2014-2015 Year End Wrap Up...

It's that time of year when I begin looking ahead to the next school.  Oh, I've been planning for some time because that's just my nature.  But as we tie up loose ends from the 2014-2015 school year,  I've been specifically reflecting back on what worked and what didn't.

Regarding our Family Study, something that did work was combining Beautiful Feet and TruthQuest History.  I absolutely LOVE both of these programs for different reasons, but I think they are very complimentary to each other.  We will continue with both of them next year for history as we study the Civil War to Modern Times.

God's Design for Heaven and Earth served it's purpose.   It wasn't our favorite subject, but it certainly wasn't the worst.  I guess I feel pretty neutral about it.  This fall, we'll be using Beautiful Feet's History of Science study.  I may or may not use a set of the God's Design series in the future.

Bible Study Guide for All Ages was another Family Study program that was just OK.  In the beginning, I liked having a bible study resource/spine/plan, but towards the end, it became tedious.  The kids lost interest part way through and this was disheartening.  I think it was too much of the same.  Sadly, it just didn't come alive for us.   This is one of the areas I'm researching for the future.

As I look back, scripture memory, artist study, hymn study, nature study, and handicrafts were off and on.  Each of them happened, but not to the degree I had hoped.  I started strong, but in the end I wasn't intentional in teaching any of these areas.  I actually farmed some of them out, such as art and music.  Riley learned several handicrafts through Keepers of the Faith.  She's been doing independent nature study and scripture memory.  Ruben not so much.  However, I've been looking into loop scheduling and am thinking about trying something different in scheduling these areas next year. I'll keep you posted...

Regarding Independent Study, RileyAnn gained great independence this year and loved having her own schedule and checklist.  This gave her freedom to work at her own pace.  She liked not waiting for me to complete her studies.  On one hand, I'm a little saddened that she no longer needs me...did I really just say that!  On the other hand, it's very exciting to watch her fly.

Riley enjoyed her assigned reads, including Shakespeare and poetry.  She also liked Apologia Swimming Creatures, Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts, and the Beautiful Feet Horse study.  We ended up dropping Latina Christiana and Plutarch part way through.  Both of which, I'm hoping to pick up at a later time.  In addition, we swapped Logic of English for All About Spelling.  Typing and the Book of Centuries did not happen because I didn't make the time to follow through....sigh!

Ruben didn't like his checklist.  He found it confusing, which was alright.  He and I work together anyway, as he has few independent subjects.  I thought The Story Book of Science was great.  Ruben liked Aesop's Fables.  Explode the Code and Logic of English Cursive worked for him.  Daily Grams did not.  Ruben made huge gains with his reading tutor this spring, but he continues to struggle with handwriting and spelling.  I am thinking of trying Language Lessons Through English this fall for his Language Arts.  I'm also thinking he's ready to start All About Spelling. 

As usual, one thing I'm researching for both kiddos is math.  At MACHE, I purchased Simply Charlotte Mason's Business Math.  Riley's been enjoying Life of Fred and wants to continue it.  Ruben's subscription to ST Math runs out at the end of June.  We're still trying to decide if we'll continue with it this fall. 

What worked for you this school year and what didn't?  Feel free to leave a comment below....and ENJOY the SUMMER...it's going way too fast here in WI!

Term Three Review - Including Book List 2014-2015

We wrapped up our third term of the school year a few weeks back.  Here is the list of our history read alouds for this final term of the 2014-2015 year...

Story of the Oregon Trail by R. Conrad Stein
Pioneer Sampler by Barbara Greenwood
Attack in the Rye Grass by Dave & Neta Jackson
Narcissa Whitman: Brave Pioneer by Louis Sabin
Wagons West, Off to Oregon by Catherine Chambers
West by Covered Wagon: Retracing the Pioneer Trails by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
A Frontier Fort on the Oregon Trail by Scott Steedman
The Stout-Hearted Seven, Orphaned on the Oregon Trail by Neta Lohnes Frazier
Children of the Covered Wagon by Mary Jane Carr
A Nineteenth-Century Schoolgirl, The Diary of Caroline Cowles Richards edited by Kerry A. Graves
**The Rainbow Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers
By the Great Horned Spoon by Sid Fleischman
California Gold Rush by Catherine Chambers
Elizabeth Blackwell, First Woman Doctor by Carol Greene
Mr. Blue Jeans, The Story of Levi Strauss by Maryann N. Weidt
The Story of Gold at Sutter's Mill by R. Conrad Stein
Snowshoe Thompson by Nancy Smiler Levinson
Abraham Lincoln by James Daugherty

** Indicates books I read excerpts from, not the entire book. 

We didn't get quite as far as I'd hoped this term historically.  But this is OK since we will continue to read aloud over summer.  Some additional books that I have planned are...

