Curriculum choices for 2012-13

I usually have at least a couple of posts dedicated to my curriculum choices for the following year. I typically change a couple of things when it gets closer to the start of the next school year, but this is what I have picked so far.

Isaac, Third Grade

Language Arts (Language, Spelling and Penmanship (cursive)
A Beka




Bible (in addition to AWANA)
Christian Light


Math
Teaching Textbooks


World Geography
Expedition Earth


Science
Creation or Evolution? by Mission Imperative


**Various online unit studies on subjects of interest

Graham, Pre-K

Still thinking about this one, but considering "All about Reading"


And "Before Five in a Row"


I have decided one of my favorite parts of Spring is narrowing down curriculum choices for next year!

Looking forward

I have been thinking a little bit lately about next year. This year has felt like such a whirwind that I feel like I am still catching my breath from having a baby. I am trying to go easy on myself and not constantly be thinking of all the things I "wish" I was doing differently this year. That being said, I still have a few things I definitely want to improve upon for next year.
One of the things I want to see the biggest improvement in for Isaac's third grade year is a bigger emphasis on our Bible time. I feel like I have let that really slide this year. In the past, we did our Bible time at the beginning of our school day. This year, because I have been busy with baby, Isaac has had to get started on his school alone, and we have let our Bible time fall by the wayside. I need to do a little research to find out what sort of curriculum to go with. I want to do something in addition to AWANA.
We will continue with A beka language arts.
I want him to continue penmanship (cursive), and I may keep using A beka, but I am not sure yet. It has worked fine for us.
For spelling, I may look into doing something a little more challenging. Isaac is a good speller in general, and I feel like we have zoomed through A beka second grade spelling. I also want him to learn the spelling for synonymns and antonymns. So far, A beka has not touched on those, and I feel like it is lacking in that area.
Math is my biggest question mark for next year, and I need to pray about the right curriculum. I am considering a video-based curriculum for third grade as I don't want my own math inadequecies to hinder him in any way.
We will definitely be doing Expedition Earth for world geography.
I want to find a good science curriculum for next year as well. This probably also needs to be an area of prayer and research.
For our reading curriculum, I may just work on finding books Isaac is interested in and possibly having him start writing book reports for me. I'll probably keep reading pretty simple as Isaac is an excellent reader, and I mostly just want to foster a love for reading above anything else.
So, unless something changes, the core subjects we will cover for third grade will be as follows: Language arts, reading, spelling, Bible, math, science and world geography.
Next year, Graham will be doing 5 year old preschool. I plan on doing Before five in a Row for him for sure. I may look into purchasing a curriculum for him, or we may just go through the letters of the alphabet again like we did this year. I will evaluate where he is at the end of this year and then decide what he can handle.

