In the past we have been very eclectic homeschoolers. We pulled together a curriculum from a number of different sources: spelling and grammar from Spectrum workbooks, language arts from Learning Language Arts Through Literature, math from Math U See and CTCmath.com, and science, history, art, and music from wherever I could find good stuff - often allinonehomeschool.com.
This worked really well for us for a long time, but by the end of last year I was feeling really scattered. I knew I didn't want a full "boxed" curriculum for a couple of reasons. They can be so expensive that there's no way for us to afford them (think upwards for $1,000 for all three kids), and I never trust that one could give us every single thing that we want, presented in a way that every single one of my kids can grasp. Still, I knew I was getting very lax with things outside of the core, namely science, history, music, and art. I needed some way to teach each of those in a way that wouldn't need extensive planning from me, and would be easily absorbed by all of the kids since I really wanted to teach those subjects in a one-room schoolhouse setting.
Enter Latter-day Learning! We still use workbooks for spelling (this year it's Spelling U See) and we haven't changed anything about math, but for everything else I can use this magical curriculum that also includes gospel principles with every lesson in a way that doesn't feel preachy, just integrated easily into whatever it is we're studying. For example, in a geography lesson about Antarctica we talked about the weather and climate. Then we talked about penguins, and about the sacrifices male penguins make to care for their young. This segued beautifully into a discussion about the sacrifices our fathers make for our families, and how we know that families are the central unit of society as planned by God. And the kids are so involved in every discussion! They are actively engaged in both the academic and the gospel topics. It has been so overwhelmingly wonderful to see them so excited to learn new things.
This curriculum covers history, geography, science, literature, art, and music and rotates in a 6 year cycle. You can start on any year, and just follow the cycle around. It can be used for any grade, since it has handouts and assignments geared to different ages that can let each child go deeper into each topic, even if it's one they have studied in the past. The only subject that I'm a little leery of is ancient history - I may need to supplement a bit with that in a few years, since it seems to be very scripture-based. I would love that as a study of scriptural or church history, but I do want something a bit more well-rounded that includes perspectives outside of just the bible and Book of Mormon.
We are going through each subject using a unit study approach, meaning we don't teach every subject every day, or even every week. Instead, I have broken each subject into units and we will be able to focus more deeply on one thing at a time. We're only into our second week of school, but I can already tell this was the right choice for us. I'm able to plan for the lessons very easily, the kids can remember what they learned since it's not overwhelming and crammed in with a whole bunch of other information, and I'm not totally worn out by teaching it.
One of my very favorite features of Latter-day Learning is the flashcards. We've done a unit on Antarctica, and this week we are working on cell theory in science, and we use flashcards in practically every lesson to review what we are learning.
Our state doesn't require a portfolio, but the chances are strong that we'll move to a place that does at some point. I'm thinking I'll use this blog to track what we do at least once a month, as a kind of online portfolio. At the end of the school year I can have the blog printed as a book, like I did with our Daegu blog. That will be a cool sort of year book, as well as an ad hoc portfolio.
