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2017-2018 Out of the Box Plans

Runningmom80

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Runningmom80

Runningmom80

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Last year, Alte Veste Academy started a unschooly, out of the box plans thread, and it really helped me, so I want one for this year.

 

(Here is last year's thread, http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/586077-2016-2017-out-of-the-box-planning-thread-dare-i-saywith-a-hint-of-unschooling/?hl=%20unschooling)

 

Is anyone planning anything out of the box?  I'll come back and post our very tentative plans.

 

 

 

 

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Jackie

Jackie

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Right now, our out-of-the-box for next year looks a lot like this year's. I require math, English, and foreign language, choosing materials that DD will enjoy. Then every six weeks-ish, DD chooses two other topics/classes completely of her own choosing, tells me the scope of what she wants to learn, gives me ideas for how she wants to go about it, and I pull something together.

 

This year, we have schooled four days per week and she went to a forest school the fifth day. We'll be moving this summer, no idea where to, so we'll have to see if there is a great "alternative day" option wherever we end up.

 

Our annual immersion trip is also up in the air for next year. She's switching her primary foreign language to French next year, which isn't quite so accessible for immersion trips. It's possible we maintain the Spanish through immersion, possible we drop the month of immersion, we don't know what will happen with that part yet.

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Runningmom80

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My out of the box plans are still being formulated but I think it's going to look a little something like this,

 

DS 10 (11 in Nov)

 

Math: undecided, Algebra

Lit: Boomerang book club through Bravewriter

Writing:  I'd like to do Kids Write Intermediate with him, and also get him blogging

Science: He's going to join a local Astronomy club and I'm going to strew like crazy, we will continue reading Nat Geo and getting ideas from there. (It spawned a DNA study this year)

History: ? Maybe we will tie this into Astronomy and I'll try to get him to read the Story of Science again. :lol:

 

He's big into computers and video games and is going to create his own game console and learn to program games.  We will be visiting our local maker space a lot

 

 

DD & DS 6 (7 in July)

 

Math: Singapore and lots of math games

Lit: they are working through the Mensa excellence in reading list and I pull some from AO, I'm considering BYL

Writing & Grammar:  Finish Jot it Down

History: If we do BYL I think it's SOTW 2.  We would do this very loosely, following rabbit trails.  DS loves castles and knights so it may be lots of fun for him

Science: Nature walks and unit studies.  DD loves science so I'm not worried about us getting to this.  She pulls us in this direction.

 

I guess it doesn't really look that out of the box...it feels out of the box!

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Alte Veste Academy

Alte Veste Academy

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Well I ended up dead tired last night (all day at an RV show!) and spent the morning trying to score DS14 a slot in a coveted online class (got it! YAY!), so I'm only now getting back here! [And this ended up taking about 2 hours here and there to type!]

 

The biggest thing this year... As usual, my unschooly tendencies went to war with my Type-A scheduled plans this year. Our daily discussion/study of Current Events which I tried to push off the official schedule into plain ol' life has ended up naturally taking up the first hour (at least) of our mornings here. Pajamas, warm drinks, reading/watching news... It IS a good way to start each morning. I'm not going to try to fight this one anymore. From about 8-9 we immerse ourselves in world news. And, AGAIN, I have to say I see nothing more educational about our day. Seriously. Kids learn so much about so many subjects while studying the news. So, this is our 8-9 here. Then we slide into geography, which is a natural transition. Seriously too, I'm awarding high school credit for this, some way, some how...

 

This summer DS14 and DD will be taking WTMA's Study Skills with an Introduction to Online Learning class. VERY excited about this for them. 

 

For next year...half tentative as of now... Because DS14 is going into high school, I'm going to have to separate my kids more than ever.

 

DS10, 5th grade

 

(OK, by the calendar he is in 5th this year, and I have gone by the calendar up until now. But he has a very late birthday, almost at the end of the school year, and he has always seemed very young for his age. He is officially getting red-shirted this year. I very likely would have red-shirted him if he went to school in the beginning. I'm not going to go into details other than to say that academically he is doing better than fine, but he is not a 6th grader in spirit. He has been calling this year "4th and a half" LOL, knowing his grade placement is his decision, so it doesn't bother him and we can always adjust him up later if he wants to get that year back.)

 

Language: Brave Writer Lifestyle, Arrow/Boomerang guides, Writing and Rhetoric, Well-Ordered Language, Phonetic Zoo

Math: Beast Academy will be finished, so I will start Mathematics: A Human Endeavor with him, along with other supplements

Science: He liked RS4K fine, but would rather do something with projects, I think. Will work on this, maybe to go along with history, as noted below.

