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It's February! Plans for your AL?


SeaConquest
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Since it is February, and so many seem to be in planning mode, I thought it might be time for a planning thread. I always find these inspiring.

 

Do you have any plans in place for your AL? Thoughts about next year that you'd like to kick around? Come share!

 

I use Excel for planning purposes. This is what I have pulled together so far for Sacha (first grade in 2015-2016):

 

Math: We will probably finish Singapore 3A by the spring of this year, so I am planning to just do living math and reading from the BA guides over the summer (he goes to summer camp all day, so we don't school year-round). For the fall, we will start blending BA 3 with Singapore 3B. He will probably finish up Singapore 4B by the end of the spring 2016. I also do a week of living math books and problem solving (Zaccaro, Borac, etc.) as a break every month or so. We may also work through the Hands on Equations Verbal Problems book that I was able to score from our charter school.

 

Science: We did life science this year -- mostly with living books and docus. Following Ruth's inspiration, I broke it up into 4 quarters of zoology, ecology, botany, and anatomy, which worked out fabulously. Thank you, Ruth!! Next year, we will do 4 quarters of earth and space science -- astronomy, geology, meteorology, and oceanography.

 

Language Arts: We will move to WWE2. Since he is young, we will take it slowly and see how he does with dictation. I'm kinda dreading it, TBH. He's fluently reading at about a 4th grade level now, so I have stopped doing any phonics-type instruction/beginning readers with him, letting him just pick what he likes to read. We will continue with Spelling by Sound and Structure 3, but I give him the option to test out of each chapter to (hopefully) avoid any spelling busywork. We will add in the Island level of MCT for grammar, as well as Mosdos Opal, Junior Great Books 3, and whatever strikes my fancy for literature read-alouds. He also wants to learn cursive, so I'm still trying to decide on a font that I can live with.

 

History: We love SOTW audio! We will start early modern and will add in Hakim's Story of US on audio as well. Still working on historical fiction and docus to complement this history cycle.

 

Classics: We are having fun with SSL1; will continue on to SSL2.

 

Modern Languages: He gets Spanish through his charter school. We will move to Shalom Uvrachah for Hebrew. He's learned spoken French from my husband and his family, but I am thinking of starting L'Art de Lire to get him reading and writing in French. 

 

Art/Music: He gets weekly art and performing arts classes through his charter school. They also have a music class, which he enjoys, and guitar lessons, starting in 3rd grade. So, we will probably just stick with what the school offers since they are free. 

 

Sports: Continuing with soccer and the weekly homeschool PE class he takes through the school. He's expressed an interest in hockey, and is currently taking ice skating classes, so we may start that as well.

 

Logic: Primarily Logic, Thinking Through Analogies, Mindbenders 3, and Balance Benders Beginner.

 

Computer Science/Engineering: We are just starting a MOOC Scratch course through Harvey Mudd, so we will see where that leads him. He gets a Lego class through his charter. I bought Typing Instructor, but need to make time for him to use it.

 

And waaaaay too much Super Mario Bros 3D World, Mario Kart, Pokemon, and Minecraft!   

 

 

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Plans for next year? No idea!

 

For this summer, DD will be working on her frog habitat project, which she hopes to present at next Fall's state herpetological society conference and will be attending her first overnight summer program, as well as attending the SSAR national meeting, plus lots of field work and educational presentations. She'll also probably be in the lab some to work on microbiological techniques.

 

Next year...

Uhhhh......

 

 

 

 

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We just roll into the next thing when we finish the current thing, and don't follow a school year calendar at all. We will be breaking for 5-6 weeks very soon for some travel, and summers are a bit broken up with camping trips. But I do have some general ideas for where she'll be and what we will be using over the next school year. DD will turn 5 in May.

 

Math: finish RightStart B and start C. Adding in Singapore's CWP1. Continue living books and a variety of math games.

 

Handwriting: DD decided she would rather learn cursive than manuscript, so we're trying the first New American Cursive workbook, but honestly her fine motor skills just aren't there yet.

 

Language Arts: MCT Island, adding BraveWriter's Jot It Down and continuing poetry teas. I just about have a reading list put together for next year - yay!

 

Spanish: I have no idea. She's done with Song School Spanish, but the next stuff up is all such a big leap away from "fun" and it all requires notable amounts of writing.

 

Science: Continue BFSU as a general guide, with lots of additional interest-led stuff.

 

History: Ancient history with lots of living books, documentaries, and whatever non-crafty projects I can come up with.

 

Music/Art: Mostly self-directed art, supplemented with slow and lazy use of Artistic Pursuits pre-k level. Instrument lessons if she wants them. Otherwise, just remembering to turn on good music during the day :)

 

Random other: lots of cooking/baking, yoga, outside classes for dance or gymnastics or sports as they fit her interests at the moment, Lego, puzzles, games, typing basics, programming basics, spoken French with her dad

 

Modifying as I go along and plans change :)

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Well, we decided to let dd1 try the local ps in the fall for 1st grade. I had been looking foreward to schooling past the point where most of our attention has to be focused on basic mechanics and when her working habits are a little more mature, but it looks like I won't be directing her schooling after all. It's rather a let down. The school will in theory be dividing kids up by instructional level and teaching them where they're at, so if it really works that way I'll mostly just be keeping up with her music and good read alouds at home.

 

I will have a new Ker, though, who will be homeschooled. (Or maybe I shouldn't call her that, in case she winds up going to school here later on? Her fall birthday puts her after the cut off and just after the test-in age range for starting K here, though she would have been able to test in in our last district, and before the cut off where I grew up). We'll mostly continue with what we're doing, but I'll have more time to focus on her, do things like art and let her pick science subjects, etc. We'll be continuing with Miquon math and OPG.

 

I'll also have a 3-year-old tag along. We'll continue with doing "reading cuddles" and violin lessons on demand, and at some point between now and then I'll give in and start him on Mathematical Reasoning Beginning 1. We will also do lots of reading and learning about sea life.

