Planning the Upcoming School Year
Posted by Cindy on July 27, 2009
After a nice LONG summer break, we’re starting back for the 2009-10 school year next week! I can’t believe I’ll be teaching 7th and 4th grades this year – and we can’t forget the 2 1/2 year old who will continue to wreak havoc daily! 
Here’s the basic daily plan – which hasn’t changed much from last year:
- Dressed/Bedroom Chores
- Breakfast/Bible
- Daily Chores
- Math
- Language Arts
- Unit Study
- Free Time for outdoors/handicrafts/hobbies
- Reading Break
Curriculum plans are (as always) subject to change, but here’s the projected list. Remember, I never teach from all these materials everyday, or even every week for that matter. These are just resources that we’ll use at some point or another.
7th Grade
Math/Logic
- Saxon Algebra 1/2
- Mind Benders Grades 7-12
- Introductory Logic
- The Thinking Toolbox: Thirty-five Lessons That Will Build Your Reasoning Skills
- Other problems solving projects will come from various sources
Language Arts
- Easy Grammar
- Spelling Power
- Words on the Vine
- Vocabulary from Classical Roots
- Daily Paragraph Editing
- Writing will be tied into unit studies and other real-life events
- Some reading will be assigned to go along with unit studies, some reading will be free choice
- No formal handwriting practice this year
4th Grade
Math/Logic
- Saxon Math 5/4
- Mind Benders Grades 3-6+ Book A3: Deductive Thinking Skills
- I have lots of other problem solving books that we will pull activities from here and there, too.
Language Arts
- Language 3
- Conquering Cursive
- Spelling Power, Fourth Edition
- Spell Quizzer
- Writing is the same as 7th grade
- Reading is the same as 7th grade
Bible/Devotions
- Bible Topics – Daniel, Jonah, Ruth, Romans, Psalms, Proverbs
- Possible Bible/Character/Devotion Missionary Studies include:
How to Study Your Bible for Kids
Journeys of Faithfulness: Stories for the Heart for Faithful Girls
The Squire and the Scroll
Princess & the Kiss: A Story of God’s Gift of Purity
Bible Games Packet that reinforces books of the Bible, divisions of the Bible, Bible research skills and more. I bought this at a Bible outlet store that was going out of business a few years ago. The game boards and pieces are all just paper tear-outs. Since I’ve already prepared all the games, I can’t find the title of the product anywhere. It was originally published by Standard Publishing, but I’ve had no luck finding it on their site either. It’s a wonderful resource! If I find out the title and it’s still available anywhere, I’ll be sure to post it.
George Muller: The Guardian of Bristol’s Orphans
Bartholomew’s Passage: A Family Story for Advent
Hero Tales, vol. 1: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes
Unit Studies
This is the fourth year in our four-year history/science cycle. We will be working on modern history and physics. I’ll post plans as each unit comes along. For now, here are the tentative unit lists.
History/Geography
- US Geography
- Statue of Liberty and Other National Monuments
- US Government
- US Presidents
- Inventors
- 1900-2010 History – This will be our biggest unit!
- World Geography
Science
- Energy – Heat & Electricity
- Light, Color & Sound
- Magnets
- Simple Machines and Work
Nature Study
We’ll use various ideas from the NaturExplorer units once (or more) a week. I’ll be posting many of those ideas here and at Shining Dawn Books.
Artist and Composer Study
August – Cezanne, Chopin
September – Rousseau, Vivaldi
October – Rodin, Gershwin
November – Gauguin, Ellington
January – Toulouse-Lautrec, Schubert
February – Seurat, Berloiz
March – Russell, Schumann
April – Matisee, Brahms
May – Kandinsky, Stravinsky
I’ll be sure to post lots about our daily lessons and happenings through the school year! Have a super 2009-10!
(You can find our current studies along with the resources I’m using in the sidebars.)
Related posts:
- Christmas School Plans
- Charlotte Mason Carnival – Back To School Planning Bash
- Next Year’s Plans
- Our Homeschool
- The School Room
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cindykwest
Hi Kristal!
It’s really very easy. I have one day a week dedicated to nature study, artist study and composer study (along with math and language.) I focus on one artist and composer a month. For the artist, each week we might read a book about the artist, study at least one piece of his/her art in detail and try our hand at replicating their art or doing something of a similar style. For the composer, each week we might read a book about him/her and listen to their music online or on CD. We often listen as we work on our art. It’s nothing fancy! Hope this helps!
August 09 2009 -
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Wow, looks like we use many of the same things (although I like the way you’ve blocked yours together more…it just looks less intimidating somehow.)
Can I copy your composer schedule?? I’m an art-addict, but I tend to neglect music (which is why I’m just paying for piano this year!)
August 05 2009 -
Nora
I’m in the process of planning my year as well. I’ll post on my blog when I finish. I’m using My Father’s World for the first time since we’ve completed our 4 year history cycle with Story of the World. I was ready for something different. MFW begins their cycle with a year of world geography. I’m excited to get started.
August 05 2009 -
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