A time to re-evaluate

I feel like what we have been doing lately is NOT working. It's not working for me, and it's not working for the kids. There have been too many days with tears recently, and too much arguing and fighting. I have felt like this is too hard for me lately.
Knowing that this is NOT how God would probably want me to spend my days homeschooling my children, I have decided I need to take a close look at what is not working (and come up with some solutions) and also to look at what is working.
What is not working
Problem #1: Isaac is reading well and both him and I are bored to tears with the phonics portion (which is a HUGE portion) of the curriculum I purchased for this year.
Possible solutions: Drop the phonics portion of the curriculum, with periodic testing to make sure he is still grasping phonics-related concepts. Focus more on language arts (workbook), spelling (workbook and tests), and reading. I may find a supplemental reading curriculum to implement. I would really like to take his reading to the next level, and help him develop a love for reading. I may need to do a little research, and ask fellow homeschooling friends for some suggestions.
Problem #2: The boys are still fighting like crazy, even though I have tried to implement a behavior modification system.
Possible solutions: Implement a new system that is easier for the boys to attain rewards. With the last behavior modification program, they were never reinforced because it was too difficult for them, and they eventually just gave up. The new system will focus more on immediate punishment for fighting, along with easier to attain rewards for not fighting.
Problem #3: I need to be spending more time focusing on letter identification with Graham.
The problem with the Letter of the Week curriculum I am using now is that it requires me to print, laminate and cut out activities every week for each letter. This takes me anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half each week, and I find that I avoid doing it. Also, the activities for each letter are all repetitive (the same activities, different letter). I think we are both bored by it. I need to either spend one day preparing the entire curriculum so we are ready to go each week, or I need to scrap this curriculum and find a new one. Graham needs lots of help on letter identification right now.
Problem #4: I feel like there are too many "holes" in our schooling right now...we are not focusing at all on art, music, science, history, etc. Too much time is spent on things we have already mastered, not enough time on the things that we haven't or would like to.
Possible solutions: Implement one craft activity per week for Graham. Find a science or foreign language curriculum for Isaac. Post an ad on REACH classifieds to see if I can get Isaac affordable drum or guitar lessons.
Problem #5: Not a consistent Bible/prayer time daily.
Possible solutions: This is apathy on my part. We need to begin each day in prayer, regardless of how crazy it is.
Problem #6: The school room is always a mess at the beginning of the school day.
Possible Solutions: Dave needs to work with the boys to clean up the area each night before bed while I am editing. We need to be able to wake up, have breakfast and begin our school day instead of spending a half an hour cleaning up toys from the day before.
Problem #7: Isaac's penmanship is still horrible.
Possible Solutions: Take some of the time we were wasting on phonics and apply it to developing and improving Isaac's cursive and printing skills.
Problem #8: There are portions of our Geography curriculum that are pointless and a waste of time.
Possible Solutions: Because overall, I feel like Isaac is learning about each state, do not scrap the entire curriculum. Just get rid of what is not helpful and is a waste of our time.

Things we are doing well
*Isaac is reading exceptionally well, and is at least a grade ahead of the curve in reading. He is also an excellent speller.
*Graham is still enjoying what little school time I do with him every day.
*Isaac is in a regular routine of doing chores around the house, and is doing them without complaint.
*Graham is also better about helping to pick up his toys.
*Isaac is improving in mathematics significantly.
*I am still really enjoying the "Five in a Row" curriculum, and like that both boys enjoy it. It is one of the portions of our school day that is (usually) calm.

Updated curriculum choices for 2011-12 school year

I have recently changed my mind about a couple of curriculum choices for second grade. Instead of Expedition Earth for Geography, we will be doing Road Trip USA to focus on United States geography instead. We will be doing world geography with Expedition Earth next year.
Also, instead of A Reason for Handwriting, I decided to give A Beka writing (cursive) a second try. We started it last year, but I felt as though cursive needed to be put on hold to improve his printing. I have since come to believe that his printing may never be top-notch, and he was actually writing neater when we were doing cursive. He writes a lot like his dad, and his dad is a great cursive writer.

Isaac, Second grade

Phonics/Language Arts/Spelling: A Beka
We used this for first grade and he is reading great, so I assume it worked well enough to use again! Plus, I found myself omiting very little of the lesson plans, which is my litmus test for a good curriculum.


Mathematics: A Beka
We used Developmental Mathematics this year, and it was OK, but I thought there was a lot missing. I really like the comprehensive approach of A Beka. Plus, the workbook pages are kid-friendly with their colorful pictures. They also tie a lot of the story problems, etc. into geography, which I think is an added bonus.


Literature/Supplemental subjects: Five in a Row
I have wanted to use this program for awhile now, and decided to take the plunge this year. I will also be including Graham in on this portion of Isaac's studies. There are some great, free accompanying lapbooks to FIAR books out on the internet, so we will also be working on those.


Geography: Road Trip USA
This is a great, inexpensive download from Confessions of a Homeschooler (although there are accompanying text books that you need to purchase). We will be traveling the USA, learning about each state and memorizing capitals.



Penmanship: A Beka cursive



Bible: AWANA, various
I may supplement our AWANA Bible memorization with something else, not sure yet.



Graham, Pre-K:
Christian Light ABC Readiness Workbooks. These came on the recommendation of a friend with lots of homeschooling experience who said these are the best.

Confessions of a Homeschooler's Letter of the Week curriculum. This has been hanging out on my harddrive for months, and it is looking forward to being used! I have my ABC tree ready to go for next year!

I'll also be supplementing these two choices with lots of fun activities, various workbooks I have on hand and preschool packs.