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I'm trying to decide whether to pull dd11 out of our charter school next year and just let her have more freedom. I'm considering letting her craft all of school around her love of Ancient Greece. It is so hard to say goodbye to free curriculum, but I just don't think I can do another year of it with her. But then, there would go the laptop, the iPad, the extra music money for longer violin lessons... However they just don't know what to make of a girl who wants to translate Euclid from Greek for her geometry. I wish money was no object.

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DD#1 will be first grade age for next school year.

 

* Math: She'll finish MM 3A this year, and I expect she'll do 3B, 4A, and 4B next year.

* Science: I have the Adventures with Atoms and Molecules books 1 & 2.  I think she will really love doing all the experiments.

* History: SOTW3.  

* Language Arts: FLL3, WWE3, spelling lists that pull from the 3rd and 4th grade lists here and also from what she's learning in science and history, and whatever books I pick out for her to read.  I have Mr. Popper's Penguins and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory as definites on the list, probably The Trumpet of the Swan, possibly From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  I'm reading a lot right now to try to figure this list out.

* Bible: She loves BSGFAA, so we'll probably continue with that.

* Latin: I think she'll be ready to start Latin next year, and I'm planning to use BBLL1.  Her interest and enjoyment in that will determine how quickly we move through it.

* Art: If I tried to take Ms. Volin away, I would have a riot on my hands, so Home Art Studio will continue at our house.

* And also: I'm trying to find more opportunities for the kid to learn about birds, flamingos when possible.  What this will look like next year is kind of nebulous at the moment, though.

 

DD#2 turned 3 in December, so she'll turn 4 midway through next school year.  I have started A Beka K4 with her, and she's zipping through it.  She could probably be going much faster than the curriculum dictates for reading, but I want her to learn writing at the same time, so I'm not introducing the next reading concepts quite yet.  (It's interesting to watch her at this stage, because even though both she and her big sister are accelerated learners, I can tell that they have different ways of absorbing information and making it their own.  It'll be fun to see if DS ends up being like either of them, or different yet again. :))  Anyway, she is on track to finish up the K4 stuff by the end of this school year and then do K5 next school year.  I'll probably try to include her in DD#1's science lessons when possible, but DD#2 still naps and sometimes that's when we do DD#1's school stuff.  So we'll see.

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My son will be 8th grade age, but he completed 8th grade at a b&m school last year, so is officially going into 10th.

 

English: Something I'll be calling Western literature that will be my final attempt to get to the must-read classics we've missed

Math: Precalculus with Lial

History: World history with Ways of the World

Science: Possibly chemistry at the PS (if they'll let him) or maybe physics with Derek Owens

German: Deutsch Aktuell 2 with our wonderful tutor (I hope!)

Elective: Possibly at the PS

 

 

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We actually just started our new stuff this week.  Everything has been a big hit.  Here's what we finally decided:

 

dd13: Continuing with Lial's Algebra 1 and finishing up Easy Grammar Plus.  She wants to decide what to study from here on out.  This week, we watched MacBeth, she's reading The Yearling, we started reading The Iliad/The Odyssey and she requested The Cartoon Guide to Genetics from the library.  I'm making her write in a daily journal also.  She wants to start a high school-level chemistry program, so I'm looking around at our options.

 

ds12: Continuing Lial's Basic College Math.  I had plans for him, but he decided that he wants to do what his sister is doing.  He spent most of yesterday reading and I'm also requiring him to keep a daily journal.  We ordered a bridge-making kit and that should be here today.  You make different types of working bridges.  *shrug*  After that, I think he has plans to work through Thames & Kosmos' Physics Pro (he already finished Physics Workshop and really enjoyed it).  He also wants to take apart/rebuild an engine and I'm just not sure where to get one of those.  ?

 

dd10:  3 times a week: Singapore Math, MCT's Language Arts, Writing with Ease, continuing with Ambleside Online.  2 times a week: Life of Fred Math, Prairie Primer, Story of the Orchestra

 

dd7:  3 times a week:  Miquon/Singapore Math, All About Spelling, First Language Lessons, continue Handwriting without Tears, continue booklist from Mensa's website.  2 times a week: Life of Fred Math, Prairie Primer, Story of the Orchestra.

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Rising 10th grade:

 

Math: Saxon Advanced Mathematics (first 90 lessons using Art Reed's suggestion of two days per lesson) at home, possibly followed by College Algebra CLEP test

 

English: probably honors English 10 or honors English 2 (different syllabi) through hybrid program with local school, might try SAT literature subject test (this would be fall only as they use a block schedule for most classes other than AP)

 

Science:  probably honors chemistry through same program (this would be spring only due to block schedule)

 

Foreign language: probably Latin 2 through same program, with NLE in the spring (hoping to take the year long option)

 

History: world history at home  using Glencoe World History by Spielvogel, may try SAT subject test in world history

 

Elective: thinking about AP psychology through school program with test to get her feet wet in AP, since we're likely looking at AP US history, AP English language, and maybe AP environmental science for 11th.

 

Elective: art history at home to go along with world history, using a variety of materials since I have a variety :)  (Stokstad, Gardner, Annotated Mona Lisa, Annenberg videos, Great Courses "How to Look at and Understand Great Art")---we will see whether this stays a half credit or morphs into a full one. We initially planned her art this year to be a half credit intro to visual arts technique class, but now it's morphed into a full credit intro to visual and performing arts.

 

Extracurriculars will likely continue to be aikido and Girl Scouts (focus on hiking/camping). She wants to try out kickboxing starting next week, so that may get added into the mix. I don't know if direct art instruction will continue or if she will have time to work backstage on any plays with the community theater next year.

 

She will do another practice PSAT in the fall and possibly another SAT (to have a high school score with the current test--she's taken it, but it was in 7th grade), as well as the ACT in spring (our yearly state required achievement test, since the SAT doesn't meet their guidelines).

 

We don't yet know what will be available through the local co-ops in which we are participating this year, which may change things up. I've been asked to put together a reader's theater Shakespeare class, which I may do in the fall focusing on comedies. If I do that, it will serve as extra credit for the English class, as it's a 14 week one hour a week supplementary class (did Classical mythology this way this year).

