When adding extras to an already full curriculum, you want to be very careful. Often, the temptation is to over buy and then try to fit everything in because you have already spent the money. After a few years of doing that very same thing and frustrating myself and my kids, I learned how to add extras in without losing my mind.
First and foremost, I start school slowly adding the main subjects in first and then week by week adding extras. If I find that we are at our tipping point, I stop adding things and keep them for another time. Secondly, we do a modified year round school. We don’t continue our main block (Bible, History, Science, Art etc) through the summer but we do keep going on math and LA. Often, I will do a more “fun” math and LA curriculums in the summer which has allowed us to venture into different curriculums. Thirdly, my best friend and I started a co-op group years ago, in which we each picked an extra or two to do with the kids each week. Sometimes it was something to do with the history cycle but often, it was just because we thought it would be fun to teach the kids. Some years we did our co-op throughout the summer because it was fun and it was a nice way to keep the kids engaged.
My husband had learned Latin as a child and felt it really helped it so we made it a priority. We still wanted it to be fun and engaging so we went through both “The Big Book of Latin I ” and “II”. We started them in 3rd grade and took 4 years to do both. I only planned to do half a book a year which was perfect for us. We also liked the added history that both of the books had.
My kids all loved Mathtacular. It was kwirky, funny and engaging all while reviewing or introducing topics they were covering in Singapore. This was also a great math supplement for when I was too sick to go through math or wasn’t here to teach them. The grandparents were able to turn this on while I was gone, and sit down on the floor with the manipulatives and “do math”. These were also great for summer math.
We used this book during co-op where we taught elementary, middle and high schoolers. My friend did summarize some of the info that was too much for the younger kids. My friend would then have the kids make a recipe or two each week from what they were learning and we would eat it for snack. We still use some of the recipes we learned from this book. It gave my kids a good foundation into what we should eat and why. I really liked that it taught my kids the effects of certain foods on the body, both good and bad.
We love Science at our house so I often had extra science kits. I generally didn’t get more science curriculum but just bought fun, hands on science kits. Snap Circuits was one of the favorites. We actually ended up buying several additional kits. Had I known, I might have just book got the one great big kit. This was a great way to get Dad involved, too. He was more than willing to do this with the kids in the evening, or do one when I was sick or even during ‘Science Saturday with Daddy’ ( sometimes, to catch up on science that we hadn’t gotten to, Scott would do a weeks worth of science experiments for me) this was another great one for grandparents or for summer.
I always buy several workbooks from Critical Thinking Co each year. When my kids were younger, they thought that workbooks were the best! I think because we rarely used them, they thought it was so fun to just fill in the blank! I really liked having something the kids could do independently or in doctor’s offices, church mtgs or in the car. We used Word Roots, Mind Benders, Analogies, Mathematical Reasoning and more.
This was another book we used during co-op. I used this with elementary and middle school students while we were studying Ancients. We learned about the philosophers and then asked big questions. I always sat and taught this as I always wanted to make sure we brought the big question of, “What does God say about this?” by the end of the discussion. Strangely enough, my oldest son has found this philosophy foundation really helpful in college as he could answer who was Socrates, Aristotle and Plato and what did they believe? He could also talk intelligently about the Epicurean and Stoic philosophies.
How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare
We used while we were learning about the Middle Ages. It really gave my kids a wonderful foundation into Shakespeare and now, in high school, that foundation is holding them in good stead. They already know the stories and settings and can focus more on the language and in analyzing the literature.
