Photo credit: Molly Balint
Covid-19 has disrupted just about every single school situation through-out the globe. Even though we homeschool, my spring plans were upended: field trips were cancelled, the libraries shut down, and our weekly co-op classes went virtual.
Like most of the U.S. we’d hoped things would be “back to normal” in the fall with in-person classes at co-op, museums open, and trips planned to Philadelphia or Jamestown. However, that is not to be. We’ve had to adjust to doing things different this year, as have many of you!
I’ve answered at least three different emails from people asking me for curriculum suggestions for their kids, mostly parents with Kindergarteners who don’t want them to only have a virtual experience for their first year of school.
So, I thought I’d share my curriculum picks for my own family this year, just in case it may help you too. Whether you plan to homeschool, public school (in person or virtually), or private school, I’m hoping there may be a few educational choices that may help you during this unique year.
(Kindergarten):
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Language Arts: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Level K Primer
I’m new to The Good and the Beautiful curriculum and am interested to see how this goes. We usually use All About Reading to teach reading and I will return to that next year in 1st grade. But this will be a good introduction that has many hands-on components. I also love having Wipe-Clean workbooks on hand for independent work and the free or reasonably priced printables from This Reading Mama! -
Math: The Good and the Beautiful Math K
Again, this will be new to me but I love the many hands-on activities, which in my view, is what Kindergarten should be all about. -
Social Studies/Science/Art: Beautiful Feet Around the World With Picture Books Part 1
We will be doing a unit study where I will be reading picture books that depict stories and cultures from around the world. We will keep a notebook where we will also do nature studies of animals from around the world which correlate with whatever country we are studying. This will also be a art notebook.
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Physical Education: Horseback riding lessons (and when we used to GO to co-op she had gym).
(5th Grade):
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Language Arts: We will be writing daily narrations based on our daily readings. If you want to learn more about this method, I highly recommend this book. She also will continue to practice her spelling with Building Spelling Skills, Grade 5.
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Literature/Geography: This will be a co-op class with a weekly virtual class and daily homework. Students will be learning to map the world and studying landforms while also reading literature that features cultures from around the world. They will be reading Trapped by the Ice! Shackleton’s Amazing Antarctic Adventure, A Long Walk to Water, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Call It Courage, Paddle to the Sea, and Secret of the Andes.
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Math: Math-U-See
Love the video teaching and hands-on approach that extends to all grade levels with this curriculum. It does a great job drilling new concepts and reviewing old. -
Science: Virtual Astronomy co-op class that meets weekly and has daily homework.
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History: Beautiful Feet Books Modern American and World History Pack
We will be reading biographies, history, and literature starting with the Civil War to Modern day. We will be meeting with friends once a week to discuss our readings, watch videos, eat food, and do activities and projects to go with whatever we are discussing. -
Physical Education: Horseback riding.
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Art: We will be doing the Charlotte Mason Picture Study Portfolios and also be doing a weekly virtual art class with co-op.
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Music: We will be learning all about Broadway Musicals this year and we may begin violin lessons this fall.
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Keyboarding: Keyboarding Without Tears.
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Music: Co-op music class (virtual for fall).
(8th Grade):
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Language Arts: Comp & Lit 1 (Virtually through co-op)
I’m excited for the boys to begin composition and lit classes through co-op! I really wish they could be doing it in person, because their teacher is amazingly encouraging and exuberant!
They will continue with spelling using a list I will provide or words they often misspell. They practice using the methods they were taught in eye therapy which involves kinesthetic movement. -
Reading: We will work on sustained silent reading with books of their choice.
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Math: Math-U-See
Love the video teaching and hands-on approach that extends to all grade levels with this curriculum. It does a great job drilling new concepts and reviewing old. -
Science: General Science through Co-op with virtual classes and daily homework.
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History: Beautiful Feet Books Modern American and World History Pack
We will be reading biographies, history, and literature starting with the Civil War to Modern day. We will be meeting with friends once a week to discuss our readings, watch videos, eat food, and do activities and projects to go with whatever we are discussing. -
Physical Education: Soccer for the fall.
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Art: We love the Charlotte Mason Picture Study Portfolios. This fall we will be studying Mary Cassatt. We will read her biography, study a different painting each week, and create our own works of art inspired by her style.
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Music: We will be learning all about Broadway Musicals this year!
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Keyboarding: Keyboarding Without Tears is SO terrific!
Morning Time:
Morning time is when we gather together to do our “collective” reading. This is when we do our history or literature reading, our picture study, and Broadway study. We also read a daily poem, watch CNN 10, and always learn about Christian men or women who were world changers. This fall we will be learning about Dietrich Bonhoeffer to coincide with our study on World War II.
Other Resources:
Last year we loved Exploring Nature with Children along with a nature notebook to record what we are learning. I will no doubt do this again sometime when my youngest is older. This gives you an overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9glTCmtGiJc This is the actual curriculum you purchase as a pdf and then I had it printed/bound: https://raisinglittleshoots.com/buy-exploring-nature-with-children/
In the pdf it gives you other books to check out from the library, poetry, and art to look at to go with each week! You could literally do art appreciation by using this too. We also often watch videos I find on You Tube to go with. Basically there’s a theme for each week. THere’s also a HUGE Instagram following that you can follow the hashtag and find other ideas which is fun–or overwhelming depending on the day! 😉
We’ve also bought some Mel Science experiments when we did Chemistry: https://melscience.com/US-en/
One site I like to go to to compare curriculum is this one, it’s really helpful: https://cathyduffyreviews.com/#
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