Our family has been homeschooling off and on for the last few years and we are definitely die-hard homeschoolers now. I absolutely love picking out homeschool curriculum that I know my children will enjoy. Independent learning is key to our homeschool curriculum; this helps our busy family life to run smoothly and allows our kids to gain a life-long love for learning. I hope you enjoy my finds!
Preschool
My favorite and most essential preschool homeschool curriculum is the Explode the Code series. We start out with Get Read for the Code books and then work into the Explode the Code series and keep doing them until they finish all eight books (which has been the beginning of second grade, although they are meant to go through third grade). My kids have always been early readers and it’s definitely largely because of this series.
We have also started to use The Good and the Beautiful Language Art Preschool Program. My four-year-old is really loving these. They’re really beautiful, cover material well, and are interactive. We are definitely going to be purchasing the Kindergarten Prep program, as well. We also like to use some montessori tools like wooden letters and puzzles.
We stick with Kumon Math workbooks for preschool. I like that there are lots of different options and they’re fun busy-work for my workbook-loving kiddos.
Language Arts
Besides using the Explode the Code workbooks in the younger grades (more info on that above), we have been loving The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts programs. Even though it’s not specifically Catholic homeschool curriculum, it is such a strong option with Christian undertones. Last year was the first year we tried this homeschool curriculum and my girls have loved them. At first I thought I could get away with just get parts of the program, but soon just ordered the missing parts. I definitely recommend just getting the whole set from the start. My girls do them totally independently (even though it has teacher parts–they just pretend they’re the teacher, too!). I really love how it covers geography, art, writing, nature, etc.
Math
Although we have been using Math U See and supplementing with Kumon math books for the last couple years, we have decided to make the switch to Saxon Math. My husband was a high school math teacher for many years and he thinks this will be a better fit. I think it will be good to have our children know how to use a text book to learn math skills, as well.
History
Last year we found the Story of Civilization series from TAN. We love it! Plus you can get 15% off using my coupon code: MLNAZARETH-15. Each of our older girls have their own tablets for school, so I just download the audio on them to make it all very independent. They just listen to the audio and follow along in their textbook. The poster is definitely a great added bonus to help follow along and get a big picture of what they’re learning. I thought Timelines of Everything was also a great addition that the kids can explore, as well.
Religion
My favorite religion curriculum that I have found is the Our Lady of the Rosary Catechism Family Program. It is totally free and is composed of videos and worksheets. I probably should go through the program myself; it is absolutely excellent! However, I don’t start this until after they’re done with their First Communion preparation.
I also pick out loads of books for them to read independently, especially from TAN. Our favorite series is the Mary Fabyan Windeatt books, which helped me fall in love with the Catholic Faith when I was young.
Of course, we use all of my books throughout the year. I try to make the books as practical as possible so that they can be easily used for all of my children.
We have also enjoyed reading books from Refuge of Sinners Publishing on virtue and practical ways of living our Faith, like The Dutiful Child.
Science
TAN has come out with a great new science curriculum. It includes a video, which talks a lot about how our Catholic Faith is connected to science. The books have a lot of in-depth information and phenomenal Catholic input. I love Catholic curriculum so much! For the older grades (the ones that TAN has not come out with yet), we have been using Apologia Science. My oldest really enjoys their interactive Notebooking Journal.
Latin
We have been wanting to try out some Latin and this year we are officially committing ourselves to it! Memoria Press is our pick for this endeavor.
Reading
I make sure I don’t follow a set homeschool curriculum for reading. I think this would simply takes time away from reading the great children’s Classics. I don’t want my children to have to do all sorts of reading comprehension materials. I want them to learn how to simply enjoy reading good books.
We do this by completing lots of read-alouds, especially during afternoon tea time. We don’t read aloud every day right now, but I would like to as the children get older and I have a bit more free time on my hands. My oldest is also reading Classics to my 4-year-old, which has been so nice. Some of our favorites include The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, James and the Giant Peach, Heidi, Matilda, Mary Poppins, Pippi Longstocking, and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. They bring us so much peace and we think and talk of them often. Besides religion, this is my favorite part of homeschooling. The children love to re-read them on their own, as well.
Handwriting
I have always been a big fan of Handwriting Without Tears. My kids always just zip through these books in their free time, they love them so much. Plus, the books are extremely independent; I just glance at the pages every once in a while to make sure they’re not rushing through them too much.
Music
We teach our children piano using the John Thompson’s books and music writing books. We also memorize songs to sing and have little concerts for fun, especially for holidays and special feast days. Every Sunday we have a mini concert where we each play one piano song each. My oldest also took voice lessons last summer, which she really enjoyed.
Art
I don’t have a set curriculum for Art. I get different drawing books and Usborne Art Books for my kids to use for fun whenever they would like. Plus, we have lots of art supplies on hand like paints, markers, and construction paper, so that they can make their own projects if they would like. They very much enjoy their light up tracing pad, as well. I also try to expose them to great art through art library books and anything I can find at homeschool sales.
Happy Homeschooling
I hope these homeschool curriculum resources help and guide you. Homeschooling has been one of the greatest blessings for our family–I hope you find it to be the same for yours. Ample family time, faith-centered learning, and the ability to watch our little ones grow and mature. Such blessings for us mamas!
And don’t forget the real fun — Summer Homeschool Curriculum!
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