Last year, we did our homeschooling using K12 Curriculum. The curriculum was good but it wasn’t quite the right fit for us.
So this year we decided we would take matters into our own hands.
The first thing we decided was that we would Homeschool year round. This would give us more flexibility to take time off or deep dive on other interests and not feel guilty about keeping up with a schedule.
Next came the decisions on what we would use for our Curriculum.
Starting at the Core
First, I started with the basics. Math, Language Arts, History and Science. I had been stalking a member of some Facebook groups and had read many mentions and recommendations for Build Your Own Library. I liked the idea of a reading based curriculum and already had a few of the books on the Level 1 list since we had been following the Mensa Excellence in Reading K-3 Challenge. Build Your Own Library covers History, Mythology, Literature/Language Arts, Copywork, Poetry, Art and Science.
Build Your Own Library does not include a Math component but I had also heard many good things about Beast Academy so I started off by taking their 2A assessment. I was prepared for our son not to pass as it begins with 2nd Grade Math and was planing to supplement any areas where he had any weakness but to our surprise he did very well.
So that took care of the core subjects.
Supplements
With the core covered, we have also supplemented some of the areas where our son shows the most interest. Specifically Science with The Magic School Bus and Bill Nye videos. Also, lots of extra hands on experiments from the shows which has been a lot of fun.
We are also supplementing Math and learning Algebra. (More on that soon!)
We are also slowly adding in a more formal language arts program called Grammar Galaxy which is a lot of fun.
Lots of nature time! Dad is teaching our son about the animals and about growing and grafting plants.
Lots of Play! Every try to fit in a s many Lego Dioramas and RPG style re-enactments for Historical Events as possible. (More on that soon!)
Electives
From there we went on to our electives. This year we are doing Spanish, Chess, Computers/Programming and Intro to Robotics.
Spanish is lots of practice speaking and even watching some TV Shows and Movies in Spanish and discussing the words and what they mean.
Chess has been predominately split between using Chess Kid and playing chess games as a family.
Computers and Programming has been teaching our son about Linux, playing with Raspberry Pis as well as Scratch and Pyton programming.
We recently added, Intro to Robotics which I have been putting together with YouTube videos, Snap Circuits and Breadboards to teach our son the basics.
We also do a Life Skill lesson at least once a week and cover Health, Physical Fitness, Cooking and other basics.
After making all our decisions and taking the assessment to gauge our son’s level we have also decided to complete 1st and 2nd Grade this year as most of his assessments place him at those levels. Thankfully, the freedom of Homeschooling allows us to meet our son’s needs and challenge him to keep him engaged.
