Summer isn’t over yet, but it is time to start thinking about our 2023/2024 homeschool curriculum picks for the upcoming year.
I like to order my next year worth of curriculum in late June or in early July to make sure I have everything in plenty of time. I don’t like to be rushing and it always makes me nervous that things will go out of stock as we get closer to the school year.
Towards the end of last year I started doing research and planning. I do this before the school year even ends as it is all fresh on my mind.
That way I can enjoy my whole summer and know I have a plan.
I start thinking about what worked that year, what didn’t, and how I can make things different. With each year comes new sets of problems and successes and it is good to think through those and adjust accordingly. Last year I posted what we were using so you can reference my 2022/2023 curriculum here if you want to see what we have changed.
You can also see my tips for avoiding homeschool burnout and most commonly asked homeschool questions here.
So without further delay let’s talk about what 2023/2024 homeschool curriculum picks we are going with next year. I will have a 7th grader, 4th grader, and 2nd grader. My how time flies!
Morning Time:
Since our very first home school year we have always done some sort of morning time. It has changed from year to year on how we do it but it is always first thing. The last couple years we have done our morning time during breakfast and that seems to work really well for us.
I will continue next year doing it in the morning but we are adding one thing to it.
Everyone gets up, gets dressed, and does their morning chores. Then we all meet back at the dining room table for breakfast.
During this time we will do a read aloud and bible time. In the years past I have done different bible curriculums or just read a proverbs a day and discussed it.
For this upcoming 2023-2024 school year we are going to add a new bible curriculum to the mix. One thing I am passionate about teaching my girls is how to be generous and have good character.
You can train your children to memorize anything but if they don’t have a deep good character built on Christ and a generous heart that shows love to all, it really does them no good. That is why I am super excited to add a new bible curriculum into our morning time this year focusing on generosity.
Generous Students: Homeschool Edition by Generous Family
It is a 26 week program with 4 short lessons a week. This falls along great with how we run our school year. Each student gets their own journal to work through as we go along with the lessons and the parent gets an instructors guide.
I like how the lessons are short with different discussion topics and activities to do as a family. When we do bible time, I am looking for it to be more of a discussion then any kind of book work. I want my girls to hear the Word of God, absorb it, and be able to process it all and ask questions as they need to.
This curriculum fits along perfectly with my goals.
Each week the curriculum covers a different type of topic regarding generosity. It goes over generous thoughts, words, money, time, influence, attention, and belongings. The last few weeks of lessons talk about the Trinity, the ripple affect of being generous, and how God is the most generous giver of all.
Let’s go over each of the main topics, since this is a new curriculum that I am sharing. This will give you a better idea of what’s inside to see if it is a good fit for your family.
Having generous thoughts:
I love how they start with this one. Our thoughts can be so powerful.
The curriculum guides you through doing activities for taking your thoughts captive, how your thoughts can take you captive, and looking at changing from the inside out. As our children get older and thoughts start to shift, it is so important to teach these skills to them.
Having generous words:
I am very thankful the curriculum covers this topic. In our home we always say, “it’s not necessarily what you said, it’s how you said it.” Learning to control our tongue and having generous words to one another and to yourself is so important.
It discusses how words are so powerful and shows scripture to back that up. I love how it talks about your generous words to one another, to God, but also to yourself. How we speak to ourselves matters and I am excited to pour into my girls in this area.
Having generous money:
This topic will be good for my older two girls. Understanding money and how we are to not hold onto it with a tight fist as “mine” is something that everyone needs to learn. This is something I think even most adults struggle with and in these lessons they are helping to switch the mindset that our money is not ours, but Gods.
In these lessons they talk about how to give, about money not buying your happiness, and how to determine how much to give. This is a good lesson for older children but I do believe it fits to start having the conversation with younger ones as well.
How to be generous with time:
I love how they start out talking about how time is a gift. It teaches that time is not of our own but of Gods and aligning our time to Him.
This is a good topic for my girls but also for me! Learning that we need to use our time wisely for what God has for us is so important and something that I feel needs to be talked about at a young age.
When we deny ourselves and start using our time for His glory, then we are truly following His plans for our lives.
How to have generous influence:
We all have influence on someone. As parents we have influence on our children, as adults we have influence on who we are around, and as children we have influence on smaller children. It doesn’t matter the age, we are all influencing someone at some point.
It talks about how to have a positive influence on others and the ripple effect of it. We all have connections that can help people in need and this is important for all children to understand.
Having generous attention:
In these lessons they talk about feeling disrespected when others don’t give you their attention and how important it is to give someone your full attention.
This is something that also goes hand in hand with generous with time and I love how all of these attributes work together.
Not only do they talk about giving others your undivided attention but it also talks about being so attentive that you notice the needs around you. This is something we talk about a lot in our family with a busy ranch. We all need to pitch in, see the needs and just do it, in order to have time for the fun stuff and for it all to work.
That starts with having generous attention.
