Curriculum is basically the subjects and material comprising a course of study in a school, college, or educational program. It is, simply, what we study. When discussing homeschooling, however, often it is so much more than what we study: it includes the methods of study. Methods of homeschooling vary widely, from complete unschooling, to relaxed homeschooling, to a Charlotte Mason approach, to a school at home philosophy, to unit studies, and so many more than I could mention here.
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| Sonlight Box Day! Our curriculum came in! |
If I had to describe our homeschooling method I would say it's a rather eclectic mix of relaxed homeschooling, Charlotte Mason (Nature studies, yay!), with just a touch of school at home. Yes, we have desks, tables, and a designated learning area, though often our lessons move around the house, inside and out.
In general, we have a schedule, but we keep it relaxed. We have an overall plan for the week, month, semester, and year. If we complete more in one term than we do in the next, it's not a big deal. Our main goal is to have fun while we complete our studies. If we work a little faster some weeks, and slower others, then so be it. With homeschooling, we are blessed not to have a designated end of the school year. We can finish earlier or later than initially planned, or we can extend our studies throughout the summer and go year round.
This will be our third year using Sonlight Curriculum. It's an amazing program, which uses living books to teach History, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Science. Throughout the year we do what are called "Read Alouds" which are books that I read to the kids and then we discuss them. The kids also have what are called "Readers" which are assigned independent reading. We also study History and Geography through reading. This year, Asher and Savannah will be doing Core G, World History Part 1 (seen above, though we purchased an older version that has more books and materials) and will be reading approximately 40 books.
By an odd stroke of luck, the girls will be starting Core B this year, Intro to World History Part 1 (seen below), so for the next two years or more, they will be on the same cycle as Asher and Savannah, so we can actually combine some of our read alouds!
Because the kids are separated in age, we can't use just one Core for them. It would either be way too challenging for Rosalynne and Gabrielle, or way too easy for Asher and Savannah. So we will be using two Cores (B & G), one for the older kids, and one for the younger girls. I will combine the read alouds, somewhat, since the kids will be studying the same time period and locations at approximately the same time. The kids all listened to several of our read alouds last year and still talk about their favorites. In fact, they've asked us to reread some of them.
The biggest difficulty in using Sonlight with four children of different ages and abilities is that I need to use multiple Language Arts programs, so Asher and Savannah will study 6th/7th grade language arts with Core G. Rosalynne and Gabrielle, however, are at drastically different levels. Rosalynne will be working through a 2nd Grade LA program, and Gabrielle will be starting at a K/1st Grade level. Rosalynne is reading fairly well for a 6 year old, and easily worked through Grade 1 LA last year. Gabrielle wasn't quite ready for Kindergarten LA last year, so we switched to The Reading Lesson and just worked on writing and letter sounds, getting to basic reading towards the end of the year. At the start of the school year, I will assess Gabrielle's reading before making a final determination of where to begin.
With Sonlight, the Core program covers History, Bible, and Literature, so I am easily able to pick readers/LA that are a perfect fit for each student. Similarly, Science is separate from the Core, and will adapt for multiple ages. The girls are starting Science A (we decided not to use it last year) and Asher and Savannah will start Science F, but I will detail our LA and Science studies a bit later.
In general, we have a schedule, but we keep it relaxed. We have an overall plan for the week, month, semester, and year. If we complete more in one term than we do in the next, it's not a big deal. Our main goal is to have fun while we complete our studies. If we work a little faster some weeks, and slower others, then so be it. With homeschooling, we are blessed not to have a designated end of the school year. We can finish earlier or later than initially planned, or we can extend our studies throughout the summer and go year round.
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| The Core Asher & Savannah are using |
By an odd stroke of luck, the girls will be starting Core B this year, Intro to World History Part 1 (seen below), so for the next two years or more, they will be on the same cycle as Asher and Savannah, so we can actually combine some of our read alouds!
 |
| The Core Rosalynne and Gabrielle are using |
Because the kids are separated in age, we can't use just one Core for them. It would either be way too challenging for Rosalynne and Gabrielle, or way too easy for Asher and Savannah. So we will be using two Cores (B & G), one for the older kids, and one for the younger girls. I will combine the read alouds, somewhat, since the kids will be studying the same time period and locations at approximately the same time. The kids all listened to several of our read alouds last year and still talk about their favorites. In fact, they've asked us to reread some of them.
The biggest difficulty in using Sonlight with four children of different ages and abilities is that I need to use multiple Language Arts programs, so Asher and Savannah will study 6th/7th grade language arts with Core G. Rosalynne and Gabrielle, however, are at drastically different levels. Rosalynne will be working through a 2nd Grade LA program, and Gabrielle will be starting at a K/1st Grade level. Rosalynne is reading fairly well for a 6 year old, and easily worked through Grade 1 LA last year. Gabrielle wasn't quite ready for Kindergarten LA last year, so we switched to The Reading Lesson and just worked on writing and letter sounds, getting to basic reading towards the end of the year. At the start of the school year, I will assess Gabrielle's reading before making a final determination of where to begin.
With Sonlight, the Core program covers History, Bible, and Literature, so I am easily able to pick readers/LA that are a perfect fit for each student. Similarly, Science is separate from the Core, and will adapt for multiple ages. The girls are starting Science A (we decided not to use it last year) and Asher and Savannah will start Science F, but I will detail our LA and Science studies a bit later.
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