Each year our homeschool plans give us something to aim at. We may adjust our goals or the materials we are using along the way, but we always begin with a plan. I've done the work of planning, which I may talk about in another post, but today I'm just going to share the plans we've made.
The Younger Boys
Tobias - He's 9 months old and has no formal plans. Lots of holding, singing, stories, play, and growing for this little guy.
Samuel - He's 3 and we'll work on the following informally: speech therapy games, puzzles, coloring, cutting, playdoh, stories, singing, play, and painting.
Mason is 4 1/2 and still in the informal lesson age at our house. He's working on physical therapy at home, puzzles, games, coloring, cutting, playdoh, stories, singing, play, and painting. He is also learning to recognize letters, their sounds, and numbers through playtime activities, no formal lessons.
Caleb is 5 3/4 and doing some Kindergarten skills more formally this year. He's learning the letters and their sounds through games and alphabet pages. When he has those mastered we will pull out All About Reading level 1. He gets his own math book this year, Math U See Alpha. He will probably take 2 years to work through Alpha, but he's been asking for math pages so we'll see where this goes. He's doing basic handwriting, learning letters and numbers, about 3 minutes per day. He is also listening to history stories with the bigger kids and doing a lot of the same activities the younger boys are doing, playdoh, puzzles, paint, games, etc.
The Middle Kids
Group work for this set of kids is Beautiful Feet History: Medieval Intermediate and Junior High Studies. I will read aloud from living books daily and we will discuss, look up things online, do map work and vocabulary, watch supplementary shows, and soak it all in. The kids have notebooks to add to each week as we learn, with specific assignments in the guide or simply their own narrations. We'll do a couple Brave Writer style writing projects this year as well, about every other month. Science/Nature Study is also done as a group. We will begin the year with nature study as a family. Second semester we will possibly add in Apologia Elementary Chemistry and Physics.
Oliver is 7 and in 2nd grade. He is still solidifying his reading skills with All About Reading level 2. Math U See Beta is up. He'll participate in history, nature study, science, etc. He will do copywork from our history studies (into his notebook) or from his reading lessons.
Daniel is 8 3/4 and doing 3rd grade. He reads well and so I have the first 4 books he'll read for literature chosen: The One and Only Ivan, Harriet the Spy, The Borrowers, and Rascal. He is beginning Math U See Delta this year so will focus on division. He's going to do All About Spelling level 1 and will use this also for copywork. Daniel is reading the Book of Mormon for scripture study. He participates in history studies, which include writing, and nature study and science.
Emma is 10 1/2 and in 5th grade. She is reading these four books for sure in literature this year: The Giver, How to Train Your Dragon, My Side of the Mountain, and Wings of Fire. She is in Math U See Zeta (Decimals and Percents). She'll be using All About Spelling as well, beginning in level 1 but probably moving into level 2 this year as well. She will use this for copywork. Emma is reading the New Testament this year. She's part of the history, writing, nature studies, and science group.
Joseph is 11 3/4 and my 6th grader. He's starting his literature this year with four books: The Giver, Dragonspell, A Wrinkle in Time, The One and Only Ivan. His weakest area is spelling so he's starting All About Spelling level 1 this year as well, and it will offer copywork too. He's in Math U See Zeta and diving into decimals and percents. He is reading the Book of Mormon for scripture study and will move into the New Testament next I believe. He's part of the history, writing, nature studies, and science group.
The High Schooler
Makayla is my only high schooler, she's in 10th grade this year. She is a fairly independent, motivated student with a mix of curricula, self-designed studies, and online classes. Math U See Geometry is the plan this year. She and I will do Beautiful Feet History: Medieval Senior High study, which involves heavy duty literature like Beowulf and Mark Twain's Joan of Arc, discussion, mapping, and writing. Her writing course for English is The Power in Your Hands, which focuses on nonfiction writing and essays. Spelling and grammar mechanics will be a part of the editing process. Her first four chosen literature titles are: Lord of the Flies, One Second After, Emma, and The Hiding Place. We will have socratic discussion about each book. Makayla is continuing her self-designed Herpetology course (study of reptiles). Last year she began with basics and raised two bearded dragons. This year she has added a ball python to her menagerie. She is taking a few online classes through Landry Academy this year. Veterinary Science I will be first semester. Second semester she'll do Veterinary Science II and Criminology. Makayla participates in Seminary at 6am with other teens, a scripture study class daily before school. This year they will study the New Testament.
Did you miss any posts in this series?
- Homeschool Plans for 2016-2017
- Morning Basket Plans for 2016-2017
- Our Large Family Homeschool Schedule
- Nature Study and Art Plans 2016-2017
I'll be interested to read about your experience with The Power in Your Hands. I'm considering it for next year - we school by the calendar year.
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