This week's Aussie Not Back To School Blog Hop is about the curriculum we're using this year. For a long list of reasons, I'm not going to share right now, both of my children use identical curriculum. They do, however, use it at their own grade level for math, spelling, & reading. So, you won't see a major breakdown of lists here for each student, but rather one list of everything we aim to use this year. Of course we could get a few weeks in and totally change our minds. That's happened before...

History:

Sonlight Core E {5 Day} -- This year we're finishing off the second half of US History with Sonlight. We actually used Winter Promise last year, but opted to switch to Sonlight for this year. There were many factors in this choice, but one of the biggest was that I knew my children would enjoy the book selection more from Sonlight then would have from Winter Promise this year.

HomeSchool In The Woods -- Once again we're using the Time Traveler Cds. I could rave for more time then I should about this wonderful company & their amazing products, but I won't. This year we're using their Civil War, Industrial Revolution Through The Great Depression, & World War II cds. These cds are loaded with historical information, notebooking pages, lapbooking pages, crafts, recipes, games, & more! I will be matching them up to the topics we cover in Sonlight so the boys can continue with a hands on theme for US History.

Math:

Teaching Textbooks -- We switched from a Living Math {homemade} curriculum with the boys to a more standard curriculum last year. We're continuing down that path for now and sticking with Teaching Textbooks 3, 4, 5, & 6 with the boys. No, they will not do two grades each in a year, it has more to do with where they were on their cds when we stopped for our summer break and how quickly I think they will progress through their studies over the course of a year.

Math Mammoth -- I am not a fan of this curriculum. In fact, I can't stand it, but we own a few that we've picked up for free & there are certain areas, at times, when I think my kids need a bit of review on a certain topic here or there. We will use Math Mammoth during those times alongside games to help reinforce math principles.  {I just find this curriculum far too textbooky, dry, & at times utterly confusing, but my children' have never complained when presented with the work. Another thing I was unimpressed with was the Metric Book measurements were off when we used our rules. That bugged me to no end!}

Life Of Fred  -- Morgan will be using Fractions {& Decimals} every other day alongside his Teaching Textbooks. We had some really crazy busy days last year where I had him do more computer based math then Fred. Morgan was less then impressed by that because he really loves the Fred books and does ridiculously well with them.

Language Arts:

Sonlight Language Arts -- I will be using two different grades here that best match my children's reading abilities. I noticed, while doing my research, that people either loved SL LA or they hated it. Personally what I saw of it I really liked and I'm very eager to get going with it. Both boys were suppose to use this last year, but our package with Morgan's book was lost in the mail somewhere and I had to reorder and await it's arrival. Jayden's arrived & he started on it, but I slowed him down because I didn't want to have them both in the same book should Jayden have finished his before Morgan's arrived. 

SpellWell -- Both boys will be continuing with SpellWell, or rather Morgan will continue with it while Jayden begins with it. I wasn't sure if Jayden would truly need a spelling programme, and I'm still not. He's got a photographic memory that serves him well in many of these situations, but he's requested spelling so he can "learn to do it right." 

Science:

Apologia Science -- Our original plans for science last year didn't pan out the way I had hoped. It was probably teacher error, but regardless I felt the need to pick up in this area of our homeschool a bit, especially with highschool so close for Morgan. Thus, we've decided to go with Apologia Science & had hoped to start last year. I wanted, very badly, to do Biology with the boys, but they chose Zoology 1, which we had to wait ages for because the Jr Notebook for Jayden was suppose to be printed at the end of October but got pushed to the end of November & was eventually pushed to the end of December. So much for that jump start on science! Funniest part was, had we gone with Biology we wouldn't have had to wait. The boys have since decided they'd also like to do Biology so we're debating ordering Biology & doing 6 weeks of one 6 weeks of the other, but I'm very undecided at this time.

NaturExplorer Nature Studies -- I would love to say I'm capable of using these as our sole science curriculum, but I'm not. It's that simple. I do own many of these though and hope to get good use out of them this year. We'll see how that pans out.

Beautiful Feet -- Last year we purchased their History Of Science while we were waiting for the Apologia Science, but I had a hold up getting a few books we needed. One couldn't be sent directly to me for some absurd reason & the others took a while for me to round up. 

Art:

Artistic Pursuits -- I'm still desperately seeking someone in my area who will teach the boys art {drawing}, but until then we've decided to continue forward with Artistic Pursuits. We'll be using some of the books from the K3 level and some rom the 4-6 level. 