History: He has done 4 years of world history with SOTW (starting with SOTW as a tagalong in K) and 2 years of American History with Hakim's History of US, so now I think I'll go out of the box and design something special with him for 5-8. Maybe combining with science? History of science/scientists with a tree of life research project? Maybe adding Ellen McHenry's Elements? I think he would really dig some combo along these lines. We'll work on it and report back. 

 

DD12, 7th grade

 

Language: Thinking about going full-on Brave Writer with her. Maybe some online Brave Writer classes! 

Math: AoPS Algebra

Science: Gah! Out-of-the-box something we'll figure out.

History: Ditto. But world history related for sure. 

 

She will be continuing her afternoon project of studying creativity and color. She will be setting up her web site, which will require some programming I think. I've got a couple of resources lined up for this, graphic design and web development. Her goal is to work from home (aka a cat ranch, LOL) so web skills will be extremely valuable for her.  :tongue_smilie:

 

DS14, 9th grade (not very out of the box, LOL)

 

First of all, he chose to continue homeschooling.  :001_wub: I have always told my kids they can choose their own path for high school and he chose homeschooling. Please allow me a moment of giddiness... 

:party:

 

DS started three AP courses this year and has enjoyed them, but somehow I missed that they can't be listed on the transcript as AP courses if taken before high school, so we are extending those into this year. I do know the score would still count, but he wanted them listed and I did a lot of work on two of the syllabi. LOL 

 

English: WTMA Preparation for Rhetoric Writing; homemade world literature study to go with Human Geography

Math: Continue with AoPS

Science: Clover Creek Physics and finish AP Environmental Science

Social Science: AP Human Geography (goes hand-in-hand with Env. Sci. for us; makes a great pairing and spending two years on these has let us pursue good bunny trails.)

Foreign Language: Spanish I (Avancemos with online support and Skype tutoring)

Elective: AP Computer Science Principles (continued from this year)

 

 

We will still do afternoon tea time as a mix of article-of-the-week type discussions, logic, debate, and poetry.

 

I am still sorting out how to handle logic now that the kids are so separate. We really love it as a subject. 

 

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Soror

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I'm just reading along for fun :) I typed up some thoughts but I don't know that they should stay it is such a mix of life & school and really w/ hs'ing sometimes it is hard for me to draw that line but I'll leave up the rambly bits because I'm in a chatty mood (the weather has been gorgeous and we've had such fun exploring I want to yack about it, although it is hard to convey how wonderful it is :) ) 

 

AVA do you have WoL? I bought it for my dd going into 5th, who hasn't done a lot of formal grammar but I don't think I'm going to use it, it seemed just entirely too convoluted to me. I actually pulled out FLL4 and have started her on it for the end of this year to see how she likes it, I believe we'll be continuing on with it for next year instead of WoL, she'll be using it alongside Writing and Rhetoric. 

 

Onto our schedle...... I've went more structured if anything as with more kids coming along it is easier for me to keep up with and my kids do well with predictability.

 

How I reconcile it here is to work on keeping the day shorter to give us time for the extras. 

 

Our big extra is spending time outside/nature study/being active we hunt mushrooms, explore local ponds, streams and river(that we can walk to), pick flowers, climb trees- collect rocks and insects and plants. Outside time is just so high up on my list of priorities for the kids, I love it. All our walking time is great for talking about all kinds of stuff as well- school, politics, relationship problems, you name it. 

 

Our other biggie is poetry time, which has become a catchall discussion time- poetry, literature, art etc. That isn't all that out of the box though, although I get some looks when i talk about weekly tea time and my (nearly 13yo) son getting all excited about it.

 

As far as courses ds is going a bit out of the box next year with his history & science, it is a bit of a hodge podge, history of science. (Yes, BYL has a program but using their program this year for 7th I've had to tweak it so much I might as well do it myself so I can customize it to suit us). The girls are just doing SoTW, we've done our own thing the past few years and I needed something I don't have to think about so much. I still will have to add some books in for dd5th but I won't be building from scratch like I have been.

 

I did my own plan for science this year based on dd's interest but then she changed her mind and ended up using Mystery Science, my plan is for her to continue that next year in addition to our nature study. Spring science will primarily be gardening, everyone will have their own raised bed, I'm hoping to continue somewhat into the fall making some cold frames and getting some success with composting! I have McHenry's botany I've thought about doing with her but I don't think she is ready and ds isn't interested.

