I visit, off and on, a couple of homeschooling message boards, and it is that time of year once again - everyone is talking about their curriculum choices for fall... what they'll be buying, should they get this or that, and so on.
There are a few things I plan on buying with my upcoming tax refund, and a couple I am not sure about. Much of what we'll be using this fall is simply what we're using now!
Books/Literature:
Between the titles from A Picture Perfect Childhood and the Core Knowledge Trade Books list, plus my own list, I think we have plenty of choices for reading, so nothing to buy there! I do have the goal of reading through The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but we own those already.
Math:
I do have to buy some math stuff, namely more Life of Fred books. I buy these on an as needed basis.
Language Arts:
I am not buying anything in this category. I already own Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons; Winston Grammar; English From the Roots Up; Getting Started With Latin; Igniting Your Writing; The Paragraph Book #1; The Natural Speller; Comprehensive Composition; and probably a few more I am forgetting about. Wait... I might buy some more Explode the Code books, but then again if The Girl's reading really takes off, I probably won't.
History:
We'll be continuing with K12's Human Odyssey. When we finish volume 1, I will want to buy volume 2. I am slowly collecting the World in Ancient Times set, second-hand, and the World in Medieval & Early Modern Times. At some point, I might buy Volume A of The Concise History of US by Joy Hakim, to complement the K12 books. My big internal debate is this...
Project Passport: The Middle Ages
If I buy it, will we use it? It looks like fun, but it also looks like possible busy work. I'll have to think on this one some more.
Science:
I'll be continuing with good books and correlated hands-on, and of course, random hands-on as well. I think we might buy, for this spring, some ladybug larvae, caterpillars, praying mantis eggs... things of that sort, but no curriculum. Maybe a family membership to the California Academy of Sciences?
Other:
Art supplies are high on my list. I have a three-drawer dresser in my dining room that I would love to turn into an art supply center!
I think that's it. We'll need supplies along the way for science, any history projects, etc., but no actual curriculum materials, unless you count Life of Fred!
Noooooooooooooooooo! I'm not ready to think about next year yet!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteProject Passport looks interesting, but I know I never seem to get around to the paper crafts. Instead you should maybe look for just 2 or 3 good hands-on activities from around the web, and buy the supplies before the start of the year so you're ready to go. Just a couple worthwhile projects that get done are so much better than a bunch of busywork that makes you feel guilty for not getting around to it. ;)
ReplyDeleteTo get you started: Clay Gargoyles!!! :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kinderart.com/sculpture/gargoyles.shtml