Monday, June 23, 2014

Our Homeschool Plans - Bible and History Selections - 2014-15

I have fallen in love with a certain homeschool curriculum company!  They truly have my heart.  I love their thought process behind creating the curriculum. I love the grid lesson plans already prepared for me and their Bible portion is amazing.

This year, though, the Lord has been nudging me toward making a change from that "boxed" curriculum.  The truth is, He has been nudging me the entire time we have educated at home, but he allowed me to choose something that wasn't the best fit so that I could learn a lesson or two (or three). 

When the Lord called Samuel's name in 1 Samuel 3, he replied by saying, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening." This is what I have said to the Lord this year!  He is in the lead in our homeschool, and He is leading us where we need to go!


This year, our plans are to follow a more "pure" Charlotte Mason approach, and I could not be more excited!  It will require more planning and preparation than I am used to, but the benefits of this type of education are so fruitful!


I'm excited to share with you what we will be using!  It looks like a lot all typed out on one page, but if you know Charlotte Mason methods, you know that it will be a peace-filled gentle year, but a meaty education!  For today, I'll share our Bible choices and our History choices.  The rest of this week, I will share the other subjects! 



Bible: 

This past year, we read through the Old Testament in our curriculum, so we are moving on from that into the New Testament.  We will be reading from The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos, focusing on the parts from the gospels as we study the life Jesus lived here on earth.  

We will also read and study the names of God from the book, God's Names (Children Desiring God)  by Sally Michael.  This book comes highly recommended by so many of my friends who have read it with their children, and I am excited to be reading it this year with my three!

If I find that we have time this year, we may also read the devotional from Little Visits with God, by Allan Hart Jahsmann.
 

And we will continue to memorize scripture following the system from Simply Charlotte Mason, as well as do a hymn study by learning new hymns from the SCM list


History:

My children are not quite ready to delve into all of world history, which is where most history cycles begin, and I heard someone say recently on a homeschool workshop CD that it would be better to teach young ones about their God first, their own country's history next, and then to teach them about the rest of the world.  So this year, we are sticking with an American History plan.  We will be reading these books this year:

The Light and the Glory for Children : Discovering God's Plan for America from Christopher Columbus to George Washington- by Peter Marshall & David Manuel - This book gives an account of early American history from a Christian perspective.  We have the series written for adults, and this is a wonderful writing for reading to children. 

A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840 - by Barbara Greenwood - A friend highly recommended this one to me!  I'm excited to read about "the daily life of a pioneer family in 1840", as the book's subtitle reads.  

Little House in the Big Woods  - Laura Ingalls Wilder - You've probably heard of this one before!  This is the first book in the series (and we have the whole set!)  It is full of details about history, but also really great literature, too!  We love chapter books!

Liberty's Kids - The Complete Series (DVDs) - Once again, highly recommended by a friend.  We do not watch very much television, but this will give my children something educational to watch, and it will go along with what we are reading!  I was so excited to find this set on Amazon for only $5.00!  It is all forty episodes in one!


So there you have it!  That is our list of Bible and History!  Tomorrow, you can read about what I have selected for Language Arts and Math!


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2 comments:

  1. I have taken down the bible book titles you listed, so I can use them this summer with my Grandchildren. Thank you for sharing your plans....I hope it all goes well. Do you school all year, or do you take summers off?

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    1. Hi Rosemary! Thanks for reading and for your comment! We do school year-round, typically following the "Sabbath week" schedule of 6 weeks on, 1 week off. We take a bit longer break in December and again in July, usually 4 weeks each time, and a day off here and there as needed for sickness, travel, visitors, and field trips. Enjoy your summer with your grandchildren!!

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