Curriculum Choices 2025

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It's been a year or maybe two since I've done a curriculum choice post since, honestly, our choices have remained relatively the same the last few years. This year, with Mouse entering high school (see blog post and curriculum choices for her HERE) and Thumper needing some changes, I figured now would be a good time to do an updated curriculum choice post. We have also added Bird to the mix more intentionally and formally this year, and her outlook on school looks different than it was for her sisters at this age.

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Thumper is going into the 5th grade this year, and we had to change some things. A lot of our choices remain the same. We will continue using Sonlight History/Bible/Literature and following along with Level E: Intro to American History Year Two. This may be our last year with Sonlight, as we seem to be looking for a change of pace. So I have challenged us to stay up on our Sonlight level and made a goal to finish by the end of October. Because, in November I would like to try one of Campfire Curriculums Thanksgiving Units. Based off of how we like this unit will help determine where we go with school in 2026.

Thumper, my math loving kiddo,is also continuing with Math U See Epsilon that she started in July, when she finishes that level she will continue on to Zeta. She seems on pace for completing these, as we rarely have to stop and take time to practice a lesson beyond the six practice pages and tests.

She also started with IEW last year doing a themed book (Bible Heroes), this year she will is doing their Student Structure and Style Year 1 Level A. She is continuing on with their Fix It Grammar as well. We really do like the simplicity of this grammar program.

She is dabbling in Latin this year using Duolingo, where last year she was learning Swedish. I’m hoping at some point she will narrow down her focus and choose a language to pursue more formally in the years to come. But she has time still.

The biggest thing we changed is science. We had a bit of a struggle last year with completing assignments. So, after some discussion, we decided to switch from Apologia to Sonlight Science. Still, we are doing Anatomy and Physiology, which is a retired core that I was able to snag from Rainbow Resources. She will independently tackle the “read-aloud” and the daily questions/worksheets.

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Thumper and Bird are working together on our Adoptive Cow Program. These are fun little learning activities sprinkled into our year, where we will mostly work on things on Saturdays together.

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With Bird I have had to do a lot of thinking, reorganizing, and planning to decider how best she will learn. Right now my current plan is to begin All About Reading Pre-Reading with her, modifying it a little bit. We will follow the lessons in number order, completing two to three lessons a week. However, we will do activity sheets and crafts based on a letter a week (upper and lower case).  She got some alphabet games for Christmas we will play as well to help increase letter recognition.

I’m also adding in Before Five in a Row, but I’m not sure how well this will go. So far it feels like a lot of prep and planning for very little activity. I’m going to give it a chance, but we may just read the books and I’ll come up with my own activities to accompany the books. My plan is to do two books a month, so we will see.

I’m not starting a formal math program with her, but she did surprise me over Christmas break, while playing UNO, of her number recognition. So we will just find some math games to play and go from there. If we go home at all this year, I may decide to pick up Math U See Primer for her and start that will her slowly.

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So in a nutshell she’ll those are our curriculum choices for the 2025 school year for grades 5 and pre-school.

As always, keep following our journey on our Facebook Page or Instagram.  If you want more in-depth conversations, check out our Facebook Parent Group. More importantly, if you’re finding yourself in a struggle season, reach out (email or messages).

Homeschooling: entering the High School Years plus curriculum choices

It's here; as of January 13, 2025, we officially have a high schooler. I've feared this day for many reasons, but I'm unsure as to why. Maybe it was realizing she was old enough, or maybe because I couldn’t see beyond teaching that tiny human to read when we began our homeschooling journey. That was my biggest hurdle, and I couldn't see beyond that. I know my Momma's heart isn't ready for her to grow up that it has all gone too fast. But it is here, and I can't stop it; we must embrace it, accept it, grow with it now, and make it the best experience for her possible.

Requirements for Graduation:

I spent last year trying to prepare for this moment. I determined what requirements I wanted for her( also aligning with the state of Wisconsin’s requirements) and considered her tentative plans for the future. Until last year, she wanted to be a veterinarian or vet tech, but she's been leaning towards joining “the family business” of operating heavy equipment. Her great-grandfather, grandfather, DADDY-o, aunt, and uncle have all or are currently involved in something along these lines. So, for her, this means that a 4-year college education is most likely not in her future. This is perfectly acceptable to us as long as she wants it. While her requirements for graduation will still need to be met, it does change the courses she might choose to take over the next 4 years, which may look a little different than I had initially planned.

Moving to Independence:

We worked on that this past year with her science and French courses. This was a learning curve for planning, time management, checking in, and guiding. Based on what we both learned from this, we have decided that I will outline monthly goals for her to meet, but it will be up to her how she accomplishes them. We will take the year's first quarter to assess whether this method works for us. Eventually, I hope I won't have to intervene in setting her goals; she can do that alone. My most significant role will be to evaluate her work for grades and assign credits.

I plan to check in with her weekly for the first quarter, and if that goes well, I will move into bi-weekly checks in the second quarter and then monthly checks in the third and fourth quarters.

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Courses for this year:

Sonlight American History 100: She likes the reading and literature we've been using for the last few years and wanted to continue using this curriculum independently. We plan on meeting weekly to discuss questions from our guides.

Sonlight American Literature (with the language arts components writing, analogies, spelling, and vocabulary): Once it arrived and we looked through the entire literature course, we decided to use the complete literature program instead of another program, especially since she most likely isn't pursuing a four-year degree. We will also discuss questions weekly as well.

IEW Fix it Level 5 Frog Prince:

While we aren't doing writing from there, I wanted her to finish the last two levels of grammar. They are quick and easy enough for her to fit in, and she enjoys them.

MUS Pre-Algebra: She has approximately 4-5 lessons to complete in Zeta and then will move on to pre-algebra. Math is not her favorite and is not easy, but I hope her confidence and skills will build this year.

Apologia Biology: She has enjoyed Apologia Sciences since we switched 3/4 years ago and is continuing by using their high school courses. She is primarily excited to be allowed to dissect things officially.

Rosette Stone : She has decided to switch from French to Spanish, as she was struggling with French a bit last year and also thinks Spanish may be more beneficial in her career choice than French.

Keyboarding: Moving beyond typing games, she will practice proficiency and accuracy this year and hopefully improve this skill.

Thrive Physical Education: I was excited to find this year-long PE/Health course from Not Consumed. I was writing an independent PE course for her (which I will still do because she needs one more half credit for graduation) but stopped when I found this curriculum. This will be perfect for her as she will most likely be on the road with Daddy-o for most of the year.

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Grading & Evaluating: The biggest thing I have to iron out as we progress through this year is evaluating and grading, which we haven't done much of. I found an online grade book to help me record things and make a transcript. I have to determine what to grade and evaluate for each course. This will become clearer as she begins working through things and turns things in.

The challenge of High School is upon us, and she is excited, which hopefully will rub off on the Ol’ Momma Bear.

As always, keep following our journey on our Facebook Page or Instagram.  If you want more in-depth conversations, check out our Facebook Parent Group. More importantly, if you’re finding yourself in a struggle season, reach out (email or messages).