Curriculum - Outside the Box Learners

Ancient Egypt Read Aloud Books – 2nd Time Through

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

Ancient Egypt Read Aloud Books – 2nd Time Through

We are pretty relaxed/eclectic homeschoolers, but one subject we’ve continued to approach in a more orderly manner over the years is history. We start at the beginning of time and then work through all of history to the present day. Rinse and repeat!

As I’ve stated many times in past posts our main approach to learning history has been through reading living books. This has been a very rewarding way to learn history and has helped me and my kids have a more full picture of history, rather than just learning and regurgitating important dates.

This year we have also added in The Mystery of History as our spine. It’s been a nice addition for us!

This past fall we started the whole history cycle again beginning with Ancient History. And we just recently finished going through Ancient Egypt for the 2nd time. (Here are the activities we did and books we read the first time we studied Ancient Egypt four years ago.)

History Timeline

For the past four years we’ve put all significant historical events on our history timeline (we did this using butcher paper and having the kids draw the events on the paper.)

Ancient Egypt Read Aloud Books — Having fun with our giant timeline on butcher paper

Since we started the whole history cycle again this past fall, I decided we’d change it up, so instead of drawing historical events on butcher paper, I bought each of the kids their own timeline book. They are really enjoying the timeline books so far!

Big sister (9th grade!) is actually taking world history (using this curriculum) at a local co-op this year, so she doesn’t typically join in on our read-alouds, but she IS doing the timeline book with her younger brothers.

List of Ancient Egypt Read Aloud Books (2nd Time Around)

Here are the books we did as read-alouds for Ancient Egypt this year.

The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt

The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone

Unwrapping the Pharaohs: How Egyptian Archaeology Confirms the Biblical Timeline

Tirzah

To find even more books, check out our book list from the first time we studied Ancient Egypt.

And here are our booklists for Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece.

Happy reading and learning!

Homeschool Curriculum Picks for 2021-2022

Our Homeschool Curriculum Picks for 2021-2022

This year we have an 8th grader, a 6th grader, and a 2nd grader. Below are our curriculum picks for the 2021-2022 year.

This year I used Plan Your Year: Homeschool Planning for Purpose and Peace by Pam Barnhill while planning and found it to be helpful in organizing and prioritizing our goals for the year. As the kids get older, there are more opportunities for things to get involved in, and the ideas in this book helped me form a framework that has allowed me to see more clearly what activities to say yes and no to.

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

Curriculum Picks for 2021-2022

8th Grade:

Handwriting:

Getty Dubay Handwriting – Calligraphy

Writing:

I take more of an unschooling approach to writing with this kiddo. She does write often on her own, mainly fan fiction. She also writes for her creative writing class at our new co-op. As a natural writer, she loves to write and does best when she does so in a real-life setting that has a purpose.

Reading/Language Arts:

Last year, she finished all of the books in the Life of Fred Language Arts series.

We are doing a couple of different book clubs this year. This has been a great fit as she has been challenged to read books she wouldn’t normally read and also has the joy of getting to discuss them with others.

Math:

Life of Fred – Algebra: She’s still going strong with Life of Fred, and so we continue to use it.

Music:

Continued piano lessons

Choir and viola through a local music academy (this is new to us this year and has been a great addition to our schedule)

Visual and Performing Arts:

Participation in local theater productions..

This winter, she’ll be signing up for an online animation class.

6th Grade:

Handwriting:

Getty Dubay Handwriting

Writing:

We are continuing to use Writeshop which has been an amazing fit for this kiddo. It’s the perfect combination of fun and structure and we’ve really enjoyed using it. Writeshop includes grammar practice, presented in a colorful way. 🙂

We also do creative journal entries and have introduced some dictation this year (Dictation is when I read a few sentences from a book that he’s reading on his own and he has to copy what he hears into a journal.) Dictation is a gentle and natural way to practice spelling and punctuation/capitalization.

