Our Charlotte Mason{ish} Curricula for 2014-2015

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The past few years our curricula budget was usually around $500 for the year for a high school, an elementary, and a toddler students.  This year we have roughly the same budget however, we only have a second grade and a K4 students. Needless to say, I kind of feel like a kid in a candy store with this extra money! So far, $327.36 of our $500 budget has been spent or set aside. 

I bought a Notebooking Pages Lifetime Membership during a special promotion for $50.00 (normally $99.95). We will be incorporating notebooking pages in our Bible, Social Studies, & Nature Studies. I received several FREE bonus gifts with the membership that we will be using this year.

At the end of last year I bought a 5000 sheet box of printer paper and 5 toner cartridges for our main printer for about $150 on Amazon, so I am setting that amount aside for later in the year.

I am calling this our Charlotte Mason{ish} curricula because I am still "learning" (& loving) the CM way, so it probably is not completely inline with Miss Mason's philosophies....don't fuss at me too much. 

So, here it is:

Bible: {For Both boys}

Free Sunday School Lessons
The Bible Story Hour 

Our Bible curricula for this year has, so far, cost $.50 for The Bible Story Hour which was purchased at a thrift store. The Make & Do Bible was purchased in a previous school year but never used.

Math:

A Primary Arithmetic by Edward Olney {Eli}
Olney Addition & Subtraction workbook {Eli}
Cuisenaire Rods and various activities {For both boys}

Our math is basically FREE this year.  I purchased the cuisenaire rods at the homeschool convention last year. All of the books were purchased in previous years from thrift stores. 

Social Studies: {For Eli}

Since Eli is not a "reader" yet, we are using the Imagination Station Series, which are set in specific time periods & locations, as the "spine" for our Social Studies lessons each month because they peak his interest and keep his attention.  The books are not in chronological order so I created a timeline book for us to record our travels in, you can read more about Our Imagination Station Travels Timeline Book here. *These books are probably labeled as "Twaddle" in the CM community but right now we are using any books that will keep Eli's interest until he learns to read on his own.

We will also use A Child's History of the World in conjunction with the book series. I have the Kindle version ($5.99) but I am working on saving up enough Swagbucks to earn a couple of Amazon gift cards to purchase a hardcover copy (I really prefer physical books verses kindle books for our school work).

MapTrek-I received the Ancient World set for free with my Notebooking Pages membership but will have to purchase the Medieval and New World sets for $14.95 each. MapTrek has created Curriculum Integration Guides to make coordinating their maps with our weekly lessons super simple!

MapTrek iPad App ($7.99)

We will also be using an assortment of Living books from our home and public library.

Science: {For Eli}



I received the Apologia Exploring Creation books to do a review a couple of years ago.  Eli wasn't quite ready to complete it then, so we will put it to use this year.  I used a Amazon gift card that I earned with Swagbucks to buy the Burgess Bird Book.
We will also be using an assortment of Living books from our home and public library.

Language Arts: {For Eli}

Alpha-Phonics: A Primer For Beginning Readers (this is a review product)
McGuffey's Eclectic Primer (Illustrated)
Phonics and Reading with McGuffey I iPad App (purchased in a previous year)

Foreign Language: {For Both Boys}

We will be doing Sign Language using the free resources from Kidcourses with an assortment Living books from our home and public library.

Music/Composer Study: {For Both Boys}

We will be using the free resources from Making Music Fun with an assortment of Living books from our home and public library.

Nature Study: {For Both Boys}




Handbook of Nature Study website
Outdoor Hour Challenges 1-10 (free bonus with Notebooking Pages membership)
We will also be using an assortment of Living books from our home and public library.

Art/Artist/Picture Study: {For Both Boys}

We will be using the free Pre-school and Elementary lessons from Incredible Art Department and an assortment of Living books from our home and public library.

So, there ya go...our Charlotte Mason{ish} curricula for this year.