If you are determining what history curriculum you would like to use this school year, I strongly recommend The Story of the World. The 4-volume series illuminates history in a story-like way making it interesting, digestible and memorable. This is not the dry history many of us had in school growing up where you memorized dates and other facts, took the test and soon forget what you learned. 
Each fascinating volume is a full year curriculum. Every four years, you can start the history cycle over increasing depth and complexity to your activities and reading. With each volume, the content and activity book are more challenging. If you enjoy audiobooks, the narrator, Jim Weiss, is fabulously engaging. Even my husband and I love listening to him.
Here are the four volumes with the recommended grade levels. You can adjust and tailor each one to different grade levels and also teach 
within your own family to different ages. I have absolutely loved reading SOTW aloud to my kids over the years, and there is a four year gap between my oldest and youngest children.
Volume 1: Ancient Times (1st – 2nd grade)
Volume 2: The Middle Ages (3rd-4th grade)
Volume 3: Early Modern Times (5th-6th grade)
Volume 4: The Modern Age (7th grade +)
In addition to the SOTW book, you may consider purchasing the accompanying activity book. Each lesson provides mapping, reading lists, questions, coloring pages and hands-on activities. If you are a crafty mom, you will probably really enjoy these hands-on activities. I am not crafty but do enjoy the questions and mapping. 
The activity book is also very helpful if you want to do this year-long curriculum with your co-op or in a pod. I co-taught SOTW Volume 4: The Modern Age this past year at our co-op. We had a blast! Students were responsible for reading and mapping at home. When they came to class each week, we divided them into two teams and had a game show-style trivia competition. Additionally, we shared a meal from one of the places we were studying that week and also engaged in a 
hands-on activity–usually one from the activity book.
When we began homeschooling eight years ago, SOTW was the first history curriculum we tried. It helped to open my eyes that you can teach children in many different fun and exciting ways. SOTW is a beautiful way to learn the history of the world. Enjoy!
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can be adapted for co-ops and school settings
15-25 minutes each day over 3-6 months, your child will be reading on a 2nd-grade level upon completion. It is 
Grammar—
the students should be able to work fairly independently. This curriculum helps foster a deep understanding of math. 
our family’s favorite read-alouds. Some great ones to start with are 
speech, sentence diagrams, and skills in beginning writing, storytelling and narration. Classical education concepts of memorization, dictation, copywork, and narration are part of this program. Sit down with a cup of hot chocolate or tea together and enjoy these lessons that are entirely scripted for you. The 
Math—
cozy place and enjoy reading 20-30 (or more if she wants) minutes each day. Also, read aloud with your child as much as you can. Here is a 
support her viewpoint.
persuasive writing skills. Two opposing viewpoints are presented in short videos on each topic to encourage open discussion and critical thinking resulting in a balanced lesson. Each video is about 5 minutes. Some examples of topics include What Should we Do About Student Debt, Should We Tax the Rich More, The Climate Debate, and Should We Have Single-Payer Healthcare. You child can watch both videos on a topic and write a persuasive essay about why she supports one of the sides. Further research can be required, if you choose, with 
sources and data to support her viewpoint.
(or more if she wants) minutes each day. I suggest he reads The 
conceptual understanding, number sense and mental math. While mastery- based is excellent so the students can explore a concept in-depth, I do not feel comfortable without the repetition of a spiral program.You may consider purchasing the color version for just a few dollars more.
to be reinforced. Each set of exercises are in short chunks, so it does not feel cumbersome like some other more tedious math programs. Additionally, the colorful pages and puzzles make it very visually appealing.
with my 10 and 11-year-old children and do our IEW. Y
encouragement for young authors to pen their own novels. I taught this class at co-op with the free curriculum during our fall semester. This spring, I am using the 
the classical method of studying history chronologically. I highly recommend 
copywork, dictation and narration assignments as well as reading passages from classic children’s literature. I like that it is also entirely scripted so that I do not need to prepare. The publisher states the workbook lessons “are the only materials you’ll need to provide your student with a complete first year of writing instruction. ” 
to 4th-8th graders. It can also easily be done at home with just your children. “National Novel Writing Month happens every November! It’s a fun, seat-of-your-pants writing event where the challenge is to draft an entire novel in just 30 days. For one month, you get to lock away your inner editor, let your imagination take over, and just create!” 
Many of you are spending countless hours researching different homeschooling philosophies and think you have to settle on one. I want to tell you to relax. You will probably start with one and then morph into something else. While there are some purists to a single philo
Homeschooling is a joyful and sometimes challenging journey. The beauty is you are at the steering wheel. You are the entrepreneur in charge of your family’s upbringing and education. During this journey, you can be agile and change to what best suits your family. You are not locked into any philosophy or curriculum. You do not require the approval of a teacher, principal or school bureaucracy to adapt to the needs of your family. Please make the most of your homeschooling freedom by changing things up as needed.
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