Curriculum Choices

There sure are a lot of choices in homeschool curriculum. Here is a nice list I found while searching.

Complete Curriculum (all subjects included):
A Beka
BJU
Calvert
Christopherus (traditional Waldorf)
Rod and Staff
Alpha Omega (Horizons, Lifepac, SOS, Weaver)
Moving Beyond the Page
Oak Meadow
Lapbooks (this was listed but I don’t think this is actually a curriculum, per se)
Living Books
Christian Liberty
CLE
Timberdoodle had complete packages now
CLP
ACE
MBtP

Math:
Applied Math Series
BJU
Chalkdust
Classical Math
CLE
Fanstastic Frogs math
Horizons
Jacob's
Japanese Math
Key to…
Liberty Math
Life of Fred
Living Math * (free online)
Making Math Meaningful
Math Mammoth
Math U See
McRuffy Color Math
MEP * (free online)
Miquon
Quarter-Mile Math
Rightstart
Rod and Staff
Russian Math (Perpendicular Press)
Saxon
Singapore
Teaching Textbooks
Video Text Interactive

Grammar
Abeka
Analytical Grammar/Junior Analytical Grammar
Applications of Grammar
BJU
Daily Grams
Easy Grammar
English for the Thoughtful Child
First Language Lessons
Grammar with a Giggle
Growing with Grammar
Intermediate language lessons
Jensen's Grammar
Jolly Grammar
LLATL
MCT
Primary language lessons
Queen's Language Lessons
Rod and Staff
Ruth Heller's Grammar Picture Books
Simply Grammar
Winston

Composition
writing program from Analytical Grammar
Ancient History Based Writing
Bravewriter/The Writer's Jungle
Charlotte Mason Style Writing Instruction
Classical Writing
Easy Writing
IEW
Ignite Your Writing
Intro to Composition Power Basics
Jensen's Format
Jump in Writing
Just Write
Meaningful Composition
Meaningful Writing
Rod and Staff
Lost Tools of Writing
Write Shop
Writing Strands
Writing Tales
WWE
Wordsmith
Writers Inc

Spelling
A Reason for Spelling
All About Spelling
Apples & Pears
ASCI Spelling
Building Spelling Skills
Calvert Spelling
How to Teach Spelling
McGuffey's Speller (combined spelling and phonics)
Megawords
Natural Speller
Phonetic Zoo
Phonics Road to Spelling
Pollard's Series (combined spelling and phonics)
Sequential Spelling
Soaring with Spelling & Vocabulary
Spell to Write and Read
Spellbound
Spelling Power
Spelling Plus, can add in companion Spelling Dictation
Spelling Workout
Spellography, Primary Spelling by Pattern, Spelling Workout
Spellwell
The Spell of Words
Tricks of the Trade spelling notebook
Webster's Speller (combined spelling and phonics)
Words by M.K. Henry
www.spellingcity.com (not really a curriculum but this is how ds learns his words)

Phonics
ABeCeDarian
Adventures In Phonics
Alpha-Phonics
Alphabet Island
Blend Phonics
Dancing Bears
Explode the Code
Happy Phonics
Investigating Phonics
Itchy’s Alphabet
Jolly Phonics,
McGuffey's Speller (combined spelling and phonics)
McRuffys Phonics
OPGTR
Phonics Museum
Phonics Pathways
Phonics Road to Spelling
Plaid Phonics
Pollard's Series (combined spelling and phonics)
Progressive Phonics
Reading Made Easy
Right Track Reading
Rocket Phonics
Saxon Phonics
Sing, Spell, Read, write
Spell to Write and Read
Starfall (www.starfall.com) * (free online)
Tanglewood Education * (free online)
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
The Reading Lesson
The Writing Road to Reading and Spelling
Veritas Phonics
Webster's Speller (combined spelling and phonics)
Word Mastery

Germany Book List

ABOUT WISE MEN AND SIMPLETONS TWELVE TALES FROM GRIMM/ TRANSLATED BY ELIZABETH SHUB. ETCHINGS BY NONNY HOGROGIAN. WRITTEN IN COLLABORATION WITH W.K. GRIMM. TRANSLATED FROM KINDER UND HAUSMARCHEN by Grimm, Jacob

Bach's big adventure by Ketcham, Sallie

Beethoven : great composer by Carew-Miller, Anna

The Bourbon Street musicians by Price, Kathy (Kathy Z.)