Reading/Language Arts:

Explode the Code – After many years, he just finished this series. 🙂

Book-wise, this kiddo usually has a good idea of what he wants to read. He spends a couple of hours a day reading, and these are some of his favorite series.

Math:

Masterbooks math – This is our main math curriculum for this child.

Math-It – He does this once a week to stay on top of his math facts.

Making friends with numbers – We discovered this fun workbook this past summer and it’s been a great resource for extra practice with multiplication facts.

Music

Piano lessons

Choir and recorder/drums/ukelele class through a local music academy.

2nd Grade:

Handwriting:

Getty Dubay

Writing:

Journal entries (very basic and as he wants to)

Reading/Language Arts:

Read aloud with me.

Independent Reading/Audiobooks

Explode the Code

Math:

The Good and the Beautiful Math – I received this at a discounted price last year and he enjoys it so we’ve continued to use it!

Math-It: We use this for daily math facts practice

STEM:

Kiwi Crates – Every month we get a kiwi crate in the mail and it is always a highlight for this kiddo.

For Everyone:

**The following subjects we do together during our “morning time”. We generally do Bible and History every day, and then loop/rotate the other subjects. This helps me stay sane! 🙂

Bible:

Picture-Smart Bible – We are almost done with the new testament, and will be moving to the old soon.

History:

Living Books exploring U.S. History. We plot the major events on our timeline as we go. Most of our books were purchased through Beautiful Feet Books – New Early American Intermediate Pack. We also got some from the middle and high school packs.

A Child’s History of the World by Virgil M. Hillyer and A Child’s First Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers – Our history spines to read alongside the Living Books.

**For a more comprehensive post on how we homeschool history check out this post: Homeschooling History Without a Text Book!

Science:

No Sweat Nature Study – It is mainly the younger two doing this.

Guest Hollow Anatomy – This has been a lot of fun so far. All three kids are enjoying it (I pick and choose from both the junior and high school curriculums.) We especially love the hands-on projects!

Latin:

Getting Started With Latin by William E. Linney, though rather plain, has been a great fit for us. The pace at which the lessons move has worked really well.

Art:

Living Art Lessons – The boys and I are working through this book. It is pretty much an open-and-go art program and we are really enjoying it. We just finished up learning all about ‘lines’.

Book List 7th Grade Girl

If left to her own ways, my daughter, who loves to read, would settle in on modern fantasy books alone. And so, we came up with a compromise that worked quite well last year (her 7th-grade year.)

I created a list of books that I’d like her to read by end of 8th grade. I had her choose a book from that list each month for independent reading. These were in addition to her other favorites that she reads… and re-reads. 🙂

Most of these books started off slow for her but were appreciated by the time she got to the end.

The books on this list can be read by boys or girls, and also kids younger or older than 7th grade. These just happen to be the (assigned) books she read during her 7th-grade year.

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

Book List for a 7th Grade Girl

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

Historical Fiction Novel that takes place in 12th century Korea. I had hoped to do this one as a family read-aloud for the Middle Ages, but we did not get around to it, so I was glad she picked this one!

Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter

A classic story about a disabled orphan who overcomes much.

A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter

Sequel to Freckles. This well-loved story is about a poor girl whose love for nature leads her to extraordinary circumstances.

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

This is an adventure story about a boy and his beloved hunting dogs.

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

This classic children’s fantasy novel was written in the 1800s and has stood the test of time. Written by George MacDonald whose works inspired and influenced C.S. Lewis.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

Another historical fiction piece that takes place in the Middle Ages. This was a favorite of hers!

Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight

Sophia’s War: A Tale of the Revolution by Avi

Historical Fiction novel that takes place during the Revolutionary War.

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Giver by Lois Lowry

(Not technically assigned but was received as a gift during the summer and ended up being a favorite!)

Middle Ages Book List

The Middle Ages span the years from (roughly) 500-1400 AD. It’s the millennium that bridges ancient history with modern history.

The Middle Ages were characterized by everything from lack of literacy (only a small percentage of people could read or write) to the building of the most magnificent cathedrals and castles, to the writing of the Magna Carta (which initiated the idea that everyone needed to yield to the law, even the king.)

