It’s that time of year again…. curriculum time! Admit it, you feel just a little giddy planning for your next homeschool year, too. 😉
Like this year, next year I’ll be homeschooling eight kids – 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, and 12th. At one point I was homeschooling ten, so I’m getting there! One thing I’ve learned over these ten years of homeschooling is that our curriculum choices aren’t set in stone.
They just aren’t.
I refuse to allow myself and my children to get caught up in trying to make our homeschool fit our curriculum, rather than the other way around.
With that being said, I’m going to share with you the resources we’ve chosen for next year. Before I start, though, I’m going to make one thing clear:
We are relaxed homeschoolers.
What this means is that I won’t be listing separate textbooks for every single child and subject. In fact, I’ll barely be listing any textbooks at all. And to go one step further, my daughter who will be in 12th grade next year will be so relaxed that she’ll be almost unschooling.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s go!
2019/2020 Homeschool Curriculum
(This post contains affiliate links)
Okay….one more thing before I start – this will be a simple list. Unless otherwise noted, I will place the grade level we’ll be using the item for in parentheses. Some books will be used by one child, but most will be used by multiple children. For a more detailed description of how we’ll be using these resources, click on the video links below.
Language Arts:
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (1st)
Adventures in Phonics (1st and 3rd)
Daily Grams (4th, 6th, 7th, 8th 10th, and 12th)
Mad Libs (4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th)
Notebooking (All grades)
Natural Speller (1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th)
Math:
Abeka Arithmetic (1st and 3rd)
ctcmath.com (4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, and 12th)
Nature Study:
Handbook of Nature Study (All grades)
The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids (All grades)
Garden Journal (12th)
Unit Studies:
Beautiful Feet Books Around the World with Picture Books (1st and 3rd)
Beautiful Feet Books Ancient History (4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th)
Case of Adventure New Zealand and Singapore (1st and 3rd)
And most importantly:
Library card (All grades – especially 12th, as she uses living books almost exclusively)
Do you know what you’ll be using next year?
Share this:
There's No Place Like Home 
Oh yes, we get lots of use out of our library cards too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s definitely our most valuable “curriculum.” 😉
LikeLike
Hello! I love reading your posts. I have a son going into second grade, another one that will be 5 in August so he will be doing a little more work than he has in the past, and I also have a newborn. I like how we do phonics/spelling and math with my oldest and it works well for him. My middle child just listens and learns and loves to do activity books, so he picks up on a lot even with more informal teaching. I don’t worry so much about him right now because he still is not even formally in school as far as our state is concerned. My soon-to-be 2nd grader is the one that I am focusing on as far as getting books and things for next year. What do you recommend for a child that young as far as history or social studies goes? For science and we do different activities, read books, learn about animals and ocean life, and he practically has every episode of Wild Kratts memorized, so I think for his age he is probably fine with what we are doing now. The only area I feel like is lacking is in history and geography. I am learning to be a relaxed homeschooler and wanting to keep things fun and simple, especially since it is so hard for him to sit still for very long. Do you have any suggestions as far as curriculum or books that I might look at for him that would be fun and interesting, and that my five-year-old could participate in as well? I’m having a hard time balancing so many things at home now with a new baby, but I don’t want to drop the ball with spending time teaching my boys. Any thoughts or suggestions you could offer would be amazing! Thank you so much. Laura
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful Feet Books Around the World with Picture Books is awesome for that age, and it even incorporates science in with the social studies, so it makes for very oight, yet effective, lessons. I hope this helps!
LikeLike
Thank you Shelley. This is so helpful. You have taught me so much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You said you do the 3 r’s 4 days a week. Would that be their math program, daily grammar, mad lips, spelling and notebooking? Do the kids read independently anything of their choice? I have 5 kiddos and doing the 3 r’s (Charlotte Mason Way and workbooks) with them seems to take all day and then we are exhausted to do anything else. Their ages are 5, 5, 8, 11 and 14. The twin 5 year olds im trying to teach to read. Trying to simplify this year. We read aloud for Devotions, HIstory and Literature and do a co-op for science. We dabble in picture studies and poetry. Still is overwhelming. Any suggestions?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great thinking. Great philosophy on learning. Fantastic views on traditional public schools! Thank you for sharing. I was wondering, did you give up on German? I didn’t hear you mention any foreign language study for your “Middles”. Program name? Or, why did you switch or discontinue with a foreign language. Thank you and……
Have a great day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
When using Abeka math do you use the curriculum/lesson plans books? And do you use the small teacher lesson plans that are for Adventures in Phonics?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just use the workbooks. No teacher’s manuals. I find that they’re more trouble than they’re worth. 🙂
LikeLike
Hi Shelly,
I have been staying up too late many nights, watching your videos and reading your refreshing posts! I am so encouraged! After homeschooling 5 years, beginning heavy with the “school at home” method, I have steadily weaned us off more worksheets every year. They frustrate me and kill the love of learning in my students. I love books and the library; I have borrowed 100’s of books over the years, desiring to educate with living books. Deep down, I wanted to devote our hours to books, using just a math book and library card. Your posts have shown me that I’m not alone in wanting to avoid the boxed curriculum. Sometimes, it feels like our days are spent checking off boxes and filling in blanks, instead of saturating ourselves with really knowing a topic. Thank you for presenting a simple, common-sense approach, which I had yearned for. It really helps to know someone out there is using this style of homeschooling successfully.
LikeLiked by 1 person