Category: Curriculum

Homeschool Curriculum Review: Alveary and Grade 2 & 5 Experiences

Published on by Sharli AllenLeave a comment

What a Year!!!! We finished up 2nd and 5th grade and I feel so very proud of what all we accomplished this year. It was our first year using Alveary, a complete Charlotte Mason based curriculum for K-12th graders. (If you are interested in using I do have a $25 coupon code I will enter below) I loved it! I typically am the homeschooling parent that picks and chooses from different curriculums and usually ends up piecing together my own by the end of the year. I have always struggled with using one sole curriculum and loving it. Am I the only one?

However, this year with Alveary it was different. Although I did not take advantage of their entire curriculum it was our spine. I am also very grateful that both of my children are now avid readers, and I can finally put reading instruction behind me. Praise!

What worked and what did not? Let’s dive in!

Second Grade

Language/Reading – The Good and the Beautiful Level 1 (Not continuing with next year)

  • Open and Go for the most part (it would benefit the parent to go through each lesson ahead of time in case there is cutting or glueing, but can be open and go)
  • I did like the mini books as well as the B book for review, I felt that the time we spent in the review book was most beneficial.
  • Although this is a faith-based program (which I love) it was not enough for him to really notice but I like the mention of the Lord.
  • We could have lived without some of the extras since we do these in our family time (artist and picture studies etc), but for those that do not this is great!

Math – Math U See (will continue with next year)

  • We have been using Math U See for years. I love it! I love that there is video instruction as well as a parent book to learn or follow the lesson if your child needs extra help. It does not have a bunch of flowery pictures and is all black and white but we enjoy this. One of my children has dyslexia and this has been 100 for her!

Alveary (history, geography, science, literature read aloud, composer, poetry, music, art, handcrafts, bible history)

  • We have loved Alveary!
  • The only thing we will be changing this coming year is using Alveary for our science curriculum. It is not because the science is not amazing but mostly because I was having to split up my children for this and I realistically want to do science and experiments as a family. I felt that the younger science was too immature for my older child and the 5th grade science was too difficult for my youngest. So, we are doing something different this year for this.
  • Continuing this year – changing out science

Fifth Grade

Math – Math U See – continuing next year

Language/Grammer- Learning Language Arts Through Literature (LLATL)

  • I absolutely loved this. It could be open and go, but you do benefit from going through it the night before. I do know for the younger years it would be less open and go as for the older. I know some parents that have their children do this program on their own, but with my daughter I chose to lead her through it.
  • Continuing this with my daughter and starting it with my son.

Writing- IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) Structure and Style

  • Many families love this curriculum and use it. I however, did not. I felt it was so very rigorous and I did not like how confusing it felt at times. I have enjoyed some of their other curriculums but this one in particular was not for us. My daughter has dyslexia, and this caused so many tears and frustrations. So, we will not be using that next year but instead will start our year with EIW (Essentials in Writing).

Spelling – IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) Phonetic Zoo

  • This spelling program was wonderful. We used the CDs and my daughter would do this independently. She enjoyed being able to do it on her own and was able to really expand her vocabulary this way. However, we are also not using it this year as our writing and grammar for 6th grade includes some spelling.

Alveary – (history, geography, science, literature read aloud, composer, poetry, music, art, handcrafts, bible history)

  • We enjoyed Alveary greatly and will continue with what we did this year and add more!

We had the best year and

looking forward to next year!

Alveary: Charlotte Mason Based Curriculum for All Ages

Published on by Sharli AllenLeave a comment

We have found the mother of all curriculums, and I am in LOVE! Swooning as a matter of fact. Let’s get real here. If you are a homeschool Mom then you know, you know (!) that we just don’t always keep the same curriculum year after year. It is always trial and error. And oh, how we have errored with some! There are some curriculums we keep year after year such as Math U See, but a lot of them I have changed. Here’s the thing though, with Alveary you don’t have to keep doing that. Not only is it comprehensive, but you can also pick and choose what level/grade, you can group the kids together or separate and like all curriculums if something is not working for you…don’t do it!

So, what is Alveary? Alveary is a Charlotte Mason based curriculum that requires you to buy into the yearly membership. With that membership you receive access to yearlong curriculum for ALL ages. Now don’t get too amped that that this the only cost to you, it is not. You must also print it, or purchase printed from them, or use their online platform at an additional cost. You must also purchase the books you need if you are unable to get from the library, however for many of the books they also provide a link where you can read what you need online for free. Especially for the older books which can be more costly or out of print.

How does it work? First you purchase the membership and then start with their step 1. They have videos which will help you along the way with planning, scheduling, purchasing, deciding on which level/form/grade. There is also an app that gives you access to the Alveary community. That’s right! All the other homeschool Mommas using Alveary. You can ask questions, get advice, see their schedules and much more.

The subjects that Alveary covers is comprehensive, however you do not need to use all of the subjects they provide. Just choose what is best for you, or what you are missing. Currently they have curriculum written for the following subjects: Architecture, art, Bible, citizenship, English, geography, history, Latin, life skills (art & handcrafts), literature (read alouds or their reading), mathematics, modern language, movement, music (solfa, hymn, folk), composer & artist study, recitation, and science. We currently use Bible, citizenship, geography, history, life skills, music, science, literature, modern language (spanish), music, composer and artist study, and science. For Math, reading instruction, grammar and spelling we use other resources which I will share in another post.

If you are interested in more of Alveary you can check out a series of posts I did on their curriculum and them at my social media page or below.

AFFILIATE LINK FOR DISCOUNT:

For $25 off membership you can enter my code: SALLEN at this link: https://lddy.no/1j2fp

Let me know if you have any questions. I would love to help you with any and all of them.

Sharli 🙂

2020 – 2021 Curriculum

Published on by Sharli AllenLeave a comment

2nd Grade:

  1. Math U See https://mathusee.com/
  2. Rooted in Language – Reading, Writing, Comprehension https://www.rootedinlanguage.com/
  3. Sassafrass Science – Elemental Science https://elementalscience.com/collections/sassafras-science
  4. The Good and the Beautiful History (we will begin this at the end of our Cross Country Trip) https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/pre-k-8-curriculum/history/
  5. Our 24 Family Ways (Sally & Clay Clarkson) – Family Bible time with Dad https://www.amazon.com/Our-Family-Ways-Clay-Clarkson/dp/1888692022
  6. – Morning Devotion Time
  7. Charlotte Mason Hymns – our monthly hymns https://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/curriculum-guide/hymn-study/
  8. Pam Barnhill Morning Time Plans – for our morning basket https://pambarnhill.com/morning-time-plans/
  9. Bravewriter – Jot it Down Program (we love doing the fairy tale projects) https://bravewriter.com/
  10. Nature – Exploring Nature with Children https://raisinglittleshoots.com/buy-exploring-nature-with-children/

*** I rotate Science and History and do each 2x per week. On our cross country trip we are not having formal science and history lessons, but immersing ourselves in what we experience and learning along the way.

Preschool:

  1. Math U See
  2. Bob Books Program
  3. Our 24 Family Ways – Family Bible time with Dad
  4. –morning Devotion Time
  5. Charlotte Mason Hymns – our monthly hymns
  6. Pam Barnhill Morning Time Plans
  7. Bravewriter – Jot it Down Fairy Tale Projects
  8. Nature – Exploring Nature with Children

*** I do not require my preschooler to sit and participate in our whole day, however he usually wants to because his sister is doing so. He is required however to participate in Bible, Math and letter recognition. However for his Math and Reading I do not always use a curriculum. We use games, hands on activities and the like more often than not. However, I have learned when your child shows interest to forge ahead. And he is ready.