 

For this summer, she wants to go to a world building creative writing summer camp for two weeks.

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I don't know. I just reviewed the notes I have for 3rd grade, and half the stuff on it we have started already... Speaking of which:

 

 

 

Computer Science/Engineering: We are just starting a MOOC Scratch course through Harvey Mudd, so we will see where that leads him. He gets a Lego class through his charter. I bought Typing Instructor, but need to make time for him to use it.

 

 

Thank you so much for mentioning that! It was one of the things in my 3rd grade notes (someone must have mentioned it last year sometime), and I had totally forgotten about it. Crazypants dropped Code.org ("nothing cool to do anymore") so I went ahead and put him on Scratch, and he's been playing around with it a bit aimlessly. I'll sign him up for that course today and see what happens.

 

As for next year, all I can figure is some Latin, Greek, BA and chemistry. And maybe physics too. And W&R.

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I have been going a little stir crazy this week because of planning. I'm relieved to see others thinking about this. This year has gone so well! But now I realize we will finish Beast 3D at the end of Feb. That means no new topics till Sept. My son said that he wants to continue BA because he wants "to learn something new everyday." I want to keep that going but realistically we do drop off more than we would like in the summer. June there are  too many camps to do school with him so I don't mind taking that month off.  I read in another thread that stretching out the cute colorful curriculum is a good idea. This makes me think I should stop BA till next year because otherwise we will outpace BA5 or finish colorful BA before he's willing to tackle the boring.

 

We will complete by the end of Feb: School Zone Math 3 and 4, BA3, Khan 3

Choices I'm looking at: School Zone 5 and 6, BA4, Khan 4, Zaccaro Primary Challenge Math, Murderous Maths (easy reader ones)

 

I want word problems and busywork practice so he can choose what he feels like each day. I don't want to get through "fun math" too soon. I want some busywork math for the same time as BA4 also. Zaccaro is from the interlibrary loan but I would probably need to buy it to use it. Murderous Maths samples doesn't show me any pages with problems for him to do. I'd like a few problems for him to try after reading like LoFred has.

 

We are also finishing ELTL1, SSL1, Sotw2, and Earth Science by the end of Feb. We only schooled 3 weeks and then took a week off (on average). I don't know what happened. I will go back through earth science and sotw to pick out some more books for readalouds.

 

These math decisions every year are going to be the end of me! :crying:

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If dd pass three more 8th grade exams this schoolyear we can be considered highschool next year I suppose.

Good news is that grade 9/10 have no required exams, so we can relax a little before heading to the grade 11/12 exams.

Bad news is we have to chose tracks, and that is hard when you are young, but hopefully we can add some fun back in our homeschooling :)

 

So far I've planned for grade 9/10 ( Belgium schoolsystem works in pairs of two years):

 

AoPs Intro A, Flemish Statistics, and still in search for some Trig topics, not sure if we will continue with AoPs after this, probably not.

Latin, Greek, Dutch (Flemish textbooks)

BJU Physical Science + IGCSE Chemistry ( no exam, just a good text)

TEE, WttW, Introduction to Poetry, after that: Omnibus

Word Wealth

BJU World Geography, BJU World Studies

 

Still pondering about French and German.

 

Electives:

MP Logic, Dutch and Flemish civics/government

Pondering about how to cover debate with one child.

Attending academy for fine arts, still in search for a new piano teacher, folk dance.

Not for next year but on the shelves:

Philosophy, Medical Ethic, Psychology

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Dd throws another idea at me every time I think I have a good grasp of what she will do next academic year. Who am I kidding----we didn't have this academic year fully planned until last August :lol:

 

She'll be in 10th grade next year (:eek:)

 

Math

She'll begin the calculus sequence at the university. It is so nice that (1) the state flagship w its nationally-ranked engineering college is within biking or walking distance and (2) that we can afford to pay the full cost of the credits.

 

The plan had been for AoPS calculus class followed by the AP BC exam. However, dd wants an in-person live class for calculus. The community college would cost less but it is an inconvenient drive through traffic.

 

That's the only almost-certain subject.

 

English

This depends on feedback from her current English teacher (outsourcing English was a condition of continuing homeschooling for high school!) She will either take AP English Language (provider tbd with PA Homeschoolers considered) or the mythology sequence from Lukeion or the ancient lit sequence from Lukeion or ... ?

 

Science

Alas, my true love but not hers :rolleyes: She thinks AP Environmental Science because of strong interests (w me; I'll get College Board approval so it can be listed as such on her transcript). I think Bio because I don't know if she has enough yet. We may compromise and do both.

 

History

Jury is out. She prefers ancient history, so we may dive deeper into a civilization or two (I'd have to spend a lot of time prepping for this!) Or she may want to continue w medieval history, in which case I will design a course w Great Courses lectures and library books. Is AP World the one that's redesigned for next year? If not, that may be a consideration (again, I'd get College Board approval). The choice is up to dd.

 

Foreign Language

Sigh. This is the latest complication, and it's all my fault! I told dd about NSLI-Y http://www.nsliforyouth.org She has decided to apply for summer after junior year. She's currently studying Arabic but is open to a second language. So then she googled around (w me helping) for summer immersion programs in the US and fell in love with the idea of the Arabic Village at Concordia. For this summer. For the four week credit session (in which the kids learn as much as an entire school year---three classes a day!).

 

If she did that, then she would be past Arabic 2 at The Potter's School (where she takes Arabic 1; yes, my decidedly-secular dd is taking a TPS class). I guess she would take Arabic 3 from TPS. The only other option would be to jump into the Arabic sequence at the university, but I really don't want her taking two university classes her first year. The CTY classes are out because she cannot take class in the evenings due to ballet (though she would have sacrificed a ballet class for AoPS calculus). There are really no other live, online options for an Arabic class with other students.

 

Electives

She's tossing the idea of AP Psychology around (I sure would be busy getting College Board approval!) but starting in the summer with her same-aged, public-schooled cousin. They've been working on AP Human Geography together since last July. I found a school willing to let them test with their students :)

 

So, yeah, I am so confused as to what will happen next year :lol:

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If dd pass three more 8th grade exams this schoolyear we can be considered highschool next year I suppose.