 

the formal stuff:

dd2nd- Cottage Press Primer OR WWE OR some combo/ MiF Math; Artisitic Pursuits

dd5th- Saxon 6/5 OR CLE 5(we're not sure he is trying out CLE now but used Saxon sucessfully this year)

W&R & FLL4- Apples & Pears

SoTW1+ extra books

Mystery Science

Artistic Pursuits

Lit- Mom list

 

ds8th

Math --AoPS pre-A; Jacobs Algebra

LA--Maxwell's Writing in English; Grammar Rev; Caesar's English(finally started that this winter I'm not sure why I waited he thrives with discussion based stuff; Megawords

History - History of Science- some with Hakim but mostly mom's booklist;

Science- Dr. Art& McHenry- Chemistry & Brain (Adding in study of psychology per his request)

Lit- Mom List- study ala Teaching the Classics

 

extras- all- Poetry Time- w/ art appreciation; Philosophy; and the kitchen sink

Nature/Adventure Time :) 

PE/activity stuff- lots of walking; gymnastics floor stuff; yoga(I'm training to be a teacher w/ a specialization in teaching kids); swinging on grape vines and hillbilly ninja warrior :)

Mindfulness/meditation- life skills!!!

cooking & nutrition- I love cooking and eating healthy is a HUGE priority it is part of our lives

 

/rambling off- gah- I need to go- I should probably just delete my rambly mess but oh well :)

 

 

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Alte Veste Academy

Alte Veste Academy

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soror, I do not have WOL yet. You've given me pause. Goodness knows I own enough grammar. Maybe I'll just do JAG with him. Or informal grammar with Brave Writer. It just looked so new and shiny next to W&R, and this boy does love a workbook. But the JAG workbook will suffice. :D

 

I regret to say that after a great start with nature study in our school, we have been stymied by our new climate with the heat (serious, "the heat, MY GOD, the HEEEEAAAAT" kind of heat! :lol: ). We do get out a good deal for hiking in the winter months (spring temps for the rest of the nation, haha), but we mostly go as a family now on weekends. Our school days are getting tight. I hear you about the blurred lines between home and school though. Tea time is kind of like that here (my kids still love it too, and oldest DS just turned 14), and so is current events.

 

 

I LOVE your list of extras. You becoming a yoga teacher for kids sounds amazing! And never delete! I love your posts! :)

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Soror

Soror

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soror, I do not have WOL yet. You've given me pause. Goodness knows I own enough grammar. Maybe I'll just do JAG with him. Or informal grammar with Brave Writer. It just looked so new and shiny next to W&R, and this boy does love a workbook. But the JAG workbook will suffice. :D

 

I regret to say that after a great start with nature study in our school, we have been stymied by our new climate with the heat (serious, "the heat, MY GOD, the HEEEEAAAAT" kind of heat! :lol: ). We do get out a good deal for hiking in the winter months (spring temps for the rest of the nation, haha), but we mostly go as a family now on weekends. Our school days are getting tight. I hear you about the blurred lines between home and school though. Tea time is kind of like that here (my kids still love it too, and oldest DS just turned 14), and so is current events.

 

 

I LOVE your list of extras. You becoming a yoga teacher for kids sounds amazing! And never delete! I love your posts! :)

Gah,  I was just coming to delete my post. I get all whimsical sometimes but the thing is we are fairly structured w/ lots of free time with purpose :) 

 

I went to a conference were SWB spoke at last year and she said lots of brilliant things the biggest thing that stuck with me was that that when we are the ones in charge changing things up here and there is exciting but when you are the kid and don't know what to expect it can be scary. Then I looked at my kids. My son has some EF issues, he is a different kind of kid but also the kid that is always asking me what is the plan, what are we going to do. Having a set checklist for school works really well, now how we approach his work is customized to him TONS Of books, discussion and working together. My oldest daughter, on the other hand, is the opposite she likes repetition, she doesn't like surprises, she doesn't like it when things are changed in her work at all. So, yet again having an exact plan is a must and she thrives using programs that are very detail orientated, with lots of review. She also prefers to be independent much more, I can see her making her own schedules and lists by highschool age whereas my son is laidback and generally trusts me to pick thngs he will like and usually I do pretty well. I'm not sure on my other 2 yet, #3 is just going into 2nd and is a mix of the 2 of them. The youngest is the wild one, I have a feeling she will keep me on my toes! I found out with scheduling more it is easier on me too, trying to school everyone at increasingly higher levels and adding in more kids following rabbit trails is just plain harder, sometimes I have the time and energy to change on the fly but when I don't I need things planned out to ake sure it gets done.

 

Re: WoL  for one thing it is huge, twice the size of W&R, I was hoping for the same feel as W&R instead, it just seems to me that they overly complicated it. Now, I like programs that keep things interesting or present info in a different way(like MCT) but when I read WoL I had this feeling that it was a bit too much, leaning towards busy work, and that the amount of time it would take me to figure out how to implement it would not be worth it. I could be totally wrong, but I've tried to dive into it a few times and I just can't bring myself to do it. As i said I'm doing FLL4 with my 5th, this year for 4th she did grammar with TC before that it was some work in vintage texts and Grammarland, considering her personality I think FLL4 will be a good fit and good to shore up any holes with basic grammar.

