Our Home School Curriculum: What we use for Pre-K - 4th Grade

by - 9:49:00 AM






Hello there lovely people!

First off, let me apologize! I have been so wrapped up in one aspect of my life that I have totally neglected certain other topics! My blog is a reflection of myself and when I started (this one), there were certain things that I talked about which I have since stopped talking about! And for that, my dear readers I am sorry!

So, with that being said, I would love to share with you all our home school curriculum and how we go about keeping our kids on pace and even ahead in some cases!
As you may know our second oldest has some learning set backs, you can read al about our struggle and journey in this post I titled The Brain Game. The truth is Thailand was expected to be behind until she reached early elementary years, but we never thought it would be this hard and take this long to catch up. Seeing your child struggle to keep up with kids their own age is really tough! And while they should learn to use that setback as an opportunity to push themselves even harder, it's hard to sit on the sideline and pray that they get it.

Ever since we started home schooling, I have notice a huge difference in her fight to learn. Thailand wants to read and write more, she applies herself more in math and actually enjoys the programs we use. While she is at different levels for each subject, the curriculum we have been using keeps her on pace and will get her to where she needs to be.

Baltimore has really developed as well. He has always been a little advanced, but he is now reading independently, adding and he even has mastered his 1st grade sight words already. I know that he is thriving and is definitely on pace to be ahead!

Italy loves to do her "work", she loves putting her books and binder in her backpack and heading to the library. Often, to avoid the home school slump at home, we head to our media room at our loft or we go to the library. They have great space, plenty of computers, it's out of the house and for me.. IT'S QUIET! lol I really love the peace and stillness at the library!

So, enough blabbing about my kids lol, here is what we use for our curriculum!

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1. First we start over at what has truly been a blessing, Easy Peasy All In One Home School. This is a completely FREE curriculum ( can purchase some items) and it has lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders! We started our journey with Moby Max, which is great, I just needed a more formal schedule to help me keep on track and make sure that they are learning the correct things. Easy Peasy is fully designed out for all grades (k-hs). I am able to take it day by day, lesson by lesson and know that they are doing appropriate lessons. Plus, she has also included Bible studies which helps me talk about the Bible with my kiddos. It breaks it down in short versus where they can understand.

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2. AdaptedMind- We recently just added this program to our curriculum for math and reading. While Easy Peasy has worksheets, games and videos, we wanted something a little more to add to it. This program is fairly cheap, I believe $10 a month and it gives you updates constantly about their progress. What they missed, how many they completed and what level they are on. There is also a "tutor" that breaks down the problems when they continue to answer it incorrectly. This program has definitely helped take a lot of the frustration out of our math and reading work.

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3. ABCmouse- This is still one of our kids favorites. WE mostly use it for Italy now since this is her second year of Pre-K. She has learned so much from it! She can write her name, count past 20 and even knows how to make new colors when mixing them. Plus it is a fun program to use! I believe for us, it costs around $12 or $13 a month. We added a parent tracker option which took it up from $7.95. We took Thailand off of it because we felt it didn't really push her hard enough.

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4.Times Tales- This program was actually gifted to me and my family for a review and this is my honest opinion.Now Thailand has always struggled with numbers and even something simple as addition has played tricks on her mind and forced her to shut down. Times Tales is perfect for her! The dvd has animated problems that allow her to understand what is going on while having orthographic processing. Much like Word World" when Thai sees the letters or numbers put together in a picture, she is able to retain it much better. Also we received the Zone Cleaning set as well. That has made cleaning so much easier for all the kiddos. While we don't use the basket system for their room, they are able to still follow each step to make sure their room is organized and clean. Now just to get them to do it everyday lol. I really enjoy using Times Tales and so does Thai.

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Our Library

5. Extra Stuff- We do a lot of extra stuff throughout the week to add to our school time. (1)On Tuesdays, the two older girls head to a new group at the library called Graphic Novel Book Club. It is for ages 7-15 and they talk about GN they have read, check out new ones and spend the time creating their own comics and imitating drawing styles from GN authors. (2)Every third Friday, we head back to the library for home school group. The group focuses on STEAM projects using Legos and other items to create all types of stuff. (3)Kaleidoscope is our favorite because it is a free art session. They open their doors all day for 45 minute sessions where kids can use recycled materials, melted crayons, paint, stickers and everything in between to create their own masterpiece. We also attend random "home school days" at our local attractions as well, water parks, museums, science centers, movies and more.

All of these programs have been wonderful not only for the kids, but for me as well. I feel a lot more confident as a homeschooling mom and a lot of doubt has lifted. Sure I still have my days where I feel like what I am doing is not good enough and where I feel like I am failing them. But thanks to my amazing husband that reassures me I am doing great, my kids showing great growth and these amazing resources, I know they will keep thriving!

What do you use for your curriculum? Have you used any of these before? Let me know in the comments below!

Also, if you are interest in learning more about Times Tales and what all they offer, click HERE!

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46 comments

  1. I had no idea how home schooling works.. but your post done gave sneak peek in to it.
    Keep up your good work.

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    1. I was so confused at first, but there are so many people and resources out there! I'm glad I could also be one.

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  2. WOW! I'm super impressed that you home-school. It must take so much dedication! It's not very popular to home-school in the UK but I have noticed an increase in people doing it lately.

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    1. It does take a lot of dedication, patience and reminders that you are doing your best. Within the past few years, a lot of people have made the switch for numerous reasons.

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  3. I actually used abc mouse for my daughter who just started public school in kindergarten and she tested out of kindergarten! I've been so scared for her to go but with everything going on with my little one (physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy) it was best for everyone because I couldn't keep up with play dates, library and everything else.. Love your blog!