Good news is that grade 9/10 have no required exams, so we can relax a little before heading to the grade 11/12 exams.

 

 

Good luck with the exams!  

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My big question for my AL is whether or not to continue with AoPS with Geometry next year.  I will not be able to provide any support, as Geometry is not my subject. :)  I have just outsourced older ds's math to Jann in Texas and will continue to outsource for him.  I suspect he will dislike the blistering pace of the AoPS online classes and, in general, having someone set a pace for him in any online class.  He is doing well in AoPS Algebra 1 with very minimal support from me.  I can provide this in Algebra 1, but my help goes away for Geometry.  Have I mentioned that Geometry is not in my wheelhouse?  ;)

 

For his science fair project this year, he has talked about doing a comparison of how well various fluids burn under various conditions.  Such a funny little guy.  :)

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We have only just started the year so it is not exactly time for planning - right now I am just trying to settle back into school after a lovely long break through December and some of January.

 

Mostly we are just continuing things from last year. 

 

DD7 is halfway through WWE2, and started SM3b a couple of weeks back. She is working through LOF Jelly Beans, but at a much slower pace than she has been doing LOF up to now. She started The Modern Speller Year 3 recently. We are continuing with SOTW3 and BFSU2 covering the biology section at the moment. She has also started a foreign language.

She is now doing independent reading almost exclusively though I still ask her to read aloud to me from various articles or the Bible and I am still reading aloud a lot to her. She is also doing another language arts curriculum available locally only though this is just for fun and also to cover any possible gaps. She is almost finished with Grammarland. And she is doing gymnastics twice a week.

We have been working a lot on attitude and treating her sister more kindly and things have improved drastically making schooling far more pleasant.

 

DD3(nearly 4) is doing a few workbooks simply because she loves them. She is some way into Horizons K, a fair way through OPGTR and is reading many books to me now. She is also doing gymnastics once a week and we do some theme based activities and fine and gross motor activities with her too. She joins her sister for the foreign language and they both do Bible together. In December I took on her eating every meal as she was severely underweight and she picked up 2.5kgs in a month with me sitting for an hour with her every meal - she still does not desire food, but is eating better and the weight gain seems to have helped with a number of issues as her speech too has improved though we still have a number of sounds to work on. 

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DS will start AoPS Intro. to Algebra, and will work through the Oxford Guide to Writing; DD will begin AoPS Pre-A and finish WWS, which she'll start in April. Everything else is combined for them, and they'll start a new cycle through history with aligned lit and art history, a conceptual physical science survey of physics, chemistry, geology, archaeology, and astronomy, and if they've exhausted Scratch they'll switch to Python. If they've finished Duolingo, we'll do something similar to the Telenova Method (using something more engaging for the younger set) for Spanish. I think they'll both still be in jujitsu and ballet.

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Ds will be in 6th grade next year. The focus this year has been on scheduling and keeping personal responsibility high. Next year will be a continuation with me stepping out even more and hopefully getting a part time job to reinforce with my absence. Establishing high school work habits and juggling his non profit are the largest hurdles. It is hard for many outside organizations to remember Ds is still a little boy.

 

English: MCT for vocab, grammar, and poetry. Compare & Contrast essay writing using modern YA retellings of classics, myths, and fairy tales. I am leaning toward Essentials in Writing for independent, incremental instruction. I do not know. Writing is my weakest area and it shows!

 

History & Literature: We are out of Ancients! Finally! VP Medieval timeline cards. Gardner's Art Through the Ages as a spine. A couple TC audios. Canterbury Tales, Hamlet, MidSummer's Night, Arthurian Legends, etc. I am thinking we might stretch it out into two years so we can really discuss each section: Byzantine, Age of Exploration, & Reniassance in the level of detail it deserves. This would allow us to look much more globally as well, and not just Western Civ. If that is the case, bringing in Hakim's Story of Science and reading Newton, DaVinci, and Galileo's works.

 

Math: Integrated AoPS Intro to Algebra and Geometry. Focusing on making connections between the two and application.

 

Science: Apologia Physics and Thames & Kosmos Physics Workshops

 

Spanish: Remainder of Breaking the Barrier 1 & lots of reading. The hope is to get fluency up significantly and to begin writing summaries and dictation in Spanish. The goal is to begin studying some subjects in Spanish beginning in 7th.

 

Latin: Continuing with Jenney's and getting ready for Lukieon in 7th grade

 

Japanese: This year we are memorizing the Hiragana & Katakana. Next year is learning vocabulary and simple reading of leveled readers (thank you library!). He is going to try Irrashi, but we will see. Very little fun factor. It was a flop earlier this year.

 

NonProfit: He will be focusing on building an Internet base, learning to animate with voice overs, start actively lobbying, and begin speaking at other churches. These are the hardest part of any of it. Real world application is exhausting and much harder work. But it is working and he is learning a lot, so we will continue!

 

Taking the SAT without writing. We have been working up to it for two years now. His test anxiety is almost manageable. Taking the SAT is his personal benchmark of not flipping out.

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Starting to think a bit-DD10, 6th grade-ish, maybe?

 

Math-Continue AOPS Intro Algebra, integrating Intro NT and C&P. She really liked the Number theory stuff in AOPS PA, and C&P will work well with what she's doing for biology, so I think that will be a nice combo.

 

Science-Continue lab research and field research in bio, hopefully have research to write up for publication/presentation at a regional level next year, complete high school level chem and go into some biochemistry. Maybe loop back to the Anatomy and Physiology parts of bio we really haven't done yet. I'd like her to take the SAT-II bio test or the CLEP exam simply to validate the level of the bio work she's doing. Attend conferences and meetings, do educational presentations, continue science blogging/writing.

 

Latin-Continue and complete Cambridge Latin, take the NLVE level 2 and the NCEE. Probably move to outsourcing Latin the year after.

 

Literature and History-considering going into British/European history/literature. She likes online classes for these subjects, though, so it may end up being US history and Literature since that seems to be more readily available.