Here is a list of books we read to learn about the Middle Ages, and a few extra that we hope to read the next time around (we do history in cycles, so we will be circling back to the Middle Ages in a few years!)

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

Reference Books

The Magna Charta by James Daugherty- Written in a narrative style, this book is jam-packed with information about the Magna Carta, a historic document that influenced government moving forward. My history lover enjoyed this one! However, t’s a bit of a dry read (for a non-history lover.) Good for ages 10+.

A Child’s History of the World by Hillyer. A great overview of history.

How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer – This is not specific to the Middle Ages, but includes one chapter devoted to the Middle Ages and I highly recommend reading this book alongside studying history with your kids to give you a better foundation of the history of Western Culture. If you want a broad picture of history from a Christian worldview, this is THE book to read. It starts with Ancient Rome and moves on to the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, and beyond. Considering the times we are living in, I think this book is more relevant than ever.

Time Traveler Usborne (this is a family fave!)

Leif the Lucky by Ingri & Edgar D’aulaire – Leif, a Viking who lived in the 900’s , was a Norse explorer (his family was known for settling Greenland.) Exploring was more of a characteristic of the Renaissance but because his life fell during the time of the Middle Ages, I’ve placed this book here. Great illustrations and good for younger kids.

Castle and Cathedral – both by David Macaulay

Atlas of World History Also, Usborne!

Usborne Encyclopedia of World History

Look Inside a Castle (Usborne Look Inside) For younger children (not pictured)

Literature:

Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli – A short novel about a boy who is sent away to become a knight, but he loses use of his legs and therefore dream is squashed. A story of bravery and character.

Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly – This takes place near the end of the middle ages in Poland. It was a captivating historical fiction story of a famiy who has a great treasure and must keep it hidden for the safety of everyone. It gets into the wrong hands and things take a wild turn. Gives a good depiction of the danger of living during this time.

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park- My daughter read this on her own but enjoyed it. Takes place in 12th century Korea.

Crispin: Cross of Lead by Avi – Another book my daughter read on her own.

Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray- Newberry Honor Book. Set in 13th century England, this book follows the adventures of a young minstrel boy, Adam. This book stays true to 13th century England.

Beowulf by Michael Morpurgo- An easier take on the classic. This was perfect for a first run-through of the story. We highly enjoyed this read.

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman (not in picture) – An easy read that will captivate your young learner. Highly fictitious, but fun and still gives a feel for what the middle ages were like.

Books for Next Time Around

Hawk and Dove Trilogy by Penelope Wilcock

Pendragon Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead- We tried the first book of this trilogy as an audio read-aloud, and while my husband and daughter enjoyed it, it was too intense for my 10-year-old, so I recommend it for older readers.

The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson

Middle Ages Chalk Pastel Art

My youngest, age 6, enjoyed doing medieval chalk pastel art as his primary way of learning about this time period (there may be one or two Renaissance time period pictures in there too!) He is definitely a kiddo who learns through activity and this was a great way for him to learn about the Middle Ages in an age-appropriate way.

Check out my other history book lists!

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Greece

Ancient Rome

Homeschool curriculum picks 2020-2021

Our Homeschool Curriculum Picks for 2020-2021

We actually started on this school year in the beginning of August (with a two-week break in September as we explored Custer, Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons)

Like I say every year, none of this is set in stone, but it is our plan for the year for now.

We now have three readers in the house, which is super exciting. And wow, does it make a difference!

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

Curriculum Picks for 2020-2021

7th Grade:

Handwriting:

Getty Dubay Handwriting

Writing:

I’m kind of winging it for my daughter’s writing this year. I’ve gone back and forth with the idea of unschooling writing for her, signing her up for a class, or doing a more rigorous curriculum. The fact of the matter is she has high aptitude for writing and some of her best writing has come when she is not prompted. With that being said, if I do feel we need to beef up her writing requirements, I will probably use Bravewriter Writing Projects.

