Homeschool Curriculum Picks 2023-2024

Summer has ended and we are now three weeks into our homeschooling year. I won't lie, this past spring I was SO excited for our summer break. After a long winter, rough postpartum experience, and major family adjustment to four kiddos, we needed a break from our rigorous rhythms. This summer has offered some much needed respite and I'm happy to report that I'm back to feeling excited about homeschooling. Both of my boys even said they miss school. Absolutely unheard of! hah.

Our oldest two boys will be Y1 & Y2 this year (first & second grade). This will be my third year homeschooling and second year with two kiddos in school.

With a couple of years under my belt, I felt much more at ease as I prepped this year. We are adding in a few additional subjects but they're primarily beauty & enrichment focused. They're also largely pulled from Ambleside Online. Ambleside Online is a Charlotte Mason curriculum that's free and entirely online. I've been incorporating pieces of AO the past couple of years but now feel ready to deep dive. Without further ado, here is an overview of our curriculum choices for the 2023-2024 school year.

Morning Basket

Scripture: Ambleside Online selected passages

Calendar & Weather: Printables by Treehouse Schoolhouse

Riches: Ambleside Online

Recitation: Ambleside Online

We utilize our morning basket as a way of coming together & connecting before our formal lessons. My four year old--and baby brother if he's awake--join us for this time and we progress at a leisurely pace.

After a couple years of including this practice, I've learned that spreading out a blanket on the floor, prepping some warm drinks, and putting my phone away really sets us up for success and a beautiful time learning together as a family.

From 9-10am the boys fill out their calendar & weather charts, we enjoy AO's riches (folk songs, hymns, composer selections, and art study) from our riches binder, and read a couple of recitation passages together.

There's honestly nothing like hearing your children (who are still inclined to pick their noses and joke about poop) sing along to a Scottish Jacobite folk song or discuss their opinions of a Monet, while they enjoy their favorite cup of tea alongside you. Ah, the joys of a classic education.

Language Arts

Phonics: All About Reading

Spelling: All About Spelling

Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears & Pip & J Papery

Reading: Ambleside Online

Narration: Selections from read-alouds

All About Reading is the third phonics program we've tried and, by far, my favorite. Initially I was resistant to flashcards and activities. Especially cut outs! But now that I'm familiar with the curriculum and I've watched my children enjoy learning to read, I'm a fan. All About Reading has an app to keep things simple (paper letter tiles are where I draw the line) and I've found that it's extremely thorough and methodical in how it teaches reading, whereas curriculums like Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (our first phonics curriculum) leave a lot up to guess work. Plus we often forgo the activities and busywork, preferring to stick to the meat of the lesson.

All About Spelling will be new for my second grader this year and we plan on taking it slowly. I don't intend to specifically teach spelling for more than a year or two because of how often we read rich literature and, therefore, see an array of written words; however, I do think it'll be a helpful launching point now that my boys are writing so much independently.

We'll continue using Handwriting Without Tears for basic handwriting instruction but I'm also adding in Pip & J Papery's ABC's scripture copywork. This year we're intentionally slowing down and requiring only the best of our boys' work as we alternate between both workbooks.

As for narration, we will be leveraging this CM method to further instill their love for literature, work on the habit of attention, and better prepare them for writing when the time comes.

Math

Math: Math U See, Alpha

We used Math U See last year and absolutely loved it. We will be continuing with the second half of Alpha this year, with my Y1 a handful of lessons behind my Y2. I've found that the block manipulatives are extremely helpful for my tactile learner and, if I'm being completely honest, I love that "math man" (our affectionate name for the founder and teacher) teaches my boys for me. I loved and excelled in math as a student but quickly found that teaching it was not a delight. Thanks math man!

History & Geography

History: Beautiful Feet Books, Early American History

Geography: Ambleside Online

History is the one subject provided by AO that we are choosing to forgo and venture off onto our own path. I believe that learning about one's country of citizenship is vital, contextually, for young students. So, instead of learning about England's history during Y1 & Y2, we've decided to start with early American history. I look forward to incorporating the history of the British Isles in future years (especially because it's our heritage!) but want our boys to better understand the place in which they live and country they come from first and foremost.

This year we will continue in Beautiful Feet's Early American History study. I can't rave about Beautiful Feet Books enough. It's comical how groundbreaking it feels to learn about history from literature itself, as opposed to a history textbook, but because I came from a public school background it really is revolutionary to me!

We've enjoyed not only the selections of literature, but also the optional projects and respect for other cultures. Unfortunately. it's hard to find a Christian curriculum that seeks to honor minorities and doesn't ignore the brutality of colonization. Beautiful Feet aims to select literature that uses proper terms (ex. Native Americans or Indigenous Peoples versus Indians) and the teacher guide includes questions that cause students to consider others' perspectives. I'm a big, big fan.

Science & Nature Study

Science & Nature Study: Ambleside Online, nature journaling, & Exploring Nature With Children

Nature Study is at the core of our homeschooling. It's our first love that led to learning more about the Charlotte Mason methodology and turned me into a homeschooling nerd.

Last year we used Beautiful Feet's Seasons Afield and loved it; however, this year I wanted to get back to our roots with nature observation and journaling at the forefront. We'll be following AO's list of topics and literature as well as loosely following Exploring Nature With Children's calendar and book lists. Because we've used Exploring Nature With Children for three + years now, and I've learned much more about our local flora & fauna, I feel confident that we will continue to grow as naturalists without focusing on a specific curriculum.

Both boys received a Juniper Grove journal this school year to keep their nature drawings and observations in. I've been using a Juniper Grove journal for a few years now and it's held up to quite a lot of abuse, not to mention it's gorgeous and the inserts are extremely practical for CM homeschoolers.

Enrichment

Art: Handicrafts & project list

Spanish: Talkbox.mom

Piano: Hoffman Academy

Our biggest change this upcoming school year will be adding in enrichment subjects. I'm glad that we've held off until now--focusing on core subjects has allowed me to better establish our rhythms and priorities as a family. Now that homeschooling isn't new or arduous, I feel better equipped to add in these additional pieces.

This year for art I've decided to take a more project-based approach with a focus on handicrafts. We have a list of seasonal based projects & handicrafts that we will learn together as a family! Our art will also overlap with some nature study, literature, and cultural studies.

For the past two years we've learned some basic French but hadn't quite found a groove or an aid that worked well for us as a family. Then came along Talkbox.mom! We've only recently begun learning Spanish via Talkbox.mom but I am already impressed with how the curriculum works for an entire family to learn alongside each other. While Talbox.mom offers French, we chose to switch to Spanish because my husband and I both learned Spanish in high school and know how helpful it can be on the west coast.

Lastly, we've selected Hoffman Academy for piano lessons. For years our boys have wanted to learn how to play instruments but it's been tricky to schedule and finance them. I'm hopeful that Hoffman Academy, done from the comfort of home, will be the format that works for us.

There you have it, those are our curriculum picks for the 2023-2024 school year! Establishing a new rhythm for fall and getting back to our CM roots these past three weeks has been noticeably edifying for our family. We've experienced some reluctant attitudes and long, hard days too--because homeschooling is never always rainbows and sunshine--but that's to be expected. We're a family of sinners striving to learn more for the sake of loving our God better.

So tell me, what curriculums are you using this year? And how're you feeling with a handful of weeks under your belt?