Curriculum...

Here is a run-down of what we are using this year. There is a simple list on the sidebar, but here is more detail:

Sing, Spell, Read, and Write-I have used this since Luke was in kindergarten and have been pleased. I first loved it for Luke because it involves music and singing and he loves those things. It also uses lots of games. It does have a lot of copywork that Luke hated, but K actually loves that part and could give or take the songs. Loves the games though! It's a keeper and I will stick with it for all 5 as long as it keeps working.
Luke-Grand Tour I (almost done and moving to Grand Tour II)
Kendall-Raceway (almost done and moving to Grand Tour I)
Will-All Aboard and will likely make it to On Track before the schoolyear is over

First Language Lessons-Started this with Luke 2 years ago. It is one book that has 1st and 2nd grade in it. Luke is halfway through the 2nd grade part, and K just started the 1st grade part. Luke says he doesn't like it, but it is pretty short and sweet and I like it. It is written by the same lady who wrote The Well-Trained Mind and covers poem memorization, story narration, copywork, all kinds of grammar, among other things. It's not a workbook, but rather just a softback book with the lessons in it but the child uses his own paper/notebook to do all the lessons in. I like it because it's all laid out for me and she is great about reviewing things along the way so it stays fresh in their minds. There is a FLL grade 3 that I plan to use for Luke next year that I have heard is really good.

Spelling Power and Dictation-Last year I used a spelling book that was really a waste of mine and Luke's time. I got some direction from a smart friend (B!!) and went with this book for spelling this year. It's a totally different approach than we were used to last year, but makes so much more sense to me. Pretty much I see now that 'busywork' workbooks that use spelling words don't really help them learn to spell words. This book has spelling words for 1st-6th grade, and you go at your own pace, not moving on until the child can spell the words correctly without missing them! I introduce the list of words at the beginning of the week and spend 15 minutes each day doing different exercises to practice them, then test on Friday. The dictation helps them spell those same words correctly in 'real life' sentences.

Moving With Math-I am using the 1st grade for Kendall this year and starting Will in the Kindergarten book, even though he isn't K yet. I plan to take 2 years to go through this book slowly. It's worked fine and uses lots of manipulatives which the kids love, but I don't like the layout for the teacher b/c it's too much flipping around and blabber. I think it was made more for 'real' schools and lots of the activities require a whole class, etc. So...I will use the K and 1st level for all 5 kids since I already have it, but when they get to 2nd I will switch to...

Horizons Math-...like I did for Luke this year. Love the layout. Very simple, but yet tough enough for him.

Handwriting Without Tears-Have used this all along and plan to continue. I know there are a lot of different thoughts about which style is best, but this is what we started out with and what we will continue to use. Luke did the cursive book last year because he was very eager to, but we need to do it again probably.

(History and Science...we use the classical approach in that we will cycle through the same material every 4 years, so that by the time the kids graduate from high school they will have been introduced to the same material 3 times, but at a deeper level each time. I'm not really sure if that's what 'classical approach' means exactly, but that's my small understanding of it.)

History-We have used "Story of the World" in the past, but this year switched to "Mystery of History" and so far are loving it. I like the way it's written and I like how each chapter has activity ideas for each age level. We do our history all together and are doing the 'ancients' this year, starting back with Creation and working our way up to Christ's birth. That's another thing I like better about MOH than SOTW...it includes more of the Bible stories as part of history, which I think is so interesting to see how it all ties in together.

Science-We are using ideas from "The Well-Trained Mind." This year we are doing Earth Science for 18 weeks and then we will do Astronomy for 18 weeks. We have several children encyclopedia-type reference books, but other than that we just get books from the library to supplement and also use "More Mudpies to Magnets" for experiment and activity ideas. It's so much more fun than a science textbook!

Critical Thinking Company-This is the first year I've used any of their stuff. We have Mind-Benders, which are challenging to Luke but he is loving them, and some Think-A-Minutes, and a couple other things. They really do make the brain work!

Scholastic Success With Maps-These are just small little workbooks, but introduce them to reading maps and Luke enjoyed it last year, so he is getting the 2nd grade one (still waiting for my order to come in!) and K is enjoying the 1st grade one. Fun thing.

Bible-Each morning I read to them out of "The Child's Story Bible," which I really love. Also the kids will get homework when CBS starts up (Community Bible Study) that we will work on each day.

I was going to put links and pictures of the books, but no can do right now. If anyone wants to know any more detail about a certain thing, just ask me.

I am very pleased with what we are using this year and am so thankful for other homeschool moms that I get such good advice and ideas from.