Plans vs reality

[Seeking Squirrels]

Every year we have a lot of threads for next year's plans. What I really want to see is a comparison of what you had planned vs what your year is actually looking like now. I feel like our reality never looks like what I intended. I sometimes feel like it's a fine line between failing and adapting. 😕 So who is up for sharing what it's REALLY looking like next to the intentions? 

[wendyroo]

This is what I posted last year as our fourth grade plan, with our current reality added in red.

AOPS Pre-Algebra,  Zaccaro's Real World Algebra,  Xtramath
Pretty much.  AOPS is almost complete.  Zaccaro ended up being too simplistic, so instead he supplemented with Mathematics: A Human Endeavor.  Xtramath happens 5ish times a week.

Copywork - Manuscript Spanish sentences and then translating in cursive,  Typing.com
Pretty much.  Manuscript and cursive copywork - check.  Typing - check, but he switched to typingclub.com

Assigned literature - Either typed narration sentences (answering literary analysis questions) or occasionally using a Glencoe or Penguin lit guide.
Yes, several books with narration sentences, plus several with Glencoe guides.

Put That in Writing Level 1
Yes, but a bit delayed.  We spent a couple months practicing paragraphs with Treasured Conversations and then moved on to Put That in Writing.

Analytical Grammar
No, I changed my mind before we even started and did Grammarland with everyone instead.

Caesar's English 1, AAS 4
Yes, and yes.  CE is complete.  AAS 4 is in process and may or may not be finished by the end of the year.

Mr. Q Physical Science,  Steve Spangler science kits
Yes, and yes.  Mr. Q has been completed.  Spangler kits are pulled out occasionally to dabble.

SOTW 3 with additional American History
A bit ahead of schedule.  Will probably finish end of April or beginning of May.

Weekly Immersion Spanish class, Rosetta Stone, Duolingo, Spanish Easy Reader Series
Mostly yes.  Rosetta Stone was switched to Quizlet + RAZ kids books, everything else as planned.

Python, Microbit Programming
Yes to both.

Anki Memorization
Yep, 5 days a week.  His deck now has about 3000 cards!

Hoffman Academy Piano
Switched to Playground Sessions, but, yes, piano happens more or less daily.

Art class, Gym, Swimming
Yes, yes, and yes.  And he added a second gym class and a social skills class.

So, overall, I think our reality matches my plan pretty closely.

[Bay Lake Mom]

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe everyone could visit last years planning threads and update with what worked/what didn’t and what you’ve actually had success with. 

[HomeAgain]

This is what we had planned:

Language Arts - Debating between ELTL or MBTP.  We're doing ELTL this year, and it has been great, but I don't know how the writing ramps up in the next level.  Right now he only does a portion of the copywork rather than all two pages, but does all the grammar easily and our own dictation program.
Reading - Elson Readers.  It was a hit this year so we'll stay with the series if he does ELTL.
Spelling - I'm torn between SYS and Dictation Day By Day.  DBD has worked very well for the past year and a half and it's free.  Do we need more intensive spelling? Would prepared dictation be a welcome change from cold?
Math - still with Right Start.  We'll add in the next three Life Of Fred books for fun.
Science - again, torn.  Deciding between  BFSU vol. 2 and Mystery Science.  Either way, we'll add in a Science Daybook for reinforcement on the off days.
History - SOTW vol. 3, but I'm building our own American history study to go with it based on field trips that are available.
Latin - He chose First Form Latin. Not what I would have picked for him, but I'm willing to work with it.  This year he did GSWL so it'll be a step up.
Art - Artistic Pursuits K-3 books 2 & 3.  We've staggered these so we followed books 1 and 2 more along with history.
French - continue One Third Stories.  It's light, funny, and perfect for his age.

Okay, and for what we're doing now:
Language Arts - We attempted Writing Strands, but it was not structured enough.  I dropped it for good in November and picked up Treasured Conversations.  It has been a great stop-gap between the ELTL levels, providing detailed instruction on how to craft a sentence/paragraph/paper, and nudges my kid just enough each week.  We'll go back to ELTL D next year, but this has been good.  I also added in Spencerian handwriting and he really likes it.
Reading - He finished the Elson Reader 3 in December, but chose to spend more time on fairy tales for this semester using an old volume I had as a kid.  We'll go back to the 4th reader in September.
Spelling - Dictation Day By Day won. 🙂  He likes it, I like it, and it's holding steady here.
Math - He finished Right Start E and the three Life of Fred books. I'm switching him fully to Gattegno next week to buy some more time with manipulative based math.  LOF Fractions and Decimals are both in my cart right now, too, but I don't want to hit the button just yet.
Science - We are actually getting lazy about this.  He has a science group that meets weekly and I'm calling that good.
History - Same!  It's what I planned!  Yay!
Latin - Well, it's a fun mess. I dug in my heels on the First Form and while he does it at half speed, we added in Cambridge and the activity book from LFC.  His lesson looks something like this: flashcards, half page of First Form, Cambridge done orally, and/or a page from the activity book for review.  And he's still done in 20 minutes.
Art - Eh...I'm giving up on this.  It's like fighting tooth and nail to get him to do organized art.
French  - L'art de Lire.  It's....okay.  Not one of our favorites, but much cheaper than a monthly subscription.

