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Our 2012-2013 Homeschool Curriculum

Originally posted on our homeschool blog, Benoit Academy.

Our 2012-2013 Homeschool Curriculum

So here’s a bit of a rundown of what has worked (& hasn’t worked) for us this year:

J12 – the tween

*FLVS (Florida Virtual School) – this was our 1st year using a virtual school. I thought it would be best for her (& my sanity!) if we went this route. I was going to have all 3 kids doing “official” school this year & since I was planning it all out myself using bits of pieces of what I could find online I thought hers would be a lifesaver & give me more time to have 1-on-1 interaction with the 2 younger ones. It wasn’t.

I do have to say that she absolutely loved her Language Arts class & her Science class but that’s it. The schedule was not flexible & to do 4 core classes it took her ALL DAY. Who, as a homeschooling student & teacher, wants to do school ALL DAY?! I also had to help her out A LOT which defeated the purpose of why I signed her up in the 1st place. Plus. you have to be very computer smart since the projects they have to do require some skills.

We have decided we will not continue with FLVS for the core subjects during the next school year. 

*Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool – LOVE LOVE LOVE this site for her! Since she was down to 2 online classes at the time I figured it was time to add more. I had already started using EP for my other 2. I started J12 on Year 4 level M which is the “extras” such as Bible, Science, History, Art, Music, & some Computer.

She reads through the directions & does the work ALL ON HER OWN & enjoys it! She will finish the EP curriculum in maybe an hour tops! She has already decided to use it for the full curriculum next school year. Lee (the creator of EP) is an awesome homeschooling mama herself & has created this whole curriculum for PreK-8th so far. She is working on 9th grade+ now.

L8 – the son


*Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool – I started using the 1st level since he isn’t picking up reading so much & EP is VERY much reading based. She has them starting in PreK/K (Getting Ready 2) with McGuffy Readers. My son was getting frustrated with it so we switched to something else for reading.

We used EP for Math, English, Science, History, Art, & Music.

*Ready2Read program Level 2 by Moffitt Girls – We had already used the Level 1 last year & he loved it but this level was moving too fast for him. It is a great program & fun & looks super cute! BUT there is a ton of printing & laminating if you want the stuff to last. You could also put the worksheets in a page protector & use dry-erase markers so you can use them over again! Follow the link above to see the program in action on her blog.

*Expedition Earth  – We actually started this last year in the middle of the year. This is so much fun too but it took up a major chunk of our day so we decided to use this during this summer. It is a ton of printing as well but you can print most of it out in black/white to save $ on ink. There is also an animal minibook for each country, animal classification study, & Christmas Around The World! Comes with lesson plans for each country, crafts, recipes, etc.

*ClickNKids Phonics program – I will admit that the only reason we have this is because I found a great deal on a lifetime subscription that I couldn’t pass up. It helped my son at 1st but it seemed he hit a roadblock & while the program was advancing he was not & was getting very frustrated. When I have to fight my child to do something that makes him upset then it’s just time to throw in the towel & find something else that works.

Don’t get me wrong, we liked it but it becomes repetitive & honestly it is really more of a supplement than an actual teaching tool. We will use it for review of the earlier lessons. You can also transfer 1 subscription to another child & the original childs progress will be erased. This is great for when my son doesn’t use it at all & I want M6 to use it without having to pay for a whole other subscription.

*Funnix Reading & Math – Again, I only started using this because during the month of Dec. they were giving away their Reading & Math programs for free! L8 is really only using this sometimes but we love it. M6 uses this 4 days a week. It’s just like it says…”a tutor in your computer.”

I did end up having to buy both programs ONLY because I messed up & accidently deleted some stuff so it wouldn’t work anymore..LOL. I think it’s worth it though especially when I can set them up with their printable workbook & they can work on it by themselves. I quiz them afterwards to get an idea of whether or not they are staying on track.

*Reading Eggs – It was time to find an awesome reading program for my son who is sooo struggling with it. It seems like 1 day he gets it & then the next day he looks at the same thing as if he has never seen it before & never learned how to read! I had heard so much about Reading Eggs & had come across a great deal for a 1 year subscription. I jumped at it! I’m so happy I did, as are my kids, because they will sit & play on it all day if I let them! To them it’s a computer game but they are really learning! It’s a bit pricey but worth it in my opinion if you have a child struggling with reading.

*Math Mammoth – We needed something a little extra for math lessons than EP was giving us. After some research I decided on Math Mammoth. I chose the 1st-3rd grade bundle & glad I did since he is needing some review from 1st grade before continuing with the 2nd grade curriculum. They are pdf files so you print it all out but it’s not just supplemental worksheets. It actually has the lessons taught on the worksheet! Just read it & go!

M6 – Kid Baker


*ABCMouse.com – She had begged me to start using this because the commercial was ALWAYS on. I decided to give in & get it for her. After about 1 month she decided it was boring….LOL. Ok then…I cancelled that one.

*Funnix Reading & Math – This is her main curriculum now. I set her up at the computer with her headphones & printable workbook & off she goes. She loves it & says she feels like big girl. That’s because with RockerGirl doing her school online M6 feels like she is doing the same thing. So cute!

*Reading Eggs – Since L8 was already using this, M6 was jealous because she wanted to play super fun games for her school too. So I decided to get her own subscription & she will play on it all day if I let her. She really does learn!

*Expedition Earth   We actually started this last year in the middle of the year. This is so much fun too but it took up a major chunk of our day so we decided to use this during this summer. It is a ton of printing as well but you can print most of it out in black/white to save $ on ink. There is also an animal minibook for each country, animal classification study, & Christmas Around The World! Comes with lesson plans for each country, crafts, recipes, etc.

*Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool – We used the Getting Ready 1 & 2 for the letters & numbers at the beginning of the school year. We did a letter a week (unless she already knew them then we would bunch up 2 or so) followed by a letter craft on Friday’s from No Time For Flashcards. These letter crafts were hung up across the top of 1 of our dining room walls as you can see below!

*Confessions of a Homeschooler-Letter of the Week – We used this along with EP. It is a lot of printing but you can pick & choose what you want/need so you don’t have to print it all!

2012-2013 curriculum (M6)

 

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