Mt. Hope Academy ~ New Resources and Curricula: 2013-14

(I promise I have something other than homeschooling lists in the queue. As soon as I finish these curricula posts, I will be catching up on all my pictures!)

Looking ahead to the 2013-14 school year, we have only a few small changes and additions to our resources and curricula line-up. I’m feeling confident and excited about many of the things we have been using, and I’m glad not to be making any big switches or searching for the “right thing.” (I am certain there are other excellent resources, but there simply isn’t enough time in the day, nor would it be reasonable to expect the boys to do it all!)

You can read details about all our subjects at these links:

• The Great Conversation (the driving themes behind my curricula choices)
• The Simplicity Version (my top picks for a basic core elementary curriculum)
• History (The Tie That Binds)
• Geography (the “where”)
• Literature: Part 1 (our history-related literature studies)
• Literature: Part 2 (the remaining literature studies)
• Faith
• Mathematics
• Language Arts
• Science
• Latin, Fine Arts, and Extras

New for 2013-14

This is Levi’s last year of Foundations and Essentials with Classical Conversations. The following year he begins Challenge! I’m feeling just a bit of pressure to make this year really solid for him because it will be the last year I have this much flexibility for his weekly work. CC’s Challenge levels are complete curricula. Students follow the Challenge guide to do their work at home for all subjects and then present and discuss in class once a week.

Classical Conversations:

Foundations: Cycle 2 (our second time through!!, working toward Memory Master with Levi and Luke (possibly even Leif))
Essentials (second year for Levi, first year for Luke)

Faith:

Telling God’s Story (Year 3) isn’t yet available, so we may re-read year one or two. We’ll be listening to The Heavens Declare (scripture memory songs) for our Bible memory, and reviewing past CDs. We are adding the latest video in the Buck Denver series, Buck Denver Asks: What's In The Bible? Volume Eleven - Spreading The Good News!, and reviewing the other ten DVDs in chronological order. 

Math:

The boys will continue progress through Teaching Textbooks, Beast Academy, and Life of Fred (with the new books in the series!), along with drill (games or worksheets) and critical thinking workbooks. Levi is half way through TT 6 and the plan is to have him finish level 7 by the end of next summer (and we’ll be working, working, working on his times tables so he has them down easily). Luke is currently working through TT 5, and Leif is on level 4. They’ll just move up a level whenever they finish.

Science:

CC memory work covers astronomy and physics in cycle 2. So we’ll cover those topics with our regular resources of books and DVDs (including Real Science 4 Kids). We are going to review geology (this past year’s topic) with Real Science 4 Kids, and I may have Levi start in on Chemistry in late spring (since he won’t be covering that the following year in Challenge).

P.E:

The boys are continuing with swim team (we may add in Leif this coming year), but we are also looking into a weekly archery class for Levi and Luke.

Fine Art:

Art:

I purchased The Usborne Story of Art Sticker Book for each of the boys. They will come in handy when they need something interesting to take “on the go.”

CC cycle 2 artists are Rembrandt, Linnaeus, Gainsborough, Monet, Degas, and Morisot. The following are a few books and DVDs we have in the queue:

50 Artists You Should Know (including Gainsborough and Monet, local library) 

Rembrandt (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)

Carl Linnaeus: Father of Classification

Thomas Gainsborough Artist of England
Thomas Gainsborough: A Country Life

Berthe Morisot by Marianne Mathieu (local library)
Berthe Morisot by Kathleen Adler (local library)

I Dreamed I Was a Ballerina (a girlhood story by Anna Pavlova illustrated with art by Edgar Degas) 
Charlotte in Giverny, and many other beautiful picture books about Monet and other Impressionist artists 

 

From The Artists' Specials DVD collection: Degas and the Dancer, Rembrandt Fathers & Sons, and Monet Shadow and Light.

Music:

:: The boys will be participating weekly with a choir this coming year, and I’m very excited about the opportunity! I’m also going to do my best to have them in a routine of practicing the piano even if we aren’t participating in regular piano lessons.

CC cycle 2 composers are Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak.

From the Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers series we have Ludwig Van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms.

 

Two Scarlet Songbirds: A Story of Anton Dvorak

The Heroic Symphony (Beethoven)

Audio CDs:

The Story of Dvorak In Words & Music (also the Beethoven and Brahms in the series)

The Young Brahms from the Opal Wheeler series (I have the audio CD which I purchased through Rainbow Resource, but this link is to the book versions.)

Beethoven Lives Upstairs 

Language Arts:

IEW Medieval history-based writing lessons (Levi and Luke with CC Essentials, cycle 2)
(We will be reviewing our MCT books instead of going on to the next level)
I’d like Levi to finish Writing With Skill level 1 by the end of next summer (filling in the spaces before and after CC)
I’d like to make it through All About Spelling level 5 by the end of the year (finish levels 2 and 3 for Leif)

Latin:

We’ll be heading into First Form Latin when we finish up Latina Christiana I.

Spanish:

I have La Clase Divertida level 2. We’ll see if we get to it.

Geography:

CC cycle 2 geography includes world geography (lots of Europe and Asia, Central America, and a little bit of Africa)

 

History, Historical Fiction, Literature, and Poetry Memory:

Stay tuned for the list. (The very, very long list.) It is coming up next…

Click here to view the list!