Onward we forge in sharing our curriculum picks for the 21-22 school year. As the title leaves nothing to be desired, this blog is all about Math.
Let me tell you, this is for sure the subject I spend the most time researching, Like, by far. It may be because of my fears and my lack of aptitude for math or because my kids love it so much and I don’t want the way it is taught to ruin it for them or a combo of both. Either way, math is a never ending story over here.
James and I have both enjoyed Horizons Math. It is very “spiral”. So much so that James can easily tell when he is being challenged and, at first, that was hard for him, but now he accepts “that challenge”. I also like how this curriculum doesn’t mandate how you teach things so I’ve been able to apply a multisensory approach and allow James to really understand concepts he can apply to a range of math problems. I will say it took longer than I projected for us to complete book 2 of Level K but my kids alo made it through 2020 with their mental and physical health intact. So, we are starting level 1 for James and maybe level K for Jude. I say ‘maybe” because it starts slow, but like the uphill climb on a roller coaster before you go racing upside down through loops slow. You get it?
Because of that, I also purchased LetsPlaySchool Let’s Play Math to get a very solid foundation while having fun. Originally, I purchased this for Jude but I have a feeling we will all get a kick out of it.
Now, this is the part where I was supposed to tell you that both kids are all set for Math U See. Key word, “supposed”, meaning there’s been a wrinkle in my plan.
As I was hunting for Math for Jude because I am not sure Horizons K will be enough repetition for him, I ended up getting Saxon Math 2 for James for free. Don’t ask how, just know Jesus loves me. James was over the moon for it and promptly declared he was so excited because he doesn’t like Math U See. Umm, what??? Since when? Why? Ugh!!!!
Now, I am not sure why Jesus loves me like this but I have yet to find the Beta workbook used, thus I haven’t purchased it. Also, Beta would probably be the only level I would be ok skipping. So, AS OF NOW, James is not doing Math U See. As you can probably tell, this was much harder for me than him.
I will also add in some musical multiplication and games.
Cheers to Math, for now, because I am still researching.
I am back with another homeschool curriculum update. If you need a refresher on how and why we ended up using these curriculums, check out this blog post.
Let’s start with Black History…
If you follow me on IG (and if you don’t, join in the fun!), I shared my planning method for the Black History curriculum I created for my kids (and still working on for others to purchase). I also shared how Black History is not just a month in our house. It is a tether that anchors us and inspires. Through my planning, so much was erupting in our country and Black History was being made before our very eyes. It was important to me that my children learn about the history being made, as it was being made. Which meant chucking what I planned. Why? That history wasn’t going anywhere. It would still be relevant and valid history in a few months or next year. The opportunity for my children to witness History being made in real time is a once in a lifetime chance. I wasn’t going to forfeit that experience for them.
In return, we’ve had some really good and really tough conversations. Conversations I’d always prepared for but was never ready for. My children have seen me cry tears of mourning, anger, relief and joy. My children also got to play a role in making this history. They got to ask questions and share their opinions on solutions. Honestly, I pray I never forget that.
So, Black History went way off course but in the absolute best way.
Now to math.
If you asked me to choose the subject I am and have always been the least comfortable instructing, the answer will always be math. What is James’ most favorite subject? Math. Yes, this is my lot in life and I have no idea why.
What I do know is that I could either foster and be a good steward of his love for Math and let it rub off on his brother or I could be the reason he deplores it. Obviously, the goal is the former.
So, I knew what we ended the year with, Horizons Math and Math U See, where the ticket. To date, they are still working extremely well for us. James has made more gains than I ever imagined. It is working so well that I nixed the Spectrum math I got Jude and started him on Math U See Primer. I personally love the no-frills, minimal approach to both of these curriculums and I see no reason to change them going forward.
That’s all for now loves. I’ll be back soon with more curriculum updates and other fun things.
As the title says, we are talking all things math for our homeschool curriculum in this post, and the things we will use for what I am calling “enrichment”. “What is enrichment?” you many wondering. Let me explain.
