2021 ~ 2022 Plan of Study

Tweet

                                       

12 years of home education down

3 high school graduates                                         

1 University graduate

1 University Junior

1 University Freshman

3 children left at home to educate in 9^th, 6^th, and 2^nd grades

Never in a million years did I think we would be in this position when we first started homeschooling back in 2009. We knew we were moving to VA in the fall of 2008 and that’s when God laid it on my heart to keep my then, three school age daughters home. It’s been quite an adventure as we have navigated through Tot School through High School. There have been years where we have been deep in the trenches of homeschooling where I felt as if I were barely hanging on. But you know what? I wouldn’t change it for the world! My children have excelled and been able to pursue the extracurricular activities that interest them whether it be sports, the arts, or Scouting and the fruits of their labor have paid off time and time again.

 

This 13^th year marks a milestone for us so to speak. You see, my last three children have been educated entirely at home. It’s a huge honor and one that I don’t take lightly. I am excited to see them continue to flourish and achieve their educational dreams over the next 11 years we have left homeschooling.

 

Once again we are navigating University move-in’s so we are starting later than normal. In 9 short weeks our school year will begin on August 23^rd  with a 9^th grader, 6^th grader, and 2^nd grader.  It has taken me so long to release this Plan of Study this year because I have had to rethink several curriculum choices for my children. With their input, I have researched and scoured websites, blogs, and reviews to see if the curriculum would be a fit for each child. The biggest change for this upcoming year is that Montana will dive into her first AP course with Human Geography (more about this below).

 

As in previous years, each of my children will have a specific area that we will focus on throughout the year. Pouring into their individual focus areas has led to good fruits down the road as they leave the nest for University. This year the bulk of our curriculum budget is going to online classes for Montana and McKenzie. Typically, we don’t start online classes until 10^th grade, but I recognized early last year that I needed a year to regroup after going hardcore for the previous 12 years. The bulk of Micah’s curriculum is material that we already have with a few exceptions. 


This year we will continue our 4-day, Sabbath schooling schedule of 6/1 (6 weeks schooling / 1 week off) with tweaks during meet season. After much consideration we will be keeping McKenzie in the homeschool morning training schedule for as long as the opportunity affords because it fits our evening needs as a family unit and her gymnastic goals. As a new middle schooler with a heavier course load, she knows it will mean she will be held accountable for her time in the mornings and on double day trainings that are dedicated for school. I am excited to see her rise to the challenge and excel during this time of transition.

We are also excited to fully return to our Wednesday Co-Op where the kids will take some pretty neat enrichment courses. I am looking forward to teaching two fun classes and having a Study Hall. Montana may choose to use Wednesday as a catch up day for school because her workload will increase with high school/college courses. As always, the standing rule is if you don't finish your assignments during the week, it must be done by Saturday afternoon.

With our August 23rd start date we will have 15 weeks completed by the start of our Christmas break on December 17th. Let’s dive into what we are planning to study. 

This year Montana will continue building on her college prep studies. She has already earned 3 high school credits from 8^th grade year and is excited to officially be a high schooler! This year her focus studies will be in math. 

Bible 
  ~ Sonlight Bible 200 ~ Westminster Catechism

Math 
 ~ Saxon Algebra 1 with lecture from Mom and Nicole the Math Lady

Honors Science 
 ~ Apologia Biology online with Veritas Press

Honors English 9
~ Rod & Staff Grammar 9/10, Book 1

~ Wordly Wise 3000, Book 9

~ Composition 1 online with Veritas Press 
~ Sonlight Literature Core 200

History 
 ~ Human Geography with AP test  

*Montana will be doing a self-study for this course as I am not submitting a syllabus to the College Board for approval. I have found another homeschooler who has created the course and will be following her scheduling to prepare for the May exam.

 

Foreign Language

~ Spanish: Avancemos 1 online with Veritas Press

Electives

~ Apologia Health
~ Artistic Pursuits, High School Book One

PE
~ Softball, fall & spring through rec league?

Extras 

~ PSAT/ACT study 45 min/4 days *I am planning on having her take the PSAT in October to get a baseline score.

