Hello everyone! It’s June, so that must mean I am looking at curriculum for next school year! I love this part so much. I get so excited, thinking of the possibilities and the projects and finding things that will engage Wyatt, and inspire him. I love when he surprises me with a connection, like with how much he loved The Phantom Tollbooth last year, or his love of Ben Franklin. Wyatt learns best from being immersed in the subject, so I try to find ways to make that happen, to make learning an entire experience, which can be hard with some things, let’s face it. But, I give it my all, and I see what sticks! I am always always so proud of him and the effort he puts in, even when he is not super enthused about a subject – like math.

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Let’s start there. I switched things up last year, and started using Komodo Math. It is an app but has real teachers on the other side of it, and they also will tailor the lessons for special needs students. Wyatt’s “teacher” and I emailed back and forth a bit, and then the teacher put together a plan for Wyatt. I think it is not quite enough, but I will defer to the professional here because Wyatt actually is excited to do math now, so I will leave it where it is for now. We are not in a race. I want to give Wyatt the time he needs to fully understand something before we move on, and that is how we roll. It also allows him a bit more independence, something we have been really working on this past year. He can get his iPad, log in, start the lesson, and get to work. I sit next to him and help him as needed as well. It has some fun interactive features for kids, like going to the “dojo” and earning new belts. Wyatt loves that part. I was thinking of adding in language arts just for the summer but with his surgery I am not sure. We will see, we still might.

For reading and language arts, Wyatt is making slow but steady progress. We have some obstacles, like his speech, that prevent me from knowing what he knows at times, since he can’t always read back to me. He has motor processing difficulties, and his speech therapist believes that it is hard for him to transition from word to word in speech when reading a sentence. But we are working on things here slowly but surely, and I try not to have a panic attack over it all. A large part of our day is spent on reading and language arts. We work on phonics, reading out loud, sight words, reading games, and then the chapter book we are reading too of course, plus the activities that go along with that as well. This year, I have chosen our books – I think. This is always subject to change! However, I believe I am going with Holes, Hoot, Because of Winn-Dixie, and Rascal. For Holes, Hoot, and Because of Winn-Dixie I will be using the unit studies created by The Waldock Way. I usually love her studies, they are so dynamic and include games and projects and other cross-connections, which Wyatt loves. There are also video walk throughs on The Waldock Way YouTube channel for a more in depth look. For Rascal, I am purchasing a unit study from a new to me seller, Treehouse Schoolhouse.

Speaking of Treehouse Schoolhouse and new to me sellers, we are going to be using a mixture of curriculum for history next year. For our main “spine” as they say in the homeschool world, we are using History Quest. Then we will be zooming in on certain areas in history, and spending some time there. Like the gold rush, the Oregon Trail, the Underground Railroad for sure, and include field trips when possible, as well as art projects and other hands on learning. Oh, and of course, read alouds. I have found this site, Learning through Literature, and I have already purchased one for next year, By the Great Horn Spoon, about the Gold Rush, and have my eye on another, Freedom Train.

We also have to start government this year. I have been putting it off because frankly, it is so boring. This study makes it look a lot more fun to learn from than how I learned. (Waldock Way)

Science this year is a continuation of my plans from last year, the stuff we didn’t get to. We will be starting with a STEM study, then following it up with the Human Body. (Waldock Way)

And sigh, art. Always a favorite. I am going to make a list this summer of artists we want to study and then move from there. Any favorites or suggestions?

And that is it for now! I am trying to get ahead of the game here, and have some plans put together for when we start in the fall. I am already looking forward to it!