Bible:

Grapevine Bible OT -- We've spent the last two years working through the New Testament with the Grapevine Curriculum. We had times when we took the lessons very slowly and allowed ourselves to really stroll through it quietly. We also had times when we picked up the pace considerably and ran headlong forward until I felt we should really slow down. So this year I'm really looking forward to going back to the Old Testament with the boys {especially Jayden who only remembers some of the more famous things from the OT}  & starting again. We'll be using Level 2 this time.

Bible Memory Box -- which is more fondly known as the Memory Box in our home. This box is packed with Bible verses, some from the lessons we've done, some that are ones that apply to certain situations a family member might have needed to concentrate on, or perhaps a family favorite. The box is still brimming and we're still adding to it. Last year the boys worked their way through Luke 2 with this system {as well as many other verses} & I really need to video them saying it.

Sonlight Bible -- Sonlight offers a few different ideas for Bible in all their cores. We will try them all and what we like we will stick with, if some don't fit for us that's okay too. However, one that I do plan to use is reading through the Bible with the boys. They have you read in the NT & then go back to the OT for a bit. When we do this, I'm planning to use The Picture Smart Bible. I thought it would be a fun way to help them remember what each book of the Bible that we read is about.

Geography:

Sonlight Geography -- within our core this year we'll be learning about Canada & South America. I'm curious to see how this geography will play out because we were sorely disappointed with our geography last year. I like that this year we'll learn about missionaries to certain countries, and from what I can tell without actually doing the lessons this year looks so much more promising!

Mystery State Series -- I bought these books when Morgan was in 2nd grade or less! They were on special via The Mailbox company. Each book has stories inside and then you solve the mystery. Obviously each one revolves around maps and locations. We'll be using these for our upcoming Mystery/Spy unit.

Tools For The Geographer -- this a new to us book that I believe is out of print. I was feeling very frustrated with our geography last year. My kids know plenty in regards to continents, oceans, major countries & cities. But I wanted to go a bit more in depth. This book was recommended in one of the Rebecca Rupp books & I was able to hunt it down and try it out. Basically each page/lesson gives you coordinates on a map and you have to find that exact place. I think the boys will really enjoy using this book!


Misc:

{Things we may use, we may not use, or simply do not fit into a category above}

Beginning Word Roots 

Critical Thinking/Logic

Dance Mat Typing &/or Sponge Bob Typing

Winter Promise Timeline {ongoing}

Notebooking pages {vary}

Simply Presidential

Of course, we're still waiting for some of our things to arrive, so we're going to start the new school year off with a fun unit study about spies/detectives! Should be fun, the boys have been waiting far too long for this unit study so here's hoping it's everything they were looking for.

Yes, we made the birthday table be in the school room. Mostly because it's easier for Mr S to get to on his crutches. That and the boys were bound to see it as they stumbled from their rooms. My camera is on the fritz so by the time  got it to focus {mostly} he'd all ready opened most of his stash. He's flipping through the Australian Dangerous Book For Boys.


There was much excitement over this set of Snap Circuits that I'd picked up on sale at the local toy store. They were deciding what they'd build first based on what the exterior of the box said was available. Mind you there are over 100 things to build and the box only mentioned something like 4.


There was much internal debate over what to get this kid for his 11th birthday. Mr S had a video game he wanted to give him & I knew of a video game Morgan wanted, but it was only available for the ds, not the wii. This meant he was going to end up with two games he could only play on Mr S' DS as the boys don't own their own. I scrapped my idea of buying him his own camera and picked him up a DS instead. The local EB Games has second hand ones for a really good price. In fact, two of the games we got him were cheaper because we bought them second hand. And, in case your wondering, everything from EB Games comes with warranties. The console itself comes with 12 months, the games come with only a week, but for $2 per game you can buy extended warranties for them.


The cake.. oh the cake.. I'd been asking him for over a week what he wanted for a cake but he didn't know. The day before his birthday I told him he had to be more specific or I'd pick for him. So he decided a quidditch field or a castle would be great. Um, yeah so I went with the quidditch field, and a sloppy one at that. I've promised a much fancier one when we take a cake with us to the city for our outing of mini golf with cousins. I wasn't impressed with the cake, but the birthday boy was and that's what matters most. The goals are pretzel sticks and pretzels circles stuck together with chocolate. I included 1 quaffle, 2 bludgers, and 1 golden snitch {minus wings}. Oliver Wood would be proud I picked up on his rules so quickly, eh?


It was just the four of us and his Nana over for cake and dinner yesterday. Very quiet and fun evening. All though it's traditional in our house to blow party poppers after the birthday song is sun. Oh my goodness, have you seen the new party poppers you twist and they burst everywhere? Yeah.. well there might have only been 4 people bursting them but oh my goodness it looked like a heap had a party all over the couch and lounge room floor!

This has to be one of my all time favourite items to have around the house. Seriously, when we run out I usually hit panic mode and go pick up another packet of them! So recently when I found the 3M Value Pack of command strips I was in awe! I picked up a packet of them and set to use around the house.

The one thing we're not suppose to do as renters is put unnecessary holes in the walls, but frankly I think that's a lose term. For instance, I might like where my pictures are now, but there's a good chance I'll rearrange my house and want to move the pictures because they will no longer look right. And I like to decorate for the holidays and seasons. Hanging up our birthday banners or items for other holidays can be hindered by wondering if I should stick a tack in the wall to hang up said item.

In fact in the last house we did. I found that the infamous Blu-Tac just wasn't strong enough for many items like posters and birthday banners & I spent more time reapplying the items then enjoying having them up.

I first found a packet of these by another company and they were referred to as Poster Tape. I brought the package home and hung up our world map & our US map and never had to fuss over them falling off the wall in the summer again. Then we moved & I had to take them down. The beauty of this stuff is that you actually hold a small tap with one hand while pulling with another and it comes off the wall and item cleanly!


When I found the value pack I also found a pack of small decorating hooks. The picture on the package showed a string of Christmas lights hung up, but when I saw them I knew they were perfect for our birthday banners & other holiday banners. Instead of using tacs we place one of these hooks {with the command tape on the back} at the corners of doorways. Then we put a knot or loop on the banner and hang it on the hook! We can take the banners down and put new ones up for the changing holidays & seasons without ever making a single mark on the wall!


This main area in the kitchen/dining room is where we hung Christmas decorations, then Australia Day bunting, & now the birthday banner. It's been so nice not to have to fumble with tacs of a stapler and just hook the loops in our banners or buntings on the hooks!


We have some in the kitchen/lounge room doorway too which made throwing up our Valentine's Day banner really quick and easy. Except for when you're halfway up the ladder and a child decides to run off leaving you stranded without the pegs to attack the pieces to the string..


I even hung up an art line, which is practically invisible unless you stand right up next to it. It's white string on a boring white wall with clear hooks holding it up! Our art line is a tad empty & only has two letters from pen-pals & our Summer Bucket list. I'm looking forward to seeing it a bit more filled in over the year. As to where to find the fun hooks, I find them down the hardware isle at the local grocery shop, which for us is Woolies.

We spent a fun weekend away camping in the bush. Dodging snakes, jellyfish, scorpions, mice, frogs, & even stinging caterpillars. No joke on that either! Which is nothing compared to those naughty little "paddy-Lemons" {as they shall forever and always now be known as..} who like to steal your bananas, wallabies who are nosey enough to sniff your hands, & possums who think being on top of your tent is way cooler then being on the ground. Not to mention wombats who are cute and fuzzy and squeal like crazy when they are insulted, frustrated, or hurt.

All though I have no video or photographic proof of any of this as I was quite preoccupied with a large assortment of things. In fact, I have very few photos of this entire event as my camera was hi-jacked by a certain boy who shall remain nameless but who's birthday is fast approaching..


We're now sporting heaps of fly bites {that'd be me}, sunburn {that'd be Morgan}, permanently dirty feet {that'd be Jayden}, and a flashy new pair of crutches {that'd be Mr S.}. Many memories made, and gobs of fun stories to tell, but for now I have a huge pile of laundry to deal with & a tent that needs to be dried out.. neither of which can happen until this rain lets up!

In honor of the upcoming start of the Aussie School Year we've joined the Aussie Not Back To School Blog Hop. If you're interested in learning more about it or meeting other Aussies' who've joined the Blog Hop just check out the link above.

Meet Morgan our 11 year old {well, in 4 days so for the sake of this blog post I shall simply suck it up and consider him to be 11} Grade 5/6-er.

I've made mention of the book Home Learning Year By Year written by Rebecca Rupp many times here, so it was only fitting to write a complete review of the book which is now up and ready for reading over at The Curriculum Choice.

I really love this book & use it at least annually to make the lists of things for my kids to work towards achieving on their checklists through out the school year. The book can be overwhelming at first if you expect that your child must know all that information at the end of the year. We don't. We use it as a guideline knowing that in some areas they will learn everything and in others they won't.

A few years ago a friend introduced me to another Rupp book entitled The Complete Home Learning Source Book. I gave a mini review of this book as well because it's just too good to pass up if you can still find it in print.

Anyway, if you're interested in knowing more about either book you'll have to hop on over to The Curriculum Choice and check them out.