Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Grade 6, Grade 4, and Grade 1

Disclosure

I have always had an unschool mentality. I believe (and my kids have shown me) that people learn what they need to know when they need to know it and life is meant to be experienced and explored rather than dictated and directed. So why am I now talking about homeschool curriculum choices and learning cards?

Would you believe my kids asked for it?

They have made more and more friends who’s families have different homeschool methods and kids talk. My kids love learning and saw their friends learning certain things and getting new binders for the school year (love that my kids got excited about office supplies!) filled with activities and projects.

So I sat down with my older three and asked what kinds of things they are interested in. Between their requests (largely science, history, and Reading Eggs), and them agreeing to some additions of my own (like typing and All About Spelling) I made up a simple schedule and checklist for them and added them to our household rhythm.

I made these cards to be largely independent with the high hopes of doing 4 days a week. After about 6 months of using these “learning cards,” I can confidently say I over estimated the level of cooperation I would receive. But the kids still mostly enjoy them so we keep trudging along in an attempt to make them part of our daily rhythm.

How It Works

Each boy has Day A and Day B. We alternate them as we mostly complete them which means some weeks start with A and others start with B. Each boy also doesn’t complete theirs on the same day as his brothers so he may miss out on a subject, which I try not to stress about because they are still learning, regardless of completed cards.

We don’t technically stick to grade levels as my boys’ interests lead to their skill levels being all over the map. I also don’t tell them exactly what page or lesson they need to do as it is pretty simple to just do the next one.

How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver! (Prov 16:16)

Let’s Dive In.
(I have included some affiliate links here and, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Feel free to read my full disclosure.)

Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Family Learning Time

Morning Time

We are not very fancy here and just flip through a binder with a few Bible memory verses, a song that we are working on memorizing, the Lord’s prayer, a piece of memory work (currently working on “In Flanders Fields”), listening to a song or two on YouTube, and I finish off with reading a page from The Answers Books for Kids or another apologetics book. (We just finished Cold Case Christianity for Kids and it was a huge hit!) It takes us between 15-45 minutes, depending on how cooperative the littlest ones are.

For many families, morning time is a time of communal learning but I decided to make it more a time of Scripture and character study, apologetics, and a family devotion time. Character before academics is a belief that I have always held to and I was glad to see Kathie from the Character Corner, a mom with far more homeschooling and parenting experience than me, affirm that as her number one homeschooling tip in her post listing 10 things that helped her through 31 years of homeschooling.

History

We are currently going through Story of the World: The Ancient World. I’ll say upfront that this is not my ideal history book but I had been given a copy a while back and a friend had the activity book she wasn’t using so I thought I’d give it a try. We haven’t been doing the big activities and projects. I read a chapter and we do some of the review questions (mostly with the the 8 and 5yo as my 11yo has read the book several times on his own so he knows all the answers) and the older two do the map activity and coloring pages while the 5yo just gets the coloring page. I may need to start copying an extra coloring page as the 2yo often wants to copy his big brothers and I’m not sure how long a blank scrap piece of paper is going to be good enough for him.

Science

Apologia Young Explorers Botany text. I adore these books! The hard covers, bright pictures and diagrams, easy to read text, and tying it all back to God as the Creator. Maybe I’ll even invest in their actual notebooking journals one day!

But, for now, I printed off the free notebooking pages from their website and we read a chunk out of the book then the older 2 do the notebooking page or, if it’s really simple, the activity.

Sometimes, once I’m done reading, I print off an applicable picture for the 6yo to color and put in his science duotang. My boys love the nature walk activities and are always amazed at the variety of plants we have growing on our own lawn.

(The original plan was to start with the Astronomy book but it was spring so botany seemed more fitting. We might put that on pause now that days are getting shorter so stars are easier to study and plants are going to be covered in snow soon.)

Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Individual Learning

11 year old

Bible: He had been following a Bible reading plan but always read ahead so now he just reads at least one chapter of whichever book he is going through. Soon I’ll expand his Bible time to include a journal of some sort but we’re just starting with reading.

