INSIDE: Our Catholic Homeschool curriculum picks for 2021-2022
I am finally (finally!) finding time to share our homeschool curriculum picks for this year.
We are 3 weeks in and school is going well. I can’t wait to share with you what we are working on!
9th Grade (Isaiah, 14)
Oh, my goodness – high school! How is he this old (how am I this old?!)? We’ve worked on a tentative 4 year plan and are trying some online courses for the first time.
Math: Memoria Press Online Academy Geometry
Isaiah will be taking this as a live class this year which is the first actual class outside of our home that ANY of our children have ever done. Classes do not start for another week so I will update how things went at the end of the year.
Grammar: IEW Fix-It series
We continue to use and love the IEW Fix-It series. I enjoy using Seton English for the younger grades but love the application and more difficult passages that students work through in these books.
Latin: Memoria Press Online Academy Henle Latin I
This is another online course Isaiah is taking from MP. I’m happy to hand off this second language course to someone else’s capable hands!
Writing: IEW Student Writing Intensive Level 2 & Speech Boot Camp
We LOVE IEW writing courses and their support team were wonderful in helping me place Isaiah for this year’s writing course. He will also complete the shorter Speech Boot Camp (also by IEW) next spring.
Isaiah also continues to write and present speeches for 4-H which has been an excellent opportunity for him.
Science: Modern Biology from Memoria Press
This course is so well laid out and comes with streaming lectures and lesson plans. It has been rigorous thus far but easy to implement.
History: Renaissance and Reformation from Memoria Press
This is a course that Isaiah will be doing for 3 terms this year. Instead of trying to fit everything in every week, we chose to work through one of our “extra” studies at a time. This frees us up mentally and helps us focus on the current topic at hand.
Religion: Story of Christianity from Memoria Press
This also is a term study that will be alternated with the course above. Isaiah also watches Catholic conferences, speakers, and reads great Catholic books alongside my husband and myself.
Programming: Top Tech Boy
This is engineer Husband’s choice for programming. Isaiah completed some programming work with Top Tech Boy’s Youtube videos last year and is moving into Python this year.
(I know NOTHING about this and really 100% on Husband here!)
Piano: Hoffman Academy
Isaiah is continuing in his piano for now but we are prepared to drop it if his course load becomes too much.
4th Grade (John, 10)
After losing more than a year, John Christian is catching up nicely with his academic work.
Math: Rod and Staff 4
I’ve been looking for what comes next after Abeka Math K-3 and think I’ve finally found it with Rod and Staff Arithmetic. It is rigorous and offers a lot of practice. We don’t do all the problems but I like having them there should we need them.
Grammar: Seton English 3
Still love Seton English for elementary aged kids. The workbooks are so easy, grab and go. This is a subject we do with Clare.
Writing: Good and Beautiful 3
He wasn’t quite ready for extensive cursive and this book offers a nice mix of print and cursive. It is printable, which I love, because we can just redo a page if needed.
Spelling: Spelling 3
Again, love the easy to use, traditional approach to spelling. Another subject shared with Clare.
Literature: Dangerous Journey, Blue Fairy Book study guides from Memoria Press
I never really understood doing a literature study together but we worked through Dangerous Journey’s guide this summer. It was helpful for the kids to learn some of the complicated vocabulary that is in this story. If we have time, we will also try the Blue Fairy Book.
Of course, we are always reading excellent stories together.
Reading: Required Book List
Science: Mammals from Memoria Press
I don’t believe elementary science is necessary but John is very interested in nature and so we are diving in and studying a bit. This is a term study and we will complete it in 6 weeks.
History: Ancient History (audiobook, Tan)
This is also a term study that I plan on doing around the holidays. It will be good to have a simple subject the kids can do on their own during that busy time.
Religion: Baltimore Catechism and Christian Studies I
Christian Studies I from Memoria Press is something new for our family but we are giving it a try. This is another term study.
Typing: Typing.com
John is working on his basic typing skills.
Piano: Hoffman Academy
When our school year is underway I hope to start John on some piano lessons.
Memory Work: poetry and scripture
He is currently working on “The Ride of Paul Revere.”
3rd Grade (Clare, 8)
Math: Abeka 3
I really enjoy the easy to use workbooks from Abeka for math for grades Pre-K through 3.
Grammar: Seton English 3
(shared with John, see above notes)
Writing: Seton Penmanship 3/4
Seton Handwriting books offer so much practice.
Spelling: Spelling 3
(shared with John, see above notes)
Literature: Dangerous Journey, Blue Fairy Book study guides from Memoria Press
(shared with John, see above notes)
Reading: Required Book List
Science: Mammals from Memoria Press
(shared with John, see above notes)
History: Ancient History (audiobook, Tan)
(shared with John, see above notes)
Religion: Baltimore Catechism and Christian Studies I
(shared with John, see above notes)
Typing: Typing.com
(shared with John, see above notes)
Piano: Hoffman Academy
(shared with John, see above notes)
Memory Work: poetry and scripture
1st Grade (Elijah, 6)
Math: Abeka 1/2
Love the Abeka math workbooks for pre-k through 3.
Phonics: Explode the Code series, Memoria Press flashcards, easy readers
Explode the Code is excellent. We supplement with phonics and sight word flashcards and easy readers.
Science & History
(shared with John and Clare, see above notes)
Penmanship: various printables
I seem to have a lot of leftover workbooks or free printables so that is what we are doing this year.
Religion: Baltimore Catechism
Love the Baltimore Catechism. This will be alongside Clare and John.
Memory Work: simple works of poetry and scripture
I hope you enjoyed seeing what we are using. Can’t wait to report back at the end of the year!
2020-2021 School Curriculum Picks and Review
Baltimore Catechism: A Step by Step Guide
Could you share some of the scriptures you choose to have your children memorize? I have started scripture memorization in our homeschool for the first time this year, and I am feeling a little uncertain about what verses/passages to use. I copied several psalms and a large number of verses from a website about memorizing scripture, but now I feel overwhelmed and don’t think many of the verses are really quite what I want. I most want to use scripture memorization to give our family a greater knowledge of what God is really like, a sense of trust in Him, and an understanding of His love and care for us. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
It all depends on what ages your kids are. I love Psalm 23 as a great place to start as well as other short Psalms (i.e. #1). The fruits of the spirit and beatitudes are great too. Proverbs or scripture that help my children make decisions are wonderful. When my kids are in middle school (only one so far), I like them to memorize some scriptures that are more apologetic in nature.
Thank you! I had Psalms 1 and 23 on my list of ideas, so I’m glad to hear those have worked well for you! I am reading the Psalms myself for the first time right now and I am eager to share them, but I don’t want to overload my kids either!