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curriculum

Animal Science Curriculum for Homeschool

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

We have been learning more and more about animals through our past six homeschool years. We are all animal lovers and love learning about everyday animals like cats and dogs, farm animals like out chickens, and more like tigers, lions, and sloths. Animal science curriculum for your homeschooling might not be a one and done boxed curriculum idea but there are a lot of options for you and your child to learn from.

Animal Science Curriculum for Homeschoolers

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

My oldest at 11 years old has had her heart set on being a vet, just like many other girls. As she has gotten older she has realized that she need to work to overcome her fear (and passing out) at the site of needles and blood, or find another way to work with animals. That isn’t stopping her for studying and learning everything she can about animals, all animals.

Animal Science Curriculum Options

Center for Veterinary Medicine – This page might be our new best friend in homeschool. There are lessons for early elementary, pre-teen and teens, and older. As well as teacher lesson plans.

The Science Bank – There are a few great options on this site, like Online Virtual Dissections, mind blowing. And learn how to do cat and dog CPR.

Animal Tracker Game – Great for any age and a nature walk.

Animal Science Curriculum

Animal Science Curriculum Books

Zoology: Inside the Secret World of Animals – Learn how evolution has helped wildlife to adapt to their unique environments, whether it’s the ability to live in difficult habitats, adjust to specific diets, or how they work physically.

The Animal Book: A Visual Encyclopedia of Life on Earth – This inspiring children’s reference guide welcomes you to the animal kingdom where you can meet more than 1,500 species, ranging from ants to zebras and everything in between.

The Fascinating Animal Book for Kids: 500 Wild Facts! – Animals smooth and spiky, fast and slow, hop and waddle through the two hundred plus pages of the Caldecott Honor artist Steve Jenkins’s most impressive nonfiction offering yet.

Usborne World of Animals – Presents facts about animal behavior and life-cycles, how they eat, move, and communicate, and a continent-by-continent introduction to animal kingdoms, with links to the Internet for further information.

Similar posts you may be interested in:

Arctic Animals Books for Kids

Mini Unit Study on Arctic Animal

Science YouTube Channels for Kids

Filed Under: Curriculum, Homeschool Tagged With: animal science, curriculum

Secular Language Arts Curriculum

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

We are more relaxed in all our subjects, secular language arts curriculum included. We have used two different curricula throughout our homeschooling journey, but there are many more, and there are some great apps available to use as well.

Secular Language Arts Curriculum

Secular Language Arts Curriculum

I think before we confuse anyone we should get a few things straight, like what is secular curriculum, and what is language arts.

Secular curriculum only discusses religious beliefs from an anthropological perspective. It is not faith-neutral (this becomes important especially when discussing science and history curricula). It does not posit biblical/religious beliefs as historical fact.

Language arts curriculum is the study of grammar, composition, spelling, and (sometimes) public speaking, typically taught as a single subject.

What is Secular Language Arts Curriculum?

Secular language art curriculum is curriculum, textbooks, workbooks/sheets, and other materials that do not contain religious material.

Secular Language Arts Curriculum for You

We have used BookShark language arts levels, k, 2 and 2 advanced. The program we are using, and LOVING now is Grammar Galaxy. You have the opinion of printed books, or digital with Grammar Galaxy, and she is coming out with audiobooks for the lower levels which is great for giving your child more independence and yourself some more time.

Night Zookeeper
Night Zookeeper is your online writing tool, class blog and library of interactive lessons. They also have books available that introduce children to a world of endless possibilities and provide the inspiration for much of the creativity that is produced on the website.

We have just recently started using Night Zookeeper and my kids are hooked on it, all three of them which is a huge win in my book.

All About Learning Press
Offers courses in reading and spelling for preschool through grade 7.

Blossom and Root
Currently K-3 with 4th grade coming in 2020. A secular, nature based program that includes language arts, nature study, and art.

Essentials in Writing
Writing, literature, and online classes for ages 6 through high school. Shopping for Canadian homeschoolers.

Grammar Galaxy
A workbook based program where students solve problems through space “missions.” Note: you will see a dedication to God in these books, but the rest of the material and educational content is secular. You can read a review of this curriculum here.

