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 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.)

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!

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.  

Here are the books I’m using as I plan.

Hands-On History: Middle Ages

Days of Knights and Damsels Activity Guide

Story of the World Vol. II

Medieval, Reformation & Renaissance History

Websites

A to Z Homeschooling – Medieval Times

Homeschooling About.com – Medieval Times

Library Books – See the sidebar for the chapter books.

The Knight’s Handbook

The Making of a Knight

A Medieval Feast

Mrs. Frizzle’s Adventures: Medieval Castle

A Medieval Cathedral

Canterbury Tales

How Would You Survive in the Middle Ages

I Wonder Why Castles Had Moats

Castles

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!

Hi Cindy –

I just read your post about having a bad day and it encouraged me to email you with some questions. I know you have a young one too – how is that going? My baby just turned one and is toddling all over creating quite a distraction. I get one kid focused and another turns his/her attention to the baby. I have an area for him to be pinned up in and different toys I bring out – but I’m just wearing myself out jumping from one kid to another. I read recently about someone scheduling individual time with each kid on a different day – but I’m rebelling against such structure. Hey, I love structure, but it seems that schedules like that just set me up to fail. Comments?

I wish I could say I have that all together!!  Alas, I think homeschooling with a busy one-year-old is simply challenging.  Luckily for me, my oldest can do most of her work by herself.  I go over her assignments and she only needs me when she’s stumped.  While she’s working, I focus my attention on the seven-year-old.  He still needs me a lot!  We do math, reading and phonics together.  What’s the wee one doing?  Crawling all over the room (babyproofed, of course), crawling all over me, pulling his brother’s papers off the table, nursing, eating Cheerios, or napping (rarely!)  Keeping the seven-year-old focused is challenging enough.  Throw a baby into the mix and some days are crazy!

When we do our unit time or Bible time together, wee one just joins in.  Again, trying to steal pencils so he can eat the erasers, tugging on his sister’s pants so she’ll hold him, or pulling all the books off the bookshelves so he can eat the binding.  Let’s just say that our concentration level during school has declined somewhat since last year!!

I am often worn out by the end of a school day.  But, a few things that help….Try to teach as much together as possible so you don’t have to jump between children.  Try to make them independent learners as quick as possible.  That way, you won’t have to spend so much of your time teaching them.  Be laid back this year, realizing that homeschooling with a baby means less structure and more interruptions.  As baby gets older, school will get back to “normal” again.  If your little one takes a good nap in the afternoons (mine doesn’t), that might be the best time for school.  At least the schoolwork that takes more focus and concentration.

Also, I’ve been a hard-core Sonlight user for the last four years. I bought the curriculum to do Intro to World History and Indepth World History at the same time. Indepth uses Story of the World, which we just love and I find I hardly ever open my instructors guide. I’m actually contemplating going out on my own next year – but I’m scared. I have a 12, 9 and almost 6 year old in addition to the wee one. The 12 year old is miles ahead in writing as compared to the 9 year old. Further, the 9 year old is not interested in lapbooking or notebooking at all – BOY. Suggestions? I’ve done one In the Hands of a Child with my 6 year old and it worked really well. I guess I’d like to be free of that Instructors Guide telling me I’m only on Week 6 of school and it is actually Week 12. I know I can go at my own pace – but its making me feel bad.

It sounds like you are already on a great start to doing your own thing!  My son doesn’t get into lapbooks as much as my daughter either.  My daughter is miles ahead in most subjects – which makes sense since she’s three grade levels older.  When we do a unit, I expect different things from each of them.  The ten-year-old is expected to go more indepth.  She is given writing assignments or research assignments, etc. that I don’t give my son.  I spice units up by changing the approach often.  We might do lapbooks for one unit, then notebooking for the next unit.  The unit after that might be mostly project-based.  When we work on a lapbook unit, I cut out all the pieces for my son.  That goes a long way in his cooperation!

It sounds like I put a lot of extra thought into how to make the unit appropriate for each child, but it doesn’t really take that much effort.  When I’m writing down all the ideas, I put a star beside things that will work for both kids, an M beside things for Mahayla and a C beside things for Caleb.  If Mahayla is given an assignment, I simply find one of the things marked with a C to do with Caleb.

Using Story of the World, you will easily be able to sort out what to do together and seperately.  For instance, they might all do the map work, but you might ask your older one(s) to label a few extra things on the maps.  When asking the narration questions, you may decide to ask your older child to use one of the questions as a writing assignment, while the younger ones simply narrate or draw a picture.

And finally, yes – yes, be free of an instructor’s guide that makes you feel guilty for taking your time.  Life with children isn’t about a perfectly executed schedule.  When I try to plan a wonderful schedule, something ALWAYS happens to mess that schedule up.  Kids get sick, a meal must be prepared for a friend in need, a doctor’s appointment comes up…….If I depended on a preset curriculum plan, I’d always be behind and always feel guilty because of it.  Plus, we like rabbit trails.  When my kids get especially interested in something, I like to take time to go further with that topic.  Following a preset plan wouldn’t allow me to do that, and what opportunities I’d miss to nurture the learning interests of my children!

In my little homeschooling circle, I’m the one people come to for advice. We dont have a lot of creative homeschoolers in my group. Most use ABekka, so my resources for this stuff is limited. We are plugging along OK this year – but I would really appreciate your input as I know my planning for next year will hit hard come January.

How do you decide what Unit Study’s to do. Do you use History as your guide? Do you do more than one Unit Study at a time? I’ll check out some of your links as well.

I follow (very loosely) the Well Trained Mind’s philosophy for science and history.  Basically, that means we follow a four-year cycle for history units and science units.  Year one – we study ancient history and life sciences.  Year two – medieval history and earth sciences.  Year three – early modern history and chemistry.  Year four – late modern history and physics.  After four years, we start the cycle over again, learning more each time.  Since you already use Story of the World, you are on a four-year history cycle.

