2023-2024 Homeschool Curriculum Choices
This year we are starting something new – FULL time homeschooling! We will have a second grader, a kindergartener and a 3-year-old this school year and I am SO excited to begin this new journey.
Prior to this year, my two boys attended a christian private school with a hybrid teaching model. We would go to the school twice a week, and homeschool the rest of the week. My oldest son, Diesel, went for kindergarten and first grade. My middle son, Maverick, joined him for Pre-K.
After much prayer, we decided we wanted to homeschool full-time! I am grateful for our time at this sweet school, as it helped me gain the confidence and courage to really break out on our own and start this new adventure!
Now without further ado, let’s get into the curriculum choices!
Diesel’s Second Grade Curriculum
Diesel has been a hungry reader since before kindergarten. He started reading when he was three and he has not stopped since. He also has an incredible memory, and a deep love for creating art. He enjoys simple math, the rush of flash card practice and just being accurate. I have sought to find curriculum he will enjoy and allow him to flourish in the things he has already discovered he loves.
Math (4x week): Saxon Math 3
Diesel started Saxon in kindergarten and has done very well with it. We will continue to follow this program for this year, but I am open to change if we run into any snags! While the work is repetitive, and can feel dry, I do appreciate the no-nonsense and systematic approach. Diesel’s brain thrives with repetition and a consistent schedule. I also appreciate that there is minimal illustration and simple black and white worksheets, as Diesel would be one to start adding to the art if it was on there. ๐
Language Arts/Writing (2x week): The Yellow Book โ Grade 3
I researched tons of Language Arts curricula and landed on this one because of its rich treasury of literature. Diesel is a strong reader and pretty advanced in his vocabulary and understanding of what he reads, so we went with Grade 3 rather than 2. He absolutely loves stories, and this one includes excerpts from his old favorites like Peter Rabbit! It also seems to be very straight-forward and easy to plan/teach on my end. I also love how it touches on so many aspects of English: writing, grammar, comprehension, vocabulary, and handwriting.
Phonics (4x week): Explode the Code Book 5
We are trying a new phonics program this year. I have heard good things about Explode the Code. It has simple illustrations, and just looks like a FUN, intuitive way to learn phonics. We were previously using Saxon phonics which I personally did not love teaching because it just didn’t make any sense to me. I’m looking forward to something more digestible and straight-forward, and I think Diesel will beast through it with flying colors. I’m guessing I will probably need to get 6 pretty soon because he is such a fast worker, and I can see him wanting to do more than just that day’s lesson. But we will see. ๐
Penmanship (2x week): Italic Handwriting Series Book C: Basic & Cursive
Diesel has shown interest in learning how to write cursive, so I want to encourage this! However, his current print handwriting could use a little TLC. Prior to this year, we used the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum for penmanship. While it did the job, I didn’t really love the outcome of the letters produced. I’m hoping that this italic style will help finesse his strokes, and cause him to slow down a tiny bit when he writes. I think he will also appreciate it after he sees what it looks like because he loves neatness. ๐
Typing: The Good and the Beautiful Typing, Level 1
Because I know I will be juggling teaching multiple kids, I decided it would be helpful to have Diesel learn typing while I focus on some of Maverick’s one-on-one time. I looked at several typing programs, and ultimately decided on this one. I liked that it was simple, and tangible. All he has to do is set up the lesson notebook on the desk next to his computer, open a Word or Powerpoint doc and go! After he’s done, he gets to place a sticker on that page. I love the simplicity of it, and the no-nonsense approach. As he grows more comfortable in his typing, I plan to give him some simple activities that allow him to mess around and experiment in both Word and Powerpoint. Understanding proper typing and navigating Microsoft Office apps in general from an early age is a crucial life skill.
Piano: Hoffman Academy (one lesson a week)
Diesel took piano from someone locally for a while, but then I found out about Hoffman Academy which is free and doesn’t require me to drive in this Dallas traffic! (They do have a paid option that comes with more enrichment activities that we may switch over to later.) We are going to try this out this year and see if we like it. It is an online program with cute, helpful videos with a real piano teacher that build on each other, along with theory worksheets and sheet music that you can print out and work at your own pace. We plan to practice about 10-15 minutes a day.
Maverick’s Kindergarten Curriculum
Oh Maverick, my BIG incoming kindergartner! I am so excited to watch this little guy grow in his love for learning this year. He loves to rhyme and count to the highest number he can possibly think of. He loves counting money, making patterns, and listening to stories. He is not reading super proficiently yet, and he has been a little resistant to practicing reading. But I am hoping through this year, it will “click” for him and we will start to see him develop a real enjoyment of reading on his own.
Math (4x week): Saxon Math 1
We are going to start Maverick out on this curriculum and see if it’s a good fit for him. I looked at the kindergarten version Saxon offered, but it seemed too easy and more of a review from what he had learned in Pre-K. Diesel also started in Saxon 1 when he was in kindergarten. So we will try it and see how it goes!
Phonics (4x week): Primary Phonics Workbook 1 + Explode the Code 1
A significant portion of Maverick’s homeschool time will be reviewing and learning his letter sounds, blends, and cvc words. Both of these workbooks are filled with super fun, simply illustrated worksheets, and do not have an overwhelming amount of work on each page. I am hoping he will have so much fun working on them that he won’t realize he’s learning!
