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Guys, I can not even believe we are planning the 2017-2018 homeschool year! Is it just me or did the past school year FLY by?! As this post publishes we will actually still be finishing up our current school year. As year round homeschoolers, that means our year ends a little later than others. It also means I have had more time to finalize plans for the upcoming school year.
Our 2017-2018 homeschool year is going to include some of the same, and some new. One thing I love about homeschooling is that I can tweak our curriculum to fit each child. Many of the choices I made for the girls, and have saved for the boy, just won’t work for him. So, we are having to find a balance between how he learns, and how I teach. Homeschooling allows us to embrace that flexibility and individuality and I am so thankful for it!
Next year I will also have a junior high student which makes me a little nervous as I plan for high school. The seasons of homeschooling are changing once again in the Bailey household, and I know it will be a wild ride!
So, here are our curriculum choices for 2017-2018!
Scroll to the bottom for a video peek into our choices for the year!
The Youngest~Kindergarten
As I’ve shared before, my boy has a speech delay that has made reading difficult for him. He also has a summer birthday. Because of this, we plan on doing two years of Kindergarten with him. His curriculum choices and extra activities include:
- All About Reading Level 1
- Christian Light Education Math 1
- Christian Light Education Language Arts 1 (for spelling and handwriting)
- Beautiful Feet Books Elementary History Pack (Read the review here)
- Apologia Astronomy
- Private speech lessons
- Soccer
- Notgrass History~Psalms (Read the review here)
- Foreign Languages for Kids~Spanish (read the review here)
My middle~5th Grade
Her goal in life is to one day become an animal behaviorist. She also loves Art, and has won some local art contests. Her curriculum choices and extra activities include:
- Group art lessons
- Volunteering at the animal shelter
- Apologia Astronomy
- Notgrass History~From Adam to Us
- Essentials in Writing Volume 5
- Teaching Textbooks Level 6
- Notgrass History Psalms
- Foreign Languages for Kids~Spanish
My oldest~7th Grade
I just am still in awe that I am here guys. For those of you with younger ones and just starting out, don’t blink! Before you know it you’ll be doing the unthinkable, planning for High School! She loves piano and is an aspiring chef. She plans on attending our local vocational school her junior and senior year and studying culinary arts. She also has a heart for missions and loves to serve others. Her curriculum choices and extra activities include:
- Private piano lessons
- Cake decorating classes
- Notgrass~Psalms
- Foreign Languages for Kids~Spanish
- Teaching Textbooks~Pre Algebra
- Essentials in Writing Volume 7
- Notgrass History~From Adam to Us
- Apologia Science~Chemistry and Physics
Want to SEE our choices and hear more about each one? Check out the video below!
For our homeschool planning needs, I am using these super simple planners and planning sheets!
Hi Teresa! Great question! I tend to spend around $600 a year for curriculum for all three kids. I buy a lot used, get hand me downs from friends, and reuse for the other kids. We budget our state tax refund for homeschool curriculum. Other than that I don’t really feel like there is a huge cost associated with homeschooling. There are also lots of free resources out there. This post may help you: http://www.findingjoyinthejourney.net/affordinghomeschool/
Hope that helps some!
I am a mom of 4, two of them are in school. I am considering homeschooling next year and honestly don’t know where to start haha. But my question is we are a family of one income and so money will be a big factor in our homeschooling plans. About how much do you spend a year for your children to homeschool?
It is SUCH an amazing curriculum. Seriously!
Totally intrigued by Notgrass! The cover alone looks so appealing.
Usually about six weeks on, two weeks off, with the rest sprinkled throughout. I tried doing a regular year for kindergarten, but I found that if we had more than two weeks we had SO much trouble getting started again.
Thanks for sharing! We really enjoyed CLE Math at that age as well. My son has been in speech for almost three years. I can’t wait until he is done!! Twelve-week terms, that’s a new one I’ve not heard of before. How long do you take off for your breaks?
Hi Misty! I have a 2nd grader and a pre-kindergartner (and an almost-2yo, and one on the way). My pre-K has a couple of numbers/sorting coloring books from ABeka and B&N to let him feel like he’s “doing school.” After his birthday in January, I’ll see if I think he’s ready to start phonics with The Logic of English. We’ll play some games out of Math Games by Peggy Kaye, and do lots of read-alouds, but that’s it through K until he’s reading proficiently, however long it takes – then we’ll start first grade. So we may or may not “repeat” kindergarten also.
My 2nd grader is doing:
Math: Christian Light, with extra practice from Developmental Math topic books as needed
Language Arts: Language of God grammar, FlashKids spelling, A Reason for Handwriting, and Meaningful Composition (only the supplemental unit study, not the whole program)
Social Studies: Legends & Leagues from Veritas
Science: The Universe in My Hands, SchoolAid Health, and a science coop class
Foreign Language: Ecoutez, Parlez French and Little Latin primer
Religion: A Child’s Bible History, various short biographies, and Sunday school
Art: free weekly class @ local art museum
Phys Ed: gymnastics class
She also has speech therapy, although may be able to discontinue in a few more months.
Whew! It looks like a lot, but we don’t do everything every day. Usually she starts after breakfast (so, about 9-9:30) and finishes around 11:30. Then the kids have snack, and I do a short something with my pre-kindergartner before naptime. After nap is lunch, then chores, and they’re basically free for the afternoon. As soon as public school starts back up I’ll try to make breakfast a little earlier so we can take a mid-morning trip to the playground or library while they’re empty. The only work my 2nd grader does outside her morning work period is science, which we go through together twice a week during the pre Ker’s evening karate class. We do school in three 12-week terms spread out through the year, so that’s why we’ve already started.
I love seeing how you set things up!
Hi, Stephany! Yes, we use this program. You can see my review of it here–> http://www.findingjoyinthejourney.net/best-foreign-language-program/
My youngest is 6, and he LOVES the program. The teacher’s guides include fun games and other activities you can do with them. I use it two days a week, about 15-30 minutes each time. Hope that helps!
Hi, I am interested in how you will incorporate Foreign Languages for Kids-Spanish into your homeschool. I plan on using it this school year with my 1st grader and preschooler. I realize that for him it will be more of a “sidelines” type of learning. Have you used this program before? Thanks for taking the time to write this post.