 

We don't have the heat you do but it does get pretty hot in the summer(100+), our Nature Study is definitely more sparse in those times (and when it is super cold ), most of the time we can get out some tweaking when we go out and adjusting our clothing but we certainly want to stay out longer when the weather is nice. I've learned to schedule lighter in the spring and fall too as those times we do spend out doors more. We start back to school in high summer and have our longer days then when it is hot and miserable and then in winter when it too cold. Our year is ending mid-April, the count down is on :) 

 

Right now it is perfect as it has been unseasonable warm yet the ticks and mosquitos aren't out(much) and the undergrowth isn't as thick so we can get to places we can't get to when it is in the middle of growing season. I also tweak our schedule, when it is cooler we tend to go out between mid-morning to afternoon but when it is really warm we go out early, sometimes before breakfast or we do family walks at sun-down, watching the bats fly above us and the stars as they come into view.

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Runningmom80

Runningmom80

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Well I ended up dead tired last night (all day at an RV show!) and spent the morning trying to score DS14 a slot in a coveted online class (got it! YAY!), so I'm only now getting back here! [And this ended up taking about 2 hours here and there to type!]

 

The biggest thing this year... As usual, my unschooly tendencies went to war with my Type-A scheduled plans this year. Our daily discussion/study of Current Events which I tried to push off the official schedule into plain ol' life has ended up naturally taking up the first hour (at least) of our mornings here. Pajamas, warm drinks, reading/watching news... It IS a good way to start each morning. I'm not going to try to fight this one anymore. From about 8-9 we immerse ourselves in world news. And, AGAIN, I have to say I see nothing more educational about our day. Seriously. Kids learn so much about so many subjects while studying the news. So, this is our 8-9 here. Then we slide into geography, which is a natural transition. Seriously too, I'm awarding high school credit for this, some way, some how...

 

This summer DS14 and DD will be taking WTMA's Study Skills with an Introduction to Online Learning class. VERY excited about this for them. 

 

For next year...half tentative as of now... Because DS14 is going into high school, I'm going to have to separate my kids more than ever.

 

DS10, 5th grade

 

(OK, by the calendar he is in 5th this year, and I have gone by the calendar up until now. But he has a very late birthday, almost at the end of the school year, and he has always seemed very young for his age. He is officially getting red-shirted this year. I very likely would have red-shirted him if he went to school in the beginning. I'm not going to go into details other than to say that academically he is doing better than fine, but he is not a 6th grader in spirit. He has been calling this year "4th and a half" LOL, knowing his grade placement is his decision, so it doesn't bother him and we can always adjust him up later if he wants to get that year back.)

 

Language: Brave Writer Lifestyle, Arrow/Boomerang guides, Writing and Rhetoric, Well-Ordered Language, Phonetic Zoo

Math: Beast Academy will be finished, so I will start Mathematics: A Human Endeavor with him, along with other supplements

Science: He liked RS4K fine, but would rather do something with projects, I think. Will work on this, maybe to go along with history, as noted below.

History: He has done 4 years of world history with SOTW (starting with SOTW as a tagalong in K) and 2 years of American History with Hakim's History of US, so now I think I'll go out of the box and design something special with him for 5-8. Maybe combining with science? History of science/scientists with a tree of life research project? Maybe adding Ellen McHenry's Elements? I think he would really dig some combo along these lines. We'll work on it and report back. 

 

DD12, 7th grade

 

Language: Thinking about going full-on Brave Writer with her. Maybe some online Brave Writer classes! 

Math: AoPS Algebra

Science: Gah! Out-of-the-box something we'll figure out.

History: Ditto. But world history related for sure. 

 

She will be continuing her afternoon project of studying creativity and color. She will be setting up her web site, which will require some programming I think. I've got a couple of resources lined up for this, graphic design and web development. Her goal is to work from home (aka a cat ranch, LOL) so web skills will be extremely valuable for her.  :tongue_smilie:

 

DS14, 9th grade (not very out of the box, LOL)

 

First of all, he chose to continue homeschooling.  :001_wub: I have always told my kids they can choose their own path for high school and he chose homeschooling. Please allow me a moment of giddiness... 

:party:

 

DS started three AP courses this year and has enjoyed them, but somehow I missed that they can't be listed on the transcript as AP courses if taken before high school, so we are extending those into this year. I do know the score would still count, but he wanted them listed and I did a lot of work on two of the syllabi. LOL 

 

English: WTMA Preparation for Rhetoric Writing and Excellence in Literature: Literature and Composition

Math: Continue with AoPS

Science: Clover Creek Physics and finish AP Environmental Science

Social Science: AP Human Geography (goes hand-in-hand with Env. Sci. for us; makes a great pairing and spending two years on these has let us pursue good bunny trails.)

