Curriculum Choices 2011-2012
This post may contain affiliate links.
I have spent a lot of time contemplating what curriculum to choose for my kids this year. I have a son going into first grade & a 4-year-old preschooler. I finally chose to use a curriculum called L.I.F.E. school. It is an all in one curriculum that focuses on the 4-year history rotation from an L.D.S. perspective. We are starting with Ancient History (pre-existence to 5 B.C.), and the Old Testament. I am really excited to start teaching and learning in this new way. Since I decided to start homeschooling last year & have been reading and studying different methods, I felt so strongly that I need to incorporate our religious beliefs into our curriculum. This curriculum is perfect for that. I hope we like it…
In addition to Scripture based history, the program covers:
Language Arts and Grammar, Reading and Literature, Creative Writing, Spelling and Vocabulary, Scripture Supported Science, Geography, Social Studies, Paleography (the history of writing), Handwriting (Palmer Method), Art and Music.
But since I have never used it & am not entirely sure all of the depth it goes into, I have a few other ideas to mix in- also we like variety…
Along with that I am going to be using a few other things. I am going to use the Story of the World 
vol. 1, Ancient Times to add to our history program. 
It also has an activity book
to go along with it. I have heard such great things about this program, that I am really excited to begin it.
vol. 1, Ancient Times to add to our history program. It also has an activity book to go along with it. I have heard such great things about this program, that I am really excited to begin it. 
I am also going to be using Apologia- Land Animals of the 6th Day. 
My son LOVES animals so much & can’t get enough of them. We studied the Swimming Creatures
book last year & had so much fun with it. 
I highly recommend these!
. My son LOVES animals so much & can’t get enough of them. We studied the Swimming Creatures book last year & had so much fun with it. I highly recommend these!For art, we are going to use the World’s Greatest Artists Study Unit from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I am excited about this! It covers 8 artists. I think we will focus on one artist for a whole month & make the unit last the entire year, since my children are so young. It is a free download- but has required books to go along with it. (The World’s Gretest Artist series by Mike Venezia) Our library has them all, thankfully! I plan on doing a lot of hands-on art projects as well. My kids love painting & drawing.
series by Mike Venezia) Our library has them all, thankfully! I plan on doing a lot of hands-on art projects as well. My kids love painting & drawing. For music study we will study composers through Classics For Kids. We used this last year & had a lot of fun with it. They focus on one composer for a month & do little 6 minute radio shows once a week. Then we listen to the music of that composer all month to become familiar with it. I will go a little more in depth this year & use library books on the composers as well.
For math- I am using Saxon Math 1 & possibly Miquon Math 
as well. I have both & will probably rotate between the two for variety. I will see how this goes. We struggled with keeping math interesting last year. I am going to work harder on activities this year.
& possibly Miquon Math as well. I have both & will probably rotate between the two for variety. I will see how this goes. We struggled with keeping math interesting last year. I am going to work harder on activities this year. 
For our morning devotionals we’ll be using a book called Scripture Study for Latter-Day Saint Families: The Old Testament. We used the Book of Mormon 
version this past year & it is fabulous. We will also be using the Old Testament Stories
for Children book- they have videos of them online, too. My kids really enjoy the little videos.
. We used the Book of Mormon version this past year & it is fabulous. We will also be using the Old Testament Stories for Children book- they have videos of them online, too. My kids really enjoy the little videos.Last year we found a fun Geography resource called Globe Trackers. It was a mission that 2 kids went on around the world. It’s in a blog format with a weekly update. It taught all about the countries around the world, with various geography terms as well. We had so much fun following their adventures. I just checked the website & it says they will most likely be returning again and to check back in September. I am glad they’ll be doing it again!
We also participate in a local co-op group that has a friday class, book club, field trips, and park days. This year they are also organizing a weekly P.E. class, through our local rec. center. We’re excited to start up again with our fun group of friends. Over the summer we’ve have just had weekly park days.
Linking up to the Weekly Wrap-Up @ Weird Unsocialized Homeshoolers.
I’m using Saxon Math 1 for the first time this year. My other kids used Horizons, but it doesn’t work well for my youngest. Stopping by to wish you and your kids a great year!
Apologia Zoo 3 is one of our favorites! Have fun 🙂
I’m interested in seeing how you like life school and learning more about it. I’m always interested in other curriculum and incorporating the gospel, more specifically into History. We will be doing a more classical approach next year with 1st grade, and at this time plan to use History Odyssey.
I’ll be so interested to find out how you like LIFE – I’ll let you be the guinea pigs 🙂 Congrats on being so organized. Kickin’ my butt 🙂
Hi again, I found this post that answered my question about which curriculum you went with. I am curious how you like it? I am also curious if it would work well for multiple levels of children? I have a 4th, 1st and kinder. Thanks