All Set Sail by Armstrong Sperry
The True Adventures of Daniel Hall by Diane Stanley
a couple books on the Pony Express, which I haven't settled on yet
Go Free or Die by Jeri Ferris
Walking the Road to Freedom by Jeri Ferris
Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington, 1837-1865 by Cheryl Harness

Below are examples of notebooking pages the kids completed throughout our third term history study....

Check out Term One and Term Two book lists with links to reviews.

"Children Should Have Their Artistic Powers Cultivated"...Charlotte Mason

Riley and Ruben took an art class this spring through our local homeschool group.  It was not so much an appreciation class as Charlotte Mason would have suggested, but a chance to experience creating art with a variety of mediums.  

One day a week, we traveled to the city for class.  On the same day, they also participated in homeschool choir, along with over 200 other homeschool students, as well as piano lessons at the local university.  It was our cultural arts day.  

RileyAnn enjoyed the above project so much that she created more of them at home.  Each student was given a three inch square to which they cut out two triangles, then reassembled in the shape of a bird.  Next, starting in the corner of a blank page, they laid the bird at different angles, tracing it as they went along.  Each student was then encouraged to color a bird or all if they chose.  

I love the way Ruben blended pastels below to form soft lines following his silhouette bird.  The kids also worked with a variety of paints and markers.  They tooled on metal foil and created pop art.  

While they were in class, I had the opportunity to visit with other like minded moms.  The kids visited with friends in and between class.  They both LOVED it, as did I!

God's Design for Heaven and Earth...

We finished God's Design for Heaven and Earth by Answers in Genesis this week.  I had older editions of Our Planet Earth and Our Universe.  Then a friend borrowed us the new edition of Our Weather & Water.  I found pros and cons with each.  I love that the older edition is all inclusive.  The student reading, questions, activities, experiments, as well as teacher notes and answers are all in the same book in the original design.  This is a huge cost savings and in my opinion, it's more user friendly to have all the teaching material in one place.   On the other hand, the kids and I appreciated the color photos and updated space information in the new editions. 

Whether using old or new editions, I found the information in Seymour Simon's books made a great supplement.  Unfortunately, there is mild evolutionary content that you may want to skip over or be prepared to discuss with your kiddos.  Master Books also publishes a beautiful Wonders of Creation Science set with complementary topics to the God's Design series.  Although, I think they are geared more for middle and high school ages.  I pulled supplemental information from each book because reading them all cover to cover would be way overkill. 

Overall, Answers in Genesis provided a good study.  I personally preferred reading this series to the Apologia Young Explorer series, as did Ruben.  I found them to the point and easy to understand.  However, when going around the second time with Levi, I think I'll just read books like Seymour Simom's rather than scheduling a curriculum.  The longer I do this homeschooling thing, the more I'm convinced you don't need a formal curriculum for elementary science. 

The Aesop for Children...

I'm reading The Aesop for Children this year to Ruben.  We are focusing on narration.  I read one page three days per week.  He narrates after each fable.  So if there's three fables on a page, he narrates three times.  This is working well.  The fables are short so they keep his attention.  He enjoys the stories.  His ability to narrate is improving.  Often times he's able to capture the moral in his narration.  I give him this opportunity before I read the moral at the end. The Aesop for Children is a great book for beginning narrators and Milo Winter's illustrations give an added level of beauty.

Beautiful Feet Modern American and World History...Christmas in Februray

It was like Christmas in February when our box arrived all the way from California!

I'm excited to announce, we'll be trying the NEW Beautiful Feet Modern American and World History course!   Just look at all these great books....

....don't they look fabulous!  The study covers 1860 to modern times and is geared for 5th-8th grade.  I plan to spend over a full year on this program beginning now, 2014-2015 school year, as we'll be studying the Civil War in our third term, and continuing next school year, 2015-2016, when we'll finish our first complete history rotation in modern times.  Since I'm stretching the study, I do plan to add books and some commentary from the TruthQuest American History for Young Students III guide.  Nearly all the BF books shown above are listed in TruthQuest's AHYS II & III, which makes them double delicious!  ...Even Levi is excited ;-)

Are you beginning to plan your 2015-2016 school year?  I'd love to hear about it.  Please consider leaving a comment below....