For all my traditional public school readers, you remember “special areas”? The times when you went to art, PE, music and the media center? That was enrichment. In our homeschool enrichment will consist of:
Art: Admittedly, I am horrible with art for my kids. Like, the worst. I really do want to get better, especially because my kids love it. Art is truly therapy. I also think it is a bit hypocritical for me to teach my kids about Artists and not allowing them to process it for themselves. So, I’m making sure we get it in. Water colors, chalk pastels, tempura, guided drawings and illustrations to name a few things.
Typing: Learning Without Tears has a great typing program we got to preview this spring for free thanks to COVID-19. My kids really enjoyed it and it is well constructed. So my computer science husband was all for them having typing added to the round-up.
Computer games/apps: Don’t judge me. We aren’t the family that is anti-screens. I just prefer it to be as quality as the situation allows for and sometimes doing math in a fun game on the computer is the way to go.
Game school: I think I’ve said this before but in case you haven’t heard it, I am not the fun mom. It hurts to say that out loud. Or maybe, I am not as fun of a mom as I want to be? Either way, my kids deserve fun and I am doing what I need to do to make sure they have it. The funny part? They want to have fun with me! What??? They are always asking for me to play with them. So, I am making sure we break out the games we own and actually play, together!
Nature Study: Y’all. If I was bad at the above, I completely and totally failed at Nature Study. I mean, total bomb here. The cold, rain and, well, the nature deterred me from making it priority. So, I am adding to enrichment because baby steps, friends, baby steps.
Now to Math… You ready?
I hope so because I am gonna move through this like a freight train.
So, No Name A was beautiful and that’s it. The lessons were tedious and so much to get through. Even shortening lessons and sometimes not using the “required” manipulative didn’t quite cut it. After book one, I sold book two and level 1 and got on the hunt for something we could really grow with. I had a laundry list of requirements, stated in my YouTube video showing everything here. I knew it was a hard-sell and there was a lot stacked against me. (Dramatic, much?) Finally, thanks to the mamas who make the time to do flip-through videos and share them with the world, that is how I found Horizons. Blessed are these mamas! Because of the flip-throughs and the reviews, we started James at level K because NoName A left too many wide gaps and did not build a solid foundation. I have Horizons level one ready when he is.
We will be looping Horizons with Math You See (MUS). MUS is a mastery curriculum, opposed to Horizons being a spiral curriculum. It worked very well for us last year and we are both looking forward to it this year. (Pssssst if you haven’t read my review, you can find it here.)
“Why two?” You may be asking. Well, frankly, my kids have a unique way of learning and if I just had offered one, they would be bored and over it quickly.
For Jude, he also gets 2 math curriculums for the same reason, I am not fighting boredom. I’m also not fighting the “why do I only have one?” I’m just not. So, we already had Mathematical Reasoning on hand. I bought it used for James a few years ago and I like it for this stage so we are using it. I paired it with this preschool math from Spectrum that has a few more hands-on activities. Jude’s eyes lit up like fireworks in the sky when he saw it so I guess I did something right.
Whew! I am doing my best to wrap this up. I explain is much greater detail in my video here. Until next time friends!
Is anyone struggling to plan during this time? Some days, I’m all over it. Other days, I forget I haven’t changed the wall calendar since MARCH! So, I guess you could say I am tight-rope walking that fine line. Today, we are talking about what I used for our 2019-2020 homeschool curricula and how I felt about them. Disclaimer: I was not given a single one of these products, if they were free it is because they are offered as free downloads. Let me note, that title is quite misleading. There is no “tea spillage” or anything ugly for that matter, in my opinion, and that is definitely not my intent. Per usual, I am sharing my truth and my experience.
Let’s start with brother Jude.
