Our 2011-2012 Curriculum

So, we're finally in a routine for school...I think.  Here's what we're doing this year......

For our Bible time this year, we are doing the PictureSmart Bible.   This is our favorite subject!  We have finished the Bible overview and are almost done with Genesis.  We incorporate "Sword Drills" with the reading of the passages.  I love how we can each be individual in our color choices and details, but overall we end up with the same picture.   (Yes, I get to draw and color along with the girls as I teach!)

For history this year, we are continuing with Mystery of History.  We have just a few more lessons to finish from last year's Volume 1, then we'll move right into Volume 2.  The read-alouds last year were a big hit, so we will continue to do that this year as well.    So far, we have already read Archimedes and the Door to Science, listened to Jim Weiss' Julius Caesar and the History of Rome, and are now reading The Bronze Bow.    I've got a huge stack of books to read for Volume 2....I think I'm going to have to have the girls read some of them on their own!  As soon as the Volume 2 notebooking pages become available, I will be purchasing those again to.  As I read the lesson, the girls take notes on the back of the page and then write a short summary of the lesson.

For our fun math, we are doing The Life of Fred.  DD14 is doing Beginning Algebra and dd11 is doing Fractions.    DD14 has also started VideoText Algebra, a switch from Saxon.  DD11 will also continue Math-U-See, having a few lessons to finish up the Epsilon book from last year before moving on to Zeta.

For science at home, we're doing Biology 101.   At co-op, dd11 will do Science 4 Real Kids Biology Level 1.  This is the third book she has done in this series.   At co-op, dd14 is doing Creation or Evolution, which I teach. 

For language arts, we're doing a mix of things.  We're doing Winston Grammar for a basic overview of the parts of speech.  The lessons are short, which we like.  We are also continuing with Fix-It (editing) again this year.  We're doing the second story, The Frog Prince.  DD14 is continuing with The Phonetic Zoo for spelling, and dd11 will continue with All About Spelling.   I recently gave each of the girls this free Reading Assessment, and both placed ahead of their grade.   We also have some grammar pages within our literature this year.   For literature, we're doing Lightning Literature, Grade 7.  


DD14 will continue with Getting Started with Latin, hopefully finishing the book she started last year.  DD11 will continue with Spanish.


For art, both girls have art classes at co-op this year.  DD11's class will include some art history, while dd14's will focus on handcrafts.

Hopefully, we will also get IEW's Student Writing Intensive B done this year, as well as The Grammar of Poetry.  Also hope to throw in a few units of some kind this year (botany and some other literature perhaps).




Oh yeah, I decided to have DD14 work on some Equine Studies this year.  I found many study guides and quizzes on The Pony Club of America website.  I also purchased two of their manuals for her to work her way through.


I guess that's it.   What are you doing this year?