Caz
This week we are hopping around chatting about curriculum!  I only have one home schooler, so that really simplifies things a bit for me, which is kinda nice :)  Frodo is 10, and doing grade 5 work in most things (math is 3/4 as we catch him up... he might as well have missed all of last years' math at school for all he learned). We don't do a total 'boxed' curriculum, I pick and choose things that Frodo will enjoy and get the most out of.  Without further adeiu...
Frodo in his natural habitat lol

Sose:   For our Sose (social studies) we are using History Odyssey, Ancients Lvl 2, by PandiaPress .   We've done both Ancients & Medieval level 1 so I know the kiddo enjoys it.  This program is a crosscurricular in a lot of ways... it has a lot of geography & map work, vocabulary, obviously history, some literature, and it also does a LOT of writing & outlining... so it covers a great deal of language arts as well ;)   I like the hands on feel of this program, the cool projects that the previous level had were a big draw too!  I'm also planning a a few outings that are relevant ...A trip to the Queesland museum for This!  and the  Abbey Medieval Festival, and anything else fun that pops up on my radar.

Other Language arts:  Aside from what's covered with History Odyssey, we'll also being some separate reading comprehension work and some additional writing using some Learning a-z sites.   Reading  & Writing a-z  are a couple of neat membership sites that I thought I'd try out this year.  Reading a-z has leveled readers that you can print (they aren't very big) and worksheets and fun activities to go along with.  What sold me about writing a-z was the great graphic organizers for different types of writing, and that they have lesson plans for various genre's of writing.   Great for Language Arts samples for reporting time ;)

Math:  Frodo really struggled with math last year so this year we are starting off with a review of multiplication tables to make sure he has them all down.  Given a couple of choices, he decided he's like to stay with Math U See, which I was happy with.  We're working through Gamma (multiplication & other topics), then Delta (division & other topics), and I'm trying to buy Epsilon  (fractions and other topics) from another homeschooling mum but my car is in the shop for another week... not happy Jan!  He also has Timez Attack, which is a multiplication 'video game' that he enjoys practicing on and he wants me to get him a Mathletics subscription so he can do that while his brothers are doing their online school homework :)

Science:  Frodo will be doing a term of Science with Mr. Joe at the coop that we've signed on with, although he's having to miss the first two weeks :(   After that we are going to work through Real Science 4 Kids chemistry and possibly Astronomy or Physics (great looking programs!)   We'll also make a trip or two to the science centre during the year and he is crazy about start gazing, so we're looking into getting a beginner telescope.

Arts:   Art with Miss Liz is on for term 1, Liz is a lovely lady that works really well with the kids and helps them learn some techniques to make great artworks!   Frodo got a digital drawing pad for his computer on his birthday, so he'll be creating on that as well.  We're also going to try to get together with other homeschoolers and book school workshops at the local art gallery, which has awesome exhibits.  We also have several great art books with *real* art projects for kids to recreate (not 'crafts', although those are fun too!)

Technology:  I've got a few cool projects lined up for Frodo that he's pretty excited about.  First up, he'll be designing his very own logo for our home school (which we have officially dubbed "Tea Trees Academy") starting from the ground up.  He's also going to re-try a blog, which we tried a few years ago but he really didn't have the maturity for it then. In our daily lives he has access to computers, digital cameras, a digital drawing tablet and numerous gizmos' and gadgets and computer programs.  Honestly, these days I think the parents need the technology education... the kids are practically born with the ability to use modern technology!

Health & Physical Ed:  Frodo and I will be do units on nutrition & dental health this year, and sun safety is obviously huge for us here in Australia.  We are going to try to source tennis lessons for him, as he's expressed an interest in learning.

LOTE:  Frodo will be taking an intro to Spanish class with the home schooling network in term 1 and we'll continue working on that on our own, hopefully the teacher can recommend some resources.  Frodo has also been interested in Auslan, so I'd like to source some classes for the both of us to learn a bit.

So, in a nutshell, that's our study plan for the year!  There may be things that don't work, and get tossed aside in favour of things that do.   I look forward to seeing what everyone else is going to be using this year and swiping ideas!
6 Responses
  1. Erin Says:

    Caz
    I've often wondered about Pandia press, great to hear you ds likes it. Have heard good things about the 4real science too. Wishing you an awesome learning year.


  2. Love your 'health' aspects. It's great to see others focus on the importance of health also.
    Good luck with the technology!!


  3. Caz Says:

    Thanks for stopping by ladies :)


  4. Earthwand Says:

    History Odyssey looks great. Do you buy the hard copy or download the ebooks??
    I'm interested to see how our plans match our experience at the end of the year, and how tangents take us to interesting places ;)
    All the best with your plans :)


  5. Caz Says:

    Earthwand... I am in Australia so I bought the ebook! I don't think they ship it overseas so this was the only real option for me. I've printed it out and popped it in a binder and we started it last week :)

    They have a 'try it before you buy it' on pandiapress.com and you get a substantial part of the program guide to test drive free! I totally recommend it :)


  6. Rosemary Says:

    The Pandia Press stuff looks great! Thanks for sharing your opinion/experiences of it!