Our homeschool curriculum choices for next year (Kindergarten – 8th grade)

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*Note, even if you don’t homeschool, check out what we do for Bible time for ideas with your family.

Ever wonder what other christian homeschool moms use for their homeschool curriculum? Since we are nearing the end of summer, I thought it would be fun to share our homeschool curriculum choices for next year. I love planning out what we’re going to be learning and since I know many of you homeschool I thought I’d give you a sneak peak of what we do.

This year (2023-24) we have children in Kindergarten, 3rd grade, 6th grade and 8th grade.

First of all, pray over your year and ask God to show you what to study and what curriculum to get.

Then, sit down and have a little homeschool meeting with your children. Ask them what their favorite and least favorite subjects were last year. Ask them what they want to learn this year, what sounds exciting, interesting and fun to them. I love hearing my children’s answers to these questions and will often try to incorporate the topics they want to learn into science and history, or do a special unit study on the topic. Children learn so much when they are passionate and interested in a topic.

Our homeschool routine:

• We have a Bible morning routine together – right after breakfast, we clear the table, get out quiet activities for the little ones and have our family Bible time. This consists of prayer, Bible memorization, reading scripture, character teaching and worship songs.
• Then we loop schedule (take turns) doing one of the following subjects together – geography, music and art.
• Then the children start their independent work and I work 1:1 with them on their toughest subjects or where they need the most help that day.
• During lunch, I read aloud a christian missionary book or other living books on subjects the children want to learn about.
• On Wednesdays we take a break from the normal routine and do a unit study day with science and history (this is one of my children’s favorite days as we take a break from their independent work and just study history and science together.) We tend to do art on Wednesdays as well.
• We take one day (either Thur or Fri) off and head out for a field trip and a day of fun. This can be anything – Knotts Berry Farm, aquarium, library, beach, museum and even the occasional necessary grocery run (have your children add up food costs in a calculator, name and pick out fruit, menu plan, help you bag the groceries and you have yourself a day full of learning!)
• During dinner, we occasionally read scripture and then afterwards sing a hymn.
• We take weekends and summers off! I highly recommend taking a break – you need it and your children do too.

Our homeschool curriculum choices 2023-2024

• Bible – for our Bible time in the morning we take turns reading Generations’ God’s Big Story. Since I have children from ages 5-13, I teach some Bible at the 4 year-old level by showing the Beginner’s Bible with our lesson and showing pictures. Then I take it more advanced, having my readers read 2-3 verses each and I also read from the Bible and the Generations God’s Big Story. This way some of the teaching is easier for the littles, but then I stretch them and give my older children more of a challenge. I ask questions to each child that I know they can answer, and also try to challenge my older children with harder questions (which they enjoy).

• Geography – We do this online class together, My First Amazing Journey Around the World through Music in our Homeschool. It has been so fun exploring and learning about different cultures around the world and we will continue with it this year.
• Music – We love using a variety of online lessons through Music in our Homeschool including music for holidays, great hymns of faith and state songs. Also if you are interested in incorporating piano into your homeschool this year, founder of Music in our Homeschool, Gena Mayo, is also introducing KinderBach to her curriculum choices!

KinderBach offers a convenient method for parents to introduce their young children (ages 2-7) to piano keyboard playing. It provides all the educational materials required such as video lessons, printable pages, coloring and activity sheets, and audios, as well as instructions on how to utilize them effectively. It’s the easiest-to-use and most effective piano for preschoolers
course out there!

You don’t need any formal music education as a parent! The KinderBach Parent Guide gives you a heads-up on basic music theory.

• Art – we are still working through this beautiful Usborne Art Treasury book! It’s been so fun and the children have made some beautiful art projects each week.

• Character – We’ve been using Konos to learn about character traits like perseverance, responsibility and empathy.
• History – We alternate between Generations Taking Africa and Volume II of Mystery of History ​
• Science – We are finishing up the Generations God Made Animals science book. This book incorporates beautiful imagery throughout, tons of scripture and biblical truth and bonus activities such as a hymns and online bonus videos.

Grade level curriculum choices 8th Grade

Math – We’ve been using Math U See from the beginning and it works for us, so my daughter will start with Math U See Epsilon​

Writing – This year my daughter is excited to start IEW as her writing program.

Spelling – Same with Spelling U See, been using it for years. I love that it’s not just memorizing spelling words but learning spelling through chunking, reading and writing passages. All my children are good spellers (this took years and at a certain point it just clicked for them). This year she is on Spelling U See Level E American Spirit​

Literature/Reading – Literature books from Generations – God’s Smuggler, Heidi and Sunshine Country to name a few. Generations is having a huge christian literature sale at the time of this post so check it out here

My daughter is an avid reader and we are constantly going to the library. She is currently into the Who Was series, Christian Heroes: Then & Now, Anne of Green Gables.

Spanish – Rosetta Stone 15 min/day. We have the lifetime subscription which gives you unlimited languages. It’s on sale now for $179 which is a really good deal.

Typing – We use the FREE account for Typing.com​

Grade level curriculum choices 5th Grade

Math – My middle daughter will be working on Math U See – Delta​

Spelling – She will finish her Spelling U See Level C Wild Tales ​

Handwriting – She will start her A Reason for Handwriting Grade 6 this year.

Literature/Reading – Any books she enjoys! Right now she is into Little House on the Prairie, Magic Tree House, and she borrows a lot of books from her older sister.

Spanish – Rosetta Stone 15 min/day

Typing – Typing.com​

Grade level curriculum choices 3rd Grade

Math – She will be finishing her Math U See Beta book and then moving on to the next level, Gamma

Spelling – Spelling U See Level B Jack and Jill 

​English – We are using Rod & Staff English for grade 3.

Handwriting – My 3rd grader will be starting cursive this year and we are using A Reason for Handwriting Transition Grade 2-3

Literature/Reading – Any books she wants for 15 min/day, but she often reads throughout the day way more than that. She enjoys Who Was books, Princess chapter books

Spanish – Rosetta Stone 15 min/day

Typing – Typing.com​

Grade level curriculum choices 1st Grade

All of his subjects come from abcjesuslovesme.com 5 year old curriculum. These consist of simple numbers, letters and handwriting lesson worksheets, crafts, activities and a lot of fun and play.

He is also doing Math U See Alpha and A Reason for Handwriting Level A.

Reading – For reading, we are continuing to work through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. We also spend time reading the Beginner’s Bible every day and his sisters and I take turns reading him books he is interested in during school time.

Grade level curriculum choices Kindergarten

All of his subjects come from abcjesuslovesme.com 5 year old curriculum. These consist of simple numbers, letters and handwriting lesson worksheets, crafts, activities and a lot of fun and play.

My 5 year-old stays with us for Bible and worship time, geography, music and art. When I do my 1:1 time with the older children, I take about 15 minutes and read his favorite books. Each of my older girls also take 15 minutes and play with him during school time (this fills up his attention bucket and gives the girls a break from school to play and bond with brother while I work 1:1 with my other children- a win-win!)

What questions about curriculum do you have? Comment below or email me at kristin@raisingdisciplesmom.com and I’d be happy to help you the best I can.

Don’t forget – I mentioned it above but in case you missed it, did you see​ the huge Christian literature sale and KinderBach piano sales happening right now!