That’s how I decide the core of our units for the year.  I tend to get bored dragging a unit out too long, so we usually have time to add a couple other units that suit our fancy each year, too.  This year, on top of medieval history, astronomy and a unit about the earth, we are adding a KY history unit, and doing famous artists and famous composers lapbooks.

I’m not nearly as creative as some people give me credit.  I buy good curriculum and surf the internet for good ideas.  Put those good things together and pull out the best ideas – voila, a creative unit is born.  The more you do this kind of thing, the easier it gets, too.  Story of the World is a great “teacher” of what makes a good unit.  Great literaure, meaningful activities and teaching things in an understandable order are the basics.

No, I usually don’t have more than one unit going at a time.  I tried to follow the Well Trained Mind’s model of doing history three days a week and science two days, but it always seemed inconsistent.  Just when we were getting into one thing, it would be time to jump into another.  My children seem to “take it all in” better when we smoothly flow through one unit before going on to another.  I typically switch unit subjects each time.  In other words, if we’ve just finished a science study, the next unit will be a history study.

I’m so glad you felt comfortable asking me your questions.  I hope I’ve answered them sufficiently.  If not, keep asking!  By no means do I have all the answers.  All I can do is tell you the hows and whys of what we do around here.  Praise the Lord for great resources and this wonderful community of Christian bloggers!   Blessings to you!!

Subjects we do all together:

Bible/Devotions

*Read through the New Testament in The Child’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos and complete our Bible timeline using the Big Bible Timeline.

*Seven C’s of Creation (this is our summer study)

*Discovering Jesus in Genesis by Susan Hunt

*Pearables Kingdom Stories – some of these, not all

*Life Lessons from The Princess and the Kiss (possibly)

Church studies: (this list will be added to as new studies come along)

*Missionaries Unit using Missionary Stories with the Millers as a “spine”

*Bible Bowl

History

*Ancient History Unit – Spine book:  Ancient History Pockets

*Middle Ages Unit – Spine book:  Hands-On History: Middle Ages

*Kentucky History Unit – Spine book:  Spectacular State Report Projects For Any State

Science

*Astronomy Unit – Spine books:  Exploring Creation with Astronomy by Jeannie Fulbright and the Astronomy Lapbook from Knowledge Box Central

*Earth Science Unit – Spine books:  Primarily Earth, Rocks And Soil, and Considering God’s Creation

Art/Music/Foreign Language

*Various art studies, art lessons and art projects throughout the year, no specific resources

*Various music composer studies, music classes and hymn memorization throughout the year, no specific resources

*Rosetta Stone online Spanish and Prima Latina Latin

MAHAYLA’S OTHER SUBJECTS

Math

*Finishing Saxon 5/4 and moving into Saxon 6/5

*Bi-weekly problem solving and logic opportunities using a variety of resources.  Below are a few sample books:

Mind Benders

Thinking Skills

NC Math

Instant Activities For Math That Kids Really Love

Intermediate Math Trivial Pursuit

Problem Parade

Language Arts

*Daily silent reading

*Daily read alouds with Mom

The following subjects will often be integrated into the current learning unit.  Other times, activities will be chosen from various places including…

*Spelling: Spelling Works and Spelling Time

*Grammar:  Great Grammar Lessons That Work and this grammar website

*Writing:  All sorts of sources including:

Easy File Folder Reports

30 Biography Book Reports

30 Nonfiction Book Reports

Building Skills In Writing:  Story Writing

Igniting Your Writing

Helping Students Write the Best Research Reports Ever

A family newsletter she’s going to publish

*Copywork:  WriteShop Copying and Dictation Exercises, Words of Love Bible Copywork

*Typing:  Nimble Fingers

CALEB’S OTHER SUBJECTS

Math

*Horizons workbooks

*Miquon workbooks

Bi-weekly problem solving and logic opportunities using a variety of books.  Below are a few sample books:

Mind Benders

NC Math

Menu Math

Meeting Math Standards With Favorite Picture Books

Munchie Math

Problem Play

Language Arts

*Reading:  Still plugging along in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, easy readers, phonics workbooks, Abeka’s Handbook for Reading, and fun games

*Writing/Copywork:  Happy Scribe’s Words of the Gospel, Words of Love Bible Copywork

*Grammar:  First Language Lessons

*Spelling:  Spelling Time, and words I notice he needs work on

*Typing:  Nimble Fingers

EXTRAS

Co-op classes on Monday afternoons:  P.E., Music  – others To Be Announced

Piano Lessons – Mahayla

Horse Lessons – Mahayla and Caleb

This year’s curriculum is being put together with as many free and very inexpensive materials as possible.  After looking at my shelves and in the folders on my computer, I realized that I have more than enough already in my house to teach with.  Most of the materials I’m using are coming from free e-book downloads or the Scholastic $1.00 books I bought earlier this spring.  The Rosetta Stone online is free through our library.  I’ve decided I won’t be making any big purchases at all.  There just doesn’t seem to be any sense in it.

Just a reminder for some of you who will say, “She’s using ALL that THIS year?!!”  I don’t use everything all the time.  Nor do I use all of anything.  I use only what I feel like my kiddos need at the time.  I pull the best from several resources because no one resource ever seems to fit us perfectly!  It doesn’t bother me to have undone pages in a workbook or undone lessons in lesson guide.  I’m the teacher at my house and I get to choose what we do and don’t do.   The list above is actually far from complete.  I’m always on the lookout for new and exciting things to add to the mix.  I guess I’m the ultimate eclectic, unit study, lapbooking, notebooking, workbooking, literature loving homeschooler!  It all has it’s place you know!