Homeschool Memoirs: Something New

This week's theme for Homeschool Memoirs, hosted at Homeschool Blog Awards is Something New.  We are to share any new curriculum choices we have made this year.  And yes, I am using some new resources this year and will gladly share about them.

I have been using Abeka's Language Arts program with ds2, my 8th grader, from the beginning.  A great program and I highly recommend it btw.  He has pretty much mastered grammar, but needs improvement in writing.  Therefore this year I'm not doing any formal language arts with him and just having him concentrate on writing with this book.

Spectrum Writing Grade 8

I picked it up at the local bookstore and it is widely available.  So far, so good.  It reviews the basics and then has specific lessons for various writing from a basic paragraph to compare/contrast, and incorporates the writing process in each lesson.

We have also covered a lot of the basics in science, and ds requested a bit more hands-on for this year.  I picked up this book at a local homeschool convention.

McWizKid Science

Needless to say, ds asks to do science first every day. :)  The projects are easy and use everyday items, but you really do learn a lot.  I let ds2 conduct the experiments and the littler guys be helpers and observers.  Btw, I met Mr. McWizKid and his wife at the convention...very nice people.

One last new resource for us this year is an art program compiled by Barb or HarmonyArtMom and using Usborne's Introduction to Art and Masterpieces to Color. 

Ds has really enjoyed this, and Barb's lesson plans have been a help to me.

That's about it!  I look forward to seeing everyone's new resources for the year, but honestly hope I don't fall in love with anything...my homeschool budget is gone LOL!

Julie