Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Yvonne asked me this question so I thought I'd just answer in a post.

Hi Lisa, I saw that you are using Movies as Literature. I'm so excited about using it myself! Have you made any other curriculum changes? I'm curious! ~Yvonne

Yes, I've been overhauling our whole year, subject by subject. See, I found I liked the literature approach but the kids were dragging their heels. Yes, they liked the books but found it to be just too much. So here's what I've come up with so far...

Movies as Literature http://www.designastudy.com/products/1891975099.html

My dd loves movies. Not only loves them, she's one of those people who likes to buy and watch some movies over and over and over and well, over again.lol I want her to be discerning while watching these movies and this is a skill that will come in handy as she goes through life.

Math U See

We've now officially tried just about every single math curriculum out there.LOL Something that never occurred to me, is that Allison is especially VISUAL. So MUS is finally doing what no other curriculum has ever done, it's teaching her math. I think Jon could take it or leave it but for Allison, it's been wonderful.

Ancient Civilizations and the Bible by http://www.dianawaring.com/Ancient-Civs-Student-Guide.html This has the whole first unit online, just click the PDF file.

Now this is a real find! I love the way this curriculum is put together. After looking through it, I felt that it would be able to touch on both of my kids learning styles without letting us get bogged down. It's user friendly, has the reading that I like, an auditory segment, and hands on projects to do. I like how the kids can focus on different topics within the subject, like art for Allison and science for Jon but we're all still on the same page. We're still learning about the same time period. Plus, the customer service is great! I made a mistake and Mr. Waring actually called and emailed me to find out if I really wanted two copies of the same cd.LOL Pretty cool.

The other subjects we've got lined up are Drivers Ed in a Box, Culinary Arts, Guitar, and Website Design.

It has been hard to go off the beaten path with my kids but I'm already seeing fruit from trusting God. They are already learning so much and are excited about their subjects again. I'm hoping that our history will guide us into the right science for both kids. I haven't found a good match in science yet. The kids may take different paths but I'm hoping they'll end up in the same place.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

4 comments:

Kathy in WA said...

Lisa - thanks for taking the time to share this. It's so helpful to read about how other homeschoolers work through their curriculum choices and inspire (hopefully) their children. Good job!

Lisa in Jax said...

Thanks Kathy! The kids are changing all the time and with the new little one, I didn't notice until just recently. Thankfully, I've got most of the subjects revamped. I just need to find a good science.lol

Yvonne said...

Thanks for sharing, Lisa! I wish I were near you. It would be so much fun, I think, to have a group movie discussion on some of the films in Movies as Literature. We're trying MUS for geometry this year also. Thanks for the history suggestion. The download looks great! Of course, NOW I see it, AFTER I've already purchased our materials for next year. LOL ~Yvonne

Lisa in Jax said...

It would be fun! Too bad we can't do something together. The history is pretty neat, maybe it'll work for you next year.lol