The Bremen town musicians by Bremer Stadtmusikanten

Doctor All-Knowing : a folk tale from the Brothers Grimm by Orgel, Doris.

The duchess bakes a cake by Kahl, Virginia.

The falling stars by Grimm, Wilhelm, 1786-1859.

The fox and the cat : Kevin Crossley-Holland's Animal tales from Grimm ; illustrated by Susan Varley.

Germany by Reynolds, Jeff,

The gift by Brodmann-Menkes, Aliana

The golden goose by Hillert, Margaret.

Hansel and Gretel by Grimm, Jacob

Leopold, the liar of Leipzig by Prose, Francine

A new coat for Anna by Ziefert, Harriet.

The pied piper by Blair, Eric.

Popular folk tales by Grimm, Jacob

The Rhine by Allan, Tony

The seven ravens by Grimm, Jacob

The Shoemaker and the elves by Wichtelmanner.

Some friends to feed : the story of Stone Soup by Seeger, Pete

The elves and the shoemaker by Grimm, Jacob

The six swans : a fairy tale by Grimm, Jacob

The brave little tailor : a retelling of the Grimms' fairy tale by Blair, Eric

The cat and mouse who shared a house by Hurlimann, Ruth

DVD: Europe to the max. Fairy tale Europe Germany and Austria by Maxa, Rudy.

A mighty fortress : a new history of the German people by Ozment, Steven E.

The moon was the best by Zolotow, Charlotte

Netherlands, and Happy Birthday Teacher!

This week we took a break from academics as the baby is still cutting a molar and it was also my birthday. We enjoyed some quality family together time and made a homemade pizza with Dad's special sauce. Geography with literature continued as always.

Geography: We read more stories from the Netherlands/Holland book list, and we also made a windmill. We also drew a windmill and tulips to add to the world map. It's funny, G called it 'the tulip place'.

I've decided to drop CLE math, it's getting too hard and is forcing him to memorize instead of thoroughly understand the why's of math. I started feeling like I was filling a bucket instead of lighting a fire, so out it goes. Now, I'm searching for another math program.

Netherlands, Long A spelled 'ai', Human Body Intro

We will be taking it easy with the academic aspects of school for a bit since the baby is getting molars and needs me to be with him more. We skipped math this week and read lots of stories instead.

Geography: We colored the map and flag of the Netherlands and read many stories from the book list. Our favorites are Boxes For Katje, Father May I Come, The Hole In The Dike, and The First Tulips In Holland.

Science: We're starting off our human body study with a brief overview with The Magic School Bus Inside The Human Body and also Why I Sneeze, Shiver, Hiccup, & Yawn (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2), which came early to the library and fit perfectly in with our phonics reader in which a snail that kept sneezing. I hope to get this science study going with lots of living books sprinkled with projects and experiments for fun, all for free, thanks to the library.

Language Arts: We did lessons 31-35. The focus was on the 'long a' sound spelled 'ai'. The reader was Snuff The Snail, another action packed funny story. Homophones were introduced (same sounding words with different spellings and meanings), which went along with the 'ai' spelling words, waist and waste, male and mail, tale and tail, pale and pail.

