Once we decided to homeschool, I soon got bogged down with the tons and tons of curriculum choices. The only thing I was certain of was that I wanted a Christian based program. That did narrow it down some but do we buy new or get used books? I leaned on my sister in law and friends for guidance and was loaned an amazing book that really helped sort through my doubts & questions.
100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum: Choosing the Right Curriculum and Approach for Your Child's Learning Style
by Cathy Duffy
This book helped me narrow down each of my children's learning styles and gave me additional information about the different
ways to homeschool. I would highly suggest anyone who is having trouble deciding to check this book out!
After months ... Ok, it was maybe just a few weeks but it seemed like months of back and forth on deciding what to use, we decided to go with Heart of Dakota. It is based on a Charlotte Mason style and intertwines a biblical perspective into history, poetry and learning.
We decided on Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory as a medium for our kids. It made me extremely happy to unite the basic curriculum for both our 1st grader and 3rd grader.
***************************
Once we made the important curriculum decision, then I started to get organized so I could be ready for the school year! We loved finding the HOD files online that made it super easy to put together their folders. You can find many of the helpful free printable files here: HOD Printable Files
 I made the children their own 2" folder. This helps keep all their work in one place! I placed tabs in their book to divide it into the following 5 different sections:
Daily Work
Bible
Poetry
History
Science
At the beginning of the folder before the tabs, I placed a book reading tracker so that the kids can be rewarded for the books they read on their own. They get a sticker for each one and a pizza party after 40!
     Bible section is next and this is where their bible Copywork is kept each week after it is completed.
I printed these sheets from the Hod files page here. I hi lighted the lines at first to make it easier for my daughter learning to print and as the year went on she made great improvements.
 Next is the poetry tab. This is also from the Copywork pages that I printed from the Hod files above. We read the poems daily and the kids draw a picture of something from the poem.
History is the next tab and we printed the notebooking worksheets from the Hod files above and the coloring pages. I merged these 2 together and the kids color and do the notebook pages as we go thru their history stories each week.
  The last tab in the notebook is Science. Again, we printed the pages from the files above and put them in the folder and completed them as the guide directs. These Science Exploration pages are not a have to but, really worked out great for the kids to process the experiments.  
Timeline and Images
In addition to this main folder, we also printed the timeline images and sheets. We place the images onto the timeline as directed in the HOD guide. You can get the images here: Timeline Images
Spelling 
Each week the kids have a spelling list. I make flash cards, they practice, and after they test on Friday we tape them on our word wall.
This has been fun for the kids to reference back to when writing and to see how the word wall grows bigger and bigger each week.
I also created a rise and shine folder for the kids to do morning work if they get up super early or are bored at any hour. This book consists of fun coloring pages, craft ideas, worksheets requiring minimal supervision and other fun activities.
There are so many great ways to personalize and make HOD special for your family. You can add to it very easily. Good luck with your year! Hope this helped to see how we decided to do things! Be blessed! |
No comments:
Post a Comment