Penmanship (3x week): Italic Handwriting Series Book A: Basic Italic
Maverick is NOT a fan of handwriting in the least, but he has the most beautiful letters. He is naturally gifted at writing but he would rather be running around than sitting still writing letters! We started with Handwriting Without Tears last year, but I just love the lettering style of this other curriculum’s letters better. I am hoping Mav will enjoy it too because Diesel will have the same brand of book and he loves doing anything big brother is doing. ๐
Reading: BOB Books + Early Readers
We were going through the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessonsย book but oh my goodness, it was arduous for both Mav and me. For now we are switching to BOB books! I plan to start with Set 1, Advancing Beginners, First Stories, Kindergarten Sight Words boxes. Maverick loves all things “tiny” so these simple, tiny, bite-sized books will be right up his alley! Once he’s grown in his confidence to read, we will start reading some early readers together where he will read one page, and I will read the next!
Piano: Hoffman Academy
I started Diesel off with piano in kindergarten and he did really well. We will see how much Maverick takes to it by giving Hoffman a try. Mav’s got natural rhythm and enjoys tinkering on the keys already. I’m excited to see how he does with this program!
Family Studies
This may be the thing I am MOST excited about this year! We will be studying Bible, History and Science together as a family. Last year, it was overwhelming to me to have to read and follow different curriculum for each of these subjects and for each grade level. This year, it will be so much more streamlined and we can really dig into what we’re learning, linger where we want to, and experience it together with age-appropriate activities for each kid that play off of what we’ve learned! Here’s what we’re going to study!
Bible/Morning Time (daily): Brighter Day Press Vol 1
If you haven’t heard of Whitney Newby, you need to stop what you’re doing right now and go follow her on instagram @brighterdaypress. My sister-in-law shared her account with me one day and it is now one of my favorites! She has such a great perspective on homeschooling and the christian life, and all of her materials are top notch! We’re excited to spend our Bible study together as a family with this pre-planned curriculum that will last an entire school year. It not only includes a Bible lesson, but has a Charlotte-Mason inspired approach that includes poetry, biblically solid hymns and famous works of art. It also has great recommended read-aloud suggestions that I’m super excited about. We’ve been doing her morning moment cards and my kids have memorized full hymns and verses in a matter of weeks โ even my 3 year old! That said, I am really looking forward to this portion of our day.
History (2x week): Beautiful Feet Around the World with Picture Books Part 1
I can’t wait to delve into the history of the world through living picture books! Instead of reading about the world from a dry text book, this curriculum has done an amazing job of planning out a rich curriculum meant to “immerse” us into each country through stories and experiences! There are tons of rabbit trail reading lists, beautifully illustrated required reading, authentic cuisine recipes, animal study, suggested documentaries and more. What’s also exciting to me about this curriculum is that there is a watercolor component and if you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you know we LOVE watercolor! I can’t wait to crack open those history notebooks and get to painting. ๐
Science (2x week): Beautiful Feet Seasonโs Afield
I was originally only planning to do the history curriculum above, but my mom (who homeschooled my siblings all the way through) encouraged me to add on a Science because the boys naturally love all things science. I didn’t realize that the history curriculum would include so much science, too, but I am tentatively planning on including this in our “loop.” I am just as excited about this curriculum, as it focuses heavily on nature and seasons. It coincides with a classic literature collection called The Brambly Hedge, which is about a little mice family that goes on seasonal adventures together. My kids love animal adventure stories, so I’m sure this will be a hit. This curriculum also has a watercolor component, and we will get to paint what we see in nature in our nature journals. There isn’t just a TON of nature in our treeless suburban area, so we will probably have to adventure to some nearby parks! I love the freedom of learning outside school walls, and on our own timeline/schedule!
Preschool for Hollyn (age 3)
I have no formal schooling planned for Hollyn since she’s only three! But she has been super interested in “doing school” like the big kids. I will probably work on teaching her the alphabet letters and sounds. I have number and letter puzzles she enjoys working on as well. She is naturally drawn to anything musical, so I will probably teach her some Bible verses and catechisms by song. She already has memorized some hymns we’ve been working on and I’m so impressed! Hollyn loves to paint and color, so I plan to include more simpler projects for her to work on when we do our family studies so she can be included too! But beyond that, she is free to play. I have a Montessori-ish cubby set up in our homeschool room. I keep it pretty minimal so there isn’t much mess to clean up afterward, and plan to switch out the toys in the cubbies every few weeks from our toy storage closet. Right now, I’ve got Magna-tiles, wooden trains and train tracks, puzzles, horse figurines, and a marble run โ so lots of options for open play!
Extra-curriculars
So far I haven’t signed anyone up for anything just yet. But I’m tentatively thinking we will do lower-commitment extracurriculars like kids’ choir at our church, and PE and LEGO clubs at our local library.
I’ve asked my boys what kinds of skills they might want to learn or hone this year, and they both said they wanted to “climb and do manly things” ๐ so we are looking into Trail Life, a christian Boy Scout alternative. This would be more of an activity for the boys to enjoy with Ben, so we will see!
In past years, I have had a bad habit signing us up for everything under the sun, and I’m trying to be better about that this year. It all sounds so fun at first, but it adds up and then we have no margin. None of us love rushing around, and we’re looking forward to a more peaceful season, with a sprinkling of impromptu play dates, field trips and less organized sports!
I hope you enjoyed our overview! I am sure I will have more to say as we get further into our year, but for now this is the plan! Here’s to a great first solo-year of homeschooling!