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
Language Arts
4th Grade
Math/Logic
Language Arts
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
with Life Lessons from the Squire and the Scroll
Princess & the Kiss: A Story of God’s Gift of Purity
with Life Lessons from the Princess and the Kiss
Beautiful Girlhood
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.
Bruchko
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.)
Posted by Cindy on November 18, 2008
I was so blessed to visit with Melissa and her homeschool co-op this past Friday. They have a WONDERFUL group of ladies who meet together in the Mom’s Oasis and the co-op is full of rich and interesting classes for the kids.
I had the pleasure of speaking about homeschooling during the busy holiday season. We talked about relaxing the “regular” school schedule a bit, while creating unforgetable memories AND including the Christmas chores (Christmas cards, baking, party planning, etc.) as part of school time.
For the ladies who are looking for the links I passed along on Friday: I think I finally organized my previous Christmas posts so that you can find all the Bible, unit studies, literature, math, science and such lessons. You probably won’t be able to find them under the links I gave you on Friday. Instead, if you’ll just click on the “Christmas” link in the far sidebar, you should be able to find what you are looking for. Please let me know if you have any questions or problems!
Happy Christmas planning!
Posted by Cindy on April 11, 2008
This was another question asked recently at co-op. Another part of the question was: How do you plan for next year when you may or may not want to change curriculums? Once again, here’s the answer I gave, but I know my friend would appreciate your thoughts in a comment.
I’ve told you before that I can be considered by some as “curriculum ADHD”, so I’ve had experience planning for a year in the midst of curriculum changes! Here are my basic planning steps:
1.) PRAY! Ask God to guide you in all things – and that includes curriculum choice.
2.) Know Your Goals
- What is my educational philosophy? Do I need to plan my year to be more in line with Charlotte Mason? Do I need to make more room for classical subjects? Do I need to buy more workbooks?
- What are my children’s learning styles? Do I need to do more/less hands-on next year? Do I need to find materials that are more auditory? Do I need to stick with one type of curriculum all year or do I need to vary the approaches for more interest?
- What “holes” do I see from this year? For instance, I don’t feel like I have been including enough classic literature in our curriculum. I also don’t feel like I’ve been pushing my oldest to her greatest potential. Those will be things I’m sure to think about as I make out plans for next year.
3.) Know your plans
- For example, if I know that every Monday afternoon we will be at co-op, I need to plan my curriculum with that in mind. I wouldn’t want to plan schooling so tightly that we would be behind in our studies from “missing out” on a Monday afternoon of book work.
- If I like to plan field trips or be a part of 4-H, Keepers At Home or other clubs, I need to keep all that in mind as I think about what I want to accomplish in our curriculum over the year.
4.) Research your choices
- With all the above in mind, really take some time to research what’s best for your family. Think about things like:
*Is there anything I can buy that will cover more than one child?
*Is there anything I can find that will meet several of our needs – meeting particular learning styles, filling the “holes” from last year, and helping me include more CM style learning?
- I use catalogs, the internet, used curriculum sales, our state homeschool convention and a local Christian/homeschooling bookstore when researching.
- I often buy things I’m not sure about from used sources so I haven’t wasted a lot of money if it doesn’t work. Internet selling sites are my friends when a bad choice has been made!
5.) Write out a plan for each child to be sure everything:
- is being covered (Make sure you haven’t forgotten math or something!)
- is well balanced (You haven’t overloaded the schedule, but at the same time you have enough.)
- really fits the learning style of that particular child
- pulls the kids together as much as possible
- won’t overwhelm you!
6.) Gather supplies
- don’t be afraid to make mistakes
- don’t be afraid to make changes
- don’t be afraid to stick with something and give it another chance
It’s funny that as I type this, I’m simply ready for this year to be finished! It’s been a long year with a toddler running around. We only have four more weeks to go!! Once our year is over and I have a few moments to sit on the porch swing with the sun in my face, I’ll be ready to cart the catalogs out with me.
Posted by Cindy on December 30, 2007
Two of my favorite things to do are planning and organizing. Yes, that may be a little weird, but I can’t help myself. 
Since Christmas, I’ve been in a spring cleaning sort of mode. Bags and bags of Goodwill giveaways have been loaded. Bags and boxes of baby things have been given back to my sister. Toys have been sorted, clothes have been organized, nooks and crannies dusted, and office spaces decluttered.
I’ve planned menus and clipped coupons. I’ve browsed through all my magazines to tear out anything important and pitch or give away the rest. I’ve even been hanging pictures that have been patiently waiting for TWO years since we moved into our house.
No, I’m not pregnant. I’m just ready to breathe some fresh air. I’ve let too many things go over the last 22 months when I was pregnant then keeping up with the demands of an infant. I’m ready to get the house in order, so I don’t have to fly into panic mode when guests are coming over – or mope around wondering where to begin with the massive amount of things to do. Do you feel a weight lifted off you when the house is in relatively good order? I sure do! And I’m finally beginning to feel lighter. The kids are, too. Even though organizing and deep cleaning hasn’t been their idea of fun, I see happier children bouncing around my house. Even if that happiness is the result of a mom who isn’t hounding them all day to pick up this or pick up that, they’re happier nonetheless!
I asked a question about keeping up with chores a few days ago. Thank you to everyone who answered!! Keep the answers coming if you find wonderful resources! Even though I think I’ve settled on something for now, my urge to reorganize will land me in this spot again sooner or later.
I’m very excited to share Motivated Moms with you. As soon as Sandy from Falling Like Rain told me about it, I knew it was just what I’ve been looking for! For $8.00, I had immediate access to a year’s worth of chore sheets to keep me on top of my house. I’ll print out one page per week. Daily chores are listed on the left with little squares for me to check when they’re completed. On the right are the days of the week, with various chores listed under each day. As far as I’ve looked, no day seems too overwhelming. There are several chores to do each day, but most of them don’t take too long. This system even includes things like “clip your children’s nails” and “change toothbrushes”! I am so excited to start!!
I’ve decided to use a highlighter for chores that I want the kids to do. Green are chores I expect Mahayla to take care of, blue for Caleb. I’ll take care of everything not highlighted. We’ll keep the list on the refrigerator for the week and everyone can check off their jobs when completed so I can keep up with them.
I’m sure I’ll keep you posted as to how well it goes. I know you’ll be sitting by the computer waiting for my chore updates! lol I’ve also been reorganizing my school planning just a little, but that will have to wait for another post. Happy New Year!
