I am so excited! We are going to be starting a new curriculum next year, mid July to be exact.
We are going to be using Trail Guide to Learning - Paths of Exploration {POE} by Debbie Strayer and Linda Fowler. For times like this, I really wish there was a cute little abbreviation for a homeschool mom doing cartwheels in her front yard!
I knew that we were going to be studying American History this year and I had assumed that we would just continue with our regularly scheduled program {curriculum} but then I started peeking around to see what else was out there.
Here was my criteria for potential new curriculum:
- Biblically sound - check!
- It had to be something everyone could do together {I am not about to embark on 3 different history books thank you very much} - check!
- Bible, History, Science should flow together - check!
- I wanted to read REAL BOOKS - check, check and check!
- We do oral narration but I felt like I we needed a little more, like discussion questions - check!
- Charlotte Mason friendly - check!
- Notebooking and lapbooking - check!
- TM needs to be laid out in homeschool mom terms that my brain could understand AND follow through with - double checkity check!!
- Interesting books and hands on activities - check!
- I would like to keep Fridays free or light - check!
When the UPS man delivered the box I tried to act like it was no big deal and sneek into the house. ALONE. But as you can see I ended up having help. My little dude loved that everything was wrapped. He helped unwrap everything while asking me if these were for his birthday {smile}.
Things that exceeded my expectations:
- Character Traits are something I am always trying to incorporate into our day but sometimes fail to do so. I love that this is integrated into the Bible Portion of POE {Light for the Trail which is sold separately}
- We love Nature Studies but rarely fit in Nature Walks and never get around to using our Handbook of Nature Study book. Would you believe that a main component of POE's Science is the Handbook of Nature Study!!!
- I really like that the TM is broken into 6 week unit increments. I also like that week 6 is for review and catch up.
- Language Arts in included in this curriculum. From what I understand so far, it is taught through literature Ruth Beechick style.
- Not only are there hands on activities there are GAMES!! My kids are going to love playing Columbus Bingo and Charades!
As you can see, this looks like a great curriculum! I will update my thoughts on POE once we get started and as we move along.
Anyone else starting something completely new this year?
Disclaimer: I received Trail Guide for Learning - Paths to Exploration, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.
