We use Mother of Divine Grace for our curriculum. I am enrolled in their school, but that enrollment allows me some flexibility in curriculum choices if I keep to the school standards. I definitely organize the school day in my mind differently than they, but the essence is the same.
Here's the original:
Religion:
The Golden Children’s Bible (Golden Press)
Math:
Golden Step Ahead Workbooks: I Know Numbers (ed. Kathleen A. Cole)
Golden Step Ahead Workbooks: Numbers 1-10 (Lois Bottoni)
Golden Step Ahead Number Flashcards
Reading/Phonics:
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
(Siegfried Engelmann)Handwriting:
Writing Can Help Series, Book A: A Creative Alphabet (Marie Picard)
blank composition book
Poetry:
The Harp and Laurel Wreath (ed. Laura M. Berquist)
Art/Music:
Child-Size Masterpieces: Mommy, It’s a Renoir! - Text (Aline D. Wolf)
Child-Size Masterpieces: Mommy, It’s a Renoir! - Easy Steps 1-3
36 Traditional Roman Catholic Hymns: A Book for Singing with Accompanying CD Recordings
St. Michael Wooden Rosary Holder
Olive Wood Rosary Kit
Rosary Case Lacing Project
Lourdes Marian Grotto Kit
Spiritual Bouquet Card Kit (www.illuminatedink.com)
Literature:
Free choice from classic children's literature, liturgical year recommendations, and selections from The Book of Virtues.
My Real Curriculum:
Poetry:
We follow the syllabus except I add address, phone number, birthday, and songs about ABC's, days of the week, states, books of the NT, and months of the year to his memorization.
We follow the syllabus except I add address, phone number, birthday, and songs about ABC's, days of the week, states, books of the NT, and months of the year to his memorization.
We follow the syllabus, except we generally get way ahead for lessons 1-20 and then switch to twice a week sessions when it gets hard, but we still cover the recommended one Lesson a week. The only adaptation is the "sound writing" task at the end of each lesson is often a Sandpaper Letters
task instead of pencil work, as he usually hasn't learned to write those letters yet. On the off days when he just can't bear to do this book, we make up nonsense words with the sounds he knows using Phonogram Rocks or we sort objects by first letter sound. Also, he takes a turn reading Bob Books to us at night when the other kids are doing their easy-reader read aloud time.
task instead of pencil work, as he usually hasn't learned to write those letters yet. On the off days when he just can't bear to do this book, we make up nonsense words with the sounds he knows using Phonogram Rocks or we sort objects by first letter sound. Also, he takes a turn reading Bob Books to us at night when the other kids are doing their easy-reader read aloud time.
Writing:
We follow the syllabus pace, but we do the letters out of order so that the child first learns the letters in his first name and then we follow the same general order of the phonics text. Alternatively, we use these notebooking pages for more practice or for variety if he's getting tired of the book. For extra pencil practice, he does Walmart workbook mazes (voluntarily...loads of them) while the other kids work.
'Rithmetic
We followed the syllabus until the Golden Books got too writing intensive. He found writing the numbers really difficult, so we quickly did the rest of the non-number-writing activities and then switched to other things. I used a lot of the activities from Montessori at Home to teach 1-9, the teens, and the tens, but aside from playing the Exchange Game, he wants "big boy" math, which means worksheets. Go figure. I use hers, because the number writing builds up slowly. But there's weirdly advanced stuff in there, so I skip some things, like the less-than-greater-than puzzles. Also, I already have an Abeka 1 workbook. We might play in there too.
We followed the syllabus until the Golden Books got too writing intensive. He found writing the numbers really difficult, so we quickly did the rest of the non-number-writing activities and then switched to other things. I used a lot of the activities from Montessori at Home to teach 1-9, the teens, and the tens, but aside from playing the Exchange Game, he wants "big boy" math, which means worksheets. Go figure. I use hers, because the number writing builds up slowly. But there's weirdly advanced stuff in there, so I skip some things, like the less-than-greater-than puzzles. Also, I already have an Abeka 1 workbook. We might play in there too.
Religion
The Golden Bible is TOO HARD for my kids. I already had to fight him for phonics and writing, I didn't want to fight him for Bible too! It wasn't just "challenging", it was impossible for him to understand. I might as well read the New York Times business section to him. We like Lovasik's Children's Picture Bible mixed with the very cartoony, Catholic Bible Stories for Children for review and easier retelling. We go much faster than the syllabus, since I like to get through one Testament or the other in a year. All the kids listen to the saint of the day and he tells me something he remembers from the story.
The Golden Bible is TOO HARD for my kids. I already had to fight him for phonics and writing, I didn't want to fight him for Bible too! It wasn't just "challenging", it was impossible for him to understand. I might as well read the New York Times business section to him. We like Lovasik's Children's Picture Bible mixed with the very cartoony, Catholic Bible Stories for Children for review and easier retelling. We go much faster than the syllabus, since I like to get through one Testament or the other in a year. All the kids listen to the saint of the day and he tells me something he remembers from the story.
Art and Music Friday
We follow the syllabus for Art, but not music. We sing songs together and he hears the older kids Music Masters on Friday. Well, that's not true completely. I don't do all of the crafts. We have other handcrafts, like weaving looms, stitch boards, and art insets on our busy shelf.
We follow the syllabus for Art, but not music. We sing songs together and he hears the older kids Music Masters on Friday. Well, that's not true completely. I don't do all of the crafts. We have other handcrafts, like weaving looms, stitch boards, and art insets on our busy shelf.
30 Minutes of Reading
Our school recommends 30 minutes a day of read-aloud time. I do all three kids together. We split our time between Burgess and Holling C. Holling stories, The Book of Virtues, tall tales and fairy tales, picture books, and the occasional Eggleston history book.
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