Our Core Curriculum

Tapestry of Grace - We are in our 5th year with TOG. I am an avid fan of the material and the solid basis which the Somervilles give to this overview of history and the Lord's working through time.  Due to the nature of our lives I have found myself mid-year with the program, so we will be completing Year 4 (Units 3 - 4) then returning to Year 1 in this school year.  I can hardly wait!

Spell to Write and Read - We have implemented this program for our reading and language arts base this year and I am so thankful I found it. I absolutely love the depth of understanding of the English language that is presented by this material. Not only does it teach how to read and spell, but it gives explanations for these subjects.  This will be my last year using this program with my oldest and my first year with my youngest.
Excellent!
Cursive First - Along with SWR I also teach cursive using Cursive First, and I am so glad I do. They're handwriting is wonderful and more logical than beginning manuscript print.




Math-U-See - We are continuing to use MUS with my two older boys as they progress through the books.  My oldest is in Epsilon and my second in Delta.  They are doing well in this series, though sometimes I feel they could use a little more challenge.  I keep questioning other possibilities as they progress in their math skills.

Right Start Mathematics - I decided to try this program with my third oldest last year as he is very skilled in math and I wanted to make sure he had a solid foundation before moving too quickly ahead.  It has been a great program, though it does involve a lot of teacher planning and presentation.  I also used Level A with my youngest and she has done very well with it.  We'll continue in it this year as a supplement to their other mathematics.

Math in Focus - We also started using MIF over the past year and I really like this program, though I felt I was not spending a lot of time teaching and my third child was flying through it.  In the end I wanted a more solid foundation, so we took the time to implement RSM (above) and slowed way down on this.  I am excited to continue in this program this year and will teach Grade 1 to my youngest as well.

Apologia Elementary Science - This is another program I have started and love, but have yet been able to complete.  We often are occupied with school during the winter months when observations of animals can be almost nil, so I look forward to continuing in this study again as this fall while we can still observe in nature some of what we are studying.  Hope to complete this book this year!