What We Are Using This Year

School started last week in the Schrader home! Here's a look at what we will be using!

Our three and a half year old, Hattie, will be doing bits and pieces of a super mild program called The Peaceful Preschool. It is literature based, which I love, and I think it will be good for her. My main focus for her this year is to get her familiar with her letters, and to let her play, play, play!

Ivy is five and a half and has started her official first year of kindergarten. As our MAIN CURRICULUM we chose Konos. Please, please, please for the love of everything sleek and modern and clean, do not write this curriculum off based on their website. I laugh and shake my head every time I look at it, because...wow. That aside, I adore the content of this curriculum. They are all unit studies on character traits (obedience, honor, wisdom, attentiveness, orderliness, stewardship, responsibility, courage, endurance, patience, honesty, self-control, cooperation, determination, trust, resourcefulness, and inquisitiveness). Their scope covers history, science, art, music, bible, geography, drama/speech and can be used for all levels of learning.

For READING we plan on doing lots and lots of read alouds, including Little House in the Big Woods, The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook, The Littles, The Bears on Hemlock Mountain and way more! If you are starting kindergarten and are needing a Reading curriculum, see my review of "How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons"!

For HANDWRITING we are using Handwriting Without Tears. Our reading curriculum that we went through had a fair amount of handwriting practice last year so I don't feel like we are starting from scratch, however I definitely want to work on how to properly write each of the letters.

For MATH we are using Life of Fred. I have been hearing so much about this unique math curriculum that is literature based and I'm super excited to give it a try. It's all in story format, which I love and I think Ivy will be excited about too.

For ART we will continue to use the amazing Art For Kids. For less than one cup of coffee a month, this subscription provides hours of entertainment for my kids! The dad who created this site loves art, his kids, and sharing his passion with others! We will also be doing a ton of nature journaling and prompted illustration throughout our read aloud books.

We are hoping for a successful first year! I'll be sure to write reviews on all we are using along the way!

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