[SeaConquest]

I work with my kids to plan, but they grow and change, and things don't always fit or work out like we thought. So, I don't mind that the reality never matches the plan. And, let me say that again: it never matches the plan. We used to say in the Army, "No plan survives the first contact intact." Learning to be flexible, fluid, adaptive, and open to change is a skill in itself, and one that I'm still learning to master and model for my kids. So, I like to involve them in the planning, and I like to involve them in the changes.

Sometimes, the workload may be too much, so we scale back, or the subject may not be of as much interest as we initially thought, so we switch to something else. It is lifelong learning, following passions, and, like I said, learning to be mindful and roll with the only constant in life: change.    

[alisoncooks]

I try to update the original planning threads, but here are some major things that I changed this year: 

instead of Notgrass AtB, we're using AGS United States History 

Mr. D Pre-Alg was dropped for TT7

Apologia General swapped for Glencoe Science 7

[Targhee]

On 6/2/2018 at 4:25 PM, Targhee said:

I post in these threads and it gets me going but I usually, after further contemplation, make big changes.

Singapore PM 1A/B

LOE Foundations B-D, books from our family library she reads to me, copywork, poetry memorization 

Jr Great Books Pegasus, finish vol 1 and move to vol 2 of Journeys Through Bookland, lots of other read alouds from  family and public libraries...

Geography, very gently with resources I already have, no real spine

Singapore Early Bird Science (I never buy science for this age, but this year I’m not goin to be available to do much for science like I usually do ? so this is my backup)

Artistic Pursuits

 

The only difference here is that we stopped LOE Foundations after B and began PLL.  We also stopped JGB after a while because Dad couldn’t help with the “at home” parts like I had hoped.  We have finished Singapore PM 1A and B and begun 2a.

[Targhee]

Forcing myself to write this early stages plan so I think about it more, and see everyone else€™s updates. We started last week

 

ELA: LToW very slowly, and maybe onlineG3 lit again,  Patchwork of things including LToW essays 1-7, parts of Writers INC and MCT Essay Voyage as well, Magic Lens 1, Jacob's Ladder 4, Killgallon, Poetry and Humanity, mom-directed lit

 

Latin: Lukeion Latin 1 (the one thing that seems certain)

 

Math: do the next thing with AOPS (preA is taking a while, but that€™s OK, I have Intro to Alg and C&P ready when he is) He's doing the AOPS online Algebra A starting OCT

 

History: ?? He likes OnlineG3 histories her€™s done, but he will be combining with oldest so I’m not positive which class yet. Big History with OnlineG3

 

 Science: either at the middle school or Marine Ecology by Mom (using a few texts, Great Courses, and a couple of trade books)

 

Electives: band (middle school), private sax lessons, soccer, parkour, scouting merit badges, NaNoWriMo, Superstar Student, Music Theory for Electronic Musicians

 

Above corrections in blue were were made in August.  We didn’t use Jacobs Ladder much, and we didn’t use Poetry and Humanity at all.  LTOW is moving slowly (just finished essay 3), but that’s ok. Otherwise we are on track.  This year has been one I have better stuck to my plan.

[KrissiK]

Well, you know what they say about roads and good intentions....😂  

I know I had big plans for Notgrass history and their literature, which is always really good, but somehow that tanked. Now, they do just the basics.

Latin - I put my two oldest on Henle and was going to add a lot more translations I had found on line, but we just never got beyond the basics of Henle. And we are not nearly as far along as I had hoped.

[Sherry in OH]

Math – 5^th: AOPS Pre-Algebra, 7^th: AOPS Intro to Algebra, both: Patty Paper Geometry Actual: AOPS – yes to both. Patty Paper Geometry is on hold. 5^th grader is doing Compass Constructions along with geometry chapters of pre-algebra.  He is on track to finish Pre-Algebra by end of May.  7^th grader is unlikely to finish his entire text but is on track to finish the equivalent of Algebra 1.

Language arts: Writing with Skill, Grammar for the Well Trained Mind, Typing.com, Editor in Chief, Figuratively Speaking, library homeschool classes, and reading selected works. Actual: We are making steady progress in WWS and GWTM although lessons are taking longer than anticipated. We will not finish these texts by end of May.  Typing.com was phased out at end of 1^stquarter in favor of typing WWS assignments. Editor in Chief was dropped because we didn’t have time for it.  Figuratively Speaking is selected assignments only.  They love the library classes.  I dropped some titles from our original reading lists and added others. 

