other homeschool subjects
Welcome to everything else in our homeschool. While Math and Language Arts will be core to your homeschool, all the other subjects are what bings fun and excitement. There is so much value in taking time to do each of these subjects because for one — it builds general awareness and background knowledge. The other thing you will find is that your child will start to develop an inclination to one or the other with passion and genuine curiosity.
If you are wondering how to fit all of this into your learning schedule, I’m here to tell you that it is possible and I will share more about planning later and you will be able to find them in the articles section of the Homeschool Page.
science
Cambridge Primary
I took a long time to pick this curriculum. A Science program should be engaging, all-inclusive, easily teachable, and immersive with hands-on experiential learning built into the lessons. This program is just that. It is a UK Based curriculum and requires some preparation which is the case for any science lesson. It comes with a teacher’s manual, a learner’s book, and a student activity book. Each lesson includes simple hands-on experiments that make learning fun. We actually grew a bean plant when learning about plant life. With my kid back in school full-time, I don’t get to do this but if you are a full-time homeschooler, this is a good one to look into.
Evan-Moore Science K
This is the simplest Science Curricula that I could find for my preschooler. Kids this age do not need to learn anything overly complex. Evan-Moore Workbooks are so simple and will take you 15 minutes or less to do one lesson. The best part of it is that it comes with some fun hands-on activities/experiments that you can do with your child based on the topic. For example, my kid had to find metal objects that were magnetic in nature.
The K Level covers simple topics such as the five senses, motion, magnets, living and non-living things, etc.
history
Story of the World
I have never enjoyed learning History until I started to do it with my oldest. We first started our homeschool history journey with The Good and the Beautiful and then switched to Story of the World.
SOTW is a four-volume series intended to be completed in the grammar stage of classical education. It starts with the Ancients ending with the Modern Age.
SOTW has a simple read-aloud format, comes with an activity book with teacher prompts for discussion, and offers projects you can do with each lesson.
I chose SOTW because it is designed for the grammar stage and builds in read-aloud, narration, memorization, and writing. I love this stage of classical education and the notion that children can develop a strong foundation by soaking up large amounts of knowledge.
You can purchase this on the Well-Trained Mind website or on Amazon (Affiliate link).
geography
Study of 50 States
A year ago, my kid learned about the 50 States. She researched each state using the Atlas and other reference books to learn key facts. At the end of this self-study, she knew not only the 50 states but knew basic information about them.
We then used Memoria Press States and Capitals program to learn each region individually. You need both the student and teacher’s guide. I don’t believe in learning for the sake of memorization. This study was a way to learn the country she lives in and get a glimpse into the places that one day she may travel to.
Trail Guide to Geography
This was the next progression for us but we paused when my kid went back to school and will restart in the summer break 2022. It involves lots of map work and projects while traveling through all the continents.
Kids love Geography because it is about the world they live in. Use your homeschool, to teach them all about it.
Beautiful Feet Books offers the study of geography through literature. This is a Charlotte Mason method of learning and while this is not our core geography curriculum, I loved doing it. We read this book called Paddle to the Sea and charted our way on a beautiful map that you can purchase from them. The benefit of this is that your child is exposed to good literature, and learns geographical landmarks along the way.
They have several literature packages including history and civics.
other languages
I outsource the teaching of Spanish to Homeschool Spanish Academy. It is an excellent program that offers virtual classes with a native speaker. We do 25 min classes once a week but they offer longer ones for higher grades.
HSA follows a curriculum and the teacher will have regular reviews and exams to test your child’s knowledge as they go. If you are considering a second language, there are many reasons why you should consider Spanish.
As the program progresses, your child will learn to identify objects, read, write, and most importantly speak. Their teaching method includes vocabulary and application to sentences.
You can try a free class to see if it is a good fit for you. Click this link to try it out.
(P.S – I am an Affiliate partner with HSA and any links are affiliate links. It DOES NOT cost you extra to use affiliate links, however I receive a small cut if you purchase products using my link.)
Latin - Memoria Press
We started the Memoria Press Prima Latina curriculum last year and paused it when my kid went back to school this year.
If you are wondering why Latin, I’m here to tell you it is absolutely worth it. Latin is not a spoken language at this time, but the English Language has so many derivatives from Latin. When your child learns the Latin roots, they can apply it to many English words. Think of it as the blotting effect — one Latin Stem will blot into many English words and you can imagine the impact to your child’s vocabulary.
You could also just purchase the book on Latin Stems from the MCT curriculum. Below are the book names for each level we have/used.