Math: He is a big-time reader so Life of Fred has been a great fit. He is “behind” for his age group but is cruising through the lessons. Understanding mathematical concepts is not something that come easily to him so both he and I love having the option to choose something that falls more in line with his learning style.

Copywork: He is working through some free stuff I found online but is nearly finished. I think what I’ll do next is give him some lined paper and ask him to write a Bible passage from his daily reading. He does this in cursive, which comes a lot easier to him than printing.

All About Spelling: While he is an avid reader, his spelling hasn’t caught up. Just not the way his mind works I guess. I found the books for All About Spelling level 1 and 2 at a local curriculum exchange last winter and it has been a great fit for him. He appreciates all the rules and explanations as to why words are spelled the way they are. I have to be honest and say that I’ve enjoyed it too! I’ve always been a pretty intuitive speller but knowing why words are spelled a certain way has been enlightening.

Typing: He does about half a lesson at Typing.com I like this site because you just need a login name and don’t need to sign up with an email address or anything. It’s pretty simple and straighforward and gets the job done. Plus it’s FREE. Always a nice perk.

Spanish: We use the Duolingo app for this. He decided he wanted to learn Spanish a couple years ago and was just picking away at it sporadically. So I put it on his learning card and he’s making decent progress.

Read to Asher: This is my sneaky way of getting him to practice reading out loud as well as taking the toddler off my hands for a while so I can focus on something else (usually helping the 8yo do his AAS lesson without little fingers swiping magnets).

Sidenote: You can see I’m not a perfectionist with these cards. He really wasn’t enjoying piano (and is kind of rhythm challenged) so I removed it. He also felt copywork each day was too much so he negotiated that off too by saying he makes cards with writing and does his All About Spelling writing regularly so that should count as writing practice.

8 Year Old:

All About Spelling: He and his brother started level 1 at the same time but he skipped several days and his brother doubled up on some of the early lessons so now they’re in different books. He is a much more intuitive speller (he can remember complicated words because he read them a couple times) so he doesn’t think he needs this. We often skip building the words with magnets and he goes straight to writing them down. He can do more of the building in his head so, when he actually does his lesson, he flies through it.

Math: He’s a weirdo and actually asked for a workbook in math. We just use a Canadian Curriculum book we got at Costco and alternate with workbook one day then a Mathseed lesson the next day. (I’m not an affiliate there but I’m thinking I should be and you really should check them out because everyone I have recommended it to loves it!)

Copywork: He or I choose a Bible verse for him to copy and he (sometimes) draws a picture. (Don’t tell him but I don’t really care about the picture but he thinks he’s rebelling by not drawing it. He likes to have that control and I’m willing to make sure he feels it.) He does not do cursive yet but, now that I think about it, he has asked if he could learn so maybe I’ll get a workbook for him for Christmas or something.

Reading Eggs: He does a Reading Eggs lesson on the off day from copywork. He is reading beyond the skill level of this but we’ve paid for the subscription and he really enjoys it. It’s kind of a reward for him after he has done some stuff he’s not as fond of.

Typing: He also uses Typing.com

Piano: I play piano so he asks me for advice but mostly he does this by reading the blurb in the Alfred’s Basic Piano Book and winging it. This will work for a while but I have a feeling I’ll need to assist more as he progresses. He really enjoys it and seems to understand music a bit more than his older brother.

Read to Asher: Same as before: reading aloud practice and a way to keep the toddler occupied for a while.

5 Year Old

He’s too young for anything formal (he will be 6 in a few weeks) but he loves it so who am I to deny the boy his workbooks? He does a workbook page every day and a Reading Egg or Mathseedevery day.

He did ask to tweak his learning card so he does a math workbook page the same day as his Mathseed and his letter workbook the same day as his Reading Egg.

