This year I will be doing things a little differently. First of all we have deleted the classroom in favor of giving each child their own bedroom. When we had the classroom the kids had a difficult time completing their work. Now each of them have their own desk in their own room. Secondly although the majority of the curriculum I am using this year can be self-led, I will be going through most of their work WITH them. I have found this elimiates confusion and boredom. And thirdly, Scott will be officially teaching science this year. Yippee! As you can guess there will be so many advantages to this. The kids will get to see a different form of teaching and they will get more time with Daddy.

A lot of what we will be using will be Amish/Mennonite curriculums. I have found them to be more well rounded. I also appreciate how the things of God are incorporated throughout the material.

Language Arts: For language we will be using Christian Light Education's second grade material. Christian Light is a mennonite curriculum. Although the twins are offcially in 3rd grade I found that their previous curriculum wasn't extensive enough for them to step into CLE's 3rd grade material. Because of that all 3 of the older children are doing the same work.

Bible: This is also Christian Light Education. For this we are using the 2nd grade material. I felt that the 2nd grade covered a lot I would like the children to learn.

Reading: When the twins were in 1st grade the absolutely hated the readers we were using. I heard about Pathway Readers ~ also Mennonite ~ and read great reviews. I purchased them immediately and the kids fell in love with them. Never once since we switched have they complained about their reading. Our reading adventure continues with Pathway this year.

Math: This past spring we began using the highly acclaimed Saxon math program. Before we made the switch Devon in particular cried every day about doing math. Once we DID switch however she never complains. We are thrilled with the results we are seeing.

History: The history program we began using last year and will complete this year is Beautiful Feet: Early American History. This is a literature approach unit study. We began with Leif Ericson and worked our way through George Washington and revolutionary american last year. We pick up this year with westward expansion.

Science: As Scott begins his own homeschooling experience he will be using AlphaOmega’s 3^rd grade material. It is a great way to break into teaching as it is a program that is laid out for easy use and instruction. I am sure everyone’s favorite parts will be the experiments!

Health: For this we are using an Amish curriculum by Rod & Staff Publications called "Proper Health and Manners".  I love it because it teaches very fundamental principles. 

Music:  This program is also by Rod & Staff.  It teaches basic music theory.  The older 3 children will also be in weekly piano lessons.

Some of these subjects Claire will sit in on but for the most part I will use Abeka.  When it came to kindergarten and learning the basics of math and reading our older children had great success with this program.