Back to School? Not us.

I don't write often about our homeschool journey. I'm not sure I've ever even explained how we got here ~ what made us decide to choose this path. I suppose the short version is that I never thought I had the desire to homeschool. I wasn't homeschooled, nor was Jeremy. It hadn't even crossed my mind . . . until we attended Kindergarten round-up for Sierra, in May of 2007. Something just didn't feel right. That entire summer I cried daily because I couldn't imagine sending my daughter away to school. And I did a lot of praying. In the end, I knew God was calling me to homeschool. Jeremy wasn't as convinced ;) But I think he now enjoys it almost as much as I do! And that, folks, is DEFINITELY the short short version ;)

Anyway, one of my very favorite bloggers, Jenny, at Our Nifty Notebook is participating in the Not Back to School Blog Hop going on over at Heart of the Matter, and I wanted to join in on the fun too! We haven't yet started our homeschool year {we still have a few weeks left of summer vacation to enjoy}, but I have finally chosen the books we will use this year. I have two homeschoolers now, don'tcha know.

Makenna

Makenna is joining us at the homeschool table this year ;) If truth be told, Kenners joined us most of last year too. We will be focusing on the three Rs, of course.

I've chosen Christian Liberty Press for Math. Sierra has switched to Horizons, but she started with CLP, and we liked it.

Makenna will be using Sierra's old Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

I LOVED this book. It was fabulous for Sierra, and I'm hoping that I'll enjoy it as much with Makenna.

I've also chosen Christian Liberty Press ~ The World God Made for Science, though it is likely Makenna will join in on Science with Sierra as well. At least for some experiments.

Makenna will join Sierra for History, and we will work on Handwriting together.

Sierra

We've chosen to continue using Horizons for Math. Last year I bought the workbooks, but didn't realize there was a Teacher's guide to go with them. This year I'm buying the guide too :)

I was not crazy about the Horizons Phonics & Reading workbooks that we used last year, so we will not be going that route this year. We're going to try Spectrum Phonics, Spectrum Language Arts, and then Literature Pockets ~ Aesop's Fables. Sierra is a fantastic reader {and she loves to read!}, so we will continue to read our Little House books together with questions after each chapter.

I've enjoyed the CLP Science Series. This year, Exploring God's Creation, is the last in the series, and I'm going to miss it. We will also be using a couple of the Young Scientist sets for hands on experiments.

I have yet to find a History text that I'm super excited about, but I cannot say enough about History Pockets {by Evan-Moor}. I LOVE them! Does anyone else have experience with these? We used Life in Plymouth Colony, Ancient Civilizations, and Native Americans last year. They make learning about history . . . fun! Each week you create a new "pocket" with construction paper, and there are crafts, vocabulary, and handouts that go along with the subject you are learning about. It keeps little hands busy, that's for sure. And the best part is that it is something that both Sierra and Makenna can do together. I may need to abbreviate some of Makenna's assignment, but they are learning alongside each other, which I love. I could go on and on . . . but I'll spare you :) But, if you are looking for a great history supplement, definitely check these out!

Along with History Pockets we will be using See the USA, and our text, American Pioneers & Patriots. And I have ordered Map Skills {Sierra loved her workbook from last year}

We will continue using A Reason for Handwriting, working more on cursive. And, of course, we will continue to keep God at the center of our studies by reading the Bible daily. I'm also looking into the Discover 4 Yourself Series. What a fun way to travel through the Bible!

And that's about it!

Whew! That was a long one.

If you're still with me, stay tuned for a quick house update later ;)