He’s actually a kinesthetic learner (which I’m totally NOT and was a bit nervous about) so he comes to me while playing Lego and tells me “Mom, I know what 3 groups of 2 is!” or “I know what 7+7 is!” So apparently Lego can be used to teach math. He also just has an inherent understanding of “building” words and often uses magnets or letter tiles to build words that I’m pretty sure he hasn’t reached yet on Reading Eggs.

He occasionally takes 45min to write one page of Os and the next time will cruise through 10+ pages of his workbook in one morning. I’ve stopped trying to understand his methods and just go with the flow.

I hope you can see that our learning cards are not intense and we have a very relaxed homeschool. Our homeschool curriculum choices are simple and mostly independent. The stuff that is more parent intensive requires time but requires minimal prep work. I don’t make a big fuss if we only do 1 or two days per week. (Though I have a feeling it will be a bit easier when the snow flies and kids can’t escape to play outdoors.)

How to Do Personal Devotions With a Baby and Toddler

Every mom dreams of uninterrupted morning coffees, and peaceful time spent journalling or praying or being in the...

Dealing with Worries as a Mother

Fevers and illness, daring activities that lead to injuries, potential kidnappings, government interference... there...

developing an attitude of gratitude through trials by seeing the Light at the end of the tunnel

Attitude of Gratitude – The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Life is stressful. Things don’t go according to our plans and sometimes it’s hard to see God’s hand in the picture...

encouragement for moms who are overwhelmed and discouraged. we're all broken

Encouragement for Moms Who Are Overwhelmed or Discouraged: We’re All Broken

One of the biggest things I have learned over my years as a mother is that we are two imperfect people raising...

S is for Sparrows: The Unschooling Process

by Tessa | Motherhood

The unschooling process starts whenever there is an observation.

We have a lilac bush right in front of our back deck. I can’t see anything on the other side of it and I plan to chop it down and trim it or move it this spring. But, for now it sits there, as pretty much the only thing we can see out of our deck door.

The sparrows love our bush. And C loves the sparrows. We hung up a simple bird feeder the other day and have been watching the birds extra closely to see if they eat it. I asked him to grab his bird book so he could identify them. He instantly found that they looked like the birds in the sparrow section. It was tough to see the details to be able to identify the type of sparrow more specifically so I grabbed my camera and took a few photos.

We noticed that there are different kind of sparrows in the bush. So we looked through the book and then grabbed a computer and Googled “types of sparrows.” We looked through a ton of photos online and compared with the ones that I had taken. We talked about the beak colors, crown, eyes, chest and tail. It was great to go through the details and show my boys how many different types of sparrows there are and how they are all different.

Then I got the song “His Eye is on the Sparrow” stuck in my head so I sang it to the boys. It gave me the opportunity to talk to them about Matthew 10:29-31 that talks about how God notices a sparrow fall from the tree, how much more does he know and notice you. So many sparrows just in our bush, yet God knows each and every one of them. I played the song through on the piano a couple times, which made C want to play for a bit. I have a couple lessons books that he likes to try, with some assistance. So he played on and practiced the piano for a while before he came back to the sparrows. By that point, I had printed off some coloring pages, a few of which had some key words (such as Nest, Egg, Sparrow, Seed) for C to learn.

Subjects covered: Science (animal anatomy, diet, and habitat), research skills, music, Bible, reading, coloring and photography. (Did I miss any?)

The unschooling process doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it’s a lot simpler than people think. Even families who don’t unschool follow the unschooling process in their day-to-day lives. It starts with an observation, which leads to a question, which opens the door to exploring for answers.

What questions have you answered lately for your child that led you down a wonderful path of exploration?

Make sure you don’t miss any posts in this series by subscribing to my weekly blog newsletter!
[mc4wp-form]

Is Homeschooling Right for Your Family?

by Tessa | Motherhood

Have you thought about homeschooling but are still trying to figure out if homeschooling is right for your family? I came across a website that made me think about my reasons for wanting to homeschool and actually put them on paper. This was an awesome exercise for me to go through because not only did it make me evaluate my reasoning (part of it is because I just can’t stand the thought of sending my children away from me for 8-9 hours a day) and expand on that, it was also good for my husband to see what some of the reasons were. He was initially a little more skeptical of homeschool but fast forward a few years and he has turned into a homeschooling advocate. This is a great exercise to go through if you have ever wonder is homeschooling right for your family.