World history, 1750-1914: Human Odyssey vol. 2 parts 3 and 4, The Story of Science vol. 2, ch. 18-end, vol. 3, ch. 1-?, selected other resources  Actual: We are on track in history.

Science: Conceptual Integrated Science Explorations with Conceptual Academy Self-Paced. Actual: We are trudging through this.  

Religion: The Bible and Its Influence Actual: We should finish this by end of third quarter.

Logic: Critical Thinking vol. 1, Orbiting with Logic Actual: We dropped Critical Thinking halfway through chapter 2.  Our day was too long and boys were not enjoying it.  They do like Orbiting with Logic.

Fine Arts: outsourced classes for instruments and art Actual: I was not able to find a homeschool band.  Boys enrolled in private music lessons for fall semester.  7^thgrader opted to drop his lessons at end of semester and is now self-studying piano. They had three months of homeschool art classes fall semester and are enrolled in a 4-week pottery wheel class spring semester.  Otherwise, they do occasional art projects (mostly from kits) at home.

P.E.: outsourced classes Actual: outsourced classes

 

[MistyMountain]

Yea I just read the one post I did in last years plans for next year thread and I actually did something different in every single category. I did change things around a bit for my older kids too but for my youngest I did something completely different. 😂 I am actually thankful I did not go with that plan though. She grew by leaps in bounds in reading this year.

[2_girls_mommy]

Well, we didn't officially start the astronomy book until second semester. Until then we did some activities and labs with an astronomy club and read some magazine articles, did some observing, etc. So now dd16 is doing two chapters a month to finish the majority of it by the end of the year. That has worked out fine because I added the Story of Science as a read aloud. So even though it isn't all astronomy, there is of course some included. So it goes along. 

Latin- dd14 and her classmate were slated to finish Third Form and move into Fourth Form for Latin I. We are not going as quickly through Third Form as I had thought. But on the other hand, we are really getting down what we are doing, and my dd16 who did all of that grammar a long time ago is benefitting from the review with them as they all get ready for NLEs next month.  She may not make it to Fourth Form this year. But they are doing plenty. 

WWS for dd14, we are on about lesson 6. I love WWS, but it always get shoved aside for writing across the curriculum. 

I think that's about it. History- I knew we were taking a "light" year. By that I meant just mostly reading and some discussion with context papers for literature only.  We do a big history year every other year, and that will be next for us. That will include more projects, more read alouds, more field trips, etc. And we always study ancients every year because of Bible studies at church and studying for the NLEs every year, so multiple strands are constant. We have done several modern history field trips over vacations this year, field trips with our homeschool group, and available virtual field trips and classes that have presented themselves. So if we slow down from our "official" strand each year I am ok, because we are always doing history (and art history, and cultural history, and Bible history, etc. etc. ) 

 

Edited February 13, 2019 by 2_girls_mommy

[hollyhock2]

This is what I posted last year that I would be doing with my 5th and 7th graders this year, and what we are actually doing now.

5th grade:

• TT 5
• LLATL Purple - I decided against this as I wanted more grammar. Doing R&S English 4 now.
• R&S Spelling 5
• Pathway Reading 5 - we are actually doing 6 instead
• Interest-led science with a notebook - need to get back to the notebooking
• SOTW 4
• Typing Club
• Logic Countdown - too much for him, so he's doing Primarily Logic instead

7th grade:

• TT either 7 or Pre-A - ended up placing squarely in 7 and it's going well
• LLATL Green - we also added Easy Grammar because he finished this in a semester
• Pathway Reading 7 - also trying to do some lit. essays with him SWB-style
• Apologia Zoology 1 - he's doing God's Design books instead
• SOTW 4
• various logic puzzles
• Geography, Province to Province
• L'art de Lire if he wants to continue French - he didn't want to

I'm surprised to see that my plans held up pretty well overall.

[8filltheheart]

My plans aren't really helpful for other people since I mostly put together our studies. 

I have been doing this for so long that I can gauge my kids' needs and pace fairly accurately. Even so, I tend to only write firm plans out for anywhere from 6-9weeks. That gives me enough time to see what I might need to tweak or if we need to shift gears.

I agree with @SeaConquest that it is helpful to be accepting of natural flow and to be open to change. Not all change means less than. Change can lead to greater growth and challenge, too.

[moonflower]

plan: homeschooling K, 1st, 5th, and 8th

actual: they're in PS! except for the K-er.  He's on track, we just talk about math and are working our way through 100EZ lessons, my 3rd kid with this book.  Never exactly EZ but gets the job done.

