - Guest Hollow's Jr. Geography & Cultures

An award winning geography program that will help you “Ignite your children’s curiosity, help them develop empathy and understanding for other cultures, and create treasured lifetime memories of your homeschool."

Science - Build Your Library Level 3

“The science focus this year is Chemistry and Microscopy. Your child will learn how to use a microscope and explore a world that could fit on the head of a pin. Later in the year they will study the Periodic Table of Elements and conduct many experiments, including a Periodic Table project."

As the year progresses, it's possible we will add in additional curricula, but for now, this is all of the core subjects I have planned. I've found that keeping it simple and not overloading our schedule works best for us.

Until next time,

Disclosure:

All the curricula mentioned above was purchased by me. We are not an affiliate of or in a partnership with any of the companies. While I understand I am under no obligation to state this, I believe in full transparency and honest, unbiased reviews. Rest assured, the opinions above are my own and were not influenced in any way by the creators of the curricula mentioned.