Over the years our style of schooling has changed out of necessity with four kids in different grades now. We began following The Well Trained Mind by Susan Bauer, fell in love with books with Charlotte Mason style instruction, and finally found freedom through self-directed learning with Robinson Curriculum. Our current style is a mix of all three. We participate in Community Bible Study for our Bible curriculum (non-denominational, expository, book by book study).
School is five days per week. No electronics during the week. Electronics time is Saturday until noon and 2-4pm on Sunday. Lights out is an hour after bedtime, and each kid has a reading light so they can read in bed if they like. I fill out a weekly assignment chart for each child so they can check off their work as they go and I can easily see how their day is going.
Kindergarten-1st Grade :
Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills by American Education Publishing ( K and 1st Grade books)
Zaner Blozer Handwriting (Only the student workbook, the teacher guide is unnecessary.)
Hooked on Phonics (K-2nd grade)
Memorize math facts (add, subtract, multiply, divide), counting to 100 on the number chart, and skip counting. We love TimezAttack (download HERE) and Xtramath for fact practice.
Abeka Science
Abeka History
Miscellaneous workbooks on Geography or other topics of interest.
Music- piano
Sports- ASK Karate , private tennis lessons
Chores- daily chore
2-6 Grade:
Sample Weekly Assignment Checklist
Zaner Blozer Handwriting (one page per day)
Vocabulary/Spelling- Wordly Wise online (one lesson per week) discounted at Homeschool Buyers Co-op
History- Veritas Press self-paced history
Math- Saxon Math beginning with 4/5 once math facts are mastered (at least add and subtract, keep working on multiply, divide). Kids complete one lesson per day and grade their own work (Younger kids start at half a lesson per day and work up to a full lesson). Lessons must be repeated if they are below 90%.
Grammar- IXL (discounted at Homeschool Buyer’s Co-op) 20 minutes per day.
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Science- Apologia Science and ABeka Science readers. Science is a reading assignment only. Kids will complete many of the experiments without being asked.
Writing- copy work then original work at 10 years old. Each day of the week has a different topic for writing: Monday- Scripture, Tuesday- write a letter, Wednesday-fiction, and Friday-science. There is no writing on Thursday. We use composition books for the writing assignments and the expected length of each assignment is increased with age and ability (1-3 pages). 6th grade Lybrand’s Writing course.
Keyboarding- Typing club in 4th grade. One lesson per day.
Music- weekly piano and voice lessons and daily practice
Sports- Golf (Arcis golf lessons), ASK Karate , private tennis lessons
Chores- daily chores
Testing- Beginning in fourth grade, we use Abeka testing services to take the Stanford 10 from home. The test is online and administered by a teacher who is on the phone the whole time.
7-8th grade:
Sample Weekly Assignment Checklist
Science –DIVE online science lecture-based science course/curriculum with online grading (Earth Science, Integrated Chemistry and Physics)
History/Literature/Theology- Veritas Press self-paced Omnibus I and II, Primary and Secondary. We complete Primary first then Secondary instead of concurrently as suggested by Veritas Press.
Math- Saxon Math ( Math 7/6 and Algebra 1/2 minimum)
Vocabulary/Spelling- Wordly Wise (one lesson per week)
Grammar- IXL (20 minutes per day)
Winston Grammar + Advanced Winston Grammar
Writing- PREP Reading and Writing 1 & 2, available in Katy and Cypress TX.
Foreign Language- PREP HS Latin I and/or online Spanish or OneDayAcademy HS Spanish I.
Music- weekly piano and voice lessons and daily practice
Art- Carson’s Art School weekly lessons
Sports- Golf (Arcis golf lessons), ASK Karate, private tennis lessons
Extras- Ages 13+ Teen Pact, Frontier Camp Debate Team
9-12th grade (still building these years)
Science- PREP science, plus AP Prep courses (Biology, Chemistry, Physics).
History/Literature/Theology- Veritas Press self-paced Omnibus III, Primary and Secondary and Omnibus IV,V,VI Survey live online courses.
Math- Shormann Math, plus AP Prep courses Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Pre-Cal, Calculus 1 minimum (Geometry is built into Shormann Math and is not a separate course) or Saxon math at ODA.
Foreign Language- PREP HS Latin 2 and 3 and HS Spanish 1,2 and 3 via Homeschool Spanish Academy or OneDayAcademy
Personal Finance- Dave Ramsey HS online course. May be discounted at Homeschool Buyer’s Co-op
Music- weekly piano and voice lessons and daily practice, and learn a second instrument if interested
Sports- Golf (Arcis golf lessons), ASK Karate, private tennis lessons
Extras- Teen Pact, Frontier Camp , Debate Team
For an exhaustive list of homeschool classes available in the Houston area go HERE.
Online High School Courses:
CLEP Exam Prep:
