What We’re Using
We’ll be updating this page as we go, so it will (hopefully) always reflect what we are currently using.
(As we move through curricula and other resources, we’ll be adding reviews of them ot the blog.)
MATH
A complete K-8 homeschool math curriculum for the whole family. Designed for the home learning environment, this well-tested curriculum equips you to teach any math concept from pre-K through pre-algebra and give your children a strong foundation in math. Math on the Level combines math instruction with meaningful, hands-on experiences using normal daily-life activities that help make math real. A thorough, easy-to-use record keeping system helps track each child’s progress.
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ENGLISH/GRAMMAR/READING/WRITING
Sheldon’s Primary Language Lessons (download, purchase)
Sheldon’s Advanced Language Lessons: Grammar and Composition (download, purchase)
Sheldon’s Language Lessons will be welcomed by all who believe that technical grammar should be developed side by side with practical composition.
Includes hundreds of creative, hands-on activities!
If you are looking for supplemental material for your grammar program or are in search of practical exercises that will boost your pupils’ language confidence, this invaluable resource has it all! Teach Terrific Grammar, Grades 4-5 features more than 160 self-correcting grammar lessons in a fun puzzle format–complete with answer key–versatile enough to be adapted to any existing program or approach. It also has forty reproducible “Tip Sheets” that review the parts of speech and other important grammar rules.
History
- HistoryAtOurHouse (HAOH) is an audio-based, history curriculum for homeschoolers (and afterschoolers)
- HAOH is available to students anywhere in two basic formats:
- 1. Live classes conducted via conference-call
- 2. Internet-based audio recordings (in MP3 format)
- HAOH offers a comprehensive, integrated, and exciting program of instruction in Ancient, European, and American history, on a three-year cycle, chronologically presented.
- HAOH is for students from 2nd to 12th grade
Geography
Mapping the World by Heart
If you placed blank sheets of paper in front of your students, could they draw a detailed map of the entire world? It may seem hard to believe, but after exploring the innovative Mapping the World by Heartcurriculum, students have a comprehensive knowledge of geography that allows them to map the world entirely from memory!
- Teaches students to draw – entirely from memory – detailed world maps including the names, borders, mountain ranges, rivers, and major cities of more than 190 countries.
- Gets students excited about geography and encourages them to think globally.
- Promotes positive student interactions and collaboration, both in small group work and as a class.
- Provides teachers with flexible lessons they can easily integrate into their existing curriculum.
SCIENCE
Since its beginning, science has progressed through observation followed by knowledge deduced or induced from that observation. A proper science curriculum should teach children that same pattern: how to observe the world around them, and how to properly draw conclusions about those observations. With that crucial foundation, their knowledge of science, across the disciplines, can be built brick by brick in the same manner that our modern understanding of science has been built.
No publicly available curriculum we’ve found teaches science according to that simple dictate. For that reason, we’re building our science curriculum ourselves, modeling it after the program used at the VanDamme Academy, with the invaluable assistance of this Periodic Table of the Sciences developed by the Falling Apple Science Institute:
PHILOSOPHY
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Horseback riding/horsemanship lessons with Martin Campbell, of Diamond C Ranch, in Lucas, TX.
Tae Kwon Do at White Tiger Martial Arts, in Allen.
Homeschool P.E. class at the Russell Creek YMCA
(The days and times currently listed are wrong, so call to get the correct days/times.)
GROUPS WE BELONG TO
Homeschoolers Excel (website ~ Facebook page)
We are a secular, inclusive support group for homeschoolers seeking cooperative educational and social opportunities. We have members from all over the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. We get together for field trips, co-op classes, parties, park days and lots of fun! Members have access to our Yahoo group and the ‘Members’ section of our website.
SAIL (Collin County Homeschoolers Sharing Adventures in Learning)
SAIL is a member-governed, inclusive community of homeschooling families in the McKinney, Texas area. We encourage and respectfully support a membership diverse in homeschool style, race, religion, life philosophy, political views, and family composition and situation.
We endeavor to provide a safe, welcoming environment for varied student activities, both group-wide and age-specific; from toddlers to teens and for all levels of abilities and ranges of needs. We provide a network of support for the entire homeschool family by offering some activities only for parents, as well as events that include all familymembers.
The Homeschoolers Hearts and Hugs name reflects more than our goal of simply providing learning opportunities for homeschooling students. Hearts and Hugs symbolizes our emphasis on character building opportunities that make a difference in the lives of others while increasing public awareness of the advantages of home education.