Math:

Life of Fred – She’ll be finishing pre-algebra and moving into algebra this year. Life of Fred continues to be an amazing fit for her.

Reading/LA:

Life of Fred Language Arts

Becuase Life of Fred Math has been such a great fit, we decided to try their lanugage arts books. They are technically for high schoolers but from the reviews I read, many said they used them successfully with their middle schoolers, so we thought we’d give them a try. So far so good!

Independent reading – 1 book per month from a list I made for her on top of all the other reading she does (she’s a re-reader, so most often I’ll find her in a book she’s already read!)

Other:

Spanish -using Duolingo

GamED Academy

Typing.com

Piano lessons

Sketching

5th Grade:

Handwriting:

Getty Dubay Handwriting

Writing:

Journal Entries using writing prompts.

Writeshop – This writing curriculum is more structured than what we’re used to, but so far it has been a good fit for this particular kiddo. It’s gentle and not too intimidating, and covers many different genres. And as a bonus – it includes a colorful “fold-n-go” grammar practice.

Curriculum Picks 2020-2021 — Fold-n-go grammar packet for lesson 2

Language Arts/Reading:

Explode the Code – He’ll be finishing book 8 this year.

Independent reading on own – we decide books together.

Math:

Masterbooks math – We needed a change for math this year, and heard a lot about Masterbooks, and so far it’s a great fit! This kid needed more structure and review than Life of Fred offers.

Math-It – Math facts practice

Extra workbooks for practice such as this one.

1st Grade:

Handwriting:

Getty Dubay

Writing:

Journal entries (very basic and as he wants to – I don’t push it!)

Reading:

Read aloud with me (separate from the older kids as his books skew younger)

Independent Reading/Audiobooks (this kid listens to a LOT of audiobooks!) Now that this kiddo has started reading, there’s no stopping him!

Language Arts:

Explode the Code

Math:

Masterbooks

Math-It

Math Games

For Everyone:

Bible:

Rotating between:

A Child’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos

Picture-Smart Bible -An especially great choice for picture-smart kids!

Memorizing various passages of scripture (we’re working on 1 Corinthians 13 right now.)

Literature:

Lots of reading aloud!

History:

Living Books exploring Renaissance to Early U.S. History. We will be plotting the major events on our timeline as we go.

A Child’s History of the World by Virgil M. Hillyer – Our history spine to read alongside the Living Books.

Chalk Pastel classes that go along with our history cycle

**For a more comprehensive post on how we do history check out this post: Homeschooling History Without a Text Book!

Science

No Sweat Nature Study – This continues to be a favorite, especially for my younger two, and gives me a reprieve. 🙂

Weekly Science Co-op with friends

Language:

English from the Roots Up – I got a used copy of this book to save a few bucks!

Music:

S.Q.U.I.L.T. – I love how this curriculum is open and go. And even though I have a music background it’s nice to have something that’s already prepared.

Other:

Kiwi Crates (we switch between Kiwi, Tinker, Atlas, Doodle and love them all!)

These our our curriculum picks for 2020-2021. They are bound to be tweaked at least a bit, but this is the plan for now!

How We do History – Textbook Free!

If asked as a child what my least favorite subject was, I might have said history. And if I had to describe how I felt about history as a child, I’m sure the words dry, boring, and pointless would have come to mind! (with the exception of the Holocaust which I have always been interested in)

I actually got my only “C” ever in Western Civilizations in college.

The material was just so “foreign” to me (seriously no pun intended!) But truly, though I would PORE over my textbook for the class, the material just would not stick. It was painful. Can you relate?

Fast forward to now. Would you believe history is one of my favorite things to learn about with my kids? Probably because I’m right in there learning with them, for what feels like the first time! If you’ve ever been in a Classical Conversations community, they refer to this as “redeeming your education.”

I personally find textbooks dry. Even the best of them. And the homeschool community has some wonderful ones to offer (I’ve not personally used these but have heard great things about them – Notgrass, History Revealed, and Mystery of History come to mind.) Maybe I will use them someday, but for now, we are enjoying not using a curriculum (and we’re learning lots!)

