Our Homeschool "Curriculum"

I find that when people ask what I do for homeschooling or what curriculum we use I don't really know what to say and it ends up sounding like we don't do much. So for my own benefit I want to record the "curriculum" that we use now:

History
This one is easy because I have discovered that I love it (even though in high school I thought it was awfully boring and pointless) and we do it often. We love the Classical Conversations Timeline Song and History Sentences and The Story of the World books. We also use library books, documentaries, biographies, and more! We've also traveled to Mexico to see Mayan ruins, New Orleans to learn about slavery and the history of a plantation, and more. We have a trip planned to Amsterdam, Rome and Greece in April where we'll get to see a lot of history firsthand as well!

English

My current philosophy is that reading aloud to my kids and encouraging them to read on their own takes care of spelling, vocabulary, grammar, etc. So we READ, READ, and READ some more! I also encourage the kids to write letters to cousins and once in a while write a report on something. They have each started writing stories on their own as well (Megan--Cursed, Jacob--The Wizard).

Math

I've struggled with this one and just given my kids random workbooks and assigned pages periodically, but I just bought Teaching Textbooks CDs for Megan and Jacob and I'm really excited to see how they work for us. Megan also loves Math Alive at iFamily. Katie got a play cash register at Christmas that they can use to learn about money.

Science

We get our science through library books, exploring outside, and especially classes at iFamily (Nature Study, Chemistry Junior, Gadgets and Doohickeys, Inventing with Leonardo DaVinci, etc!). My few attempts at science experiments usually failed, but my kids did the iFamily Science Fair and sometimes do science experiments with Jon. We also get science in our travels (animals, bugs, birds, and more nature in Costa Rica, alligators and swamps in New Orleans, iguanas in Mexico, etc!). The kids also learn from electronic and mechanical toys/kits.

Music

Megan had group violin lessons from me for a couple years and is now in the iFamily Orchestra. Megan and Jacob are starting piano lessons next week, and Katie has her own little violin to play with. Jacob will have the option of taking Violin for Beginners from me at iFamily in the next year or so.

P.E. and Health

We've used yogamedo videos for yoga and nutrition education and the kids sometimes do the eliptical or treadmill. Mostly P.E. it's playing outside, but Jacob has also taken gymnastics and currently has an iFamily P.E. class. The kids also see me exercising and setting goals with the Lifetime Wellness Challenge and we've had them do some meal planning and learning about nutrition with that. Megan has started an informal baking class with me and will graduate to a cooking class when she finishes that.

Other
IFamily has been awesome for exposing the kids to other things and giving them opportunities to learn and explore. Along with their other classes Megan is now in Chess Club and Renaissance Art, Katie is in Clog-tastic, and Jacob is in Lego Learning and Community Exploration (field trips every week!) We've also had Megan learn sewing and cake decorating in 4-H classes. And of course we have Activity Days and soon Scouts!

That's all I can think of for now, but it helps so much to see it written down! I'm sure things will evolve as we go on; I'm excited for the journey!