Our Plans for Next Year

Well, this past weekend I sat down and banged out the end-of-the-year reports - one for Bookworm and one for Crackerjack. Since I write them up for myself anyway, they are my preferred reporting choice (as opposed to testing or a portfolio of work samples). Though I'm sure I use longer words knowing eyes unrelated to mine will be reading them - or maybe not - no one knows for sure what they really do with our reports, lol.

So I went through all those file folders I mentioned last week, and found them very helpful as I wrote. Well, some of them were - the ones I had actually used. Several were completely empty and had no notes or remembrances at all. Guess I must have been, ahem, too busy those weeks to use the folder system (too lazy, more like). But the ones that had a lesson plan with notes, emails, photocopies, library sheets etc. - were like a goldmine! They really jogged my memory and helped me fill out those reports. And before retiring the lot of them, I pulled out any materials I wanted to use again this year (mainly feast day information but also flyers for things like rock-and-gem shows, the fall parish barbecue or a local sheep shearing festival) and filed them in this year's appropriate folders.

Next I perused all our bookshelves and made notes for the "Books Read this Year" lists. I like to work off the previous year's list because I tend to forget which books were read which year. For instance, I could have sworn Bookworm read The Hobbit last year, but it wasn't on the list. So onto this year's list it went.

Once the reports were done (phew!) it was on to the good stuff - the plan for the upcoming year. I thought this would be easy, but it really took me some time, even with a rough plan already formed in my mind. It's hard to pin down precise resources sometimes, when I know in my heart there is a good chance I'll switch up somewhere down the line. But really, they just want to know what you're planning to teach and what you're planning to use. Seems reasonable. :)

So, bearing in mind the potential for tweaking, here are the plans for my home-learning family this year:

*Note: Kindergarten plans for Earlybird, who does not need to report in just yet, will come in a later post - i.e. after I've written them!

*And: I'm giving you more information than I give the school system - I don't tell them my schedule - but I thought you'd like to know. ;)

*Also: FYI, Crackerjack is entering third grade, and Bookworm is starting seventh.

Math:

• Saxon Math 3 (CJ)
• Saxon Algebra 1/2 (BW)
• Various math-related fiction and non-fiction books (such as those recommended at Living Math)
  • Monday through Thursday: Saxon Math lesson
  • Friday: work in math journals

Language Arts:

• Language of God B, My Catholic Speller Level B (CJ)
• Lingua Mater, My Catholic Speller Level F (BW)
• Latina Christiana
• Poetry for Young People: American Poetry
• Individual book lists under construction ...
  • Monday through Thursday: grammar, spelling, Latin
  • Friday: poetry and copywork

World History:

• Story of the World Volume 1: The Ancients
• The Usborne Book of the Ancient World (BW)
• The Usborne Book of World History (CJ)
• Various historical fiction and non-fiction resources
  • Monday: read and review
    • outline (BW)
    • narrate (CJ)
  • Wednesday: read and review, mapwork and/or activity
  • Friday: finish pages for notebooks

American Geography: Includes a survey of the regions of America (state capitals) and a study of our state.

• State Birds and Flowers Coloring Book
• The United States of America: A State-by-State Guide
• Various biographies, historical fiction and non-fiction resources
  • Tuesdays:
    • read; make up new state fact cards (weeks 1-25)
    • read; make up page for home state notebook (weeks 26-36)
  • Fridays: review Tuesday's work

Science: For formal science, we'll be studying chemistry, with a variation in study and resources for age levels. CJ will also make a survey of general science, using a beginning science encylopedia as a spine and lots of library books to supplement. We'll continue our ongoing nature study.

• Adventures with Atoms and Molecules: Chemistry Experiments for Young People
• DK Eyewitness Books: Chemistry (BW)
• The Usborne Internet-Linked First Encyclopedia of Science (CJ)
• Handbook of Nature Study
• Assorted field guides, periodicals and fiction/non-fiction resources
  • Tuesdays:
    • read chemistry page spread; outline (BW)
    • read science encylopedia topic; narrate (CJ)
  • Thursdays: conduct experiment and record in notebooks
  • Fridays: nature walk and add to nature notebooks

Art and Music: We'll look at the art of the ancient world as part of our history study. We'll also focus this year on American artists and traditional folk songs as part of our state-by-state survey. Formal keyboard instruction.

So ...

Mondays:

• math
• language arts
• ancient history
• religion

Tuesdays:

• math
• language arts
• science
• state study

Wednesdays:

• math
• language arts
• ancient history
• art/music

Thursdays:

• math
• language arts
• science
• religion

Fridays:

• math journals
• poetry & copywork
• nature walk and notebooks
• finalize any notebook pages

Still hammering out the details, but this is what I have so far. Next on the list is planning out Earlybird's kindergarten year and working more on the how of it all - the schedule and set-up. I am particularly obsessed with interested in making up a daily (or weekly) planner that really works for me - one that gives me space to combine lesson plans and housekeeping tasks each day. Haven't found one that works just right so I'm going to try yet again to make my own. You know how we home educators are - real do-it-youselfers. ;)

Thanks for reading this rather long post ... I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!