Curriculum Choices 2014

Now I've finished all my planning, I thought I'd share my curriculum choices with you. You may recognise some of them from the TOS reviews we did ; )

Science
I create most of our science materials myself, but that said there are a couple of outside sources I will be using next year. These include - Botany in 8 lessons and Cells both by Ellen McHenry will be used by the older two girls (age 9 & 11), Supercharged Science (which we loved when we reviewed it as it is full of great lessons and hands-on experiments) and Brainpop for informational videos.

History
I'm using Classical Conversations as the backbone of our history work along with the Veritas Press timeline history cards, Story of the World, some Knowledge Quest history maps and a number of living history books.

Geography
Again I'm using Classical Conversations for map work but I've also picked Ellen McHenry's Mapping the World with Art which is an amazing 30 week course combining history, art and geography - by the end they will be able to draw a freehand world map.

Latin
Sticking with Compass Latin as the girls loved it : )

Math
I'm sticking with Life of Fred, Math Mammoth and using lots of Living Math books.

Algebra
Last year we used the Dragon Box math apps to introduce algebra to the girls and even 5yo Rose mastered it - this year I'm taking them forward with Hands on Equations both the kit and the app.

Geometry
Still staying with our Montessori manuals but also adding in some activities from Janice VanCleaves Geometry for Every Kid.

English
Using a combination of Montessori and Charlotte Mason methods. along with ideas from Susan Wise Bauer's Writing with Ease.

Spanish
The girls enjoy Mango Languages so will be sticking with that this year.

Art & Music
Again using Classical Conversations as our backbone for Art and some of the music lessons. The girls will also be studying piano.

Nature Studies
This year we will continue with our nature journals but I've decided to add a specific herb to study each month using the Herbal Roots zine. 

Other
We will continue using Branch Out Worlds Picture Book Explorers, Think and are hoping to do a couple of engineering projects from the James Dyson Foundation

What have you chosen to use this year?