JacKris Publishing
Soaring with Spelling, Winning with Writing, Growing with Grammar, and Digging into Diagramming. Grammar, spelling, and writing curriculum for grades 1-8. For Canadian homeschoolers.

Logic of English
Offers reading, phonics, spelling, and handwriting instruction for ages 4-7 with a second package for struggling readers ages 8 and up.

WriteShop Primary and Junior
Kindergarten through 6th grade writing curriculum. *Note: Per the website “WriteShop Primary and WriteShop Junior are free of religious references. WriteShop I and II contain occasional religious references.”

Similar posts you may be interested in:

Secular Reading Curriculum

Best Places to Find Secular Curriculum

Ultimate List of Secular Homeschool Curriculum

Filed Under: Curriculum, Homeschool Tagged With: curriculum, homeschooling, secular curriculum

Homeschool Curriculum on Amazon – What Can You Find

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

Did you know that you can find homeschool curriculum on Amazon? I don’t mean just books, though let’s face it, books alone are a wonder option, one we have used ourselves. But there is curriculum available too.

Homeschool Curriculum on Amazon laptop

Curriculum Options You Can Find on Amazon

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

Flash Cards & Other Learning Manipulatives

Some people, some kids, love flashcards. My kids like to use them on their own, to test themselves and each other. We have had a lot of flashcards go through our house from math facts, to language skills and spelling cards, to fun facts.

Flashcards can be great for on the go too.

Amazon also has a lot of manipulatives. Things like counting blocks, play money for math, and more.

Workbooks Galore!

Workbooks are a great learning tool, especially for newer homeschoolers. They can give you a really good jumping off point. They are great for seeing how much your child has learned, and where they might need some more help.

We still use workbooks here in our home. They are great for all the reasons I mentioned above, as well as for those times when I am feeling under the weather and don’t feel like doing full lessons.

Curriculum Options You Can Find on Amazon - Books and textbooks - kindle

Books and Textbooks

If I can’t find a book from the library that we need for our lessons, Amazon is always my next step. And if Amazon doesn’t sell it, I’m going to guess we aren’t going to be using it.

If you follow a more literature based curriculum or homeschooling style as we do, then books are your best friends. And Kindle is going to save you a lot of space. In fact, Kindle Unlimted might be your best bet for saving space and money in your homeschool.

There are great books like the ones pictured below that can make teaching your kids a little easier too. These books are a lifeline for homeschool parents as our kids get older.

Actual Curriculum!

There is homeschool curriculum available for you to buy on Amazon. The language art curriculum we use, and love is on there, Grammar Galaxy.

There is more curriculum available on Amazon than you would think. You can find (these are not necessarily secular):

  • Saxon Math
  • Horizons
  • Math Lessons for a Living Education
  • Abeka
  • Sylvan Language Arts

There is really no end to the things that you can find on Amazon for your homeschool. If you are an eclectic homeschool such as we are, you can easily find everything in one place, Amazon, and have a fun unboxing day when everything arrives.

Homeschool Curriculum on Amazon - laptop

Similar posts you may be interested in:

Canadian History and Social Studies Options

Secular Homeschooling Websites that are FREE

Smartick Math – Having Fun with Math

Filed Under: Curriculum, Homeschool Tagged With: amazon, curriculum

Our Grade 5 Curriculum Choices for 2019-2020

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

Everyone else is sharing their curriculum choices for the up coming year, and I want to too. Mainly because we are no longer using boxed curriculum. We are mixing and matching everything. One comment my girls both made after last year was that they didn’t like being told what books they had to read (language arts), not all the books were of interest to them, nor held their interest. This year we are changing it up and making it more interesting.

Our Grade 5 Curriculum Choices for 2019-2020

Our Grade 5 Curriculum Choices for 2019-2020

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

Science and History

A few months ago I found Waldock’s Wizards and Wands, a Harry Potter themed curriculum. I knew this would be perfect for my Harry Potter loving 10 year old, going into grade five.