~ Girl Scout Cadette

Total credits: 8 credits 


 

Last year we changed up our history study for my youngest two. Bottom line…it didn’t work and I quickly went back to Sonlight but with a twist. McKenzie was not ready for complete independence of Core G and I really wanted to focus just on Ancients with the Story of the World as our spine with both her and Micah. So, she completed the first half of Core G and will finish Core G, Middle Ages this year. I still plan to add in hands-on learning for them both as we go the Middle Ages. My goal for her this year is to get her ready for Core H in 7^th grade. Also, you may notice that she is jumping into her high school science prep for 6^th grade instead of 7^th. She’s ready and she has a great teacher online to help increase her love for science that has been planted in the grammar level. Her focus this year is on spelling and vocabulary.

Morning Time Recitations *more to come on our plan

Bible 
~ Wise Up from Positive Action for Christ 

Math 
~ Saxon 7/6 with Nicole the Math Lady

 
Science 
~ Apologia General Science online with Veritas Press

Language Arts 
~ Rod & Staff Grammar 6 
~ Rod & Staff Spelling 6

~ Writing with Skill 1
~ Get to the Root of It Vocabulary

~ Reading List *coming soon

History/Geography/Literature 

~ Sonlight Core G, 2^nd half Middle Ages

~ Sonlgiht Core G literature list

Foreign Language 
~ Latin Transition online with Veritas Press (Latin Alive 1)

Logic

~ Critical Thinking Skills 2

~ Inference Jones 1

PE 
 ~ Level 8 gymnastics Team, 25+ hours a week

*we are hopeful she moves up to compete Level 8 this season after coming off of injury and repeating Lv7.

Time is flying by and my baby boy is in 2^nd grade! This year we are going to continue plugging along and laying the foundation in the basics for him. I am switching a few subjects this year to BJU Press because he enjoys the colorful workbooks this curriculum provides. Like his sisters, Micah is strong in math and loves to read. Our focus this year is completing our work without complaining. 

Morning Time Recitations 

Bible 
 ~ BJU Press Bible Truths: A Servants Heart 

Math 
 ~ Saxon Math 2 
 ~ Math Made Fun, Grade 2

 Language Arts / Phonics 
~ Rod & Staff Grammar 2

~ Writing with Ease 1

~ Explode the Code, Books 4,5, & 6

~ BJU Press Spelling 2

~ Wordly Wise 3000, book 2

~ Sonlight Readers 2
~ A Reason for Handwriting, Transition

~ Reading list * coming soon. I would love to know what some of your favorite reading books are for this age?

Science 
~  Sonlight Core C: Geology, Meteorology, Mechanical Technology 

History/Geography/Literature 
~ Sonlight Core C

Foreign Language 
 ~ Song School Latin 1 with Classical Academic Press 

Art

~ Artistic Pursuits, Book 3 Middle Ages

 

PE 
 ~ Fall & Spring Baseball

Extras 
~ Boy Scout Wolf

~ AWANA ?
 


 

Thanks for making it through this long post! This week I am going to finalize our Morning Time Recitation plans and booklists. We are in the process of a major house declutter and room swap (yes, again) so I’ll be painting and doing that in the next few weeks as well. I’m excited for year 13, our first day will be here before we know it!

 © 2008 - 2021 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.     

http://astablebeginning.com

 

 

 

 

Classical Literature Based Learning from the Wisdom Wonder Project ~ a TOS review

Tweet

 

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.

Hi friends! How is your school year going so far? We are finishing up our 6th week here and things are flowing smoothly. We have gotten into a nice routine and lessons are going well too. We do have a few things we have to change up, so look for that post next week. Today I am excited to tell you about a new classical homeschool science curriculum apart of the Young Scholars program from the Wisdom Wonders Project that’s an awesome fit for my little guy.

 

The Wisdom Wonder Project was started in 2005 as the San Luis Classical Academy by a group of parents who desired to have a classical school for their children. When they discovered that there was not a school around them, they decided to form their own school. Now, 15 years later the same group of educators in offering their product to homeschooling parents around the world.

The Wisdom Wonder Project has three curriculum packages available. They include the Little Wonders (three different levels including Pre-K, Junior-K, Kindergarten), Young Scholars (geared for 1st /2nd grade and includes three components of History, Science, and Art), and finally a video based course on Singapore Math.

