Michelle

Homeschool Curriculum 2023-2024

I have posted subject-specific posts for this new school year, but I wanted to have a single post that pulled together all of the curriculum choices for this year. I like to do a single curriculum post for a couple of reasons – it serves as a blueprint or outline for the school year, and it is organized and located in one place. I share it for others to check out, but I also print a copy for my portfolio record.

I’ve got four students this year – grades fourth, fifth, seventh, and eleventh. My high schooler will be doing a combination of home (mom taught) and dual enrollment at our local college. My fourth, fifth, and seventh graders will be doing all school subjects at home with me.

I will be listing out our curriculum choices by subject, since I will be combining some grades for subjects. Details listed as needed.

Math

As I shared in an earlier post, I am using Singapore math for fourth, fifth and seventh grades this year.

Fourth Grade

Singapore Primary Mathematics 4A/4B (US Edition)

Fifth Grade

Singapore Primary Mathematics 5A/5B (US Edition)

Seventh Grade

Singapore Dimensions 7A/7B

Eleventh Grade

College Algebra (Advanced Algebra/Trig)

Saxon Advanced Mathematics – this course includes Trig and Precalc and will be completed over Fall, Spring and Summer terms.
Saxon Advanced Mathematics Lecture series – Diane Streicher on Youtube. Playlist includes video lessons corresponding to all lessons in the textbook.

Language Arts

Fourth Grade/Fifth Grade

Grammar: First Language Lessons (FLL) Level 4
Spelling/Vocabulary: Spelling Skills Resource Book Grade 5 (Carson Dellosa)
Vocabulary Resource Book Grade 4-5 (Carson Dellosa)
Writing: Writing With Ease Level 3 (WWE3) – Well Trained Mind
Reading: Spectrum Reading Grade 5

Seventh Grade

Grammar: Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind (Blue Book)
Spelling/Vocabulary: Spelling Skills Resource Book Grade 7-8 (Carson Dellosa)
Vocabulary in Context Grade 6-8 (Carson Dellosa)
Writing: Writing With Skill Level 1(WWS1) – Well Trained Mind
Reading: Spectrum Reading Grade 7

Eleventh Grade

American Literature – Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool.

Additionally, we will read four novels in a Book Club-style format (independent read followed by weekly/bi-weekly discussion sessions.

**All Grades**

All students will be recording their independent reading in their Reading Logs throughout the school year. During the school week, I expect them to spend 20 minutes a day on independent reading. I don’t assign titles for these 20 minute sessions but I have guidelines I enforce – it needs to be a chapter book – non-fiction or fiction doesn’t matter – and no graphic novels. I love graphic novels and support my kids in growing their personal collections. However, I also think that at this age, they need to be capable to reading chapter books independently. For that reason, for the twenty minute reading sessions I expect chapter books.

In addition we are also doing Read Alouds during the year. While I haven’t selected all the titles for our Read Aloud list yet, some worth mentioning include:


We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly – our current read aloud. (also available with Kindle Unlimited)
The Growly Books – in anticipation of Wavecrasher – Book 6 (we have preordered and can’t wait to read!) – we will be doing a reread of the first five books

Science

Fourth/Fifth/Seventh Grade

Physical Science – lessons will be combined for all three grade levels, with some more difficult assignments added on for my seventh grader.

Worksheets/Assignments:
The 100+ Series: Physical Science for Grades 5-12 (Carson Dellosa)

Reading Selections:
DK The Way Science Works
DK Can You Feel The Force
The Usborne Science Encyclopedia
The Usborne Illustrated Encyclopedia: Science and Technology
The Usborne Library of Science: Energy, Forces, and Motion
The Usborne Library of Science: Light, Sound, and Electricity
David Macaulay’s The New Way Things Work

Eleventh Grade

Conceptual Physics – Conceptual Academy

This course includes a textbook and a self-paced course that includes video lectures, texbook reading, assignments, lab exercises and virtual demonstrations.

History

Fourth/Fifth/Seventh Grade

The Ancient World – lessons will be combined for all three grade levels, with additional writing assignments added on for my seventh grader.

Reading:
We will be reading through The World in Ancient Times book series (Oxford Press). Individual titles listed below.