Foreign Language: Spanish I (Avancemos with online support and Skype tutoring)

Elective: AP Computer Science Principles (continued from this year)

 

 

We will still do afternoon tea time as a mix of article-of-the-week type discussions, logic, debate, and poetry.

 

I am still sorting out how to handle logic now that the kids are so separate. We really love it as a subject. 

 

 

I love these plans!  Yay for boys who choose to homeschool for high school. :hurray:

 

I just looked up Mathematics: A Human Endeavor.  I have seen it occasionally on the boards, but never really considered it. We are at a fork in the road before pre-A.  I'm so torn on which to do with my 10 year old when he finishes his little review month in March.  We did Jousting Armadillos and he liked it, but I didn't want to keep going with that series because it's not a complete curriculum.  I have  AoPS Pre-A, we tried it in the fall and it was stressful.  (Honestly the most stressful thing for me is the pages. SO MUCH WRITING.) Right now he's working through the IP books from SM 5 for review and because I don't know what to buy him.  Do you plan on doing Elementary Algebra after this?  I hadn't considered this book but now I'm intrigued. 

 

I love the "going full Bravewriter" comment.  That's kind of the direction I'm headed with my oldest.  He really needs gentle and fun.

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Runningmom80

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I'm just reading along for fun :) I typed up some thoughts but I don't know that they should stay it is such a mix of life & school and really w/ hs'ing sometimes it is hard for me to draw that line but I'll leave up the rambly bits because I'm in a chatty mood (the weather has been gorgeous and we've had such fun exploring I want to yack about it, although it is hard to convey how wonderful it is :) ) 

 

AVA do you have WoL? I bought it for my dd going into 5th, who hasn't done a lot of formal grammar but I don't think I'm going to use it, it seemed just entirely too convoluted to me. I actually pulled out FLL4 and have started her on it for the end of this year to see how she likes it, I believe we'll be continuing on with it for next year instead of WoL, she'll be using it alongside Writing and Rhetoric. 

 

Onto our schedle...... I've went more structured if anything as with more kids coming along it is easier for me to keep up with and my kids do well with predictability.

 

How I reconcile it here is to work on keeping the day shorter to give us time for the extras. 

 

Our big extra is spending time outside/nature study/being active we hunt mushrooms, explore local ponds, streams and river(that we can walk to), pick flowers, climb trees- collect rocks and insects and plants. Outside time is just so high up on my list of priorities for the kids, I love it. All our walking time is great for talking about all kinds of stuff as well- school, politics, relationship problems, you name it. 

 

Our other biggie is poetry time, which has become a catchall discussion time- poetry, literature, art etc. That isn't all that out of the box though, although I get some looks when i talk about weekly tea time and my (nearly 13yo) son getting all excited about it.

 

As far as courses ds is going a bit out of the box next year with his history & science, it is a bit of a hodge podge, history of science. (Yes, BYL has a program but using their program this year for 7th I've had to tweak it so much I might as well do it myself so I can customize it to suit us). The girls are just doing SoTW, we've done our own thing the past few years and I needed something I don't have to think about so much. I still will have to add some books in for dd5th but I won't be building from scratch like I have been.

 

I did my own plan for science this year based on dd's interest but then she changed her mind and ended up using Mystery Science, my plan is for her to continue that next year in addition to our nature study. Spring science will primarily be gardening, everyone will have their own raised bed, I'm hoping to continue somewhat into the fall making some cold frames and getting some success with composting! I have McHenry's botany I've thought about doing with her but I don't think she is ready and ds isn't interested.

 

the formal stuff:

dd2nd- Cottage Press Primer OR WWE OR some combo/ MiF Math; Artisitic Pursuits

dd5th- Saxon 6/5 OR CLE 5(we're not sure he is trying out CLE now but used Saxon sucessfully this year)

W&R & FLL4- Apples & Pears

SoTW1+ extra books

Mystery Science

Artistic Pursuits

Lit- Mom list

 

ds8th

Math --AoPS pre-A; Jacobs Algebra

LA--Maxwell's Writing in English; Grammar Rev; Caesar's English(finally started that this winter I'm not sure why I waited he thrives with discussion based stuff; Megawords

History - History of Science- some with Hakim but mostly mom's booklist;

Science- Dr. Art& McHenry- Chemistry & Brain (Adding in study of psychology per his request)

Lit- Mom List- study ala Teaching the Classics

 

extras- all- Poetry Time- w/ art appreciation; Philosophy; and the kitchen sink

Nature/Adventure Time :)

PE/activity stuff- lots of walking; gymnastics floor stuff; yoga(I'm training to be a teacher w/ a specialization in teaching kids); swinging on grape vines and hillbilly ninja warrior :)