 

Music-Continue piano and theory. I'm considering having her take the theory placement and move into theory as her first college class, so we'd be working on solidifying those skills.

 

PE-Cheer team and tumbling, probably not dance next year.

 

Other-take SAT in the fall, mostly because of the Verbal section (she really, really likes vocabulary) and the ACT in Spring, competitions/exams as needed, lots of science ed stuff and public presentations (considering trying to do a speech class of some form if I can find it, but I think she's too young for the classes in the area. I may have to whip up something). I'd like to try to pull together a MathCounts team for next year, too.

 

 

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I'm trying to decide whether to pull dd11 out of our charter school next year and just let her have more freedom. I'm considering letting her craft all of school around her love of Ancient Greece. It is so hard to say goodbye to free curriculum, but I just don't think I can do another year of it with her. But then, there would go the laptop, the iPad, the extra music money for longer violin lessons... However they just don't know what to make of a girl who wants to translate Euclid from Greek for her geometry. I wish money was no object.

 

My DH is on board with pulling dd11 out of our charter and letting her do her own thing!  I showed him I thought I could do it budgeting around $500 (but no more than $900).  (I do have the benefit of already having some of what we need.)  We are so excited to get to plan next year without having to jump through anyone else's hoops!   :party:

 

DD13 is happy as a clam with the charter, so she will stay with it for now.  (I bet she changes her mind when she sees how much fun we have!)

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How can I turn it on?

I don't see the messaging option anymore.

Can you contact Tress privately?

She can give my gmail adres.

 

I don't know. It's weird, when I hit send I get an error message that you aren't able to get messages.

 

I pm'd Tress. Good idea. I'd like her input too.

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I only have very vague ideas so far for 6th grade-ish

 

  • MCT for vocabulary and poetry. Might also use Blackbird's poetry program.
  • Something for spelling still.
  • Drawing Sentences for ongoing diagramming practice and possibly some else TBD. 
  • Writing. Still undecided. Might use Blackbird's essay program.
  • Math really depends on how long it takes us to get through pre-algebra. We just started a combo of pre-algebra using AoPS and Lial
  • History will be Medieval/Middle Ages using OUP and K12 Human Odyssey. I don't yet have my full list of books and other resources.
  • Geography will likely continue using Mapping the World by Art
  • Science is a bit of an unknown. For sure we will use Hakim's Joy of Science coordinated with Middle Ages. Might do an overview using something like Dr. Arts Guide, or more McHenry or DD might take an outside lab science.
  • Foreign language. Need a solution for Spanish and French. Still researching. 
  • Circus arts, dance, tumbling. She's attending an advanced camp this summer which will help guide decisions for next year.
  • Chorus, private voice and piano.
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We will mostly be continuing on. ODS is going to be in 1st.

Things we are just doing the next thing in: MM3, bfsu2, cwh3, Cc Memory gamma

Our new program will be mbtp la 7-9. I have been agonizing over la for awhile so I hope we like this.

He will also start keyboard lessons with Hoffman academy.

 

Dd will be k4. She'll do a modified mm1 with rs manipulatives, bfsu1, sound beginnings (spell to read), and tag along in cwh.

 

We're all learning some asl vocab along with the toddler who has yet to say a single word.

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DS5 will be grade 1 next year. We've been a bit off this year because of his medical issues (and my own at the beginning of the year). This is what first grade will look like for us:

 

Math: Miquon (I have no clue which book he'll be in next year, or how many books he'll do - right now he can put away a few pages in a sitting, and still ask for more, but I know he'll hit a wall eventually)

 

Math: CLE's flash card system for math facts

 

Science: Literature based earth science year; taking a note from somebody upthread, I think I'll break it into four sessions to cover astronomy, weather, physics, and geology. I'll also be reading aloud OLVS' nature readers, even though he really doesn't care much for nature, lol (dirt and all that).

History: Literature based prehistory year! I'm excited about this :)

Latin: Song School Latin

Handwriting: Catholic Heritage Curriculum

Phonics: Little Angel Readers program, if we decide not to continue with Dancing Bears next year

Spelling: Catholic Heritage Curriculum

Grammar: Lepanto Press grade 1 

Geography: Legends and Leagues

Religion: OLVS' grade 1, lots of saint stories, New Catholic Children's Bible reading

Memory Work a la Mom (pulling from Classically Catholic Memory Beta Year, Living Memory, and questions pulled from St. Joseph's Baltimore Catechism)

 

DD13 will be in Grade 8. Twice Exceptional (dyslexic).

 

Spelling: Apples and Pears B & C

Writing: One Year Adventure Novel. She really loves writing creatively. I figure we have four years of high school to solidify her writing skills (which are very, very behind in terms of mechanics and structure). She wants this, and it's a good year for it, I think (trying not to be nervous about straying from our essay writing program).

Math: AOPS Intro to Algebra... or Intermediate Algebra. I'm not sure where she would be after CLE Algebra 1 this year. I guess I'll just have her take the Intermediate placement test, and if she doesn't pass it, place her somewhere in Intro. She will continue to use drill pages for basic arithmetic review.

Oral Reading: Wonders and Workers (a vintage Catholic literature book); we buddy read this - I have a copy and she has a copy.

Science: Interest led. Earth science, physics, astronomy. I have no clue where I'm going with this, but I know we'll pull some from Tarbuck's Earth Science, and I have compiled a pretty neat list of physics related literature (she'll be buddy reading the more difficult stuff, like Hawkings' - this is where Dad comes in).

History: Major World Wars with Mystery of History. Generally I wouldn't use it, because I know it leans heavily protestant, but nothing in the content overview gives me an indication that there is anything to lean ANYWHERE religion-wise in this particular volume (IV). 

Government/Economics: Uncle Eric's Nature of Government and Economics package. This will only be done once a week, and I anticipate it will take a few years to get through, unless we decided to dedicate, say, an entire humanities credit to it in maybe 9th grade. She wants it though. 

Other: Editor in Chief

Religion: OLVS' grade 8 set, lots of saint stories, Bible history/stories, confirmation prep

Memory Work a la Mom (same cycle as brother, but with a different science and great words set)

 

I've got a lot of fun religion related projects that I'm excited about for the kids next year, too!

