Curriculum 2014

While I was on vacation in Minnesota, I received my letter from the school district confirming our homeschool status for this year. This is our second official year of homeschool, though I've been homeschooling them their whole lives if you ask me. This year, the twins (7) and M (4) are all considered by the state to be homeschooling.

Our homeschool method would probably be considered "unschool" primarily. There are some subjects I put more deliberate emphasis on, though. For example, when the twins were four, I put concentrated effort into teaching them to read. Learning to read helps open the door for self-education. Now, they read chapter books that are, in some cases, intended for kids three or more years older.

This year, I will be teaching M to read. We've worked on letter recognition and a bit of phonics leading up to this. She has a hard time sitting still and paying attention, which was never a problem for her older sisters.

The twins are reading chapter books a few years beyond their age range. They're also learning to use knives in the kitchen, and tools (including power tools) outside. This year, we'll work more on telling time, mental arithmetic, and multiplication and division. They have inherited their grandma's old macbook with which they will be using Khan Academy and other educational sites.

All three girls are in gymnastics. The twins just tried out for pre-team lessons but didn't make it. Still, their coach says their skill level is such that they should move on to the next level.  They'll try out for pre-team again when they're ready.

I will be going back to school starting the 18th, to work on a biology degree. For my language requirement, I'll be taking ASL, which I'm very excited about. My kids already know a bit of sign language and I intend to share my lessons with them.

I believe that ASL, art, and science lessons will crop up pretty organically around our house, so the table below lists only the topics I feel need more special focus. Of course, because we have a rather unstructured homeschool, we may cover much more than I have planned here.

M	Math: Counting Shapes Seasons Months Beginning adding and subtracting	Gym: Junior Girls	Language: Reading Phonics Letter drawing	Geography: Mapping Our Neighborhood	Life Skills: Scissors Glue Making Bed Tying Shoes Cleaning Up
S&C	Math: Mental Math Multiplication Division Telling Time Number Lines Measuring Money	Gym: Girls	Language: Reading Writing Story Telling Punctuation	Geography: Mapping Our Neighborhood Our State Our Country Our Continent Other Continents	Life Skills: Using Knives Doing Laundry Washing Dishes Sweeping Mopping Gardening

This post is part of the "NOT back-to-homeschool" blog hop through iHomeschool Network