Not Back-to-School Blog Hop {curriculum week}

I remember this time last year browsing through all the blogs that linked up each week at the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop! I received so many great ideas and inspiration - plus, I loved looking at others school rooms and shelves packed with books! {book-nerd here...in case you couldn't tell already!} 

This year, when I was reminded  of the Blog Hop through other blogs that I follow, I immediately knew I wanted to take part and link up each week! So, for the rest of August, I will be linking up each week and sharing a little about our life as a homeschooling family!

This weeks topic is Curriculum. You may remember this post I wrote a few months ago about how stressful choosing what "curriculum" I wanted to use was! The options are limitless. I truly spent hours praying - which was the best decision, because ultimately this is His plan for my children's lives - over what would be best for us. I thought I needed something that was already laid out for me - where all the planning was already done and all I needed to do was present it to my daughter. I didn't think I could handle having a stack of books in front of me and deciding when and how and which days to use them.  I underestimate myself far too many times. Little did I know, God's plan involved me doing just that! 

I was given some great advice by a fellow homeschooler. She told me to concentrate on what my children's interests were and how they enjoyed learning about those things. That is the beauty of homeschooling - you tailor it specifically to the needs of your child! 

I also read Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson, which I highly recommend, and in it, they talk a lot about having the focus of your homeschool be around God's word. This should be the most important aspect of what my children are learning. Sounds so simple and like something I should have already known and considered, being that we are a Christian Homeschooling Family, but I seriously had been putting more emphasis on finding the write Phonics books rather than looking for the best way to teach them Jesus! 

So, I sat and re-evaluated my whole outlook and idea of homeschooling. What areas did I want to concentrate on most this year? What was most important and vital, to me, for Emma to be learning? 

Here is what I came up with:

Bible first

Phonics and Reading second

and the rest is meant to just have fun with and take with a grain of salt! 

I do not want to stress myself out and I certainly do not want to stress Emma out! I want homeschooling to be a fun learning environment - for all of us! I want us to be successful in it and continue doing so unless the Lord's plan says otherwise! 

I started researching and reading about different Bible curriculums and phonics/reading curriculums - since these were most important to me! I knew of Apologia, for their wonderful Science curriculums and their friendly advice through Facebook, but was not aware that they also had Bible curriculums until I received one of their magazines in the mail. I was thrilled when I found out this would be a perfect fit for us. We will be using the Who is God? set. I am very excited to be learning from this as well! 

Phonics/reading was a bit of a challenge for me to decide on what to go with. After much reading and many, many, questions asked, I decided on a variety of things! We will be using Explode the Code 1 for Phonics. For read-alouds and such, I will be following the Five in a Row curriculum as well as using BOB Books and, of course, our library! I am so very excited to be teaching Emma to read! I hope and pray she becomes a book-worm just like her mama! 

Emma LOVES animals! I mean, LOVES them! I wasn't going to do much with a Science Curriculum this year, since she is only "technically" in Kindergarten, but when I saw Land Animals of the Sixth Day in the Apologia Magazine, I knew this was something she was really going to enjoy! We will be spending a few days each week learning about all the beautiful animals God placed on this earth for us to enjoy.

Lastly is Math. I decided on Singapore's Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics book. It is simple enough and just the right amount of math to add into each of our days.  

I am looking forward to the start of our homeschool year! I think we all are going to have a great time learning together! 

To find more inspiration and ideas from other homeschooling families, head on over to iHomeschool Network. 

 

 

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

1 John 4:16b-17