Here’s how we do history – textbook free!

This post contains affiliate links and purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you.) Thank you for your support.

We Love Living Books

Reading living books together, especially ones that deal with history has ignited a love for history in me. And there are just so many living books to read! If you need book ideas, two of my favorite books for finding living books are Honey For a Child’s Heart and Books Children Love.

Beautiful Feet Books is also a fabulous place to purchase living books. They have them categorized by grade level and time in history, and also author sets. We have a few of their sets and LOVE them. The D’aulaire set is especially a favorite as the illustrations are phenomenal.

We also have Genevieve Foster’s Collection which is JAM-PACKED with historical facts (if you have an information lover!)

Beautiful Feet Books also offer teacher guides, for parents who want that.

So far I have booklists of living books for history for Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome.

We Use Interesting Spine Books

Our main “spine” book is a Child’s History of the World. It’s written in an engaging way and helps fill in the gaps (that will inevitably be there) and makes sure we don’t miss any big events of history. We also base our butcher paper timeline on dates from this book.

I love that all of history is on one giant timeline that the kids have created themselves. (If the idea of a giant roll of butcher paper scares you they make blank timeline books – this one is an example.) It really helps them to see how each event is just a snapshot in the big picture of time. And that history DOES repeat itself.

History Textbook Free — My son retelling us about the Barbarians (in a dramatized voice!) invading Rome after drawing it on the timeline.

There’s something about drawing what you’re learning that really makes it stick in your brain! And it’s especially wonderful for picture-smart kids!

We also use Usborne books for a spine. Love Usborne! Our favorites are Time Traveler and The Encyclopedia of World History.

Incorporating Technology

We’ve been incorporating more technology into our learning this year, especially with history.

Some of our favorite resources include:

Drive-Thru History
Game-Ed Academy (Minecraft – my daughter does builds related to history, such as a Cleopatra statue and a Middle Age Manor)
Chalk Pastel Lessons on History

Story of the World – I included this with technology since we only use it on audiobook. We love Jim Weiss as a narrator and save this for the car! (hubby loves it too!)

I wish I could say we incorporate tons of amazing activities, but we don’t. We HAVE done that at times(check out these awesome Hands-on Activities for Ancient Egypt), but usually, we stick to what I mentioned above.

Incorporate how your children learn when possible!

Since all children have different strengths/smarts, consider their strengths when deciding how to teach and present material. A picture-smart child would enjoy drawing what they are learning. A body-smart child might enjoy re-enacting a scene from history. A music-smart child might connect to the material by listening to music from that time in history. Etc. etc. You get the idea!

I would be remiss if I did not mention that my kiddos LOVE Horrible Histories. They are a little more “edgy” and filled with tons of facts (that you may or may NOT want to know) but your kids will learn about history from reading them! That can not be disputed. 😉

So that is how we do textbook free history! As you can see we are very eclectic in our approach.

What is your favorite history resource?

Ancient Rome books

We’ve studied Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and now Ancient Rome! We have really enjoyed diving into living books and learning about these ancient times. And I’m not sure who’s learning more – me or my kids!?

One of my absolute favorite things about homeschooling is redeeming my own education and getting to dive deep into things that I was only able to “scratch the surface” of during my time in school.

Listed below are the books we used to learn about Ancient Rome. I used these for my 9 and 11-year-old.

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through these links will result in a small commission for me (at no cost to you!)

Our “spine” books that we use for all of history:

A Child’s History of the World by Hillyer. A great overview of history.

Story of the World Volume 1 We only do SOTW on audiobook, the kids (and hubs!) just love listening to Jim Weiss.

Other books that cover Ancient history:

These are all Usborne books. We love Usborne!

Time Traveler

Atlas of World History

The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History

Non-Fiction Books For ANcient Rome

Rotten Romans from the Horrible Histories Collection -These are bit much for my taste BUT based on the fact that my kids love it and are learning a ton in the process, I have it on the list… I have been amazed at historical facts my non-history loving daughter will spout out that we did not learn together. When I ask, “Where did you learn that?”, her response is almost always, “Horrible Histories”.

Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevieve Foster – Genevieve Foster’s books are unique because she takes the main character (Augustus Caesar in this case) and weaves all world happenings together, going into detail of what was happening in other parts of the world at that same time in history.

Historical Fiction:

Twice Freed by Patricia St. John – Based on life of the slave Onesimus from the book of Philemon in the Bible. This one was soo good!

The Runaway by Patricia St. John – set during the time of Jesus’s ministry on Earth.

Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare – another one that’s during the time of Christ’s earthly ministry. We listened to this one on audiobook and finished it in just a few days because the kids enjoyed it so much! Suspenseful and descriptive.

Other books to consider:

Any of Arnold Ytreeide books including but not limited to Jotham’s Journey, Tabitha’s Travels, and Amon’s Adventure. These are meant for Christmas and Easter, but they are set in the 1st century and can tie in with both Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece.

Jenny L. Cote’s ‘The Epic Order of the Seven’ Series – I haven’t personally read these but they are books my kids LOVE. They are Christian historical fiction novels written from the point of view of animal friends. What’s not to love!

Jenny L. Cote has a passion for God, history and young people and fuses those passions together in her writing.

These four (books 3-6 of the series) specifically tie in with Ancient Rome:

The Prophet, the Shepherd, and the Star – Setting is the time of the birth of Christ.

The Roman, the Twelve and the King – Time travel happens in this story, with the animals traveling to the time of Handel writing “The Messiah” in the 1700’s and also being there for Jesus’s childhood, ministry, passion and resurrection.

The Wind, the Road and the Way – covers the resurrection of Jesus Christ through Paul’s 2nd missionary journey.

The Fire, the Revelation and the Fall – About the events in Acts, and birth of Christianity. Includes Nero’s reign and Paul’s third missionary journey.

Check out my other history book lists!

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Greece

Middle Ages

Why We Love Life of Fred Math

MATH. For some, it makes their heart go pitter-patter. For others, it can cause a near heart attack. Usually, you either love it or hate it.

Personally I have always loved it. Yup, math nerd here. 🙂

However, in our early years of homeschooling, there were lots of tears surrounding math. Mainly caused by the timed math tests that were part of our curriculum.

It appeared our daughter, and oldest child, did not share the same love for math that both my husband and I have.

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

Then, when she was in 2nd grade we were introduced to Life of Fred. It was interesting, different, and felt more like reading a quirky novel with math ~~sprinkled~~ showered in.

**Our daughter LOVED it. It was her glass slipper (it fit just right.)**

I learned that some parents used it as their sole homeschool math curriculum though most saw it as only supplemental.

Being the former teacher turned homeschool mom I was, we used Fred as a supplemental curriculum for a few years. There was no way something that enjoyable could be enough.

In fact, this is the first year we are using Fred as our sole math curriculum for our daughter. And for her, it is enough.

Our boys also use Life of Fred. For our 9-year-old we use it to supplement lots of math facts practice and Teaching Textbooks (another popular math curriculum among homeschoolers.)

And for our 5-year-old, well, I hadn’t planned on starting Life of Fred yet, but he begs for it. So what’s a mom to do? A stark contrast from what we experienced when my daughter was in kindergarten.

For our daughter, it’s not always smooth sailing and sometimes we do get stuck. That’s when we find a YouTube video or practice some kind of problem. In fact, this just happened last week when she was learning about discrete variables. We watched a YouTube video together, talked about it, and then she was good to go.

Life of Fred Math — She finished the elementary and intermediate series and is moving on to Pre-Algebra!

So how does Life of Fred work?

