Curriculum Picks for our Family + 7th, 4th, and 2nd Grade

Curriculum Picks for our Family + 7th, 4th, and 2nd Grade

Every summer I sit down with my planner, hopes and dreams, and a spreadsheet with all my ideas I have been adding to all year and sort out what our homeschool year is going to look like. Some of it is just continuing curriculum that worked last year. Some of it is new because a child changed, or a special exhibition is at a museum near us, or I finally have the hands to do the things I could not do while pregnant last year. Here are our homeschool plans for 2026-2027.


Family Studies

Morning Basket


Our morning basket looks similar to most years. I am looking forward to reading Wonder with my kids. I am excited about how Meredith Miller approaches Scripture and letting the children come to Christ to know Him, instead of focusing on morality as the core concept of Scripture.


Something I started last year is picking a resource or anthology book from our shelves that we have never gotten to and tucking it into our morning basket. It usually only takes a week or two to read through the book, one section at a time. It is a great way to explore topics that we do not have time to fully dive into, but want to touch on, and it helps me feel less guilty about all the books on our shelves that we have not actually read yet.


Journaling and Sketching


Writing is one of my focuses this year, so we will be starting most mornings with a journaling and sketching habit. I downloaded the free prompt calendars from Ordinary & Happy so nobody has to sit and stare at a blank page wondering what to write about.


I bought the smallest sketchbooks I could find on purpose. The mini ones are 2.36 inches square and the others are 4 inches square, and the whole point is that a small space is easy to fill. A big blank page makes my kids freeze. We are using smaller journals for the same reason!



Bookish Adventures


I am so excited to be able to do many more Bookish Adventure guides than I was able to do last year while pregnant. Here is what I am looking forward to most.


The Trumpet of the Swan


We will spend this one at the pond, exploring the ecosystem from the largest visitors down to the microscopic life that exists within the waters. We will also learn about the fascinating swan, its nesting habits, and its lifecycle, along with famous trumpet players. My son is very into music right now, so this will be a fun way to explore an instrument and the talented people who play it.


The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest


We live in Pennsylvania, so we are surrounded by forest ecosystems. We will dive into all that a forest contains, like the layers of the forest, the forest food web, forest animals and plants, and the symbiotic relationships found in the forest.


Christmas at Winterhouse


We have been getting into more puzzly, logic games, so I am excited to visit the Winterhouse Hotel and do some sleuthing. I am also looking forward to exploring a book and activities more geared toward older kids. I cannot wait to cozy up with some hot chocolate and solve some mysteries.


Harriet Tubman


We live in an amazing area for studying Harriet Tubman, close enough to visit real sites connected to her life. We will dive into her bravery and her grit, and we will learn how the Underground Railroad actually worked, which is the part my kids always want to understand.


A Bear Called Paddington


A light-hearted and fun read requested by my 7-year-old. I cannot wait to dive into the story, the movies, and the marmalade with Paddington.


The Nerviest Girl in the World


This book has been on my list for years and we are finally doing it. My daughter is already planning to direct her own moving picture, and we will build our own hot air balloon through the science activities.




Art Study


Marcel Duchamp


I picked Duchamp because an exhibition of his work is coming to the Philadelphia Museum of Art near us, and there is nothing like standing in front of a piece you have already studied at home. My plan is to read a narrative to introduce each work, memorize a quote from Duchamp, and stretch out how long we observe. We will start at 30 seconds and work our way up to 3 minutes, or however long we can go before somebody gives out.



Dorothea Lange


We will be studying the Great Depression through our history curriculum this year and I wanted to study a photographer as well. Dorothea Lange is a perfect fit. She photographed displaced farm families and migrant workers for the Farm Security Administration, and her images captured the struggles of the Depression in a way that is still thought-provoking and gritty. We will be taking our own photographs using Camp Snap cameras, which are digital camera meets disposable camera.



Field Trips

We are planning a lot of fun outings this year, some we do every year and some new to our family.


  • Camping
  • The Philadelphia Museum of Art
  • The Italian Festival
  • Apple Picking
  • Museum of Modern Art
  • New York City
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center
  • Underground Railroad House in Lancaster
  • Miami, Florida
  • One state from our US States studies


Geography


We are studying the US States this year and we started by writing letters to every state tourism department. We now have a big pile of brochures, maps, and goodies that the states have sent us, and the mail has become the best part of the week. We are using Schoolnest U.S.A. Geography Notebooks and the Art Makes Me Smart Roadtrip Across America curriculum. When we are all done, we will pick one state from our studies to visit.


7th Grade

This is a big year for my oldest as we transition into a heavier workload. Pennsylvania counts grades 7 through 12 as secondary school, which means we can start meeting our state requirements now instead of saving all of them for high school.


He is taking American History II through Modern States to earn a voucher for the CLEP exam. It is college level work, so if we need to pivot partway through, that is okay. If he enjoys it and passes, it can count for high school credit and college credit at the same time. Alongside it he will be reading middle grade novels that match the periods he is studying, which is how I keep the history from turning into a wall of dates.


For science he will work through The Usborne Encyclopedia of Planet Earth independently, reading, taking notes, drawing, and narrating in his notebook. At the end of each term he will watch a documentary that matches what he covered.

4th Grade

We are mostly continuing what we did last year with a few additions. She is starting typing this year and moving into more written narrations, which fits with writing being one of our focuses. She is also very interested in art therapy right now, so the two of us are going to read through Usborne Psychology for Beginners together.

2nd Grade

Her year looks the same as last year. She keeps moving up through each program as she finishes it, and I see no reason to change something that is going well.



Come Along on Our Bookish Adventures

If you read through my guide list and thought you would like to sit down with one of those books this year, you can. Every Bookish Adventure guide takes one story and builds a month of learning around it, with science, history, art, geography, and hands-on projects that grow out of the book your family is already reading together. You do not have to plan any of it or pull the pieces together yourself. Open the guide, gather the supplies from the master supply list, and read.


My guides are written for ages 4 to 12 and organized into three levels, so your whole family can share the same story while each child does work that fits them. Pick the book that makes your child lean in and start there. Then come find me on Instagram and tell me which one you chose, because I love hearing where families end up once they start following their own rabbit trails.


Browse the guides here.

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