Up until this point, his insatiable appetite for busy has kept his curiosities on nature, science, and mechanical design, but now, at ten, he's beginning to wonder about other things--less concrete things. He's asking hard questions about the world around him and wanting honest answers.
So this year, I've chosen a few weightier books for him; books that will hopefully steer him well into adolescence--books that will help him make sense of this crazy world in which we live.
Here's what he'll be learning. Since we only homeschool 4-days a week, you can assume that each of these subjects will only be covered four times each week unless otherwise indicated.
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Content-rich subjects
As always, he'll do all of his content-rich subjects like Morning time/Bible, history, science, art, and creative writing with his older siblings. You can see those curriculum choices here>>>
Personal Devotions- every day
- What the Bible is All About for Kids- This is not a devotional book. It is a Bible handbook that provides a basic survey of each book, character, and main event in Scripture.
Language
- LLATL The Tan Book (Use coupon code unlikelyhomeschool at checkout to get 15% off your entire purchase from Common Sense Press, the makers of LAHTL.)
- All About Spelling Level 5
- Read for pleasure (every day).
- Read the following books that correspond with the LLATL Tan Book.
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
The Bronze Bow
Big Red
The Horse and His Boy
- If he's not currently working through an LLATL suggested book, he will read a chapter from a book that I assign to him. These will be classics, biographies, or exceptional fiction. You can see those here>>>
Math
- Math 6 from BJU Press Distance Learning- After using and loving the BJU Press Distance Learning for upper-level science for the past few years, I've decided to take the leap and switch from Teaching Textbooks math to BJU Press math. Math is definitely a subject I've never felt equipped or excited to teach, and so I've always deferred to an online program for my third-grade-and-above students. While I've appreciated Teaching Textbooks and have seen great results from it (My oldest daughter got an A in her first college math class last year after having graduated with a Teaching Textbooks background.), I feel like BJU Press will offer a much more user-friendly learning experience for my boys who crave a live teacher experience. (You can read my review of the BJU Press Homeschool Distance Learning science program here>>>)
- a flashcard drill with one of his brothers for 5 minutes
World View
- Who is God?- I highly recommend every single title in this four-volume What We Believe series!
- Created for Work- (1x a week) Once a week, instead of reading his normal mom-assigned book to himself, he'll read a chapter from this book that encourages boys to be industrious.
- Guy Stuff: The Body Book for Boys (2x a week)- This is a personal hygiene book for boys and is one of the very best I've found. For other great books on body changes, sex ed, and purity, head here>>>
Life Skills
- Co-op for two enrichment type classes- 2x a month
- Clean his room and make his bed each day.
- Daily chores: sweep the library, empty the dishwasher with his younger brother, wipe down the surfaces in the upstairs bathroom
- Weekly Chores for his child-of-the-day privileges and responsibilities: help make lunch/dinner and do two loads of laundry (Thursdays)
- Monthly Chores: three chores that he randomly selects from our chore jar one Saturday each month
He's growing more and more mature each day. I'm sure he'll continue to make, do, and create, but he'll also begin to form new and different ideas about the world. He's moving from the learning-what-to-think to the learning-how-to-think stage of childhood and I'm looking forward to watching and cheering him on from the sidelines.
I'd love your opinion on handwriting. I am thinking just having my kids focus on good handwriting on their writing assignments, spelling, etc rather than do a formal handwriting program this year (grades 2 and 5). I figured it's one less thing to do, plus my younger can focus on print before cursive next year and my older can hone her cursive. Do you have them do a formal curriculum up to a specific age? Or find that doing so helps a lot more or depends on each kid at all?
ReplyDeleteIt really depends on the kid. Typically, I have them do some kind of handwriting until 6th grade. That gives them enough practice to not just learn to write well, but to practice with purpose until mastery.
DeleteFor some kids focusing on writing well as well as how to spell or what to write can be difficult. For one of my kiddos once I had her practice good handwriting just for handwriting (this did include recopying a final draft for any writing assignments) and not for anything else she almost completely stopped complaining about spelling and writing assignments. I told her as long as I could read it that was good enough unless it was handwriting practice.
DeleteGood thoughts. Thank you!
DeleteHave you used the note booking journal with the what we believe series? integral or extra? thanks so much for your input!
ReplyDeleteNo, I have not. I've seen it and wasn't impressed. It's mostly busy work.
DeleteDo you just have him read the book or do you make your own NB pages?
DeleteHe just reads the book. Occasionally, we might have a discussion about it. But I see no need to belabor a book with extras.
DeleteThis article could have been written about my son who is entering grade 6 this year! They would probably make quick friends lol.
ReplyDeleteSo love your blog, such an encouragement and an inspiration. Thank you!
I wish they could meet. My son has never met a stranger and I'm sure they'd make great friends!
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