The kids read a short chapter or have it read to them (usually just a few pages) and then answer some questions. Since they are actual books and not workbooks, answers are written in a separate notebook. So if using for than one child, you can use the same books! Typically, one chapter is done a day. Sometimes we skip a day, and sometimes a few chapters are done all at once. And quite often I will just find a kid reading them for fun. 🙂

In summary, this what we LOVE about Life of Fred:

We replaced tears with laughs.
No drill and kill (though they do have practice books for kids who might need more practice) so great for kids who don’t need that
Fun and quirky storyline (these are books my kids will read under the covers at night!)
Integrates other subjects in with math
Kids enjoy it and see math as fun
Not a budget killer
Great for creative kids

Other things to consider:

Life of Fred is not for everyone. Thankfully there are many math curriculums out there to choose from.
Some kids might be frustrated by its quirkiness and/or may prefer straight-up math problems.
You don’t need to be a homeschooler to enjoy these books. I’ve recommended them to a few friends who have kids in brick and mortar schools, but their kids just love math, and they’re looking for something extra.

Where to find Life of Fred books:

We’ve bought them on Amazon and Rainbow Resource. You may also be able to find on homeschool swap sites, or eBay.

Homeschool Curriculum Picks 2019-2020

As I stated last year when I did my curriculum post for 2018-2019, this is our plan FOR NOW.

It is not set in stone.

We are not bound to it, and things could change. As Sarah Mackenzie so wisely states in her book, Teaching From Rest,

“…published resources are to be wielded by you, not to rule over you.”

WISE WORDS.

One big change for us this year is we will be participating in a co-op again. Yay! As some of you know, we did not do a co-op last year for various reasons. But we are excited to be part of a co-op again, and some of our curriculum choices are things we will be doing with that group.

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

Also, I plan on giving my kiddos plenty of time to explore their current interests and any new interests that come up.

Here we go!

Curriculum Picks for 2019-2020

Curriculum Picks for 6th Grade:

Handwriting:

Getty Dubay Handwriting

Writing/Language Arts:

Bravewriter Writing Projects

Big life journal

Journal Prompts using other sources

Math:

Life of Fred – Working through Decimals and Percents, and beyond

Math-It – Math facts practice

Other:

Coding using Bitbox

Coding incorporating Minecraft

Lots cooking, baking and dessert making (pretty much her favorite activities!)

Piano practice and lessons

Curriculum Picks for 4th Grade:

Handwriting:

Getty Dubay Handwriting

Writing/Language Arts:

Explode the Code

Bravewriter

Journal Prompts using various sources

Math:

Teaching Textbooks: Online program

Math-It – Math facts practice

Life of Fred – As he is interested.

Curriculum Picks for Kindergarten:

Pre Math-It

Pre-handwriting activities

Getty Dubay Book A – when he’s ready

My Father’s World book and activity list for Kindergarten (Leaving out phonics and math)

For Everyone:

Bible:

A Child’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos – Focusing on the New Testament this year.

Picture-Smart Bible – Starting in the Old Testament. (I’m especially excited for my daughter to use this, as she is extremely picture-smart!)

Reading:

Lots of reading aloud!

Poetry Teatime

Independent Reading

History:

Living Books exploring Rome to the Early Renaissance. We will be plotting the major events on our timeline as we go.

A Child’s History of the World by Virgil M. Hillyer – Our history spine to read alongside the Living Books.

The Story of the World (audiobook)

Claritas Publishing Cycle 2 – We will be doing this along with our co-op

Chalk Pastel classes that go along with our history cycle

**For a more comprehensive post on homeschooling history check out this post: Homeschooling History Without a Text Book!

Geography:

We will be doing geography with our co-op.

Chalk Pastel – I’m excited to have the kids do Nana’s “maps” lessons!

Science

Nature Study using the book: The Nature Connection: An Outdoor Workbook for Kids, Families, and Classrooms

Lessons and experiments from Science in the Ancient World – Another book we will be doing along with our co-op that will coincide with our history cycle.

Logic (for the older two):

Fallacy Detective – My husband will be working through this with the older two.

Music and Art:

We will be studying music and art in our co-op too.

Chalk Pastel classes with Nana

Other activities:

Gym and Swim at the YMCA

Ice-Skating at the local ice arena

Field trips

Lots of games played together at home!

