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I'm a wife to my "Mr. Right". A momma of five. A maker of slow food and simple living. A collector of memories, a keeper of books, and a champion for books that make memories. An addict who likes my half-and-half with a splash of coffee. A fractured pot transformed by the One Who makes broken things beautiful. I heart homeschooling, brake for libraries, and am glad you're here with me on the journey! Be sure to subscribe to my monthly newsletter. Or, follow along with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google +, Youtube, or Pinterest.

Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2019-2020

Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2019-2020 #homeschool #curriculum

With a curriculum shopping list firmly in hand, I scoured the shelves of my state homeschool convention determined to find great books at great prices! I'm fairly certain that I lugged home my body weight in GOOD READS...but that's between me and my chiropractor.

Our homeschool has always been defined by learning-a-la-carte. We are eclectic and refuse to be boxed in by any one method or mantra. Naturally, my curriculum choices for 2019-2020 reflect my pieced-together style.

In the upcoming school year, I'll have one child taking college classes for dual credit, two kids in junior high, and two in elementary.

My homeschool planner is heavy with my big plans! No doubt, it will be a full year.


(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)

As in year's past, we will stick with a four-day-a-week schedule. So, you can assume that the following items will be used four days a week unless otherwise indicated. Items with asterisks are new-to-us this year.

We will do all of these content-rich subjects together. Core (skill-oriented) subjects like language arts and math will be done individually according to grade level. (I will be sure to share those in the coming days.) Technically, I don't homeschool with grade levels, so the following group subjects can easily be adjusted to meet the needs of a wide range of learners.)

Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2019-2020 #homeschool #curriculum

Morning Time- every day

Our morning time is a non-negotiable in the schedule--an immovable anchor for the past 10 or so years that has helped to create calm in the daily chaos. While some moms pack their Morning Time full and overflowing, I like to keep it simple. I only include the things that will build our faith and our relationships with God and each other. I figure if I can start our day peacefully with this short but very intentional benchmark, I can count the entire day as a success -- even if the rest of it gets derailed.

Some of the items in our morning basket will be done daily this year, while others will be done in a "loop" (Not sure what a loop is? Be sure to check out The Quick-Start Guide to Brave Homeschool Schedules for more info).

To be done daily



To be placed in a "loop"


Bible
The Book for Children- 2x a week



Theology/Christian Living
The Case for Christ Student Edition- 1x a week*



Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends- 1x a week



Missionary story
Billy Graham: America's Pastor- 1x a week for the 1st semester
Brother Andrew: God's Secret Agent- 1x a week for the 2nd semester



Science

For the fourth year in a row, my house will be divided for science.

  • My daughter will be taking an online Environmental Science course/lab from the University of Northwestern for dual credit.*
  • My oldest son will be doing Earth Science with BJU Press Distance Learning (every day).
  • And my youngest three boys and I will be working our way through the last half of Noeo Science Biology 2 from Logos Press (2x a week). I appreciate the Charlotte Mason (living books and notebooking) approach to science that Noeo Science offers. As well as their open-n-go science project kits that accompany most of their levels.

History- 2x a week

History should never be studied using a dry-as-dust textbook, in my opinion. It should always be learned through living literature, field trips, videos, and conversations with the real, flesh-and-bone people who lived it.

My daughter will be taking a History of Civilization course from the University of Northwestern for dual credit.

For my sons, I will be using my trusty Truth Quest guides to create homespun history units for our second-year look at The Age of Revolution. (In theory, The Age of Revolution guides should take three years to complete, but we will probably stretch them out to four.) 

I'll also use the following resources:
  • Timelines of World History- This is a visual timeline that will help my kids see what was happening in other parts of the world during the same time as the event we're reading about in our Truth Quest books.* 

Extracurricular Subjects

Following our afternoon read-aloud time each day (which generally happens right after lunch clean-up), my sons and I will do one of three extracurricular activities together. I'll leave that time slot empty on Fridays so that we can finish up any project that didn't get done on its assigned day.

Creative Writing- Monday

Story Starters- This is a book we started last year and will no doubt be using for the next two years. It's gigantic and filled with half-finished short stories and illustrations. Each one leaves off at a cliff-hanger, allowing a child to complete the story arch in his/her own words. 



Logic/Reasoning- Tuesdays

The Fallacy Detective- We got halfway through this book of logic and reasoning skills last year and will finish it up in the 2019-2020 school year.



    Chalk Pastels- Wednesdays

    The kids and I love to do chalk pastel art. Pastels are so forgiving and allow even the most novice of artists to feel like a professional. Trouble is, I've run out of ideas for what to create. So, I've grabbed an annual membership to You Are An Artist Clubhouse* to not only give us great inspiration but also to weave in some cross-curricular learning. We'll be able to pair some of our chalk pastel lessons with our Morning Time hymn study, our Age of Revolution history lessons, and even our Noeo biology. In addition, it will provide lots of fun seasonal art instruction.



    Cooperative Learning- 2-3x a month

    After moving to a new city last February, I discovered that the nearest homeschool co-op was two towns away. That was a bit disheartening, to say the least. But as the Greek philosopher, Plato, once said, "Necessity is the mother of invention."

    When I went looking for a co-op and came up wanting, I decided to start one of my own. Currently, we are 17 families strong and are all set to launch into the school year with a great line-up of classes. 
    We'll meet the 1st and 3rd Thursday mornings of each month with an optional field trip offered on the 5th Thursdays. 

    2019-2020 Curriculum by grade level

    Stay tuned in the coming days. I'll be sharing the curriculum that I've chosen for the core-subjects for the following grades: 




    9 comments:

    1. I love this! Is your daughter local to Northwestern, or is she taking them online? (I graduated from there and loved it!) Wondering if online is an option for my oldest. Thanks!

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    2. The Bible, Christian Living, and Missionary Books you place in a loop are they a part of your morning basket? Are they Read-A-louds? If so do you read a chapter or for a certain amount of time?

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      1. Yes, they are a part of our morning basket and read aloud. For the most part, we read one chapter from whichever one we are reading from on a particular day. Occasionally, the missionary biography chapters are so long, I only read half a chapter.

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    3. Awesome picks! We love story starters and hope to use fallacy detective this year too.
      Blessings, Dawn

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    4. Hi Jamie, I've read through your history planning morning using TruthQuest guides. Thanks for the tips. I am new to using TruthQuest and we starting Age of Revolution I soon (I actually have the American History for the Young too but never used it). My kids are 14 and 11. Since you have been using TruthQuest for some time do you have some recommended books that were your favorites? Thanks so much and God bless.

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    5. Hi Jamie, what is the little red cover book at the top of the stack? Is it a calendar or planner?

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