Mindfulness/meditation- life skills!!!

cooking & nutrition- I love cooking and eating healthy is a HUGE priority it is part of our lives

 

/rambling off- gah- I need to go- I should probably just delete my rambly mess but oh well :)

 

I have taken training for kids yoga teaching!  I did ages 3-5 and ages 6-10.  I haven't done any work yet, I want to do some more in depth training.  I'm trying to incorporate it into our homeschool. :)

 

Are you doing both AoPS and Jacobs?  (I'm doing an informal poll in this thread I guess. :lol: )

 

Your extras are great, I am stealing some! I love that you are in nature a lot.  We are needing to move soon and torn between the culture of city life and the slowness of the suburbs/exurbs.  We have a great national park system really close so it's not like we wouldn't have access, but I'm feeling this humongous urge to SLOOOOOOW down. This is probably a conversation for a different thread. :laugh:

 

ETA:  your mention of meditation reminded me that I have this Sitting Still Like a Frog book. https://www.amazon.com/Sitting-Still-Like-Frog-Mindfulness/dp/1611800587 I need to get it out and really put it to use.

 

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2_girls_mommy

2_girls_mommy

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We started Little House in the Big Woods yesterday and I found myself on the Boy Scouts merit badge website looking at the Pioneering requirements and other badges that would fit into it. Cadron Creek's Prairie Primer and other blogs have a ton of ideas. I guess I'm thinking about jumping into a unit study and see how far we can go.

I love working scout badges into our school. Last year my dds did a Cadette "make your own badge" on photography. Then they used photography in all kinds of our homeschool projects: In co-op they had to create a character who lived during statehood and give a presentation on him/her. My dd14 did an early photographer's wife who had to learn the business when her husband was injured in a (true) tragic event from early statehood. She researched early photography and  such. For art she entered several of the photographs she had taken for the scout badge (after getting lessons from a photographer at our scout meetings,) into the state fair competition. We read and learned about early pioneers in the field for history. And then for part of our state history class we were doing with co-op and at home, I had dds complete the steps for their Cadette state history badge and add the pages to our notebooks which they presented in the last scout ceremony of the year at our homeschool final ceremony. 

 

This year my dd14 is doing the steps from her senior art badge on collages as a unit of her art class for school.  For our fall family campout and field trips I did a badge with the Cadettes and one with my Senior scout that were similar and that focused a lot on the Night Sky and mythology. We went to the planetarium and did some parts on our campout. This was perfect for us at home because we are in ancients year this year, and it was good review on astronomy and mythology. :) 

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It's really hard for me to get on here lately, but I wanted to reply to your thread.  My oldest two are really out-of-the-box, to the point where I'm still thinking about letting them unschool high school.  Sheesh, we're basically at that point anyway.  They picked their courses for the next school year and we designed them together (mostly).

 

10th grader:

 

Algebra 2 - haven't decided how we're covering this yet

Folk Literature & Composition - booklist including original Brothers Grimm

Human Geography - booklist we came up with

Ethology - booklist we came up with

Human Anatomy - Guest Hollow

Visual Latin 2

German

Beginning Woodworking - CLE's woodworking course

 

9th grader:

 

Algebra 1

Folk Literature & Composition - same as above

History of Warfare - booklist + projects + field trips

Paleobiology - Coursera courses

German

Beginning Woodworking - same as above

 

Edited to add:

 

My 3rd grader and 6th grader are continuing with living math next year also (math without a curriculum).

 

 

Edited by Evanthe
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Soror

Soror

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I have taken training for kids yoga teaching!  I did ages 3-5 and ages 6-10.  I haven't done any work yet, I want to do some more in depth training.  I'm trying to incorporate it into our homeschool. :)

 

Are you doing both AoPS and Jacobs?  (I'm doing an informal poll in this thread I guess. :lol: )

 

Your extras are great, I am stealing some! I love that you are in nature a lot.  We are needing to move soon and torn between the culture of city life and the slowness of the suburbs/exurbs.  We have a great national park system really close so it's not like we wouldn't have access, but I'm feeling this humongous urge to SLOOOOOOW down. This is probably a conversation for a different thread. :laugh:

 

ETA:  your mention of meditation reminded me that I have this Sitting Still Like a Frog book. https://www.amazon.com/Sitting-Still-Like-Frog-Mindfulness/dp/1611800587 I need to get it out and really put it to use.