Why You Should Embrace Homeschool Gaps

In the UK they have a common phrase that’s heard when people are stepping onto the train platform. “Mind the gap.” The “gap” refers to the space between the platform and the train. And one should be careful to step over it and not into it. Cuz, yikes, that wouldn’t be good!

Gaps are scary.

And not just literal gaps, but figurative gaps, you know like… *ahem* education gaps. Or let’s get more personal. HOMESCHOOLING gaps.

As a new homeschooler, one of my main goals was making sure we would NOT have education gaps. In fact, that was THE motivating factor in me buying an all in one boxed curriculum for our first two years. The idea of gaps made me tremble in my boots.

Nevermind that there was very little joy using the boxed curriculum. It was my safety net. It meant that I was doing things right and we were going to cover all our bases.

I often wish I could go back to my first year of homeschooling, and start a little bit differently, a little bit more gently, listening to the interests of my kiddo more.

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through these links will result in a small commission for me (at no cost to you!)

Gaps have continued to haunt me over the years.

And I know I’m not alone! Right?

This past year was really the first year that I’ve begun to accept that gaps are inevitable AND that they are OK, and *GASP* even to be embraced!

In his book, Passion-Driven Education Connor Boyack states this obvious yet important truth:

“Not every person needs to know the same things, let alone all things.”

Every education includes gaps.

A big “a-ha” moment for me was when I truly considered how all educations have gaps.

Think about this… Did you learn everything you needed to know for life in school, or have you had to learn things “on the fly”?

Guess what? When you taught yourself something new, you were filling in a gap!

Public school. Private school. Charter school. Homeschool.

You name it. There are gaps.

There is beauty in the gaps.

Gaps mean our kiddos are spending a good chunk of time studying their interests, rather than only filling their minds with information the curriculum or standards deem important. Or worse yet, learning something ONLY because it’s going to be on a standardized test.

Gaps mean our kids are growing in skills that they are excited about, and may possibly pursue a career in someday.

Children are more likely to retain information when they’re curious in a subject matter.

And if we’re so busy dotting all of our i’s and crossing our t’s, we’re missing out on those curious moments, and guess what, those are gaps too! And in my opinion, those gaps are much more grievous.

If we spend our days trying to “mind the gap” in our kid’s education, there may not be time or energy left for them to dive into their interests.

So rather than “minding the gap”, maybe we should keep in mind our child’s interests in our homeschool environment.

Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire.

Ancient Egypt Read Aloud Books – 2nd Time Through

History Timeline

List of Ancient Egypt Read Aloud Books (2nd Time Around)

Share this:

Our Homeschool Curriculum Picks for 2021-2022

Curriculum Picks for 2021-2022

8th Grade:

Handwriting:

Writing:

Reading/Language Arts:

Music:

Visual and Performing Arts:

6th Grade:

Handwriting:

Writing:

Reading/Language Arts:

Math:

Music

2nd Grade:

Handwriting:

Writing:

Reading/Language Arts:

Math:

STEM:

For Everyone:

Bible:

History:

Science:

Latin:

Art:

Share this:

Book List for a 7th Grade Girl

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter

A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight

Sophia’s War: A Tale of the Revolution by Avi

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Share this:

Reference Books

Literature:

Books for Next Time Around

Middle Ages Chalk Pastel Art

Check out my other history book lists!

Share this:

Our Homeschool Curriculum Picks for 2020-2021

Curriculum Picks for 2020-2021

7th Grade:

Handwriting:

Writing:

Math:

Reading/LA:

Other:

5th Grade:

Handwriting:

Writing:

Language Arts/Reading:

Math:

1st Grade:

Handwriting:

Writing:

Reading:

Language Arts:

Math:

For Everyone:

Bible:

Literature:

History:

Science

Language:

Music:

Other:

Share this:

I actually got my only “C” ever in Western Civilizations in college.

Here’s how we do history – textbook free!

We Love Living Books

**Our daughter LOVED it. It was her glass slipper (it fit just right.)**