Here are the thoughts that I put on paper as I followed the outline on the aforementioned website:

Our Educational Beliefs

1. We believe children should love learning.
2. We believe a parent’s main goal for a child is to teach him/her to:
a) Love God wholeheartedly
b) Love others as they love themselves
c) Love him/herself (confidence/self-esteem)
3. We believe all children learn by different methods and learning should be tailored to suit the child (not vice versa)
4. We believe children are naturally curious and should not be discouraged from pursing those interests.
5. We believe education should not be restricted to a certain subject or method.
6. We believe a parent/teacher should only ever have enthusiasm about a child learning, not disappointment over what they haven’t learned.
7. We believe that if we work on our weaknesses, we end up with strong weaknesses and weak strengths. Instead we should focus on improving our strengths.

Life Goals for Our Children

1. We hope he learns to listen to his Heavenly Father in all things.
2. We hope he shows commitment to what he starts and is a man of his words.
3. We hope he becomes a wonderful, loving, involved husband and father (if God leads him that way).
4. We hope he does everything to his best ability.
5. A man of impeccable morals and ethics, We hope he always does the right thing, no matter what others do.
6. We hope he takes care of the mind and body God has given him.
7. We hope he is not afraid to be who God made him to be. Not ashamed of who he is.

Why we are going to home educate our children:

1. No one has a better vested interest in their education than we do.
2. To give us flexibility of time to pursue life instead of grades.
3. To stay close to our children – emotionally, mentally, and physically.
4. To take the money we could spend on school and use it for education instead.
5. To be the favorite and respected teacher that they think about when they grow up.
6. Because we want my kids to learn in a way they enjoy.
7. Because kids learn better/more if they are not restricted by grades/curriculum.
8. Because we will not allow anyone to make my child feel stupid or inferior.
9. So our children will learn with, intereact with, and appreciate children in all age groups.
10. So we can learn right alongside our children.
11. Our school systems do not recognize the uniqueness of our children and their specific needs/interests.
12. To know what our children are learning.

I highly recommend that all parents fill out the first two parts of the activity. Then take a step back and figure out if the conventional school system will be able to meet those goals. If so, then you know what to do. If not, perhaps it is time to look at an alternative for your child’s future.

So how did you answer the question of is homeschooling right for your family?

Make sure you don’t miss any posts in this series by subscribing to my weekly blog newsletter!
[mc4wp-form]

Amatuer Bird Watcher

by Tessa | Motherhood

C has, since he was quite young, had a special place in his heart for birds. I remember when he first learned to sign it: We would be sitting at the table and he would point out the window and sign “bird.” Adam and I couldn’t see any so we just said, “yes, birds live outside.” After a couple of weeks of him regularly insisting that there were birds out that window I finally decided to take him to that side of the house to see his reaction. It turns out there was a bird nest right above our window. You couldn’t see the nest from inside but C must have seen the birds flying in and out of it when Adam and I weren’t looking.

He was about two when we splurged and bought him a “Birds of Alberta” book. He flipped through it pretty regularly for a while but then it got put in the jumble of books on the shelf.

The birds have recently returned from their soiree in the south. And the bird book has reappeared. My father purchased a set of small binoculars so C can now officially go birdwatching. It is incredible how much he know about specific species and how many he can identify! For a while we would read about a bird (or two, or six) every day. Now he brings the book a couple times a week to learn (or relearn) about one bird at a time.

I believe that this is unschooling at it’s finest. Provide the opportunity, and children will get curious. Learning without pressure or prejudice. All I need to do is encourage him. And learn about birds alongside my son.

Random bird fact: Did you know that a house swallow waits until other birds build a next and then swoops in a takes it from them? (C doesn’t think that is very nice.)

