The Books We Learn From

A couple years ago, I put some thought into what our homeschool style was and figured it was closest to Charlotte Mason, but not 100%. I honestly don't do much dictation or narration, which probably is a huge no-no for a Charlotte Mason purist. Therefore, maybe it's just, the SimplyNel Method. Which is exactly as it should be, because it's what works for us. My Mom was similar, and apparently I'm following in her footsteps. :) I just can't bring myself to purchase one curriculum for all subjects, because I like so many different ones. 

So, that being said, here's the nitty gritty for the SimplyNel Method of teaching school 2020-2021:

• Reading: Daniel taught Natasha how to read using the ever popular, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". It turned out to be more like 75 lessons for her, but reading came very easy for her. We are using it again with Lincoln and he's excited about it. 
• Please don't feel that if your child isn't learning to read at age 4 that you're doing something wrong or you're already "behind". Every child is different. If Lincoln wasn't already showing an interest in learning to read, you bet your bottom dollar, I wouldn't be attempting this at age 4. I feel rather strongly about this, since I know the Finns don't teach reading till age 7 and I do not feel a child should be pressured into reading too early. I want my children to be children and learn from play as long as possible. 
• I have not assigned any specific reading to Natasha since she already is a voracious reader. However, I have contemplated assigning a few titles that she might not naturally gravitate towards. Haven't done it yet though. 

• Preschool: This is the first time I've used a preschool curriculum, and it's a lovely one: A Year of Tales. I just wanted to make it fun for me to teach him his letters, and who can resist Beatrix Potter?

• Math: We have used the online program from Khan Academy for a few years now. There are SO many other subjects available as well, either as a main curriculum or to supplement a certain topic. 

• Science: The Good and the Beautiful, Human Body This is the first year to use TGTB, but I'm excited about it. It's a simple 5 week or so introduction to the human body, and I think it will be perfect.  
• In the past, we have used Apologia and I've been very pleased with that as well. 

• Geography: We started using Beautiful Feet Books last year with their main geography course. It starts with "Paddle to the Sea" which covered the Great Lakes region of the United States. This year is "Tree in the Trail" which covers the southwest of the United States and the Santa Fe Trail. The maps that go along with the books are just as their name describes: beautiful. Highly recommend them. 
• This course overlaps with history and science/nature study, so it's hard not to keep it strictly geography. Which makes it great if you want to combine a few subjects in one and do more of a unit study.

• History: Beautiful Feet Books is showing up again for their Early American History course. But I'm tailoring it to our interests. I already know I don't want to spend weeks and weeks on the pilgrims so I'm cutting it way back. I gave myself permission to do that and I'm pretty proud about it. ;)

• Cursive: I am super passionate about handwriting and cursive. I feel that our society has gone all thumbs with communication and having legible handwriting is becoming a lost art. So last year it was a priority for Natasha to learn cursive. I randomly picked up "Teaching Cursive This Method Works" in a co-op free box last year and it was perfect. This year since she already has the basic concept, I'm having her do a lot of her copywork in cursive for practice.

• Language Arts/Writing: The past couple years we have done IEW writing courses and it has been great. I really like how they teach creative writing using quality words and descriptions. This year though, we are using The Good and the Beautiful's Literature course. If I want Natasha to do an essay or paper on a certain topic, I plan to have her write it using the IEW structure she already knows.

• Spanish: This is one subject I can't teach, so we are outsourcing it to an experienced native speaker through a local co-op. (What a relief!) This will be Natasha's second year and she has one class a week with the group. The book they're using is: The Fun Spanish. 

• Nature Study: Exploring Nature with Children is a great base for a weekly nature study. There is a new theme each week, a poem, activity and questions to go along with it. You can take this as deep as you want or keep it super simple. 
• Wild + Free is a nature based homeschool support community. We have a group near us that has monthly nature walks so that's a great way for us to get out of the house with friends. I'm planning to add in our own weekly walk for the off weeks.  

Wow. When I look over that list, it looks like SO MUCH. It's spread out though, over the course of a week or even an entire school year. To see how this plays out in real life, I have a post coming soon about our rhythm/daily routine. The routine is still under construction and always up for change, since we have literally 4 days of school completed this year.