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    1. I totally understand with the speech therapy. My oldest has some learning difficulties on top of now improving speech issues. Kids are fighters and they push hard when they have awesome parents like you! Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy my blog!

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  4. Very impressive! I know that putting together a rigorous curriculum for your children, especially when you have a broad age range of kids, can be a big challenge. But it sounds like the available resources for home schoolers is growing all the time.

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    1. Honestly, that was what I was afraid of the most.I was so afraid that some things were going to be too challenging or not challenging enough. Thankfully there are tons of other families that have decades of experience and are willing to help!

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  5. I love how you give us a private look into what homeschooling is like. I've never seen this side of it and its seems like a lot of work! Good job teaching your kids from home!

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    1. Aww thank you so much! I do love it and I know my kiddos enjoy it as well. I always had one view of hs until we started. It most certainly not what t.v. and movies portray lol.

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  6. Thank you for sharing the curriculum you use! I have used Easy Peasy and it is surprisingly good plus it's free! We are currently using time4learning.com but I am looking for something different for the fall. There are so many resources out there it's hard to find the right one. I had never heard of Times Tales so I will definitely check it out.

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    1. I looked into time4learning and I was a little confused on how it was to be used. I fell in love with EP because every day was laid out for me ( kinda lazy i know lol). But it took the stress of planning every minute. What grade are your children? I know there are some great FB groups that have all the inside scoops on curriculum.

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  7. I am always in awe of homeschooling parents! Parenting is hard enough without the added stress of designing and following a curriculum. I love reading how it is done. My kids went to private and public school but in the evenings and weekends I felt like I was a home school mom. Being involved in your kids learning and understanding their thought processes is always important.

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    1. Yes, it can be really overwhelming at times. I tend to loose track of my days sometimes and honestly, there are times when I never leave the house.. AT ALL. But I know that what I am doing is best for my family so it will all work out in the end!

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  8. Wow - I'm so mind-blown with all these home school curriculum! It's impressive and kudos for having the energy to do this, it's really admiral!

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    1. Thank you kindly! It might be 75% coffee though! lol

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  9. As a former high school teacher, I definitely empathize with you on finding quality curriculum. It can be really tough! The resources you listed look like excellent places to start the school year! Good luck on a new year!

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    1. Oh awesome, thank you so much! I love hearing feedback from teachers! I feel like teachers have more knowledge as far as what should be taught and when. That is one thing I am still trying to master lol

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  10. I'm so glad you found a way that works better for your children and yourself. You are a supermom!

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    1. Aww lol no I'm not! I wish I was though lol. I could definitely use some super powers to balance out school, blogging, business and cleaning!

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  11. I was always curious about how home schooling works. It does sound quite streamlined.Thanks for sharing.

    ❥ tanvii.com

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  12. You put a lot of work into this post...it's great for insight and just to hear personal feedback about what works for your family. I know SO many homeschooling mamas nowadays (I'm not one of them!)...I always like to hear how they are handling curriculum;mutual sharing of great info helps a lot.

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    1. Thank you so much! A lot of time has to go into planning, especially to make sure we are compliant with the state. I'm glad you enjoyed my post!

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  13. I've always been curious to know how home schooling works. I'm sure technology has really changed things & made things easier, especially when it comes to children that have specific issues/trouble with subjects.

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    1. Yes it has! Thankfully there are so many ways my kiddos can get extra help without needing me by their side the entire time we are doing work. That is what makes it even easier to help all grades.

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  14. I have great respect for anyone that home schools their children. I definitely would not have the patience to teach mine...helping with homework usually ends in world war 3!

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    1. That is what I thought would happen in our house too. I would get so stressed helping them. But since we started hs, there is actually less stress because they can work at their own pace. Thank you for reading!

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  15. ABC Mouse is a lifesaver for us in our house! Our son starts kindergarten curriculum this fall!

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    1. Awesome! I was so relieved when I seen them start to progress!

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  16. For me the concept of home schooling is very new. It's not a common practice in my country. It's interesting to read about how you teach your child at home.

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    1. I have come to realize that it is very different in most countries. It is a joy because we aren't limited to what the school offers.

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  17. I am an ESL Teacher and I think that your ideas are great and I can use some of them in my classroom too.

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    1. Awesome! Easy Peasy also has a foreign language section and I believe ESL as well. I haven't looked too much into because it doesn't apply to us.. yet!

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  18. This is a really interesting post. I am not familiar to home schooling. It is a new concept to me so it is great to learn more about it

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    1. Thank you for reading! I'm glad I was able to show you some insight into how it works!

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  19. I am actually a huge fan of home schooling. We all learn differently and that's an option where the student can learn at his/her own pace.

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    1. Awesome! I totally agree about them working at their own pace. My kids definitely feel less anxious!

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  20. I've never homeschool my kids so I don't know how homeschooling works but I'm going to check on the Adapted Mind program to be added to my kid's school curriculum. Thanks!

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    1. You're welcome! Another program that is great to supplement school is Moby Max. We used it when my oldest was in public school and I truly believe it helped her. It was really self guided.

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  21. I take my hat off to you home schooling moms! In fact, we have one right next door who I'm going to pass your post along to. She has (and home-schools) five kids under the age of 12(!) Yes. I know she's always appreciative when she runs across great materials she can use. x

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    1. WOW thank you so mcuh! Your neighbor is amazing, I couldn't imagine how much work 5 kids (under 12) are! I appreciate you passing my post along!

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  22. I don't know anything about home schooling. I feel like it's probably so much to keep up with. Thanks for sharing this

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    1. Honestly, when you first make that choice.. it is sooo overwhelming! There are tons of curriculum and styles to choose from. But once you find your groove it is awesome!

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  23. Great ideas. These are ideas that is really needed by children. Helping them to learn the language bit by bit is a must. We should not leave them without anything learned.

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