Netherlands/Holland Book List

Boxes for Katje by Fleming, Candace
Father, may I come by Spier, Peter
The great tulip trade by Brust, Beth Wagner
The hole in the dike by Green, Norma B
Hana in the time of the tulips by Noyes, Deborah
The cow who fell in the canal by Krasilovsky, Phyllis
A tale of tulips, a tale of onions by Birchman, David Francis
The first tulips in Holland by Krasilovsky, Phyllis
Journey from Peppermint Street by De Jong, Meindert
A new coat for Anna by Ziefert, Harriet
The Netherlands by Dahl, Michael S.

Van Gogh and his world by Measham, Terry
I am a stranger on the earth : the story of Vincent Van Gogh by Dobrin, Arnold

Korea Book List

Here's a few story books for Korea:

The Firekeeper's Son by Linda Sue Park
Good-bye, 382 Shin Dang Dong by Frances Park and Ginger Park
Peach heaven by Yangsook Choi
The royal bee by Frances Park and Ginger Park
Sori's harvest moon day : a story of Korea by Lee Uk-Bae
The trip back home by Janet S. Wong
Where on earth is my bagel? by Frances Park and Ginger Park
Yunmi and Halmoni's trip by Sook Nyul Choi
The zoo by Suzy Lee
The Green Frogs: A Korean Folktale By Yumi Heo

Japan Book List

Here's our Japan book list revisited for future reference:

Turtle Bay by Saviour Pirotta
The Two Foolish Cats by Yoshiko Uchida
This Place Is Crowded! by Vicki Cobb
Journey To Japan (nice pop-up book) by Joan Knight
Night of the Ninjas (Magic Tree House) by Mary Pope Osborne
Dragon of the Red Dawn (Magic Tree House) by Mary Pope Osborne
The Paper Crane by Molly Bang
The Bicycle Man by Allen Say
Taro and the Tofu by Masako Matsuno
A Carp For Kimiko by VIrginia Kroll
How My Parents Learned To Eat by Ina Friedman
The Butterfly's Dream by Ippo Keido
Japanese Children's Favorite Stories by FLorence Sakade
Old Man who Made the Trees Bloom by Jijii
Magic Fan by Baker
Crane Girl by Charles
Painter and the Wild Swans by Clement
Ten Oni Drummers by Gollub
Girl from the Snow Country by Hidaka
Kenji and the Magic Geese by Johnson
Yoshi’s Feast by Kajikawa
Carp for Kimiko by Kroll
Seven Gods of Luck by Kudler
Yoshiko and the Foreigner by Little
Moshi, Moshi by London
Dragon Kite by Luenn
Pair of Red Clogs by Matsuno
Cherry Tree by MacCaughrean
Emperor’s Plum Tree by Nikly
Tea with Milk by Say
Long Silk Strand by Williams

China Book List

Here's some of our favorite books about China, which we studied before I started compiling book lists. So here it is for future reference:

Miss Frizzle's Adventures in Imperial China by Joanna Cole
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
Daisy Comes Home by Jan Brett
Day of the Dragon King (Magic Tree House) by Mary Pope Osborne
Ruby’s Wish, Bridges
Story of Kites, Compestine
Moon Festival, Russell
Panda & Gander Stories by Joyce Dunbar (funny stories with a silly panda bear):
Panda's New Toy
Gander's Pond
The Bowl Of Fruit

Great Britain, DInosaurs, 'Sp' and 'Sn' blends, Subtraction

Geography/Literature/Science: This was our second week on Great Britain, with an extra sidetrack on dinosaurs to compliment St. George and the Dragon (dragons and dinosaurs stole the show away from England's sheep). We checked out a few books on dinosaurs:

Dinosaurs by Gail Gibbons
The Magic School Bus In The Time Of The Dinosaurs by Joanna Cole
Dinosaurs Before Dark (The Magic Tree House) by Mary Pope Osborne
Did Dinosaurs Have Feathers? by Kathleen Zoehfeld