 

DS2 may, at will, work through Phonics Pathways, since it doesn't require any writing. I also printed off Saintly ABCs for him for beginning printing work. He already knows his letter and letter sounds, and I've been working with him with blending in reading, as it seems to be helping his speech (yay!). He likes to sit in on big bro's math lessons, too, so he's learning some basics there.

 

 

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Computer Science/Engineering: We are just starting a MOOC Scratch course through Harvey Mudd, so we will see where that leads him. He gets a Lego class through his charter. I bought Typing Instructor, but need to make time for him to use it.

 

 

 

I think my dd is in the same class. How does your ds like it?

 

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I don't have very many specific academic goals for DS. I make plans, and he makes them redundant within a month or so. It's just not meaningful to plan much further ahead, for content.

 

As far as skills go, we'll spend this year with a focus on Basics (building seatwork and writing stamina, mostly) and Habits (eating food, sleeping at night -_- ), and I'll just keep trying to meet him where he's at, WRT meeting his intellectual needs.

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:lurk5:

 

Loving all your plans you guys.

 

Here is my dream plan...(we won't get it done but hey, where's the harm in dreaming?):

 

1. A year or two off of "formal" math study or whatever that means, in order to contemplate and discuss and research and problem solve.

Materials: nRich, MIT Open Courseware, some Princeton and MAA math books, Numberphile, Brilliant.org and of course AoPS. Mentored by John Conway, Andrew Wiles and Matt Parker.

 

2. Chemistry lab at home taught by a brilliant, funny, quirky PhD-qualified chemist who has a lot of time to answer questions, and enough insurance to cover explosions in my garage PLUS his and DS's (and possibly mine and the dog's) medical expenses.

 

3. Latin with Lukeion. (See, I can dream simple too!)

 

4. Great Courses for History and one essay a week on well-thought out topics personally designed by each Great Course history prof presenter and graded by the prof too.

 

5. English and Electives: Courses of DS's choosing, on-site at Cambridge in the UK (all fees, food, travel and boarding expenses paid too). I might nudge him towards a Shakespeare concentration.

 

6. Mentorship with Hrithik Roshan for dance. Mentorship with Maggie Smith for acting.

 

:drool5:

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I have a rising 6th & a rising 7th grader. Both boys entering the brain-fog years ;).

 

Math - (6th) I'm leaning toward AoPS PA. Older son is doing it right now & it has been a good fit, but...they are different sons, so...I have Jacob's, MM6, JA & Dolciani on the shelf if needed. Jacob's was intended for older son & we ended up at AoPS where he is very happy.

            (7th) We'll be starting Intro to Algebra over the summer. We'll see how far he gets before scheduling math for the fall.

 

 

LA - 1) Probably Magic Lens. We took the year off grammar this year, just staying fresh by parsing a sentence a day, MCT style- Practice Voyage. I need to check out the Magic Lens books & see the difference between the levels. They both have a good grasp of grammar.

        2) (6th) WWS1 through WTM Academy, (7th) WWS2 through WTM Academy

        3) Possibly Word within a Word. I've liked MCT's vocabulary up to this point.

        4) The Reader's Journey, Vol. 1 through Duke TIP. This is what I'm most looking forward to. It looks GREAT.

 

Science & History are still completely undecided.

 

FL - Spanish at co-op. 6th will be entering his 2nd year, 7th will be entering his first. We also have a great Latin teacher at co-op & I have the books already (thinking we'd do it at home this year), so hopefully we can add that as well. If we do that we might not use Word within a Word. Something will have to give.

 

Logic - I'd like to get to Art of Argument. It was on the slate for this year, but didn't happen. We did do LOTS of logic puzzles though, so we didn't entirely neglect this area.

 

Current Events - I'm hoping to incorporate something in this area. It's past time. So far we just watch CNN student news and discuss. Time to step it up.

 

Extracurriculars - piano & guitar, TKD, soccer, skiing, various contests

 

 

It's still early, I have lots of time to polish the plan!

 

 

 

 

 

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Can I just say that all the planning threads have me in a bit of a panic?!

 

I FEEL like I have been homeschooling Alex for years, primarily because we have been using the same curricula and programs that more experienced homeschoolers do...but this fall will be the official start to homeschooling and it just feels differently. I suddenly feel like I need to make decisions and at least some definite plans. Wahh,maybe it is the upcoming birth of baby, and everything up in the air, but I feel like I am suddenly balancing on a ledge:)

Ultimately, I guess it will be a very non-traditional Kindy year for Alex. After reading the Kindy thread in the Ed forum I absolutely can't even relate. I am trying to put together plans for deeper, wider, 'extras' that don't necessarily follow anything remotely traditional. It is frightening, because up until now we have had only 2-3 days per week to 'do school', and the pace she has absorbed it is somewhat shocking. Having a full homeschool week (and I KNOW she will insist on every day!) is very intimidating!

 

I guess I should start a panic thread of my own, but for now I am thinking in terms of the following:

 

LA: continue with MCT and our homegrown eclectic mix. It is working, and whilst I keep eyeing cool resources, don't really want to mess with what works for us. She will finish AAS level 7 very soon, and wants to do spelling bee prep as her goal for the year.

History: continue with our Greek/Roman/Ancients path, but we also have several other threads going. I finally bought the Pandia Press timelines with stickers and am using that as a way to keep track and follow rabbit trails. We might spend a week or two learning about a person or event, then put the sticker on the timeline before jumping to whatever strikes her fancy. She has specifically requested that we focus this year in Civil Rights.

Science: we have been doing out our Marine biology/Oceanography units but she wants to do chemistry next:) However, science is a huge love for her so there again we always have a few topics going in an informal inquiry-based way.

Adding: programming, typing, and we will spend the year first taking apart our old computer and then letting her build a new one with dad.

Language: we have been doing Spanish, and Greek/Latin roots study but she has asked to do French after being inspired by our vacation.

