2021-2022 Curriculum Plans
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My fourth child graduated in June!
This leaves me with four kids in college and my youngest two kids homeschooling. They’re quite a bit younger than their older siblings, so it’s the first time since I started blogging that I won’t be homeschooling high school.
It’s requiring a bit of a shift, but a fun shift. And I’m wondering if we won’t have time for more projects than I’ve had in the past.
Classically Homeschooling’s 2021-2022 Curriculum Plans
You will not be seeing Latin in this year’s curriculum plans. Over the years I’ve slowly become an advocate for a later start in Latin. Next year, when my daughter is a 7th grader, I’ll add Latin to the mix.
But this year my kids and I are sticking to 4 subjects: language arts, math, science, and history.
Language Arts
Both children are doing The Good and The Beautiful Language Arts program again this year. We used it 3 years ago and had a good school year, but we ended the year exhausted. I jumped around a bit two years ago before we returned to The Good and The Beautiful Language Arts last year.
The kids and I had a marvelous year!
The Good and The Beautiful Language Arts is an open-and-go inclusive language arts program meaning it includes everything you need in a language arts curriculum.
I adore inclusive language arts programs for several reasons. I’ve found the kids and I are happier when we have one language arts program to complete instead of a small pile of curriculum on the table.
They’re less time-consuming since the all-in-one curricula have a lovely rotation between spelling, writing, grammar, vocabulary, etc.
I don’t need to worry about doubling up on a subject. Sometimes when you’re pulling language arts together from several different curriculum providers the subjects will overlap so you’re doing grammar with two programs. Or you’ll need to add vocabulary because it’s the one subject none of the programs are covering.
It’s cheaper to purchase one curriculum versus picking up 3-6 curricula to cover the same territory.
And it’s easier to plan and use.
That being said, we lose some flexibility. If a child is struggling with one subject or is extremely advanced in one subject it’s harder to meet the kids’ needs. We’re running into that issue with spelling.
So I decided to skip the spelling portions of The Good and The Beautiful and have the kids use my chosen spelling program instead.
One child is using All About Spelling. My other child is using Spelling Workout.
The Good and The Beautiful Language Arts doesn’t include handwriting, which I found to be an advantage for my family. We already had a handwriting program I love Pentime Penmanship.
Math
Math hasn’t changed much over the years. Both children will be using the Saxon Math curriculum.
I discovered Saxon Math years and years ago when my oldest child was in the first grade.
The kids thrived.
Then I’d read all the commentary about what a horrible math program it was and I’d try something else.
And the tears started.
We switched back to Saxon and the kids thrived again.
It’s a lesson on homeschooling. When something is working for your family, don’t fix it! Put on blinders and ignore what everyone else is doing. Otherwise, you may end up breaking your homeschool!
So my younger kids are using Saxon Math like their older siblings. It’s served my family well.
History
We’re using Tapestry of Grace again for history with both kids in the upper grammar level. It’s a definite change from previous years when I had kids in high school!
Normally we’d be moving to Year 4, the next year on our rotation. Except I really wanted to have a ‘fresh start’ with my youngest two kids. So I picked up Story of the World volume 4 on Audiobook and we listened to it in the car for several weeks.
Now we’re ready to return to Year 1 and the study of Ancients. It’s going to be an interesting year since upper grammar kids don’t have a discussion time scheduled.
Instead, Tapestry of Grace suggests letting the kids read, read, and read some more!
Science
I decided to divide the kids’ science studies this year.
My 12-year-old daughter will be using Apologia’s Earth Science. It’s written at an excellent level for her to read by herself and complete the science journal. Even the experiments and science projects are at a good level for her to complete independently!
However, we will be sitting down together to discuss what she’s learned and for me to check her written work. I’ve discovered kids can misinterpret what they read or start skipping work if it’s not inspected regularly.
My son is using BookShark’s Science level D. It covers a variety of subjects instead of sticking to just one science topic. The books look delightful and it even came with the experiment kit!
I love it when programs come with experiment kits. It makes life so much easier.
We started homeschooling again this last week and so far everything has been going well. I’m just finding it odd homeschooling only two children without toddlers running around the house.
What curricula are you using this school year?
Previous Curriculum Choices:
