I really like the curriculum we are using this year. It is new for us, and it is a unit study from Learning Adventures. http://www.learning-adventures.org/
It is based in history, with everything tying into that. For instance, the first unit is Ancient Egypt. The bible story is Joseph, Israelites in the desert, Joshua, idolitry, 10 commandments). Science is the desert (including erosion, temperature, weather, plants). It encourages children to discover information on their own by independant study times. It covers everything but math, and I like the writing lessons. The kids really like it and are having fun. We do school together (grades 4,5, 7) with me expecting a little more from my 7th grader. She has to write 2 or 3 5 paragraph essays with each unit. Each unit lasts a month. Once a semester she will write a research paper. I do supplement with Easy Grammer and Daily Grams. I was going to substitute with Wordly Wise as well, but the curriculum covers vocabulary extensively.
It takes me 2 to 2 1/2 hours to cover the work with them, with 1 hour or less independant study on topics discussed, 30 minutes independant reading, 1 hour of math, and 30 minutes of whatever elective we are doing that day. The school day is usually done in 5 hours, with us being done around 2 or 2:30. Last year our days seemed to drag on, but I have learned that more is not neccessarily better. My kids are learning quite a bit. The science activities are frequent and easy and they work, which I appreciate.
It is based in history, with everything tying into that. For instance, the first unit is Ancient Egypt. The bible story is Joseph, Israelites in the desert, Joshua, idolitry, 10 commandments). Science is the desert (including erosion, temperature, weather, plants). It encourages children to discover information on their own by independant study times. It covers everything but math, and I like the writing lessons. The kids really like it and are having fun. We do school together (grades 4,5, 7) with me expecting a little more from my 7th grader. She has to write 2 or 3 5 paragraph essays with each unit. Each unit lasts a month. Once a semester she will write a research paper. I do supplement with Easy Grammer and Daily Grams. I was going to substitute with Wordly Wise as well, but the curriculum covers vocabulary extensively.
It takes me 2 to 2 1/2 hours to cover the work with them, with 1 hour or less independant study on topics discussed, 30 minutes independant reading, 1 hour of math, and 30 minutes of whatever elective we are doing that day. The school day is usually done in 5 hours, with us being done around 2 or 2:30. Last year our days seemed to drag on, but I have learned that more is not neccessarily better. My kids are learning quite a bit. The science activities are frequent and easy and they work, which I appreciate.
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