At the fair last Friday that I had a few adventures getting to, I also managed to find some exciting addtions to our homeschool.  We'll be using some materials from Zeezok Publishing to study lives of composers and Rod and Staff workbooks to teach music. I can't read a note of music, so until the budget allows for private music instruction, we'll stick with "appreciation". These looked really interesting, especially then accompanying cd with music, printable pages and sheet music [should we ever learn to read music]. 

Mozart, The Wonder Boy

Mozart, The Wonder Boy Study Guide

Sebastian Bach, The Boy from Thuringia

Sebastian Bach, The Boy from Thuringia Study Guide

Sebastian Bach and Mozart Companion CD Audio MP3 CD

We also bought a Jonathon Park album.  I'm amazed at this entertaining resource! Listening has sparked the children's interest in discovering more about God's creation. They even get the field guides down to read, long left  alone--and the school year hasn't even started! They hit the yard each day in search of bugs, spiders, and other neat stuff to catch. I can't complain about that---once I caught a green snake for them.

 The accompanying study guide is impressive--so many areas of study to use as starting points for further research. We bought the Beowulf album, since my son read Beowulf about a year and a half ago. Interestingly, it includes an episode based ont he Scopes Monkey trial which happened in Rhea County, Tennessee--very near us. Can we say "Field Trip"?

Jonathan Park Series, Volumes 1-4 on Audio CD

Another way Jonathon Park audios are a blessing is in their reinforcement of Christian family values. Obedience has long been under fire in standard children's entertainment.  It seems plots cannot be advanced without children disobeying in order to move the story along. Not so here. Strong fathers, wise mothers, and Biblical instruction are depicted without sacrificing love, joy, and family fun. I am vey blessed and impressed.

We'll be using math and grammar from A Beka. I didn't have much to buy for my daughter because she'll be using her brother's 3rd grade materials.  My son is ahead in school about a year, but I'll be slowing his science studies down to match his maturity level. Some topics he just isn't ready for. And I like how Karen Andreola puts it, "Let purity be the first word."  We're being choosy--but that's the blessing of homeschooling. These decisions still belong to Dad and Mom.

All I need to get is our Spelling Workout workbooks, our Scoring High Test Prep, and a history course for  DS1. We thought about Mystery of History 3, but it's pretty expensive. I'll have to wait and see on that one. I'll post on our complete curriculum a little later, since I'm still pulling things together.