 

I am finishing my YTT200 at the end of March and start my CYT mid-March, I didn't necessarily plan to do a CYT as you don't have to have it to teach kids, but as you mention I want some more training(the more you learn the more you realize you don't know!) I've done a few free classes, two for middle schoolers and 1 for k'ers and am in talks with a gym about doing yoga for kids there and have been practicing on my kids :) 

 

My current plan for math is to finish AoPS pre-Algebra(we didn't start it until half-way through the year) and then move onto Jacobs Algebra. We will see how that goes! That had been my plan and then i thought we might do VideoText and then I considered just moving to AoPS(as pre-A is going ok). But in the end I think AoPS will be too much although he does enjoy a more conversational tone and the more puzzle nature of those types of programs. I guess we have half the year to try Jacobs and if it is an epic fail I will likely move to VideoText unless I can think of something else, videos aren't ideal for him(at all) but otherwise the set-up of the program looks like it would suit him.

 

I've always lived in the "country" I can see the draw of the city though, there are some very real perks(I dream about being within walking distance of so many things and having so many opportunities around me), as it is this is where family is and my introvert self soaks up the quiet and just loves the solitude and the trees.

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Runningmom80

Runningmom80

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It's really hard for me to get on here lately, but I wanted to reply to your thread. My oldest two are really out-of-the-box, to the point where I'm still thinking about letting them unschool high school. Sheesh, we're basically at that point anyway. They picked their courses for the next school year and we designed them together (mostly).

 

10th grader:

 

Algebra 2 - haven't decided how we're covering this yet

Folk Literature & Composition - booklist including original Brothers Grimm

Human Geography - booklist we came up with

Ethology - booklist we came up with

Human Anatomy - Guest Hollow

Visual Latin 2

German

Beginning Woodworking - CLE's woodworking course

 

9th grader:

 

Algebra 1

Folk Literature & Composition - same as above

History of Warfare - booklist + projects + field trips

Paleobiology - Coursera courses

German

Beginning Woodworking - same as above

 

Edited to add:

 

My 3rd grader and 6th grader are continuing with living math next year also (math without a curriculum).

I'd love to do living math with my youngers, I just need to rip

Off the bandaid and do it.

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Runningmom80

Runningmom80

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I am finishing my YTT200 at the end of March and start my CYT mid-March, I didn't necessarily plan to do a CYT as you don't have to have it to teach kids, but as you mention I want some more training(the more you learn the more you realize you don't know!) I've done a few free classes, two for middle schoolers and 1 for k'ers and am in talks with a gym about doing yoga for kids there and have been practicing on my kids :)

 

My current plan for math is to finish AoPS pre-Algebra(we didn't start it until half-way through the year) and then move onto Jacobs Algebra. We will see how that goes! That had been my plan and then i thought we might do VideoText and then I considered just moving to AoPS(as pre-A is going ok). But in the end I think AoPS will be too much although he does enjoy a more conversational tone and the more puzzle nature of those types of programs. I guess we have half the year to try Jacobs and if it is an epic fail I will likely move to VideoText unless I can think of something else, videos aren't ideal for him(at all) but otherwise the set-up of the program looks like it would suit him.

 

I've always lived in the "country" I can see the draw of the city though, there are some very real perks(I dream about being within walking distance of so many things and having so many opportunities around me), as it is this is where family is and my introvert self soaks up the quiet and just loves the solitude and the trees.

I'd love to do my YTT 200 training soon but we need to move so the funds are not available. Congrats on almost being done!

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Alte Veste Academy

Alte Veste Academy

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I love these plans!  Yay for boys who choose to homeschool for high school. :hurray:

 

I just looked up Mathematics: A Human Endeavor.  I have seen it occasionally on the boards, but never really considered it. We are at a fork in the road before pre-A.  I'm so torn on which to do with my 10 year old when he finishes his little review month in March.  We did Jousting Armadillos and he liked it, but I didn't want to keep going with that series because it's not a complete curriculum.  I have  AoPS Pre-A, we tried it in the fall and it was stressful.  (Honestly the most stressful thing for me is the pages. SO MUCH WRITING.) Right now he's working through the IP books from SM 5 for review and because I don't know what to buy him.  Do you plan on doing Elementary Algebra after this?  I hadn't considered this book but now I'm intrigued. 

 

I love the "going full Bravewriter" comment.  That's kind of the direction I'm headed with my oldest.  He really needs gentle and fun.

 

 

Jacobs books feel like a lovely combination of interesting and gentle. That's probably his skill in sequencing the material. I've done MaHD with both my older kids, and it's a great text to pause the typical sequence and go wide while still practicing what you already know. I probably will do Jacobs Algebra with my younger DS. I did it with DD and it was a perfect fit.  