This last book explained how paleontologists found fossils of dinosaurs with feathers and wings, and some of them looked just like the typical dragon. We discussed how '-saur' means 'lizard', and 'asura' means 'demon' in Sanskrit. We discussed how the Srimad Bhagavatam tells of huge snakes during Krishna's time 5,000 years ago, and how the Bible describes a huge beast with a tail like a tree in the Book Of Job, and how this is different than the scientific theory of dinosaurs living millions of years before people and never together, as well as a comet killing the dinosaurs. Both the Srimad Bhagavatam and the Bible describe a worldwide flood in which 8 people and the animals survived in a boat. The Srimad Bhagavatam says that this flood happened 120.532 million years ago, which happens to be what scientists call the mid-Cretaceous period, which is said to have ended with dinosaur extinction. If the Srimad Bhagavatam is accurate, than the scientists are 55 million years off on their 'mysterious mass extinction' theory. The boys love dinosaurs, and I love researching this stuff, so we had a lot of fun with it.

Back to Great Britain, we reflected on how Gandhi helped India become free from Britain with nonviolent resistance, and how that approach was much more successful than the drawn out fighting of the 100 Years War between England and France. We also built a castle out of blocks and read more library books about and from Great Britain. We sang and played 'London Bridge Is Falling Down', which I remember loving as a kid.

Language Arts: We did lessons 26-30. The focus was on worlds with 'sp' and 'sn' blends. G finds consonant blends pretty easy, but the review and practice with long and short vowels is always helpful. The reader was Spice And Mice, a funny story about a mouse who outsmarts a snake, which gave some good review of when the 'c' makes the 's' sound. We also practiced more with suffixes, adding 'ed' and 'ing' to short and long vowel words, and also reviewed 'apostrophe s'. Handwriting has improved so much, I am so thankful. He writes like a pro now!

Math: We did lessons 26-30. Subtraction was taken to further levels with subtracting 1 and subtracting a number that is 1 less always equals 1. Adding and subtracting 0 is always his favorite. He did great with choosing addition or subtraction for a story problem, and he loves the speed drills (that's one of those surprises I didn't expect).

I've decided to start adding more science to our school, and luckily found a free curriculum made by a generous homeschool mom based on library books called Little Otter's Science. I plan to start it soon when the requested library books arrive. We're warming up for this 7 month study of the human body with a favorite book, The Magic School Bus Inside The Human Body. I think the boys will like this journey, and it will balance out all of the time we've spent on animals.

Take care and God Bless! Happy Mother's Day to all of the mother's out there.

United Kingdom, Sheep, Knights, Castles, Long Vowels, and Subtraction

Geography/Literature: This week was fun as we left Russia and sailed the Baltic Sea on over to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (that is the full name which includes England, Whales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland). We stamped the passports and colored the map and flag of the UK. Knights and castles pretend play was a lot of fun for the boys with a cardboard sword, shield, and helmet we made. I'm glad that the swords broke quickly, since I don't like fighting even for play. St. George and the dragon made a big impression on them as they joined forces to fight the big (green tree) dragon. Discussions on dragons lead to a side study of dinosaurs, dragons, and what scriptures say compared to what scientists say. We'll go into it more next week with some dinosaur books from the library. We read two Magic Tree House stories, one about knights and castles and one about Shakespeare. We love these books, even the 2 year old begs to hear them again and again. We also read about sheep, since there are lots of sheep in the UK. The stories Smudge The Little Lost Lamb and Ten Sleepy Sheep were the most read of all the story books this week, since they are so sweet.

Language Arts: We did lessons 21-25. The theme was 'long e', 'long i', and 'long u'. This was all review, but it was still a lot after having a week each for 'long a' and 'long o'. The reader was Beep, a very funny story about a sheep that beeps and bothers everyone until its beep saves the day. Many new sight words were introduced; put, that, this, and with, on top of reviewing previous sight words; all and said. It was definitely a harder reader compared to the ones before, but the humor of the story and pictures keeps it fun and encouraging. Handwriting is improving greatly, and most letters are perfected! (Thank God). The ten weekly spelling words are becoming normal now. This week I put them on the wall so he could see them often throughout the week. We reviewed 'apostrophe s' to show how something belongs to someone. We reviewed adding the suffixes 'ed' and 'ing' to long and short vowel words ending in vowels and consonants, and then introduced the suffix 'ly', which is easier because it doesn't start with a vowel, so no changes to think about (like dropping the 'silent e' or doubling the last consonant for 'ed' and 'ing').