Term Two Review - Including Book List 2014-2015

It's hard to believe we're two-thirds of the way through our school year!  We took a little time off from our book studies this week.  However, the kids were still busy with enrichment activities including LEGO Club, Knitting Club, Keepers of the Faith, Choir, Art, and Piano Lessons.  They did continue math throughout the break and I had a read aloud going.   Speaking of which, here is our list of Term 2 2014-2015 History Read Alouds...

Abe Lincoln Grows Up by Carl Sandburg
Jed Smith: Trailblazer & Trapper by Frank Latham
The Story of John J. Audubon by Joan Howard - We read the first five chapters and decided to stop and read the following book instead.
The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies
The Seasons Sewn: A Year in Patchwork by Ann Whitford Paul 
The Erie Canal by Peter Spier
The Amazing Impossible Erie Canal by Cheryl Harness
Trail of Apple Blossoms by Irene Hunt
The Story of the Santa Fe Trail by Judy Alter
Along the Santa Fe Trail by Marian Russell & Ginger Wadsworth
Young John Quincy by Cheryl Harness
Andrew Jackson by Clara Ingram Judson
Who Let Muddy Boots Into the White House by Robert Quackenbush
Trail of Tears by Joseph Bruchac
Kit Carson Mountain Man by Margaret Bell
Quit Pulling My Leg: A Story of Davy Crockett by Robert Quackenbush
Susanna of the Alamo by John Jakes
Amistad Rising: A Story of Freedom by Veronica Chambers
Nettie's Trip South by Ann Turner
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Zia by Scott O'Dell
Jessie Benton Fremont: California Pioneer by Marguerite Higgins
Patty Reed's Doll by Rachel K. Laurgaard
Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi

Overall it was a good term.  I did switch a few things up that weren't working from our original 2014-2015 curriculum.   With mixed feelings on my part, Riley dropped Latina Christiana I.  She was struggling with this course and is also using Michael Clay Thompson's Town Level, which includes Caesar's English, a study of Latin stems.  I do want her to have some exposure to Latin, but maybe both programs at one time were too much.  She also dropped Logic of English Essentials and went back to All About Spelling.  And, I'm afraid we've grown lax in our Plutarch study, but I aim to get back at it soon.

I'm still using Bible Study Guide for All Ages, however, I changed the way I'm using it.  It just felt too classroom oriented.  I now simply read the recommended passages, the kids narrate, and we discuss.  Occasionally, they complete map work or an activity, but I'm not requiring all the busy work.

After finishing God's Design for Heaven and Earth, Our Planet Earth first term, we were scheduled for Our Universe second term.  However, rather than read it from start to finish, I chose various sections to study, supplementing with Master Books New Astronomy Book by Danny Faulkner.  The full color photos and more up to date information was pleasing. 

Ruben started a new online math program.  ST Math is currently running a pilot for homeschoolers and he was able to sign on for the second semester.  ST (spatial-temporal) Math is game based instruction designed to boost math comprehension and proficiency through visual learning.  It was created from neuroscience research.  I was sold after watching ST Math's TED talk by creator, Matthew Peterson. 

Ruben has also started cursive writing using Logic of English's Rhythm of Handwriting.  Here again, I'm not using the program as written.  I've modified it to meet Ruben's needs.  We've been working through it slow and steady.  If he can give me 2-3 samples of his best writing of 3-4 different letters per day, I call it good.   After learning some new letters, we build words, writing on the chalk board, using the letters he's learned.  For example, after learning how to write "the swing letters", i, t, u, s, j, p, r, and w, we put the letters together, forming and writing words such as it, sit, pit, us, just, etc.  From this approach, he's starting to take note of cursive when he sees it.  The other day, Ruben read a cursive word on the back of a semi while I was driving on the highway.  It's very exciting to see the kids apply concepts they're learning to every day life.  This is one of the many blessings of homeschooling!!

As mentioned above, we've picked up choir, art and piano lessons the last couple of weeks of second term.  These enrichment activities will continue into third term.  We are blessed to have wonderful, organized, extra curricular homeschool activities in our area. The kids are enjoying it and I look forward to time spent with other like minded moms while we wait for our kiddos :)  It's a win, win!

How's your school year going?  I love comments!  Feel free to leave kind words below...

Riley's Reviews...and Sample Narration - Justin Morgan Had a Horse...

Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry tells the story of a horse named Little Bub, the father of the American Morgan horse breed.  He's owned by a schoolmaster and singing teacher named Justin Morgan.  Little Bub later inherits his owner's name. Justin Morgan Had a Horse is a true story.  RileyAnn read Justin Morgan Had a Horse through the Beautiful Feet History of the Horse guide.  The following is her narration...

Justin Morgan was a traveling teacher in the Green Mountains of Vermont.  Farmer Beane owed a debt to Justin Morgan.  When Justin Morgan went to collect his debt, Farmer Beane didn't have the money so he gave Morgan his two colts, Ebeneezer and Little Bub.  One of Morgan's pupils, Joel Goss, went along with Morgan to collect the debt because the school master lived with Joel's family.

When they got back to Joel's house, Joel's father didn't want to board Justin Morgan nor his horses anymore.  Morgan moved out, but before he did, he asked Joel to break Little Bub because he needed to sell him to get money.  Joel reluctantly agreed. One day while Justin Morgan was teaching, a man came to school and wanted to rent Little Bub for one year to clear his land.

Meanwhile, Joel's father apprenticed him for seven years to Mr. Chase, a miller and inn keeper.  While men were waiting at the mill for their lumber to be sawed, they often had pulling matches.  Men bet on their favorite horses or oxen and whoever won got money.  One day when Joel was working at the mill, Little Bub's renter, Mr. Evans, came in with Little Bub to have logs sawed.  When he arrived, the men were having a pulling match.  None of the big work horses or oxen could pull the stout log.  Evans stated that Little Bub could pull the log.  All the men thought it was a joke, but Little Bub proved them wrong when he not only pulled the log, but with three men on it. 

After the match, Little Bub's fame spread all over Vermont. When the year's rent was up, Justin Morgan got Little Bub back and he used him on his singing circuit traveling from town to town giving children singing lessons.  He continued to compete in pulling matches and won many races, eventually going on to beat two of the finest Thoroughbred horses.  Folks paid a lot of money for Little Bub to sire their foals. 

After Justin Morgan died and Joel's apprenticeship was done, Joel tried to find Little Bub, who's new name was changed to Justin Morgan after his previous owner.  When Joel tried to buy Little Bub at an auction, he failed and felt quite miserable.  Shortly after, the War of 1812 broke out and Joel enlisted to help the wounded horses, unsuccessfully hoping to find Little Bub in one of the battles. 

One cold night after the war, when Joel was a grown man, he and his friend, were on their way to a meeting house to discuss a new library.  Joel heard something in the wind and he thought it was Little Bub's whinny.  He followed the sound to Mr. Chase's inn.  Joel found Little Bub in a team of six horses parked outside the inn.  Joel went inside to find Little Bub's owner because he wanted to buy him.   Joel borrowed money from Mr. Chase and purchased Justin Morgan, formerly known as Little Bub. 

During a parade for James Monroe's inauguration as president, Monroe's horse got a bumble bee in his ear and started to buck.  James Monroe quickly dismounted his horse and needed to find a new one to ride.  Joel and Justin Morgan lined up with other horses and their riders to see which horse the new president would select.  James Monroe picked Justin Morgan.  At the end of the story, Joel Goss declares that Justin Morgan is an true American.  

For additional information on the BF Horse study, you can check out a BF History of the Horse Lipizzaner post here. Justin Morgan Had a Horse is also a Sonlight recommendation.

Beautiful Feet History of the Horse - The Lipizzaner

 

RileyAnn is completing Beautiful Feet History of the Horse this year for literature.  This wonderful study covers science and history as well, but I've assigned it primarily for the literature piece.  It uses the Marguerite Henry horse books in addition to other great literature like The Black Stallion and Black Beauty.  She is really enjoying the study.  Here is one of her drawings and a report she wrote after reading White Stallion of Lipizza by Marguerite Henry and furthering her research on the Lipizzaner stallions...

The Lipizzaner

by RileyAnn

January 2015

Lipizzaners are wonderful horses.  They are named for the place where they were first bred, Lipizza, Hungary.  Lipizzaners are greatly known for their performances with Vienna's Spanish Riding School.  The Riding School's horses are raised in Piber, Austria.  

Lipizzaner foals are actually born black.  They whiten with age.  Usually only white stallions are trained for show, but occasionally a brown colt is born.  This is considered a good omen.  If this happens then this brown Lipizzaner may also be trained for show.  In show Lipizzaners usually do six traditional movements, the Passage, the Piaffe, the Levade, the Ballotade, the Capriole, and the Courbette.   Lipizzaners do all these moves naturally.