We received access to the Young Scholars program that includes monthly unit studies for History, Science, and Art. You have the option of purchasing the curriculum at one time as a annual subscription or as a monthly subscription. If you subtribe annually you receive two months free. Since this is a subscription program you can only download one month at a time, however, for the purpose of this review I was able to download several months to get a complete overview of the program. Each learning component does have materials that need to be purchased for every week of the month. There is also a sample weekly schedule that is included to help you schedule your learning.

 

History/Literature ~ The history program uses The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer as the spine and begins in 7000 BC when Nomads roamed the Fertile Crescent. If you are not familiar with The Story of the World, it is a four volume set that covers history in a four year cycle. The Young Scholars History curriculum will take you through the early civilizations of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It includes all the components found in a classical education including narration, copywork, geography, timeline, as well as hands-on projects. An extra materials list is also included and contains items such as puzzles, games, and extra books for suggested extras for purchase.

 

Science ~ The science program is also classical in design and includes vocabulary, comprehension questions, geography, and hands-on activities. The curriculum this year covers three months each on biomes, the human body, and life cycles.

 

Art ~ Each month you will discover the character and spirit of a new artist and art are observed and discussed. Art projects focus on techniques unique to the artist.

 

The mission of the Wisdom Wonder Project is to provide book-based learning with developmentally appropriate material through great books in a classical education style. This is what drew me to this curriculum. Micah and I mainly focused on the science portion of this curriculum. We are already using The Story of the World with our current history program, so I only added in some of the activities and a few extra books we didn’t already have.

 

Overall, we both love this curriculum! It is what I have been searching for, for several years. I am excited to continue through this program! It is gentle enough in style, yet rigorous enough for my 1st grader. Fortunately, because we are long term homeschoolers, I have many of the books and/or curriculum the program recommends. I don’t mind purchasing the items we do not have because, again, I think this is an excellent curriculum. However, If I was just starting out as a homeschooler looking for a classical approach I would love to have access to this full curriculum and all the recommended materials needed in one purchase. Yes, it would increase the monthly or annual pricing, but I think this curriculum is worth the extra expense.

 

Starting next week we are going to jump ahead in the science curriculum to the Human Body portion because it lines up with what McKenzie, my 5th grader, is studying. We will come back to finish the rest of the biomes study after the new year. We also will be continuing with the History/Literature portion, specifically the hands-on activities. Our history program jumps around in the chapters of SOTW, so I just find the corresponding chapter and plan our lessons that way. Micah has loved learning all about the Ancient Egyptians and next week we will be doing an archeological dig of ancient Egyptian artifacts.

If your virtual learning is not turning out the way you thought it would, I suggest you head on over to the Wisdom Wonder Project and take a closer look at this literature based curriculum! But don’t just take my word for it! Click the banner below and see what 34 of my CrewMates think of this curriculum and the Little Wonders Preschool (Junior K – Kindergarten) and Kindergarten Singapore Math by clicking the banner below.

 

Company~ Wisdom Wonder Project 

Product ~ Young Scholars bundle 

Format ~ printable PDF 

Price ~ annual or monthly subscription 

Ages ~ 1st - 2nd graders

Social Media Links:

Facebook ~ Instagram

© 2008 - 2020 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.  http://astablebeginning.com

Art of the Ancients, Vol. 2 from ARTistic Pursuits Inc. ~ a TOS review

Tweet

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.  

Happy Friday! Today I am excited to share with you another fabulous product from ARTistic Pursuits Inc. If you are just jumping into your homeschooling journey then let me tell you about this homeschool art curriculum where your kids can let their creativity shine.

We are not strangers to the art curriculum that ARTistic Pursuits Inc produces, we have been users for many years. Today, I am sharing with you the Art of the Ancients, Volume 2 that is geared for K-3rd graders. Oftentimes I struggle to incorporate art into our week even though I know how important it is to let kids express themselves. However, the K-3rd Grade Level, Volumes 1-8 from ARTistic Pursuits Inc. makes art instruction easy for this Mama!

My son, Micah, loves to get creative! ARTistic Pursuits offers a wonderful Art program for many different grade levels all the way from Preschool through High School.  We still have a few of the older editions of the other books that my older girls have used in the past, but for this review I focused mainly on my Micah who just turned 6 because we will be beginning our study of Ancient history in August. Getting a jumpstart over the last few weeks has been great.

Art for the Ancients is the 2nd volume of eight in the new four-year course for students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade. The course takes your child through a sequential trip through history through child friendly stories and through studying master artists.