Math: This week we started Light Unit 102, which introduced subtraction. We did lessons 21-25. We learned about subtraction and understanding subtraction story problems, counting by 5's, identifying a triangle, understanding expanded numbers (like 10+10+2=22), and counting coins with the greatest value first with dimes. Each lesson ends with a speed drill, and he loves these and wants to do them right away! He can answer all 15 math facts in one minute now, and got them all correct one day, and one wrong on the other four days (2+3=5 is now called 'the hard one'). He's so funny, he does all the +0 ones first and then goes back to do the +1 and +2 ones. Subtraction required much more thinking than last week's adding zero, which was a no brainer. We had to keep it very visual with legos and fingers, since it seems that subtraction is much more abstract to him than addition. I am curious to see how this progresses over the next month. If it gets too hard, we will spread lessons out over two days, since CLE is advanced and the end of 1st grade math is equivalent to 2nd grade math, plus he's only 5 and is starting 1st grade 6 months early. We'll see how subtraction goes next week.

We love homeschool! I'm looking into adding in some more science experiments and spanish soon! Thank you everyone for your love and support!

United Kingdom/Great Britain and Sheep Book List

UNITED KINGDOM/GREAT BRITAIN/CASTLES/KNIGHTS/FAMOUS PEOPLE:

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle by Joanna Cole
100 things you should know about knights & castles by Walker, Jane
A family in England by St. John, Jetty
Anno's Britain by Anno, Mitsumasa
Castles by Steele, Philip
Charles Dickens : the man who had great expectations by Stanley, Diane
England by Augustin, Byron
England-- in pictures by Lerner Publications Company. Geography Dept.
The glorious flight : across the Channel with Louis Bleriot, July 25, 1909 by Provensen, Alice.
Good Queen Bess : the story of Elizabeth I of England by Stanley, Diane
The hatmaker's sign : a story by Benjamin Franklin by Fleming, Candace.
Hallelujah Handel by Cowling, Douglas
Katie Morag and the two grandmothers by Hedderwick, Mairi.
**The knight at dawn by Osborne, Mary Pope
Knights & castles by Hindley, Judy
Knights & castles : 50 hands-on activities to experience the Middle Ages by Hart, Avery
Knights and castles by Osborne, Will
Knights in shining armor by Gibbons, Gail
Madeline in London by Bemelmans, Ludwig, 1898-1962
Mr. Gumpy's motor car by Burningham, John.
Mr. Gumpy's outing by Burningham, John.
A picture book of Florence Nightingale by Adler, David A.
Saint George and the dragon : a golden legend by Hodges, Margaret,
**Stage fright on a summer night by Osborne, Mary Pope
The story of a castle by Goodall, John S.
The story of an English village by Goodall, John S.
The sword in the tree by Bulla, Clyde Robert
Take a trip to England by Fairclough, Chris.
Tale of Peter Rabbit by Potter, Beatrix
They were strong and good by Lawson, Robert
The Tower of London by Fisher, Leonard Everett.
United Kingdom by Bean, Rachel.
The Usborne book of London by Butterfield, Moira,
Windsor Castle : England's royal fortress by Ball, Jacqueline A.
The young person's guide to Shakespeare : with performances on CD by the Royal Shakespeare Company by Ganeri, Anita,
DVD: Rick Steves' Europe. Great Britain by Steves, Rick


SHEEP

Sheep by Miller, Sara Swan.
**Smudge, the little lost lamb by Herriot, James
**Ten sleepy sheep by Root, Phyllis.


**= favorites