I’ve curated and coordinated all of our upcoming studies for the 2020-2021 school year and I am so excited to share it all with you! This school year, our children are “in” 1st and 3rd grade. We’re going to be continuing core curriculum we began last year (like TGATB L.A. Level K and Level 2–totally FREE in downloadable pdf form!), handwriting books (from Learning Without Tears), math (Elementary Arithmetic Book 1 from Simply Charlotte Mason for my daughter and Singapore Dimensions 2B for my son {click here for full blog post review on each of these math curriculum}), as well finishing up our Early American History curriculum from Beautiful Feet Books.
Onward! To the new stuff…..
Last year, we had planned for certain unit studies that we simply didn’t get to. And that’s ok! Sometimes, we get so excited for the new school year and a fresh slate that we become over-ambitious wanting to soak up all the things…but then we run out of time. Once the new school year rhythm sets in, we typically spend longer on certain subjects or lessons than I predicted because we follow child-led learning. With the Early American History curriculum, we ended up covering Vikings for almost 3 months as opposed to a few weeks because the kids just didn’t want to stop. They were intrigued and wanted to dive deeper and deeper into the history, crafts, and lore; so I obliged them. Who am I to say, “no”? It doesn’t matter if we ‘finish’ the curriculum; what matters is that my kids are loving to learn, learning what they love, and that I’m igniting that passion.
With that being said, we will be wrapping up the Early American History curriculum from BFB and then moving onto geography. Geography will essentially be a year-long unit study that we complete on a loop. 1-2 days a week, we will use Living Geography for the Primary Grades by Charlotte Mason (revised by Marjorie Long from Wildwood Curriculum) as our spine, paired with Biomes Study from Schoolhouse Curiosities, and Draw The World by Kristin J Draeger. Next Spring, once we have completed our geography foundations, we will be exploring Egypt with The Boy Of The Pyramids and The Stuff They Left Behind Portfolio from Simply Charlotte Mason.
Last year, we used the Art Study guide from Schoolhouse Curiosities and LOVED it, but I found my children wanted to spend longer on each artist. So, this year for our art loop, I ordered 3 Picture Study Portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason: DaVinci, Monet, and Van Gogh. We are also beginning the Waldorf-inspired Creative Form Drawing book for ages 6-10. I feel this book will help with my children’s patience, attention to detail, and aid them in drawing countries and maps for geography. I’m also excited to include art lessons from my friend Rose at YourArtHub (WaldorfHomeschoolers on Etsy). I ordered her Optical Illusions: Art Within Subjects that comes with all of the resources and materials to learn about art within science, math, and more!
We will also continue our previous loops such as Music with Squilt Live, Spanish with The Cultured Kid, and Nature with Exploring Nature With Children and the Florida Nature Guide.
In addition to our regular language arts studies, we are focusing on writing this year. I am beyond excited that we are now lifetime members of the Brave Learner Home and we will be using the Dart programs this year from Brave Writer. We are also beginning Writing With Ease from Susan Wise Bauer (The Well-Trained Mind) to work on narration, dictation, reading comprehension, and further copywork.
Please keep in mind, while this sounds like a lot and we’ve got 20 curriculum books stacked up, we do not cover all of this in one day. We follow a loop schedule, which means, we cover language arts and math each day with the third subject of each day changing. On Mondays, we may do art; Tuesdays and Wednesdays may be geography, Thursdays are SQUILT, and Fridays are Spanish. This is subject to change as I follow my childrens’ lead, but we typically spend 2-3 hours each day on school total. Each lesson or subject usually only takes about 30 minutes with plenty of time for general read alouds for fun, outdoor time, and free play. You can cover a lot of material and learn so much throughout the year with a loop schedule. It reduced the pressure on you and your child while allowing more time to dip your toes into passions and interests.
Flexibility is key. I never want myself or my children to feel overwhelmed. If they need to slow down or take a break from a study or particular curriculum, then we do! If they want to spend longer on a certain study, then we do! If they are not interested in a study, or master a skill quickly and want to advance, then we do! The pace of the child is more important than the pace of a curriculum, and no study is completed within definitive parameters. We move fluidly with the rhythm of year, observing cues and signs along the way.