Homeschool Curriculum 2016-2017

July 11, 2016 by Aliesha

Today we started our second week of homeschooling for the 2016-2017 year! I intended to post this last week, but the week sped by, and here we are!

Several people have asked me about our curriculum choices for this year, so I wanted to share what we are using!

Vera is doing a mixture of Kindergarten and First Grade work. Her birthday is in August and she’ll be turning six.

Cordelia (4.5) and Jude (almost 3) are in preschool. Theodore (almost 1) will be along for the ride.

Homeschool Curriculum 2016-2017

Bible / History / Geography / Literature

Sonlight is known for their core curriculum: history, Bible, and literature. We decided to do Core A, which is for ages 6-8. It covers creation to the fall of the Roman empire.

We can’t wait to dig into learning about other cultures and ancient history! I absolutely love studying ancient cultures, so I know this will be such a fun year!

I know curriculum can be expensive, so I’m always looking for ways to save. Buying a whole grade package from Sonlight saves a pretty big chunk, we found! Also, you can use code “AC20330563” to save $5 on your first Sonlight order of $50 or more!

I’ll supplement our history with lots of library books as well. I also have some neat ancient history coloring pages and I bought the audio version of Mystery of History (Volume I) for us to listen to as we study each part of history this year.

To go along with the Bible/missions parts of Sonlight, I also purchased a few other things: THUMB prayer cards, a coloring book, and a fabric world map.

Language Arts / Phonics / Spelling / Creative Writing

We’re in the middle of the Sonlight Kindergarten Language Arts. Vera is working through the Kindergarten readers, and when we finish those (probably mid-August), we’ll begin Sonlight First Grade Language Arts. She is really catching on to reading and it’s fun to watch! Spelling is incorporated into this curriculum, as well as some creative writing later in the year. We’ve also been using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I bought a lot of things at Target that will also help us with these subjects!

Math

We will be using Math-U-See: Primer (the first level) this year. It looks very simple at the beginning (but important for establishing a good foundation), so we may breeze through it rather quickly and move into the next level (Alpha). I love that this includes little blocks to help students visualize (and touch!) the math concepts that are being taught. I think it will be a good fit for us, but we won’t know until we get into it more! The younger ones may be able to keep up with this for a while too. I also want all three of the kids to be able to write their numbers by the end of the year.

Science

We’re using Sonlight science level A this year. It covers Biology, Botany, and Physics. We’ll read lots of fun science books on a wide variety of topics: weather, tadpoles & frogs, laws of physics, butterflies, plants, and more. There are science experiments to do as well, but they don’t always correspond directly to what we’re learning about that week, so we may skip some of those or do them on the weekends. We’ll also supplement our science with other books from the library about the topics we’re studying (not because the curriculum necessarily needs it, but because that will be fun).

Handwriting

I picked Handwriting Without Tears as our handwriting curriculum (my funny younger brother would like to point out that it didn’t work for him… there were tears!), and I bought both the Kindergarten and First Grade levels of this as well. We’ll work at Vera’s pace and probably will complete both levels by the end of this school year. I really like the tactile ways that this curriculum teaches letter formation (wooden pieces, chalkboard, etc.). It looks very good! I will work with Cordelia and Jude on handwriting as well. We love using inexpensive dry erase boards and markers to practice our handwriting too!

Art

I’m compiling this myself using some really neat resources. This will be very laid-back and unofficial. We’ll spend some of our free time doing art projects and lessons as opposed to it taking up a portion of the school day.

A few of the books we’re using:

–Drawing with Children
–I Can Draw Animals
–I Can Draw People
–The Usborne Art Treasury
-various library books on great artists

I may do a few more posts on our homeschooling schedule/routine and just our day in general, if you’d be interested in that. Currently, we’re starting at 8:00AM and finishing everything “official” by 11:00AM. Then we read books and have “free play” time until lunch. It’s working out great so far!

If you have any questions for me, ask away! I’m no expert, but I’ll share what is working for our family!

This post contains affiliate links and/or codes to products or companies I use and love. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Meal Planning Solution Follow Up – Is It Working?

June 30, 2016 by Aliesha

We’ve been using our new meal planning schedule for about a month now, and I wanted to give a little update.

Is this method working for our family?

The answer – YES!

We are loving our new meal planning schedule. It’s taken a huge load (mentally) off my shoulders, and in some ways I think it’s actually lowered the amount of time I spend in the kitchen each day since I’m choosing very simple (but delicious) meals that do not involve a lot of work right at dinner time. I also try to do prep work on the weekend or earlier in the day to make the hours right before dinner time more pleasant.

I know I’m really weird… I adore cooking, but I hate meal planning. I love long, leisurely times in the kitchen prepping a gourmet meal, but I DO NOT do this on any regular basis (see “four children”). I thrive on creativity in the kitchen, but I also want a routine that I can depend on. I love trying new food, but I need to have a consistent plan or we’ll end up in a rut eating the same boring foods. I think I sound a bit schizophrenic! But this solution is TOTALLY working for us.

Again, here is our schedule.

Sunday – rotisserie chicken

We haven’t done a rotisserie chicken every week, but I do make something we can eat for at least two meals. I’ve done London broil or a roasted chicken in the oven. We eat that on Sunday and also Monday.

Monday – soup or something with chicken

Like I said, we don’t always do chicken on Sundays, but I plan on using Sunday’s leftovers in Monday night’s dinner. It’s working well to do that! If for some reason I don’t have leftovers, I make something like frittata or taquitos. I’m sure we’ll eat soup more once it cools down in the fall.

Tuesday – stir fry

Always a win! I’m sharing about my go-to stir fry recipe in my email newsletter Friday morning, so sign up here if you want to receive that in your inbox. We do veggie stir fry, beef & broccoli, shrimp & snow peas, chicken & mixed vegetables… whatever we’re the mood for (all with the same easy go-to sauce)! It’s fun trying new combinations and using veggies I bought at the farmer’s market.

Wednesday – one pot/pan

The one dish rule helps me keep things simple. We love sheet pan suppers like Cajun chicken, as well as pork tenderloins, roasted chicken & veggies, and more. Next week I’m planning to do a pot roast on Wednesday (with carrots, onions, and potatoes). I’ve also made oven chicken fajitas on a Wednesday since that’s also just one pan!

Thursday – tacos

We look forward to Taco Thursdays! If I have leftover chicken fajitas from one-dish-Wednesday, that totally counts. Chicken tacos are brain-dead easy to make in the slow cooker, plus they provide leftovers for days. I also like making cheater fish tacos (using frozen breaded fish fillets), which are always a hit with the family. I like that this night can be super easy or more elaborate depending on how much time I have in the kitchen.

Friday – pizza

This is BY FAR my favorite meal of the week. I brainstorm all week about the creative new combination I will create on pizza night. I try to utilize leftover meat and/or veggies when possible. Taco pizza is fun (homemade refried beans instead of tomato sauce, topped with cheddar cheese, meat of choice, corn, and, after it comes out, tomatoes & cilantro). A more traditional pizza for us would be tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, peppers, chicken sausage, and onions. But I like to have fun too (see this Instagram photo for some delicious combinations)! You can’t go wrong adding caramelized onions or shaved Parmesan or a few fresh basil leaves. Again, this night allows me to be creative if I have the time or desire, or to just keep it simple with some basic toppings. I make my dough at lunch time so it’s ready to go later! Another thing that saves me a ton of time is using my food processor to grate the cheese. Life. changing.

Saturday – leftovers or chef’s choice

I’ve actually been making twice as much pizza as we need so that we can just reheat pizza on Saturday nights! By Saturday I’m ready for a cooking break, so that is the perfect way to feed the family quickly and easily. If I don’t have leftover pizza, I usually have something else that I can turn into a meal (chicken fajita rice & bean bowls, etc.). If I’m feeling adventurous, I try a new recipe!

So that’s it! This way of planning meals is DEFINITELY working for us, and I am excited to have a strong plan as we go into our homeschool year. (THIS MONDAY!) I could probably plan and shop for a whole month’s worth of meals with this system, but I’m not quite there yet. I admire people who do that, but I think I’d still end up at the store each week anyway for produce, dairy, and eggs.

If you didn’t read the original post about this meal planning system, you can read it here. AND, I’ll be sending out my meal planning printable in this week’s email newsletter, so sign up for that here if you don’t want to miss it!

Also, if you’re curious about what else we eat in the week, we eat the same thing for breakfast every day (eggs & oatmeal), lunches are leftovers or simple sandwiches (salads for me) with veggies & fruit, and for snacks we eat seasonal fruit and sometimes a bit of cheese (my kids love trying new kinds)!

Aliesha Caldwell is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Library Books We’re Loving

June 28, 2016 by Aliesha

We’ve been frequenting the library this summer and checking out lots of fun books! Thought I’d share a few of our recent favorites!

While I’m linking to the Amazon page for each book so you can see more info about it, you should definitely check and see if your local library has these titles or can get them for you via inter-library loan.

How to Bake an Apple Pie and See the World – super cute story that teaches geography, where food comes from, and cooking skills!

Saturday is Dadurday – can’t tell you how many times we have read this fun book about the special relationship between a dad and his daughter!

Helen’s Big World: The Life of Helen Keller – my girls especially were fascinated with Helen’s life and her amazing teacher, Annie!

This Is My Home, This is My School – a book about a homeschooling family (written by a homeschool graduate), which my kids find so neat!

P is for Passport – helpful for teaching about different cultures and places around the world (as well as the alphabet for younger kids)!

Do Unto Otters – the kids thought this was funny (and enjoyed listening to the audio book many times)!

Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken – this is another (silly) audio book that we’ve enjoyed!

One Tiny Turtle – this story of the life cycle of a sea turtle is one of Jude’s current favorites!

We’re also reading a lot of multicultural books because I recently starting reading this book! Give Your Child the World is a new guide for parents that includes over 600 titles of children’s books organized by part of the world. This is so helpful! Just take it to the library with you and find titles for your children to read (or for you to read aloud to them).

I’m also participating in the corresponding summer book club, which is so fun! Anyone else doing it too?

We’re just about halfway to our goal of finishing the summer reading program at our library, and the kids look forward to our reading times each day! Have you been reading a lot to your children this summer? Do you have any titles to recommend?

Aliesha Caldwell is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.