These are books and products we have used in our home at this age.

Life Skills

• 21 Rules of This House
• Uncommon Courtesy
• Student Planner (at this age we start to really teach the importance of staying organized and keeping track of one’s work, and time)

Phonics/Reading

• Explode the Code (if still needed)
• The Boxcar Children Books
• The Little House on the Prairie Books
• The Magic Treehouse Books

Handwriting

• A Reason for Handwriting, Cursive
• Just Write, Book 1
• Blank journal (child writes sentences)

Language Arts/Spelling/Vocab

• Learning Language Arts through Literature, The Yellow Book
• Wordly Wise 3000, Book 2
• Wordly Wise 3000, Book 3

Math

• Singapore Math
• Quarter Mile Math

History

• I Love America, Part 2
• Early American History A Literature Approach

Science

• Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy
• Apologia Exploring Creation with Botany
• Apologia Exploring Creation with Zoology
• Christian Kids Explore Biology
• The Wonders of God’s Creation

Health

• Proper Manners and Health Habits

Art/Music

• 20 Art Lessons
• Alfred Piano Course
• Recorder

Foreign Language

• Powerglide Junior Course
• Signing Time

PE/Physical Education

Park days, swimming, organized sports, dance, bike riding, walks, and lots of outdoor play keep our kids in shape!

These are books and products we have used in our home at this age.

Life Skills

• 21 Rules of This House
• Uncommon Courtesy

Phonics/Beginning Readers/Reading

• Explode the Code
• Phonics Practice Readers
• Boxcar Children Early Readers
• The Boxcar Children Books
• The Magic Treehouse Books

Handwriting

• A Reason for Handwriting
• Just Write, Book 1
• Blank journal (child writes sentences)

Language Arts/Spelling/Vocab

• English for the Thoughtful Child, Volume One
• Learning Language Arts through Literature, The Red Book
• Wordly Wise 3000, Book 2

Math

• Singapore Math
• Quarter Mile Math

History

• The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times
• The Story of the World, Volume 2: The Middle Ages
• Inflatable globe

Science

• Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy
• Apologia Exploring Creation with Botany
• Apologia Exploring Creation with Zoology
• The Wonders of God’s Creation

Health

• Proper Manners and Health Habits

Art/Music

• 20 Art Lessons
• Alfred Piano Course
• Recorder

Foreign Language

• Powerglide Junior Course
• Signing Time

PE/Physical Education

Park days, swimming, organized sports, dance, bike riding, walks, and lots of outdoor play keep our kids in shape!

These are books and products we have used in our home at this age.

Life Skills

• 21 Rules of This House
• Uncommon Courtesy
• A Child’s Book Of Manners

Phonics/Beginning Readers

• Explode the Code Primer Books
• Phonics Practice Readers
• Boxcar Children Early Readers
• Bob Books

Handwriting

• A Reason for Handwriting, Manuscript A
• Blank journal (child draws picture and writes sentence about picture)

Math

• Singapore Math
• Quarter Mile Math

History

• I Love America, Volume 1
• USA placemats and puzzles
• The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times
• The Story of the World, Volume 2: The Middle Ages
• Inflatable globe

Science

• Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy
• Apologia Exploring Creation with Botany
• Apologia Exploring Creation with Zoology
• The Wonders of God’s Creation

Art

• 20 Art Lessons

LOTS of paper, crayons, paint, markers to encourage creativity! We sometimes purchase craft kits from Oriental Trading Co. for extra fun.

Foreign Language

• Signing Time

PE/Physical Education

Park days, swimming, organized sports, dance, bike riding, walks, and lots of outdoor play keep our kids in shape!

Curriculum Overview

This is the Teacher’s Manual for “The World God Made.” It contains brief notes and the answers to questions in the student book. Grade: Kindergarten

Publisher

Christian Liberty Press

Our Review

I purchased this guide but did not use it often. Although nice to have, especially for the price, I do not consider it essential to have.

Where to Buy

Available at Amazon.com and Christian Book

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Curriculum Overview

This science text gives students a simple overview of the basic elements of science from a Christian perspective. Topics in this beautifully illustrated four-color text are presented based on the Days of Creation and include nature, weather, seasons, personal health, and animals.

Publisher

Christian Liberty Press

Our Review

This was one of the first pieces of curriculum I purchased when we began homeschooling many years ago. It came highly recommended so I ordered both the textbook and teacher manual. The textbook itself it very nice, my kids loved looking at the pictures and the lessons are presented story book style. We loved reading this book together while we learned. Questions and coloring activities are provided throughout the book. If you are using this with preschool or kindergarten age children (as recommended), you probably won’t have them write in their answers to questions. We used the questions instead as a guide for discussion after reading.

The only downside for our family was that some concepts in the book differed slightly from our own religious views. So I simply pointed out and explained the differences to the kids. Otherwise, I really liked this program and we learned a lot from it without having to hear words like evolution, billions of years ago, or big bang theory.

Where to Buy

Available at Amazon.com and Christian Book

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Curriculum Overview

You will find the history of the world from the Big Bang to the year 2000, covering the major civilizations, rulers and events. The book paints vivid picture of everyday life over thousands of years and includes:

• Clear descriptions of historical events
• Reconstructions of exciting scenes throughout history
• Fascinating illustrations
• Over 100 maps
• 12000-year illustrated timechart

This combined volume includes: Ancient World, Medieval World, Prehistoric World, and The Last 500 Years. The paperback version of this title is 7 1/2 X 9 1/2 in size with slightly smaller text.

Publisher

Usborne Books

Our Review

This book has been a favorite of my kids for years! The book contains crisp, colorful pages. I purchased the hard cover version and despite almost daily use, the book remains in excellent shape. I fully expect it to last through all of my kids, and quite possibly future grandkids.