We are going to be reading along with the suggested reading in the language arts, but that is simply because we love the books. We are planning to the science Alchemy, Astronomy, Herbology, Potions, and, her favorite science topic – Magical Creatures.

Austin loves history, she totally and completely gets this from her father, so Muggle Studies is right up her alley studying Medieval, Viking, Roman, and Egyptian history.

Math Curriculum

Teaching Textbooks. Done. It was the easiest choice of all the curriculum. She loved it last year, she excelled at it, why change what works right? She has to get a certain percentage on each lesson, before she does the next. For me, this is to make sure she is understanding the work. We work through anything she might need a little help on.

Language Arts Grade 5 Curriculum Choices

This year we are trying something completely new. We are using Grammar Galaxy Red Star (which is new, just out in June 2019). No boring text to read, instead exciting mission manuals. Short, comical stories teach concepts in a memorable way. Students discover the havoc that ensues when the evil Gremlin tampers with the English language. Parents or students read the text themselves, and at the grade 5 level, she’ll be reading it herself.

Vocabulary words are defined in the text. Discussion questions follow each lesson to check for understanding. Students then complete a corresponding mission in the mission manual that reinforces the concepts. Parents can provide as much help as necessary.

Red Star Language Arts

Social Studies

I’m only separating this from history because we will be focusing on Canada. In September/October we’ll be learning about past Prime Ministers for example as we will be at election time and they’ll be hearing about it. You can see what resources we are using for learning more about Canada in these two posts: Canadian Social Studies and History Options and Books About Canada for Your Homeschool.

Other subjects

(These are not required by Saskatchewan Home Education so I do not specifically plan anything for them.)

Art, will be added through our daily/weekly life. We are a creative bunch so I don’t worry too much about fitting it in. Plus the Waldock’s Wizards and Wands does include some art throughout.

Health is the same, it is a daily thing. We cook and bake together, we garden and such which covers this nicely. We talk about staying fit and active, which my children have no problem with, and they do know that this Momma exercises most mornings as well. We are really quite open about things.

Filed Under: Curriculum, Homeschool Tagged With: curriculum, grade 5, History curriculum, language art curriculum, math curriculum, science curriculum

Keeping Track of EVERYTHING in Google Sheets

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

There is a lot going on in my head a lot of the time. I write everything down, otherwise I lose whatever information I need. Google Sheets has been very helpful. Homeschooling and online schooling families want flexibility. They want the freedom to work when they want, where they want, without being tied to a desk in a classroom. One tool that can help provide that flexibility is Google Drive.

Keeping Track of EVERYTHING in Google Sheets

Keeping Track of EVERYTHING in Google Sheets

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

I have a number of different sheets in my Google Drive. Some of them are:

  • homeschool curriculum choices for the coming year
  • blog posts – no doubles please
  • online courses I have purchased for myself – plus log in info
  • online courses for my kids – plus log in info
  • and more!

How to Use Google Sheets

All you need to get started with Google Sheets is a gmail account. If you have any experience with Microsoft Excel then you’ll know exactly how to use Sheets.


How to Use it for Homeschooling

Keeping Track of Curriculum

I had a spread sheet set up while I was figuring out what curriculum I wanted to use for this coming year, for each of my kids. I like to color code it so that at a glance I can see what is going on. (And this is not complete for the coming year.)

Keeping Track of Chores

Use it  to keep track of everything that you have going on each each. This can be keeping track of:

  • Tracking community service hours for your children
  • Budgeting for you and your children
  • Trip planning
  • Rewards system/payment for chores etc
  • Use it as a planner for your lessons

Similar posts that you may be interested in:

 Google Slides for Homeschool Lessons & Projects

Google Slides for Homeschool Lessons & Projects

Google Drive for Homeschool

Google Drive for Homeschool

Filed Under: Homeschool, Homeschool Helps Tagged With: curriculum, google sheets, homeschool planner, homeschool planning

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A Little About Me

I'm Ashley, a Canadian secular homeschool mom of 3, living in Nova Scotia.

I share our adventures in homeschooling and parenting.

You can usually find us at the library surrounded by books.
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