Curriculum or Not?

by Tessa | Motherhood

My son is heading into that age that people will start asking about schooling choices. I was asked last year if we were planning to send Caleb to preschool. I said that we weren’t because he could play just as well at home or at a friend’s house. The response, “Well I guess he can just go to kindergarten in a year or two.” This was from someone who knows (or should know after being told multiple times) that we are going to homeschool our children.

This conversation has popped into my mind a few times over the last few months as Caleb has recently turned four and therefore he is technically eligible to be enrolled in kindergarten in a year. Which isn’t going to happen of course but our intentions will become a lot more apparent and concrete when the actual time comes to not enroll him. This means we will have a lot more explaining to do and questions to answer about our choices.

I don’t plan to write at this point about how we came to the conclusion that we feel like we should educate our children at home, or even our goals for our childrens’ education. What I want to talk about is the “how.”

I have been sitting on the couch the last few days with a sick baby (or toddler as I suppose he is technically called now). We have basically sat on the couch snuggling and nursing. It is times like these that I’m glad I have a laptop! I have been reading reviews after review on homeschooling curricula. There are some really amazing programs out there and I wish I could try them all. I learned about all the different methods and I just know that it will be a lot of fun. I may be a bit of a nerd because I wish I could do them all just to expand my own knowledge base. I get excited abut trying to figure out which one we should buy.

Then I look at my oldest son.

He loves to snuggle up on my lap with a story. He loves to play outside. He loves to help his daddy work on the farm. He loves to play games or do anything that involves interacting with people. He does not typically enjoy sitting at a table with crayons or a pencil. He only occasionally enjoys doing something “crafty” like playdough or cutting or stickers. After adding my son’s personality into the picture, I couldn’t find one single curriculum or plan that suits him.

I also evaluated the educational beliefs and practices that I apply to myself.

I am interested in birth and breastfeeding. A couple years ago I read about 10-15 different books (textbooks and other reference books) an numerous online and magazine articles on these two topics alone. As I studied and educated myself on these two topics I also learned about attachment parenting; the family bed; the science/biology/chemistry of a woman’s body during pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and mothering; the history of those topics and how it affects us today; and the way that other culture currently and historically birth and raise children. I did a “unit study” on those topics by reading “living books” and taking a lot of notes that I sometimes formed into essays/letters about what I had learned. In short: I “unschooled” myself. I had an interest in something and wanted to apply it to my life so I sought out the answers.

If unschooling works for me, why would I deny my child the opportunity to learn for himself by attempting to teach him things that don’t matter and don’t apply? He will learn about what interests him when he is ready to learn it. At that point I can encourage and assist him in figuring out how to learn it. My only goal as his mother and teacher at this point is to direct him to the Lord. Everything comes back to God. If he knows and trusts the Lord, what more does he truly need?

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”
The only “curriculum” we are going to make a point to study is the Bible. Seek the Lord and He will lead. And we are not going to worry about how our sons will learn how to live in His world because they will learn all they need by simply living in His world.

Though I’m a nerd and I need to admit something. I think I am going to buy a curriculum for Adam and myself to go through. He has actually agreed! It is one that is based on the Word and teaches you how to use the Bible as the basis for all your studies. Adam and I are looking forward to reading about history and science in a way that we have never seen it approached before. Going to pray about it a bit more to make sure that the purchase is led by God and not my own excitement.

Disclaimer: I understand that unschooling (or even homeschooling for that matter) is not for everyone. I do not judge you for choosing to do what you feel is best for your family so please don’t judge/criticize me for doing what I feel is best for my family. The most important thing is to follow God’s leading.

Where is God leading you? What do you feel is the best education solution for your family and why?

About Me:

Find me Here:

conquer your calendar to become more productive

Most Popular Posts

I don't want to be a cranky mommy. 3 easy steps to become a calm mom

6 tips for when you feel like you're drowning in motherhood

You Can Get Free Gift Cards For Shopping, Searching and Discovering What's Online at Swagbucks.com