How to be generous with belongings:
“That’s mine!” I’m sure we have all heard that in our house. Teaching our children how to be generous with our belongings and not hold so tight to them is a gift.
In these lessons they talk about how biblical generosity leads to miracles and how sharing our possessions is a huge deal.
It shares about the unfairness pit, how God see’s you, and about how unrealistic expectations can control our hearts. These are all topics that will shape how your children will treat their belongings as adults.
As my girls are getting older, having a curriculum that teaches about being generous with all areas of your life is so important. These life skills and discussions will stay with my girls for years to come.
I am really looking forward to starting Generous Students: Homeschool Edition with the girls this year. I believe it will be a wonderful addition to our morning time. Use code GIVE20 for $20 off your order!
Language Arts:
If you have followed me for a long time you already know my pick here. It is the same as the past year and every year before that.
Our family has used The Good and The Beautiful language arts curriculum since our first year. We didn’t start out with that but switched half way through the year and have never looked back. We will be starting our 7th year using it.
Before I go into the reasons why I love it so much I want to address the question I get asked the most about it, “the owner/creator of this curriculum is mormon and I am not. Will that matter?”
This curriculum is a non-denominational curriculum. It talks about God and good godly character, but I have never seen anything that is denomination specific. I have done levels Pre-K all the way through level 6 and have seen nothing. I feel very safe recommending this to people knowing that I have extensively looked through all the levels we have done and found nothing that I don’t agree with.
Please make sure to do your own research to ensure it is the right fit for your family.
The reasons that I love this curriculum so much is it has everything you need in short lessons, with zero prep work from mom. I mean ZERO. And as a busy homeschool mom this is essential. The subjects it covers is reading, writing, phonics, dictation, poetry, art appreciation, geography and spelling.
I don’t fear that my girls aren’t getting what they need and I don’t have to pull from multiple different books to cover all the topics. It is one book with short lessons that covers it all! All 3 girls have become great readers using this program and I am so thankful.
Math:
This upcoming school year we are continuing to do The Good and The Beautiful math for my 2nd grader and 4th grader. We have used this math curriculum for 3 years now and it has worked great.
In the younger grades it is completely parent led and has lots of games to go along with it. This keeps them engaged and having fun while learning math!
Starting at level 4, there are video lessons to go along. Your student can go online and watch the video that goes with their lesson and than go do their work. I love that this takes the load off of mom. However, if you prefer to teach them there still is a lesson in the book.
I usually have them watch the video and try and do it on their own. If they can’t, I will go over the lesson with them from the book and then they usually can do it.
The Good and The Beautiful doesn’t have a middle school or high school math yet, so I am doing something different this year with my 7th grader.
After lots of researching and looking at curriculum, along with getting advice from trusted homeschool moms we are going to do Master Books this year with my 7th grader. The teaching style is more of a Charlotte Mason style with reading and then doing the work. It is student led and there are also videos if she needs it.
After looking at all levels of Master Books math, I would recommend this curriculum even for the younger grades.
History:
In years past, I have always done family style history and science but this year I am doing it a little different. I decided to bulk my 2nd and 4th grader together to do family style with them and have my 7th grader do her own.
I want my 7th grader to really dive into deeper topics and I know that it will be way over the little ones head. It is always a good idea to adjust what you have always done as your homeschool grows and your children grow.
Remember that the right choice for one family may not be the right choice for yours.
This year we are doing Master Books America’s Story Book 1 for my 2nd and 4th grader. This is a 3 year series and we will likely just move through all the years together.
It says it is for 3rd grade to 6th grade, but I feel comfortable doing it with my 2nd grader as well.
For my 7th grader we are doing Master Books Explore Medieval Kingdoms. There are a few different options to pick from with Master Books in the middle school grades.
All of Master Books is a Charlotte Mason style so they are in story book form. My girls love to read so I am confident this will be a good fit this year!
Science:
Just like history I am going to set it up the same way. I will do my 2nd and 4th grader together and my 7th grader is going to have her own.
The beauty is as they get older they get more independent. So my 7th grader much prefers to take her books and go off somewhere quiet to work by herself. I just have to correct it or answer any questions as she has them along the way.
For the younger girls we are doing Master Books elementary zoology. They both love animals so they are really excited for this!
My 7th grader will do Master Books General Science 2: Survey of Geology and Archeology. I love that there are options of topics to choose from.
The beauty of homeschooling is teaching your children things they are interested in. They are much more engaged and learn more when they are excited about the topic.
I love how all the Master Book’s curriculum comes with teacher’s guides along with the student work. The history and science books cover some of our favorite topics too!
These are the core subjects that we are using for our 2023/2024 homeschool curriculum picks this year. We are joining our homeschool co-op again this year after taking last year off and my 7th grader is joining a writing class through them which will help improve her writing by a lot!
I am anxious and excited to see where this year takes us and all we can learn!
We LOVE the good and the beautiful too! I always say it’s name is a perfect representation of what it is!
I 100% agree!