The Early Human World
The Ancient Near Eastern World
The Ancient Egyptian World
The Ancient South Asian World
The Ancient Chinese World
The Ancient Greek World
The Ancient Roman World
The Ancient American World

More details about our History plans (and resources we are using) for the school year are posted here.

Eleventh Grade

US History I and II (2 semesters) – taken as Dual Enrollment through our local college.

Geography

Fourth/Fifth/Seventh Grade
Lessons will be combined for all three grade levels, with additional writing assignments added on for my seventh grader.

Resources:

DK Help Your Kid with Geography: A Unique Visual Guide – I am using the Kindle edition for on- screen projection for my kids. The illustrations in this books are pretty incredible so this will be very helpful.

This Guide provides an extensive (and colorful) overview of the three main areas of Geography – Physical Geography, Human Geography, and Practical Geography. We will be working through the book and these three areas over the course of the year. Worksheets and study sheets will be posted in separate posts for Geography Resources.

Languages

Latin – all students will be working on Latin.

Fourth/Fifth/Seventh Grades

Latin for Children Primer A Workbook (with Answer Key)
Latin for Children Primer A Activity Book
Latin for Children Primer A DVD and Chant CD – we are using Classical pronunciation

Eleventh Grade

Wheelock’s Latin 7th Edition
Workbook for Wheelock’s Latin
Scribblers, Sculptors, and Scribes: A Companion to Wheelock’s Latin and Other Introductory Textbooks

Nature Study

I will be pulling from a variety of resources, including:

Homeschool Nature Study
Exploring Nature with Children – Raising Little Shoots
Handbook of Nature study – Living Book Press

Healthy Living

CBT Deck for Kids and Teens – we read and discuss a few cards each week during our Morning Reading Time
Mindfulness Journaling – journal prompts for personal journaling each week
Easy Peasy All-in-one Homeschool – PE /Health – Strong and Healthy – weekly topics include fire safety, physical activity, balanced diet, safety with home chemicals, etc.

Civics/Citizenship/Character/Scholarship

Civics/Citizenship/Character books include titles that hopefully will challenge my kids to think about how they think, behave and feel about the world around them, the people they may interact with, and situations they may encounter. Scholarship books will include titles that talk about how (and why) to read good books, and how to develop a love for learning.

*this is sort of a catch-all area for me. Essentially, I have developed a list (and continue to add to it) of books that cover a lot of the above mentioned areas, and we work through them slowly during our group Morning Reading Time. I’ll share in a separate post about our Morning Reading Time, but essentially this is our group time before the start of our table work, where we read a little from a collection of books we are currently working through. These books include a fiction novel, books for nature study and science that are more “general interest” rather than topic specific, children’s books that we pick out at the library (picture books that are readable in a single session), and books that fall into what I consider Civics, Citizenship, Character and Scholarship.

All Ages

Scholarship

Intellectual Devotional– I shared about this book in my earlier post on secular devotionals, and decided to incorporate it into our morning reading time. Some of the information may be a little dry for younger children, but overall it is a great addition.

Civics/CitizenshipCharacter

Laying Down the Rails (Simply Charlotte Mason) – a great overview of habits, character traits and discipline skills – topics include excerpts from Charlotte Mason’s writings on the topics, along with additional reading selections.

The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories (William J. Bennett) – a collection of stories and poem that speak to a variety of issues, including Self-Discipline, Compassion, Responsibility, Friendship, Work, Courage, Perserverance, Honesty, Loyalty, and Faith.

Eleventh Grade

Scholarship

How to Read a Book (Mortimer Adler) – covers levels of reading, analytical reading, and how to read different types of books.
The Great Conversation: The Substance of a Liberal Education (Robert M. Hutchins) – this is included as Volume 1 of The Great Books (54 book series) but is available on it’s own. an excellent read on why we should read good books.

Civics/Citizenship/Character

Marcus Aurelius – Meditations – a classic collection of thoughts, insights and advice on living.

Charlotte Mason’s Ourselves – We will be reading through Self-Knowledge: Ourselves Book 1. Simpley Charlotte Mason has put together a wonderful annotated version of Ourselves, along with narration and discussion prompts.

While this is a detailed overview of the 2023-2024 Curriculum, I will post lesson- and subject-specific posts periodically during the year.

*this post contains Amazon Affiliate links

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