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Alte Veste Academy

Alte Veste Academy

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Gah,  I was just coming to delete my post. I get all whimsical sometimes but the thing is we are fairly structured w/ lots of free time with purpose :)

 

I went to a conference were SWB spoke at last year and she said lots of brilliant things the biggest thing that stuck with me was that that when we are the ones in charge changing things up here and there is exciting but when you are the kid and don't know what to expect it can be scary. Then I looked at my kids. My son has some EF issues, he is a different kind of kid but also the kid that is always asking me what is the plan, what are we going to do. Having a set checklist for school works really well, now how we approach his work is customized to him TONS Of books, discussion and working together. My oldest daughter, on the other hand, is the opposite she likes repetition, she doesn't like surprises, she doesn't like it when things are changed in her work at all. So, yet again having an exact plan is a must and she thrives using programs that are very detail orientated, with lots of review. She also prefers to be independent much more, I can see her making her own schedules and lists by highschool age whereas my son is laidback and generally trusts me to pick thngs he will like and usually I do pretty well. I'm not sure on my other 2 yet, #3 is just going into 2nd and is a mix of the 2 of them. The youngest is the wild one, I have a feeling she will keep me on my toes! I found out with scheduling more it is easier on me too, trying to school everyone at increasingly higher levels and adding in more kids following rabbit trails is just plain harder, sometimes I have the time and energy to change on the fly but when I don't I need things planned out to ake sure it gets done.

 

Yes, absolutely, YES! This sounds just like my two oldest! And my youngest is an adorable imp. LOL It has definitely been sanity saving for me to schedule and plan more as they get older and the material gets more complicated and just...more.

 

Re: WoL  for one thing it is huge, twice the size of W&R, I was hoping for the same feel as W&R instead, it just seems to me that they overly complicated it. Now, I like programs that keep things interesting or present info in a different way(like MCT) but when I read WoL I had this feeling that it was a bit too much, leaning towards busy work, and that the amount of time it would take me to figure out how to implement it would not be worth it. I could be totally wrong, but I've tried to dive into it a few times and I just can't bring myself to do it. As i said I'm doing FLL4 with my 5th, this year for 4th she did grammar with TC before that it was some work in vintage texts and Grammarland, considering her personality I think FLL4 will be a good fit and good to shore up any holes with basic grammar.

 

For some reason, this is still a bummer to me. Haha. DS just really does love workbooks, and it looked so great, but he has definitely got keen hound senses to sniff out busywork. :lol: That would not work. He is my least natural LA guy, so definitely needs good materials to inspire, not frustrate!

 

I am jealous! We will be in the 80's at the end of this week, which isn't bad, just the beginning of the end. ;)

Edited by Alte Veste Academy
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Farrar

Farrar

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I love these plans!  Yay for boys who choose to homeschool for high school. :hurray:

 

I just looked up Mathematics: A Human Endeavor.  I have seen it occasionally on the boards, but never really considered it. We are at a fork in the road before pre-A.  I'm so torn on which to do with my 10 year old when he finishes his little review month in March.  We did Jousting Armadillos and he liked it, but I didn't want to keep going with that series because it's not a complete curriculum.  I have  AoPS Pre-A, we tried it in the fall and it was stressful.  (Honestly the most stressful thing for me is the pages. SO MUCH WRITING.) Right now he's working through the IP books from SM 5 for review and because I don't know what to buy him.  Do you plan on doing Elementary Algebra after this?  I hadn't considered this book but now I'm intrigued. 

 

I love the "going full Bravewriter" comment.  That's kind of the direction I'm headed with my oldest.  He really needs gentle and fun.

 

I feel like I have to tout Mathematics: A Human Endeavor. It's sooooooo cool. You can find copies of the text pretty cheap. If nothing else, I don't know why more people don't have it on hand as a thing to bounce to when math is feeling like drudgery. I think there are a lot of things like that for elementary math, but this is something that works for kids in Pre-A and above. It's beautiful. Ds is doing it concurrently with Jacobs's Algebra and really liking both.

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Runningmom80

Runningmom80

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Jacobs books feel like a lovely combination of interesting and gentle. That's probably his skill in sequencing the material. I've done MaHD with both my older kids, and it's a great text to pause the typical sequence and go wide while still practicing what you already know. I probably will do Jacobs Algebra with my younger DS. I did it with DD and it was a perfect fit.  

 

Thank you!  I think this will work nicely for us.

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Runningmom80

Runningmom80

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I feel like I have to tout Mathematics: A Human Endeavor. It's sooooooo cool. You can find copies of the text pretty cheap. If nothing else, I don't know why more people don't have it on hand as a thing to bounce to when math is feeling like drudgery. I think there are a lot of things like that for elementary math, but this is something that works for kids in Pre-A and above. It's beautiful. Ds is doing it concurrently with Jacobs's Algebra and really liking both.

 

Thank you for this!  This sounds really perfect for us.  I don't know why I hadn't considered it before.

 

 

I love getting excited about math! :w00t: :w00t: :w00t:

Edited by Runningmom80
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