For school, we mostly used the book in conjunction with The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times, but you could easily use this book by itself to create your own free/low cost history curriculum.

Sonlight also uses this book for their level 6 and 7 programs.

FYI: This book does incude evolution. I would not consider it religious, but it does cover some religions.

Where to Buy

Available at Amazon.com

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Curriculum Overview

The Story of the World is an award-winning resource for families looking for a history curriculum they can fall in love with. This four-volume set covers the sweep of human history from ancient times until the present. Africa, China, Europe, the Americas — find out what happened all around the world in long-ago times. This read-aloud series is designed for parents and teachers to share with elementary school children. Enjoy it together and introduce your child to the marvelous story of the the world’s civilizations.

Ancient Times (5000 BC to 400 AD)
History is a story, isn’t it time you read it that way? This engaging guide presents world history in a narrative format. What terrible secret was buried in Shi Huangdi’s tomb? Did nomads like lizard stew? What happened to Anansi the Spider in the Village of the Plantains? And how did a six-year old become the last emperor of Rome?

Publisher

Peace Hill Press

Our Review

I really love this program! Here is how I used each week:

• Each child read along with the book while listening to the CD
• Using the Activity Book/Curriculum Guide, I asked each child questions about what they just read
• We used our Usborne Encyclopedia of World History book to further read on the topic (the curriculum guide tells you what pages to read, makes life super easy for Mom!)
• During the week (usually Tuesdays and Thursdays) we completed at least two of the activities in the book
• At the end of the week I gave my kids the chapter test and then we corrected/reviewed together

I felt the story format helped my kids better remember the history being taught. If you are looking for a world history curriculum, I highly recommend it! With that said, if you buy all of the components to this program, it can be pricey to start. If you are on a budget, start with the book and add the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History book to round out your studies. You can also create your own activities or search online for ideas.

Where to Buy

Available at Amazon.com and Christian Book

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Curriculum Overview

The Story of the World is an award-winning resource for families looking for a history curriculum they can fall in love with. This Story of the World audiobook is a collaboration between Jim Weiss, whose voice is “liquid gold” (CNN TV), and Susan Wise Bauer, whose writing has been described as “timeless and intelligent” (Publishers Weekly).

It may be used along with the print book, as a supplement to a traditional history curriculum, or independently.

Ancient Times (5000 BC to 400 AD)
History is a story, isn’t it time you read it that way? This engaging guide presents world history in a narrative format. What terrible secret was buried in Shi Huangdi’s tomb? Did nomads like lizard stew? What happened to Anansi the Spider in the Village of the Plantains? And how did a six-year old become the last emperor of Rome?

Publisher

Peace Hill Press

Our Review

I purchased the CD’s for this book because I wanted to make sure my children were pronouncing things correctly, especially my son. Because the little ones seem to constantly be on the move, I am not always able to be right there while they read. The CD’s are an excellent solution.

The set includes 7 CD’s and quite frankly, I love them!

The book is narrated by a man whose voice is soothing, but not boring. We popped a CD in, opened the book and read along. This helped me out tremendously and improved the quality of our history lessons. Since I will be able to use these over and over again, they are worth the price.

Where to Buy

Available at Amazon.com and Christian Book

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Curriculum Overview

The Curriculum / Activity Guide offers parents and teachers a complete history curriculum for use with The Story of the World. In addition to extensive reading lists and cross-references to the most common illustrated encyclopedias, the Activity Book contains comprehension questions, sample narrations, maps, coloring pages, and activities for each chapter in The Story of the World. Children and parent-teachers love the activities, which range from coloring pages and games to mummifying a chicken!

The Curriculum Guide and Activity Book is designed primarily for grades 1-4, although the maps and many of the activities are also appropriate for grades 5-6. If you purchase this Activity Book, you have permission to copy the maps and coloring pages for use within your own family.

Publisher

Peace Hill Press

Our Review

I used to create a lot of my own worksheets for history and science to save on money. But now that my kids are older, and the babies are still babies… I decided purchasing an activity book might not be so bad. I am so glad I did. This book saves me so much time, I just make copies and off we go.

The activity book also doubles as a curriculum guide. Each chapter contains:

• Encyclopedia cross-references
• Review questions
• Narration exercises
• Additional history reading
• Corresponding literature suggestions
• Coloring page
• Map work
• Activities

For the price, you can’t beat the contents.

If you have more than one child, do yourself a HUGE favor and purchase the pack of student pages. These sheets makes it super easy to produce copies for all of your students. No bending of the book in awkward ways to fit into the copy machine. I wish I had known these were available sooner!

Where to Buy

Available at Amazon.com and Christian Book

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Curriculum Overview

Includes 42 tests, one for each chapter of The Story of the World, Volume 1. Perfect for evaluating comprehension and retention. The narrative format of The Story of the World helps children remember the famous people, places, and events in history. These tests offer you an easy way to make sure that your child is absorbing the important events from world history.

A combination of multiple choice, matching, fill-in-the-blank, and short writing samples allow you to evaluate your child’s retention and comprehension of key events in The Story of the World.

The Test package contains an answer key for all tests.

Publisher

Peace Hill Press

Our Review

I am not really one for tests, I personally feel they are unnecessary. Since I work one-on-one with each of the kids, I am pretty aware of what they do and do not know. My children however, feel like public school kids are SO LUCKY because they get to take tests. Pretty weird right?

I assured them those students would not agree!

I bought the test booklet that corresponds with the volume. I made copies and gave a test for the chapter we studied at the end of the week. We then corrected the tests together and reviewed the answers.

If you prefer not to spend ten bucks testing your children, you could always make up your own quizzes pretty easy. But I really feel it’s a bit over-kill.

Where to Buy

Available at Amazon.com and Christian Book

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