Yikes! This is way overdue, but we’ve had so much going on this year. I went back to work full-time for Automattic Inc., the company behind WordPress.com, Jetpack, WooCommerce and more. As expected, my contract with GameTruck was not renewed when they decided to go with an agency for their social media needs. For the first time in a long time, I was able to take a step back and decided what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. After a few days of checking out some of my favorite companies, I applied to be a Happiness Engineer at Automattic, Inc..
In the meantime, I wrote a book (coming soon), and I worked on getting our curriculum ready for the year. While my daughter was at summer camp for a week (be still my heart), I scoured every resource that we had on hand to figure out what we needed. Then I created a year-long (maybe two-year) program to help propel us closer to reaching our homeschool goals.
Here are the items that we are using. What is not included here is how we mapped it all together because that project is coming soon. In the meantime, enjoy this list; it’s chock full of affiliates links because that’s how we pay the blogging bills! 🙂
Art
The Drawing Book for Kids: 365 Daily Things to Draw, Step by Step (Woo! Jr. Kids Activities Books)
Language Arts
Everything You Need to Ace English Language Arts in One Big Fat Notebook: The Complete Middle School Study Guide (Big Fat Notebooks)
Novels
- Johnny Tremain Esther Forbes
- The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
- The Trail of Tears (Step into Reading: A Step 4 Book)
- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Joan Aiken
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson
P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia
Author Study
Chains,Forge, & Ashes (The Seeds of America Trilogy) by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Fever 1793 Laurie Halse Anderson
Short Stories
- “Home” by Gwendolyn Brooks
- “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros
- “The Fun They Had” by Issac Asimov
- American Tall Tales (Puffin Books) Anthology; Adrien Stoutenburg
- “Jumping Monkey Hill,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” by Ursula LeGuin
- “The Most Dangerous Game,” by Richard Connell
Spelling / Vocabulary
Crossword Puzzles for Kids Ages 7 & Up: Reproducible Worksheets for Classroom & Homeschool Use
Word Search for Kids Ages 9-12: Reproducible Worksheets for Classroom & Homeschool Use (Woo! Jr. Kids Activities Books)
Grammar and Writing
Math
- The Math Teacher’s Book Of Lists: Grades 5-12, 2nd Edition
Saxon Math 7/6: Homeschool Edition
Cooking and Sewing
Science and Technology
- Earth Science and Astronomy for the Logic Stage
- Scratch Coding
- MosaMack
Black Pioneers of Science and Invention by Louis Haber
Social Studies American History
Everything You Need to Ace American History in One Big Fat Notebook: The Complete Middle School Study Guide (Big Fat Notebooks)
A History of US
- History Textbooks
- Making Thirteen Colonies: 1600-1740 A History of US Book Two Textbook; Joy Hakim
- From Colonies to Country: 1735-1791 A History of US Book Three Textbook; Joy Hakim
- The New Nation: 1789-1850 A History of US Book Four Textbook; Joy Hakim
- Liberty for All?: 1820-1860 A History of US Book Five Textbook; Joy Hakim
- History Biographies
- Black Lives Matter (a biography unit that I created)
- 10 Black Women Pioneers You Should Know
- Black Heroes of the American Revolution (Odyssey Books) Non-fiction; Burke Davis
The Untold Story of the Black Regiment: Fighting in the Revolutionary War (What You Didn’t Know About the
American Revolution) Michael Burgan
- Articles and Essays; Other Books
- COLONIAL LAWS Divide and Conquer by Bill Bigelow Article
- D Is for Democracy: A Citizen’s Alphabet (Sleeping Bear Alphabets) Picture Book; Elissa D. Grodin
- Various Living History Books
...If You Grew Up with George Washington Picture Book; Ruth Belov Gross
...If You Lived In Colonial Times Picture Book; Ann Mcgovern
...If You Lived At The Time Of The American Revolution Picture Book; Kay Moore
A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin (Picture Book Biography) Picture Book; David A Adler
A Picture Book of Davy Crockett (Picture Book Biographies) Picture Book; David A. Adler
Kindle Book; Howard Zinn
Spanish
- Rosetta Stone Spanish 1
- Mango Languages Spanish
Physical Education
- Belly Dancing
- Youth Roller Derby
- Play