Long ago in Ancient Greece, there was a man named Xenophon.  He was a historian and general.  He also had great skill in training war horses in these movements.  He wrote many books on this topic.  Lipizzaners make great show horses, but they can also be used for the saddle or the harness. 

Term One Review - Including Book List 2014-2015

After having some minor panic attacks from feeling overwhelmed while planning last summer, I decided to cut back on the number of books we read per term.  Instead, I'm working hard on choosing the best of the best.  There really are many great books and a part of me still longs to read them all...ha!  However, I was starting to feel burn out and that's a bad feeling! 

Thankfully, our kids' favorite subject is still history and I want to continue to fuel that passion.  I believe Beautiful Feet, TruthQuest, Veritas Press, and Sonlight can take much of the credit for this.  Their book lists/suggestions haven't let us down.  I will continue to pick and choose from their recommendations.  Here were our 2014-2015 Term 1 read aloud picks... 

The Story of Eli Whitney by Jean Lee Latham
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry
A Head Full of Notions by Andy Russell Bowen
The Year of the Horseless Carriage by Genevieve Foster
The Louisiana Purchase by Gail Sakurai (Cornerstones of Freedom)
Open the Door to Liberty by Anne Rockwell
Diary of an Early American Boy by Eric Sloane
The Lewis & Clark Expedition by Richard L. Neuberger
The Story of Sacajawea, Guide to Lewis and Clark by Della Rowland
The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Peter F. Copeland (Dover Coloring Book)
My Name is York by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk (wonderful picture book about William Clark's slave)
The War of 1812 by Rebecca Stefoff
Old Ironsides: Americans Build a Fighting Ship by David Weitzman
James Madison by Mike Venezia (Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents)
Abigail's Drum by John A. Minahan
Cornstalks and Cannonballs by Barbara Mitchell
The Star Spangled Banner by Peter Spier
By the Dawn's Early Light by Steven Kroll
Samuel F. B. Morse: Artist - Inventor by Jean Lee Latham
Pioneer Plowmaker: A Story About John Deere by David R. Collins
Mill by David Macaulay - (We started this, but will not finish it at this time.  The kids simply were not interested....and that's OK.  Every now and then this happens.  We usually make an honest attempt, but there are so many great books that I don't push through something they are not ready for.)


We are also doing our notebooks a little different this year.  Rather than printing pages of activities, copywork, and coloring pages, I've resorted to composition notebooks.  I do print an occasional page, but for the most part, Riley and Ruben create their own drawings.  Copywork is taken from our reading.  We like the way they're turning out....

 

After finishing our first twelve weeks of the 2014-2015 school year, we are taking a break this week to refresh, give thanks, and reevaluate our curriculum.  Stay tuned for a few changes I am making....

Year 4 & 5 Term 1 Checklists...

This is the final piece of our 2014-2015 curriculum posts. Last week, I gave a complete listing of the resources we will use this school year. This week, I posted our Year 5 Term 1 Schedule and our Year 4 Term 1 Schedule. Today, I will share the weekly checklists for years 4 & 5 to show how each resource is scheduled per day. You will notice that some subjects vary each day. Also, the number indicated before each subject is an estimated amount of time the subject will take. My attempt in creating these was in keeping with Charlotte Mason's method of cultivating the habit of attention with short lessons and varied order of subjects. We do not necessarily study each subject in the order listed.

Riley Year 5 Daily Checklist

Ruben Year 4 Daily Checklist

Year 4, Term 1 Sample Schedule...

Monday, I posted RileyAnn's Term 1 schedule. Today, I'm posting Ruben's schedule. Again, the items in blue are things he will complete on his own. The black items we will complete together. As with each of our children, this schedule has been built to personally meet Ruben's needs. I LOVE this about homeschooling. We teach each child where they are at!! You may notice that Ruben does not have a "Free Reading" list. Due to his dyslexia, we do most subjects together. I pick and choose books according to his reading level, which fluctuates. Rather than trying to anticipate his future reading level, we will choose books weekly wherever he's at.

Drywood Creek Academy Year 4 Term 1 Schedule

Year 5, Term 1 Sample Schedule

Last week, I posted our 2014-2015 curricula.  Today I'm sharing Term 1 of RileyAnn's schedule to show how it all comes together. 
Blue indicates items Riley will complete on her own. Black items are subjects we work on together, some as a family, and some just her and I.

Drywood Creek Academy Year 5 Term 1 Schedule

2014-2015 Curriculum...

I've hesitated to post this because I don't want anyone to feel pressure.  Disclaimer....We do not do every subject daily and RileyAnn is not reading all the books listed at one time. 