Math: this is my biggest area of issue. I have no idea at the moment. She is doing so much math, but it isn't ever enough for her. With more days Per week I am going to have to really reach. She is doing SM 4B, but when I looked ahead as far as scope/sequence for SM realized that she has covered so much by 'playing' with the books in the Key to...series that I have a feeling we are going to run out at some point. She has done all or most of the fractions, decimals, percent books, played in the geometry and algebra books (alongside HOE). I wonder if we can organize a year of fun Dover books?

Extras: she does gymnastics, piano, violin, a creative dance class, and swimming. She wants to add acting and an art class, but SOMETHING EC will have to go!

 

Random goals: she wants the training wheels off her bike, needs to work on not throwing fits when she doesn't get the spot/sticker/stamp/cup/color/whatever she wanted, and feeding issues. Getting sensory issues a bit more under control, especially with regard to clothing.

She is also going to have to spend much of the year adjusting to not being an only child and the center of the universe!

 

It all looks like a TON when it is written out, but I am so worried about stretching it across the week and it being 'enough' to satisfy her. What I would really like is a major project for her to tackle, but she is just not quite there to do it independently for the most part...

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I don't know. I just reviewed the notes I have for 3rd grade, and half the stuff on it we have started already... Speaking of which:

 

 

 

Thank you so much for mentioning that! It was one of the things in my 3rd grade notes (someone must have mentioned it last year sometime), and I had totally forgotten about it. Crazypants dropped Code.org ("nothing cool to do anymore") so I went ahead and put him on Scratch, and he's been playing around with it a bit aimlessly. I'll sign him up for that course today and see what happens.

 

As for next year, all I can figure is some Latin, Greek, BA and chemistry. And maybe physics too. And W&R.

 

 

To follow up.... Scratch has been a big hit. I can't get him off it. 

 

Which is good! But also bad...lol.

 

In other news, I did speak with the Dutchies here and my own family, and as I mentioned in the afterschooling board a few days ago, in the end of April Crazypants will be in The Netherlands and attending Dutch school for the foreseeable future.

 

So...plans are being redesigned.

 

He'll be concentrating in school on becoming fluent in Dutch, but beyond that I don't know how they'll place him in class. So I'm thinking to continue afterschooling, both to challenge him and continue his English skills.

 

So my current thought for next year is:

BA for math enrichment (buying level 4 when 4D is released, which should be soon, yes?). W&R for English skills. LfCA and SSG (continuing). And then I'm considering MP Astronomy (for activity-based science, we'll be out in the country and should be able to see the night sky) and MP D'A Greek Myths (for more English skills and classical studies, and to key with Astronomy). I'm trying not to add on too much, but some of these choices should be relatively straightforward for him, which hopefully will not overwhelm him after being at school.

 

And I'm deciding on a few children's lit books to bring for read-alouds. The MP poetry book is also appealing to me, both for content and to enhance English. Hmmm.... Maybe I should also post in the bilingual board about parallel bilingual education.

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To follow up.... Scratch has been a big hit. I can't get him off it.

 

Which is good! But also bad...lol.

 

In other news, I did speak with the Dutchies here and my own family, and as I mentioned in the afterschooling board a few days ago, in the end of April Crazypants will be in The Netherlands and attending Dutch school for the foreseeable future.

 

So...plans are being redesigned.

 

He'll be concentrating in school on becoming fluent in Dutch, but beyond that I don't know how they'll place him in class. So I'm thinking to continue afterschooling, both to challenge him and continue his English skills.

 

So my current thought for next year is:

BA for math enrichment (buying level 4 when 4D is released, which should be soon, yes?). W&R for English skills. LfCA and SSG (continuing). And then I'm considering MP Astronomy (for activity-based science, we'll be out in the country and should be able to see the night sky) and MP D'A Greek Myths (for more English skills and classical studies, and to key with Astronomy). I'm trying not to add on too much, but some of these choices should be relatively straightforward for him, which hopefully will not overwhelm him after being at school.

 

And I'm deciding on a few children's lit books to bring for read-alouds. The MP poetry book is also appealing to me, both for content and to enhance English. Hmmm.... Maybe I should also post in the bilingual board about parallel bilingual education.

MP Poetry seems a good idea!

And normally they will put him at 'age' so grade 3 / groep 5 if he will be enrolled for summer vacation. After the 'summer' it would be grade 4 / groep 6.

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  • 1 month later...

I'll play!

 

DS is 8, technically next year is 4th grade.

 

Lit:  keep reading classics from AO and great books academy lists

 

Grammar: Grammar Voyage

 

Math: Ugh, we will finish up SM next year, probably by Christmas.  After that I may just get some more LOF for him to play around with and start Pre A the following year.  I'll have to see what he wants to do.

 

History: uuuhhhhh?  I don't know if we will continue on with SOTW.  We just never have time for the activities, and I would like this to be more interest based.

 

Science:  I really need to get something going on this.  We've been really unschooly with this, just following interests but he has been asking for more.  He's really into electro magnetism right now, I think we will try science matters.  I'm not sure what else.  I wish there were better science options available.

 

Latin: Finish LL 1 and probably go on to book 2.

 

French: Galore Park (This will be our first year)

 

He plays the double bass and he will continue with that.

 

I'd like for him to do an Athena's class.  Probably literature.

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DS will turn 5 in May and try the local public kindergarten for social time. Below is our afterschooling plan for 2015-2016.

 

Reading: Reading has been the core of our home education and DS has read extensively through the local branch of our city library. He mostly reads on his own.

               - This year we've read lots of picture books, all FIAR and Sonlight 4/5 & Core A read-alouds, most easy nonfiction books and some early chapter books available in the library.

               - Next year we'll continue to read from Core B & C and other suggested reading lists, explore higher level nonfiction books and more early chapter book series.  

 

Writing: WWE 2

 

Spelling: Finish AAS 2 by May and might switch to Spelling Power for next year

 

Grammar: FLL 2 

 

Math: Singapore 2B, 3A and 3B (with IP and CWP) as spine, MM and drills for independent review, LoF E and up, and Mathstart level 3 for fun reading

 

History: Doing and loving ES Adventures in America and listening to SOTW 1 audio CDs this year. Will move on to History Odyssey Ancients 1 next year.

