Best "git it done" curriculum for a difficult year

[DesertBlossom]

For reasons I don't want to put on the internet, this coming calendar year is going to be a very hard one for our family.  I have debated about putting my 1st and 3rd graders back in PS because it would mean less work for *me*, but for various reasons I still don't feel like that's the right answer.   It's not off the table, but that's not where I'm leaning.  I am a little worried about letting too much academic work fall through the cracks. My best-laid plans often get pushed aside when life happens and we just don't get around to it.  

 

So I'm looking for good, easy, curricula that is mostly independent because I find that anything that requires my undivided attention gets put off until tomorrow. (I do have a newborn!)  My kids attend a 1 day a week enrichment program where they get science, PE, library, writing, etc.  This is the curriculum that's working well for us, but what should I add? It needs to be as independent as possible.

 

3rd grade DD

MM4A 

R&S Spelling 4 (she grumbles about this though)

Pentime Handwriting 3

CAP W&R Fables (this gets put off too often though-- we aren't working through it like we should)

TypingTutor oniline

 

 

1st Grade DS (he's old for his grade and already reading really well)

MM2B

LOE C (this also gets put off too often, plus I feel like it's a bit too easy for him. I like doing it for practice for me because my upcoming Ker will definitely benefit from it. He's learning from this, but it's not stretching him much.)

Pentime Handwriting

 

For History I had big plans to do the Middle Ages with living books and documentaries, but that doesn't happen much. Or at all.

 

I have an LDS scripture curriculum that includes some memory work, copywork, etc but that also gets set aside too often.

 

My kids like the supplemental activities like Mind Benders, Link Winks, Geography worksheets, Balance Math, etc.

 

It sounds like a lot when I type it all out, but I feel like for the most part we are good about getting their independent work done (math, spelling, handwriting) and the rest of it happens a lot less often. What good, independent (even if it's just a workbook) curricula should I add to make sure this (and next year) end up being fairly well-rounded?

 

Also, be gentle with me. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Carol in Cal.]

Keys to Good Language might be a good grammar workbook for your 3rd grader.

If you want to shift spelling, she might like Phonetic Zoo, which is self-paced and phonics-oriented, and taught by the computer.  However, I don't think it is as thorough as yours.

You could invest in the SOTW CD's and just play them a lot--in the car, at home when the kids are doing crafts, etc.  That improves their general knowledge quite a bit. 

I've heard great things about the Magic School Bus videos but don't have them myself. 

[Guest]

Hey. Don't add anything.

[rebcoola]

For a get it done easy year it looks pretty good.   I might drop CAP since its not getting done anyway & do something like Write through History + Story of the World Audiobooks.  I would keep them supplied with craft stuff.  I would watch a magic school bus or science documentary everyday and I would call it good.

[AnniePoo]

For 3rd:

 

Keep spelling, math, handwriting. Add Essentials in Writing. Done.

[freesia]

My friend, when in need of a get it done year switched the kids to CLE language arts and math. She also added Daily 6 trait writing. It went really well. CLE has handwriting, spelling and grammar all in one workbook so it's also portable if you'll need to travel, do doctors visits, etc.

 

For history I would get Story of the World 2 and the activity book. Then you can add if you want( or have a book basket for oldest--assigned 15 minutes a day). Or, for your oldest, buy your state history book from Amazon and assign x amount of pages a week.

Edited December 8, 2015 by freesia

[lllll]

nm

Edited December 14, 2015 by ^ 022

[Another Lynn]

Definitely SOTW on cd.  History - done.

 

What kind of writing is getting done at co-op?  Definitely drop CAP.  Replacing it, or not, depends on what writing is going on at co-op, imho. 

 

For 1st grader,

 

Definitely drop LOE and chose a workbook instead.  Maybe R&S.  Maybe SWO.  I know few people credit SWO with making their children into great spellers, but it does cover dictionary skills, alphabetizing, prefixes, suffixes, synonyms, etc, etc.  I use it for all those reasons and never even give spelling tests.  (Who has time for that, lol?) 

 

 

[sarahjokim]

My son is doing the Language Smarts B workbook from The Critical Thinking Co since finishing LOE C. It's much more independent and he could have started it before finishing C. It covers some grammar and writing as well and along with reading early readers for practice could definitely be enough LA for the year.

[Carol in Cal.]

Also, get Kapla blocks and those books that show what to make with them.  You can get a box of 1000 of them on rollers IIRC, sturdy enough to sit on; and it's incredible how complex those buildings can be.  It's a great activity for while educational audios are playing, and also teaches spatial awareness, engineering, and 3D structural stability. 

 

For the third grader, think about buying fraction, decimal, and percent snap together blocks from Lakeshore Learning.  Every couple of days assign her to spend 15 minutes playing with them and figuring out equivalencies that she didn't know before among them.  I did this with DD and it made it SO MUCH easier to teach fractions and also their relationships with percents and decimals later on.  And it's hands off from a parents' perspective.  They pretty much do it on their own.

[DesertBlossom]

Thank you so much for all the replies so far!  This is helpful and I will be looking into each of those suggestions. 

 

We do listen to a lot of audio CDs in the car. I crazy heart love it because the kids are so quiet.  :lol:   The SOTW CDs have been on my radar, but I should just break down and get that for history.  And my kids do read a lot. They are "assigned" 30 minutes of reading every day but they read more than that. And I don't pick their books for them. I just try to guide them towards age and level appropriate stuff.

 

For DD, I worry her LA is too light, especially since we don't do writing often enough. We had plans to do Galore Park Junior English but she complained so much about it I haven't pushed it.  I will look into the LA suggestions given. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gil]

I'm very confused by the OP....under the circumstances, why would you add anything?

When I needed to "git it done" and simplify, I pared the curriculum down to 2 subjects and only 2 subjects for my 3rd graders: Math and Spanish. That is it.

[SkateLeft]

I wouldn't add anything. There have been a few times over the years where I've had to pare back to bare bones. I spent my entire last pregnancy on bedrest. That year, my older kids did nothing but math and language arts (spelling, grammar, copywork). They read a lot, drew a lot, played board games and probably watched a little too much TV. But in the end, they were fine.

[scbusf]

Our family has had an extremely difficult year.  We have only done reading, writing, and math for the most part.  The only things that have gotten done have been do-the-next-lesson types of things.

[DesertBlossom]

I'm very confused by the OP....under the circumstances, why would you add anything?

When I needed to "git it done" and simplify, I pared the curriculum down to 2 subjects and only 2 subjects for my 3rd graders: Math and Spanish. That is it.

Because I worry that I'm not doing enough sometimes. It's what I do best. 😯

[Shellydon]

CLE for everything. 

[bethben]

Audio books - read alouds and history.  For science - nature and science  videos.  I supplement with nature videos that relate to whatever we're learning and that seems to be the thing that they remember most.  

[Gil]

Because I worry that I'm not doing enough sometimes. It's what I do best. 😯

Well do what you think is best, but keep in mind that giving yourself a ton to do during a difficult time is setting yourself up to fail in a spectacular fashion.

 

Its not fair to do it to yourself, and depending on the types of difficulties you're facing it can be cruel to do it to your kids.

 

The whole point is to make a workload that fits in your schedule and that helps your kids to continue to develop academically. The work in the OP will definitely keep your kids developing academically, the question is, will anymore than that fit into your schedule?

 

If you just HAVE to do more, than you need to look into unit studies and alternative schedules, but I'm going through a "difficult year" myself and strongly, highly and firmly suggest you just leave well enough alone in this case.