 The eight books in this series include:  

Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary (Vol. 1)  

Art of the Ancients (Vol. 2)  

Art of the Middle Ages (Vol. 3)  

Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance (Vol. 4)  

Art of the Northern Countries, Renaissance to Realism (Vol. 5)  

Art of the Impressionists (Vol. 6)  

Art of the Modern Age (Vol. 7)  

Art in America (Vol. 8)

Art of the Ancients, K-3 Vol. 2 is a beautiful hardcover textbook filled with 18 projects that focuses on chalk pastels and clay forms. Each of the books in the set comes with six video lessons showing exactly how to use the materials and tools. The videos are short, roughly 10 minutes in length and will hold your child’s attention and get them excited to do art.

Throughout the 18 lessons your child will learn of the art found in caves as well as the classical art of the Roman Empire. Learning to create and see art from these ancient cultures allows the child to see this beautiful world around us. You’ll need to purchase a few high quality art supplies to get you started. They include:

 ~ a hard or soft pastel set ~ 5 pound self hardening clay, gray ~ wire clay cutter

Micah has enjoyed working with this program. Having just finished Kindergarten he is just now starting to get into “doing school” and being a big kid like his sisters. This program gives me the confidence to teach him art. Following along with the DVD and reading the stories in the book make this an easy program to use because ARTistic Pursuits Inc has done all the work for me with this curriculum. Simply follow along and then set your child off to create their masterpiece.

ARTistic Pursuits has met all of my expectations and then some! This art program has taken the struggle to incorporate art into our week away.  They will always be my go to curriculum when it comes to Art for my children because of the ease of lessons and the open and go format of the books.  It’s no wonder they have won so many awards. These books are fabulous and we will continue to use them in our homeschool for many years to come!

Be sure to check out what my Cremates think of this volume and the other products being reviewed. There are 63 other reviews listed when you click the banner below detailing a range of products offered so be sure to stop by.

Company ~ ARTistic Pursuits Inc.  

Product ~ Art of the Ancients

 Format ~ hardcover book with two dvd's

 Price ~ $39.99

Ages ~ K - 3rd grade

Social Media Links:

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram

 © 2008 - 2020 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.    

 http://astablebeginning.com

Reading lessons in just 10 minutes a day with Reading Unlocked ~ a TOS review

Tweet

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.  

Morning friends!

I have reached a milestone in our home learning, by teaching my last baby how to read. It’s bittersweet but I am excited to tell you about a supplemental reading program I have been using with Micah for the past few weeks. I am really pumped up about it because not only is he excited to learn to read but he is reading so much better since starting the Reading Unlocked program.

For this review we received a 12-month subscription to the Reading Unlocked program which retails for $24.99. This learning to read program is based off the Orton-Gillingham method that teaches children to read by focusing on how letters are pronounced. The complete program has a total of 100 interactive lessons that only take about 15-20 minutes to complete.

There are three levels of the program, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Beginners use this program to go through the alphabet, learn letter sounds, and to start reading short CvC words. Intermediate reader progress into longer words and sentences, advanced readers read chapter books and poetry. In each of the three levels there are structured daily activities. The program monitors the students learning so if they make mistakes on certain areas, the program will adapt the lessons and include them in review.

Micah, who is 5, worked in the beginner level. Since the program is interactive I chose to have Micah use our school iPad to complete the lessons. Using the big computer was cumbersome at times for him to try to direct the mouse. Micah logged in and I sat next to him while he completed his lesson for the day. Sometimes he wanted to complete more than one session, so we did.

Reading Unlocked is internet based so you will need internet access to use the program. The webpage is not overly busy which I enjoy to help my little guy focus on his task. At the top of each page there is a row of white dots that turn purple once the activity is completed. I really like this visual so the child knows just how much of the lesson they have left to complete. Micah liked this feature too because it helped him know just how much more he had to do on the lesson.

Micah’s favorite part of the lessons on Reading Unlocked was the word/picture activity, while his least favorite part was the writing lessons. It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy it, but he’s a 5-year old boy and sometimes it took a little more coaxing for him to use the pencil and paper. I found that letting him write on one of my fancy dot grid note cards with a pen made him eager to complete the writing portion. He enjoys reading the story at the end of the lesson as well, especially because we both read parts of the story.