 

Science: We've enjoyed doing simple and easy experiments in ES Intro to Science and other resources. Will do mix and match from RSO Life, ES Biology, Mr. Q Life Science and BFSU along with library books and documentaries. Also, Sassafras series for fun reading. 

 

Korean: I read aloud the story books in Korean to DS at bed time. He's reading through leveled readers, practicing handwriting in Hangul and watching kids shows in Korean. 

 

Workbooks: We've made a good use out of my Evan-Moor Teacher File Box membership this year since my DS likes to work on them independently while I'm busy with his younger sister or house chores. He has been doing Daily Reading Comprehension, Daily Handwriting Practice, Daily 6-Trait Writing, Language Fundamentals, A Word a Day, Daily Geography, Beginning Geography and Daily Science so far. We'll continue to do 2nd grade books next year.

 

Art: This is a weak point for both of us. DS has enjoyed doing Kumon Cutting, Pasting and Easy Crafts books. Still researching but Home Art Studio looks good for next year. 

 

P.E.: Swimming, Baseball, Soccer and Golf

 

Music: Need to find a good piano teacher in our new area after we move from East Coast to Midwest this summer. 

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I'm kind of feeling a bit panicked. Because so much other stuff is coming in, we're probably not going to finish a lot of this year's materials. So, I guess we keep doing what we're doing, and I keep telling myself that we have time.

 

My plan for next year

 

Continue:

AOPS Intro Algebra, move into Number theory/C&P.

Chemistry (really, start-we got maybe 2 chapters in and Microbiology ended up taking over)

Biology (mostly pick up the topics that haven't been covered yet so I feel she's actually had a full high school biology course. She's had a lot of more advanced stuff, but is still missing some of the stuff normally taught in maybe 10th grade. I'd like her to do some sort of bio exam next year so we have documentation for outsourcing purposes).

Science writing

DD's current science and writing projects,  advocacy, education work.

Piano

 

Complete or replace

Cambridge Latin, start using something else more part-whole for high school Latin.--Decided on Latin Prep

LL 8 (I'm torn on whether to actually finish the curriculum. She did all of LL7 and doesn't seem stretched at all by LL8, but I hate just not finishing something)

 

Other:

MCT Magic Lens 1, LLLoTR, Iliad and the Odyssey with our mythology group,

 

British History at home (Galore Park), World Geography at Athenas

 

DD says she wants to keep cheer-mostly for the toads that happen to dwell in large quantities outside the team's practice site :)

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I'll play!

 

DS is 8, technically next year is 3rd grade age wise

 

Lit:  keep reading classics from AO and great books academy lists

 

Grammar: Grammar Voyage

 

Math: Ugh, we will finish up SM next year, probably by Christmas.  After that I may just get some more LOF for him to play around with and start Pre A the following year.  I'll have to see what he wants to do.

 

History: uuuhhhhh?  I don't know if we will continue on with SOTW.  We just never have time for the activities, and I would like this to be more interest based.

 

Science:  I really need to get something going on this.  We've been really unschooly with this, just following interests but he has been asking for more.  He's really into electro magnetism right now, I think we will try science matters.  I'm not sure what else.  I wish there were better science options available.

 

Latin: Finish LL 1 and probably go on to book 2.

 

French: Galore Park (This will be our first year)

 

He plays the double bass and he will continue with that.

 

I'd like for him to do an Athena's class.  Probably literature.

 

I've changed most of this. :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, we decided to let dd1 try the local ps in the fall for 1st grade. I had been looking foreward to schooling past the point where most of our attention has to be focused on basic mechanics and when her working habits are a little more mature, but it looks like I won't be directing her schooling after all. It's rather a let down. The school will in theory be dividing kids up by instructional level and teaching them where they're at, so if it really works that way I'll mostly just be keeping up with her music and good read alouds at home.

 

I will have a new Ker, though, who will be homeschooled. (Or maybe I shouldn't call her that, in case she winds up going to school here later on? Her fall birthday puts her after the cut off and just after the test-in age range for starting K here, though she would have been able to test in in our last district, and before the cut off where I grew up). We'll mostly continue with what we're doing, but I'll have more time to focus on her, do things like art and let her pick science subjects, etc. We'll be continuing with Miquon math and OPG.

 

I'll also have a 3-year-old tag along. We'll continue with doing "reading cuddles" and violin lessons on demand, and at some point between now and then I'll give in and start him on Mathematical Reasoning Beginning 1. We will also do lots of reading and learning about sea life.

Update: We are going to send dd1 to school for the first week or so and then let her choose. I expect she will probably choose ps, but I will do some fun voluntary after-schooling to supplement (like reading good literature together & Beast Academy).

 

Also, Dd1 recently learned about the NME and the ELE, and really wants to take them both next year. I'm not sure how that will work for the ELE since she doesn't actually know any Latin, but she is very, very excited to learn the language of the ancient Romans. So we are starting Latin now and will probably after school Latin in the Fall, too.

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I finally got it all put into Homeschool Skedtracker, and I'm pretty comfortable with our next year.  DD3 is still Pre-K (obviously), but very eager to learn, and I'm eager for some more variety in our learning.  This past year we just did LOE foundations A, MEP reception, some CTC books, and some fine motor and gross motor work. 

 

The goal is still to keep each school-y day under 45 minutes of work.

 

MBTP 4-5 

MEP 1

LOE B-C (and maybe D?).  She's currently reading short early readers, and pushing for more.  We are mostly focusing on the reading element of LOE---she's not ready for the handwriting really.

A mom-made prehistory course covering science (birth of the universe, earth science, evolution) and history (early civilizations, development of language, culture, and structures)

A fairly long list of read aloud books, organized by topic (we covered about 100 short chapter books and 300 picture books this year)

Hands on math activities, including tanagrams and other manipulative based math exploration.

CTC books and fine motor work 

 

It looks like a lot, but the only addition is the MBTP and the prehistory work---work I think she'll be pretty pumped about.  

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