Quite honestly, our first week of school didn't kick off quite as strongly as planned.  Life took over!  But, we will pick up and try again next week :)  So, without further ado, here are our 2014-2015 curriculum choices...

Family Study

Bible Study Guide for All Ages
Scripture Memory
Beautiful Feet Geography
Misc. History books covering approx. 1800-1865 - Lewis & Clark to the Civil War
God's Design for Heaven and Earth
Artist Study
Hymn Study
Folksong Study
Nature Study
Handicrafts
Life Skills


RileyAnn Year 5

Plutarch using North's Translation and Anne White's Study Guides
This Country of Ours by H E Marshall
Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster
Of Courage Undaunted by James Daugherty
Narcissa Whitman by Jeanette Eaton
The Ocean of Truth by Joyce McPherson
Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day
Hitty Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Story of Clara Barton of the Red Cross by Jeanette Nolan
Beautiful Feet History of the Horse
Poetry for Young People Rudyard Kipling & Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Study John Greenleaf Whittier & Paul Dunbar's Poetry
Michael Clay Thompson - Town Level
The Logic of English Essentials
Strayer-Upton Practical Arithmetics
Latina Christiana
Lambs Tales from Shakespeare
Book of Centuries
Typing

Ruben Year 4

The Story Book of Science by Jean Henri Fabre
Misc. reading books
Explode the Code
The Logic of English - Cursive
Daily Grams
Aesop's Fables
Misc. math - skills to include multiple digit addition/subtraction; multiplication tables; continuing time and money

Bible Study....

I'm looking ahead to next fall.  It seems strange, only planning an education for two kiddos but, I'm looking forward to spending more time with Riley and Ruben, focusing on a few key areas.  One of these is Bible Study.  I think it's time to dig deeper into scripture.

In the past, I've used the Egermeier Story Bible and The Child's Story Book by Catherine Vos.  Two years ago, we studied Proverbs and this past year we used Notgrass Draw to Learn Psalms.  Both the kids and I are ready for a more in depth study using a full edition Bible.  So far, I've narrowed it down to two choices...
 


1. Bible Study Guide for All Ages - This four year comprehensive Bible study offers 416 lessons for age 3 to adult.  The study is broke down into four units with different parts including Teacher's Guide, Student Pages, Wall Map & Timeline, and Bible Book Summary Cards.  I was fortunate to pick up Unit 1 at a used book sale.

You can find more details on choosing the materials to work best for your family here.    There is also an Order of Study here.  Bible Study Guide for All Ages covers a combination of Old and New Testament each year.  At the end of Year 4, the study has brought you through the entire Bible.  I love the idea that we can study the Bible together with different ages and abilities.  At this point, I don't think I'm going to order the Student Pages.  We looked at them at a sale and Riley was a bit turned off by the cartoon characters.  The kids prefer to draw their own illustrations.  I would add scripture memory and copywork. 



2. Bible Road Trip - This is a FREE online Bible Study offered by homeschool mom and author Danika Cooley.  Bible Road Trip is a three year study that also covers the entire Bible.   The study is aimed at youth PreK to 12th grade with notebooking pages available in four levels; Lower Grammar (Grades 1-3), Upper Grammar (Grades 4-6), Dialectic (Grades 7-9), and Rhetoric level (Grades 10-12).  Each year consists of a 32 week schedule.  Click here for an overview of what's covered in each of the three years as well as the books/resources used in each of the "grade" levels. 

One concern I have about this program is, "Bible Road Trip does not address specific theological or doctrinal arguments. (There are some discussions over the manner in which we approach Scripture in the upper grades.)  For example, though I believe in the literal Creation account, and I was careful to choose materials that did not discount that very valid view of the Bible, you will not find anything here that specifically addresses Creationism. There are many wonderful ministries that you can consult for additional materials.  Rather, weeks 3-5 of Year One of Bible Road Trip will acquaint students with the book of Genesis – its authorship, themes, storyline, and timing in actual history."  I guess this could be a pro or con.  Although, I personally want creationism and I'm thinking in terms of finding/adding yet another resource to accompany the study.  On the other hand, I love the literature that's incorporated at the grade 4-6 level.  I'm also attracted to the notebooking pages. 

I've read several reviews of both programs and overall they both look like solid Bible Studies. Decisions, decisions.....!  

What Bible Study program do you use in your homeschool?  Feel free to comment below, especially if you've used either of these programs.   I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas! 

I do plan to write a follow-up after deciding :)