For the record, I know his age and I know a lot about early learning and development so don’t come for me in the comments about “let them be little”. Jude demanded a learning bin and workbooks like his brother daily for months to the extremes of committing violent acts sooooo, I found lots of free resources to make him some workbooks. I initially thought he would be over it really quickly. To date, he is not over them and when he saw next year’s curriculum he looked at me like I was Steve Harvey holding a check for a million dollars. What can I say? The kid likes learning.
The main items I used for him where these alphabet bubble finding worksheets from The Measured Mom. She is a gem and very generous. I’ve shared in stories how we use them so head over to my IG and check that homeschool highlight.
For math, we used a curricula company that I will not mention or publicize as she not only doesn’t have a stance and/or doing the work on racial injustice, when I inquired about said stand via social media, she blocked me. In the least, that’s terrible customer service so I contacted her shop provider, Teachers Pay Teachers, and only then did she unblock me and give a very basic unweighted response. We will call refer to this curriculum as No Name B. Back to math for Jude- All year long, we worked on number recognition (1-10), counting items to a specific number, shapes and colors. For my auditory learner, the multi-sensory approach offered in both of these curriculums were just what the doctor ordered and I’m very pleased with what is selected for him for next year.
Next Up, James.
This is where it gets dicey. James has all three learning styles. (He gets it from his mama!) Said learning styles must be met and then reinforced to achieve retention and application. Still with me? So, this is where we get really eclectic…
Language Arts: During the summer of 2019, after James was reading CVC word family words, I took it back and worked on sight words, rhyming and syllables. Why? I felt like his foundation was solid-ish, and I wanted full-force, no slip, no-fall, no cracks foundation. So, we used The Measured Mom’s Rhyming Clip Cards, Syllable Clip Cards and Rhyming Games. We also used No Name B’s sight word packs. Jude is currently using the same rhyming slip cards and will use the other resources as well. We also used Explode The Code workbooks to continue working on phonics, word families and reading. We also read pack one of Dash Into Learning as a summer reading challenge and we both loved those!
Still with me? (I know this a lot and I am condensing as much as I can, promise!)
Enter the start of his “kindergarten” year, quotes because he isn’t school-age for K but we homeschool and I can say he is in Kindergarten if I want to because that’s my business. I digress. For Language Arts we used yet ANOTHER curriculum that I have used before but they will not be mentioned because they too will not take a stand on racial on injustice AFTER committing to making their curriculum more diverse. I’m baffled and honestly pissed off. They will be known as No Name A from here on out. He finished level K of that program and I am so incredibly pleased with what I selected for him next year. Like, I’m over the moon. Here is why- No Name A ALWAYS had gaps I had to supplement and fill with other activities or curricula. I thought that was normal. That is until I didn’t want to use them and found wonderful curricula solid.
Math: We used No Name A, level k. Y’all it was gorgeous. That was about it. It was taxing to complete a lesson because they took forever, had lots of manipulatives, and got to the point where it wasn’t fun. We only finished book 1 and only did the actual lessons, none of the other fluff. I sold book 2 and level 1 happily. Another thing, that curriculum only allowed you to go into the next level of the same curriculum successfully. James would’ve floundered with any other curriculum. That’s a no-go in my book.
James also used Math U See, which will refer to as, “MUS” from this point on. This is a math curriculum by Demme Learning and was referred to me by several mamas. I initially had this as my main curriculum until I realized one lesson is like four problems. There are about 5-7 lessons per chapter. James did MUS Primer and we LOVED it. I love the concept and it truly helps a child who has multiple learning styles “see” what they are doing. It is a mastery program and the company has been committed to racial injustice before it was “cool” and has receipts.
And everything else we did together…
That’s right! Circle time (calendar, weather, morning menu), Bible, Black History, Social Studies and Science were all done together with the Jesus storybook bible, a map and lots and lots of books.
I failed at Nature study after November because I now realize I am not exploring in rain, temps colder than 70 degrees or with ornery kids. However, when those were not factors, we explored and we learned.
Alright, peeps, That’s enough for now. Coming up, everything *I think* we are doing for next year.
