2008-2009 Curriculum List

So, this is the week for compiling lists apparently. As I did yesterday with the Book List for the year, I have also compiled all the curriculum and websites I have used for Jordan (first grader) and Landon (pre-k).

My favorite websites:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/ - for $20 a year you get great printouts on a variety of subjects. This site is great for coloring sheets, spanish, sight words, science, history, holiday crafts and loads more. It's geared to service preschool up to third grade.

http://www.first-school.ws/ - a free website with great stuff for your preschooler. It's simply a goldmine! You could definitely homeschool your preschooler for free from this website. It is jam-packed with nursery rhymes, coloring sheets, math printables, crafts, handwriting, and tons of alphabetical themes to go with each letter of the alphabet. It even teaches about community helpers, holidays, science and social studies! A great resource for any homeschooling mom. This is my third year using the site, I taught both my boys how to write letters and numbers using this site.

My first grade homeschool curriculum:

Bible curriculum followed the A Beka Scope and Sequence to Moses (that was at Christmas time) and since we cannot afford a whopping $400 just for Bible curriculum, I read the story out of the children's bible or my bible and we colored a sheet from either http://www.coloring.ws/ or http://www.calvarywilliamsport.com/ . We had two lines of Bible coloring sheets going down both sides of the hallway. Jordan loves to color but this didn't work for Landon because coloring isn't his thing. Jordan loved seeing his handiwork all over the walls and he learned a great deal, too!! We also go over our AWANA verses every day between reading and Handbook time. After the holidays, we kind of slipped off doing our Bible which irks me. That's the most important part of my kids' lives! I've been real spotty with Bible stories--some days we do them, other days we just pray. I've gotten in a bad rut and I must get out of it!!!

A Beka Arithmetic (K4 Numbers curr. for Landon; Grade One for Jordan) - I just love the review that's offered at every step along the way. Not only that, the tests are extremely relevant and easily laid out.

A Beka Phonics, Reading and Spelling (K4 for Landon; Grade One for Jordan) -A challenging reading/phonics program. But I have had great results with a child that didn't even learn to read in public school kindergarten.

A Beka Science: "Discovering God's World 1" (Jordan) Jordan has learned so much about animals and insects especially ants (things even I didn't know!!). He really loves this book!

A Beka History: "My America and My World 1" (Jordan)

A Beka Health: "Health, Safety and Manners 1" (Jordan)

A Beka Art Projects K4 & 1 - lots of cutting and gluing

FlashKids Grade One "Addition Activities" - great for shoring up those pesky addition facts! My husband's mom got the FlashKids books from Barnes & Noble (she was a homeschool mom, too!) and they are GREAT!

FlashKids Pre-K "Alphabet Puzzles and Games" - great for kids who are puzzle freaks like my little guy, Landon.

As for Handwriting, like I said above I've used the http://www.first-school.ws/ for teaching handwriting. This year I used it for Landon. I bought the A Beka Writing curriculum for Jordan but teaching my son cursive this year was not a good fit for him. He wasn't ready. It frustrated him and in my mommy-opinion, he needed to really work on his printing. So, I bought a k-2nd grade handwriting tablet from Wal-Mart and made up six sentences a day to review his spelling words for the week. We also wrote the Ten Commandments, the poems we learned this year and sentences, phrases or names (like the name of our church, for instance) that he was interested in. And on the first line of every page, he writes the date like this, "Today is . . ." It's helped him learn his months and the calendar. As of today, my son has neat handwriting and I am proud of his hard work this year. Handwriting was his least favorite subject at times.

Well, as I said yesterday, we're not done with our year. We're shooting for June 10th. But, I thank the good Lord above for guiding us this year. I stared this year in the face with the daunting task of teaching my child to read and thought to myself, There's no way I can do this. I found out I was right, I can't teach my child. But, God can. He lent me His strength and gave me creativity and wisdom straight from His throne. Thanks be to God for this homeschooling year!!!