Overall, this is an excellent program that I recommend you check out! We will definitely be continuing with this program for the rest of our subscription. It gives my boy a helping hand in learning how to read and he is having fun at the same time. But don’t just take my word for it, check out what the other 44 reviewers thought of this reading program by clicking the banner below!

Company ~ Reading Unlocked 

Product ~ Reading Unlocked 

Format ~ online reading program 

Price $24.99 a month 

Ages ~ beginning to advanced readers

Social Media Links: 

 Facebook

 © 2008 - 2020 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.  

  http://astablebeginning.com

The Ultimate Homeschool Geography Curriculum from Let's Go Geography ~ a TOS review

Tweet

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Both time and money are a limiting factor in our world travel adventures. So you can bet I was thrilled to find out we had the chance to review Let's Go Geography, Year 2 curriculum!

McKenzie, my 4th grader, and I have been having so much fun Let's Go Geography Year 2 a weekly homeschool geography curriculum from Let's Go Geography. The curriculum was created by Carol Henderson who wanted to make learning about the world we live in fun. We both love that this curriculum is so hands-on and includes a weekly craft too!

For this review, we received two calendar years worth of access to Let’s Go Geography, Year 2. Countries to be studied in Year 2 include Mexico, Brazil, Ireland, France, Russia, Japan and a three-week study of selected US regions and well as a continent review. Since this geography curriculum offers so many different engaging activities from crafts to videos I think that it is great fit for all learning types.

With a subscription to Let’s Go Geography you and your family can take a three-year trip around the world exploring one country at a time. Through reading, watching engaging videos, listening to music of the region, and hands-on crafts your child will be fully immersed in learning all about the country you are studying.

Getting started is as easy as signing up for an account and picking how long you are wanting to travel, either a year or semester. This detailed curriculum is geared towards children in Kindergarten through 4th grade and includes roughly 35 pages of weekly geography fun! Yearlong travel includes 32 weeks of lesson plans for just $27.99.

Each PDF lesson includes six sections that let you explore each country through mapping exercises, learning about the flag and music as well as exploring areas through video clips. Simply download the file and save it to your computer for easy learning. There is also a weekly craft that ties in with the country you are studying.

If you like hands-on then this curriculum has that for you! Don’t worry about spending lots of money on craft supplies. Many of the crafts use household supplies like paper towel tubes, muffin cup liners, and plastic cups. Art material like crayons, paint, glue, and tape that you already have on hand at home are also needed. If crafts aren’t your thing, there are also simple coloring pages that can be done instead.

A list of any printable needed is included for each lesson as well as any documents needed for your passport and travel binder. My favorite part is that a list of library books is included. The call number for each book is supplied so you can easily search for them at your local library. For older students, Carol also recommends DK's Geography of the World for an atlas for older kids. The attention to detail in this atlas rivals the detail found in the Let's Go Geography curriculum. McKenzie is always eager to learn more through reading with this atlas. 

We went full steam ahead once we received access and have completed 4 weeks of the curriculum studying The Continents, Brazil, Mexico, and France. However, you if find you need to take it at a slower pace just schedule the activities over a longer period of time. Typically, I would try to incorporate our geography studies with our history studies. But this year and next we are studying American History so its been fun exploring the countries that McKenzie is interested in. I simply ask her each Friday to pick a country and then I gather any supplies and books I need for the following week’s lessons.

I love that each country’s PDF file stars off with a bright, vivid cover that makes you want to dive in to know more. McKenzie and my son, Micah who is 5, have enjoyed the video clips as well. McKenzie especially enjoyed the crafts. I love that they are simple enough with thorough directions that she can complete the crafts on her own.

McKenzie is excited about Geography and learning about our world. Let’s Go Geography makes studying geography fun and exciting and we highly recommend you checking it out! If you are looking for a comprehensive hands-on homeschool geography curriculum definitely put Let’s Go Geography at the top of your list!

But don’t just take our word for it, forty-eight of my fellow CrewMates used this curriculum with their families. Be sure to click the banner below and check out their thoughts as well.

Company ~ Let’s Go Geography 

 Product ~ Let’s Go Geography, Year 2 

 Format ~ online, PDF lesson files 

 Price ~ $27.99 for 2 years of access 

 Ages ~ K-4th graders

Social Media Links: 

 Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest~ YouTube

© 2008 - 2020 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author. 

 http://astablebeginning.com