Addison Academy: 2013 - 2014 Curriculum Choices

We are getting ready to start a new year of school at Addison Academy - this coming Monday, in fact! Having a new baby will definitely make things interesting. The kids and I are all ready to start fresh. I have my planner prepared and teacher's guides all organized. And the kids helped me to set up our homeschooling nook in the living room and have been excitedly looking over their new (or new to us) books. And really how awesome is that?! I know a lot of kids dread going back to school...I'm so happy that mine are actually raring to go! Here are the materials we're using & things we have planned for the coming year:

Zeke - Age 7 (almost 8), Grade 2

• History - BJU Heritage Studies 2, Liberty's Kids (I just purchased the *entire* LK set for Zeke for his birthday - since he's my little History buff - so we won't actually be starting on it for another few weeks. I got a GREAT deal on it from Amazon.) 
• Reading - Institute for Excellence in Writing: PAL Reading
  Scott Foresman Reading - Volume 5 & 6 
• Writing & Spelling - Institute for Excellence in Writing: PAL Writing
  All About Spelling 
• Science - BJU Science 2 for Christian Schools (We are actually using an earlier version than the one I linked to though.) 
• Bible - Telling God's Story from Olive Branch Books 
• Health - Health, Safety & Manners 2 from A Beka 
• Money - The ABC's of Handling Money God's Way from Crown Financial
• Etc. - I also have some additional things I've printed off from Pinterest and other homeschooling websites, as well as some workbooks different family members have given me.

Ellie - Age 4, Preschool/K4

• Ellie's work is much more informal. Since we've started homeschooling, I realized that we don't *have* to dive into tons of schooling at age 3 or 4. So I take it easier on the younger ages & don't start tracking their schoolwork/school days until the legally required age of seven. (According to Indiana law.) With that being said though, Ellie is very much into school and learning and often HAS to be doing whatever Zeke is doing - so I'm going to try and do just that, only on a smaller scale. I've went & ahead and made copies of some of his work for her to do, or attempt to do.
• Ellie will also be using parts of two different preschool curricula - Flowering Baby Four to Five and Confessions of a Homeschooler's Letter of the Week.

 Zac - Age 5 months

• Zac will be providing entertainment and distractions. :)

All the Kiddos

• One special thing that the kids helped me set up in our homeschool nook is what we are referring to as "The Busy Box." It's a special storage box that has all different kinds of Busy Bags in it (for all ages), puzzles, tot and preschool packs, and more. This is mainly for Ellie to use when I'm working one on one with Zeke, but it has activities for him in it as well. (And Zac once he gets older!)
• Calendar Notebooks - Zeke and Ellie each have a binder that they will be using each day to practice writing the date, making note of the weather and season, checking off how many days we've been in school, etc. They'll be using these in conjunction with our big pocket calendar I hung on the wall. I got the idea from Homeschool Creations.
• For Physical Education the kids will be enjoying our weekly homeschool group gym class/park day in addition to their normal routine of playing outside, riding their bikes, exploring the yard and woods, etc. Zeke will also be starting soccer next month.
• I've been saying I want to teach Zeke how to play piano for a bunch of years several years too many years... Ok, ok, you get the picture...this year I am going to commit to doing piano lessons once a week! I'm writing it in the planner now and hubby is going to have to hold me to it.
• Our homeschool group is starting up a Keepers of the Faith boys & girls group for the fall. (If you don't know what that is, it's basically Christian Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts.) So Zeke and Ellie will both be taking part in that.
• I've tentatively started planning a few field trips...but they're still in the works - so more on that later! 
  

First week in August: It’s a curriculum hop. Share your well-researched plans on your post. Show us what you love. Four math curriculums later… you decided on?? Linky will go up on Monday 8/5! Join the curriculum hop here. - See more at: http://www.ihomeschoolnetwork.com/5th-annual-not-back-to-school-blog-hop/