[Soror]

Sometimes kids change or life changes. I'm not married to the curriculum, the curriculum is a means to accomplish our goals and if it is not getting us there we'll move on. Most of our plans held steady in the face of our life being turned upside down this year, so I'm pretty pleased with that. Writing, well, that required massive tweaking for dd1- what I thought would be a good fit wasn't and I'm making another change at the end of the year here because I realized my second plans weren't getting us where we needed to go either. I bought 2 Sciences for this year but just ended up rolling all the kids into the higher level one with dd1.

I see tweaking things as part of it. I see learning to adapt and change as a positive of homeschooling, in PS there is generally 1 path. At home, we tailor the path to our children and family. 

Now, sometimes the problem is that we make plans, not for the kids we have or the teacher we are but who we think we should be, that is where the implementation becomes a problem.  So, it is good to examine the why behind your changes.  Keeping dd in a writing she hated is not positive, keeping dd in a writing we both like but is not working on the skills she personally needs isn't a win either. But making plans to make our own curriculum or use programs that are far less structured isn't being honest about where we are right now. I've figured out that at this stage in hs'ing and life I do better using more structured programs and then adapting them to our needs. I've also learned this year I have got to front-load more of my planning, my brain is at capacity right now so I'm less able to come up with things through the year. 

Edited February 13, 2019 by soror

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

My planning has decreased as I've gained experience with HSing.  I now have a sort of overview idea of what I want to accomplish over a year, but I leave the detailed planning to a 4-6 week timeframe.  

This is the first year I've accepted the above as being "ok".  Previously, it was what realistically happened, but I felt bad about it.  LOL.  Now I'm ready to acknowledge that it is what works best for us.  And this year has gone, so, so well so far.  We are way more productive than in previous years.  

[8filltheheart]

1 hour ago, soror said:

 I've also learned this year I have got to front-load more of my planning, my brain is at capacity right now so I'm less able to come up with things through the year. 

I like the way you phrased this. I'm not sure if this is the same meaning intended as what you describe, but when I sit down in the summer designing our plans, I generate a list of materials that contains more than is likely to be covered. I can also see possible different directions things might take over the course of the yr that might shift away from our original focus. I make notes of bunny trails that might spark interest and any supplemental materials I might have run across just in case I might need them.

Immersing myself during the summer in the general direction/goals for the upcoming yr grounds me both ideally and philosophically in the bigger picture for what I want to achieve in that child's growth between the beginning and the end of the academic yr. Those goals are the ones I keep focus on.  The exact path is flexible according to their daily needs.

Curriculum is simply a tool to use or not use. I don't teach a curriculum to my child.  I teach my child.

[Miss Tick]

I don't know how to make it into a quote? but everything I planned for my 8th graders is going as planned - along with a social co-op. When I make a plan I often start with a daily schedule with 7 school hours (for middle/high schoolers) then once those are full I can't add more without cutting something. Also, at this point everything we are doing is pretty much a small step up from what we've done before, so likely to continue working. If you look at my plans that are more than a year out, though, all sorts of things change.

Math - online asynchronous algebra I, so likely Mr. D or DO, but still looking at my homeschool math class.

Science - biology (recognizing that this may have to be taken at a higher level in high school. Cross that bridge when we get there...)

English - WWS 2/3 + season 3 AG + lit? + last year of spelling? + last year of vocabulary?

Foreign Language - Spanish 3

History - Human Odyssey 2/3 and American History Detective 2

Also, German if our tutor is still willing

For my 4th grader, also following plan (plus social co-op) except art. I couldn't get her interested in any of the available classes.

Math: Beat Academy 4/5

English : WWE4 & Killgallon/spelling/FLL4 (2nd ½) & then?/vocab

World History: SOTW 4

American History: Story of the USA and supplements

Latin: BBoLL

Spanish: continue our daily, homegrown approach

German: if the family tutor is still available once a week plus supplements

Science: continue with BFSU and whatever supplements appeal

Art: local classes following interest

 

[73349]

I'd said

Quote

Social studies: A year of geography using Visualize World Geography. Yes.

Spelling:  Steck-Vaughn 5. Yes.

Vocabulary: Vocabulary from Classical Roots A. Yes.

Grammar: DGP 5. Yes.

Writing: Finishing Don't Forget to Write. Continued cursive and typing practice. Yes. Might do a Bravewriter course at some point. No. Occasionally we do a prompt from 642 Big Things to Write About.

Math: SM 5. Yes.

Science: I'm going to try out The Sciences: An Integrated Approach as a spine.Yes.  And some Handbook of Nature Study. No, this never gets done.

Foreign language: Homeschool Spanish Academy. Yes.

Other: More piano lessons unless he asks for a different instrument. Continuing scouts, soccer and/or other sports as he's interested, Sunday school, weekly library visits. Yes.

 

[Momto6inIN]

We started out with big plans and then I got pregnant and puked for 4 months straight, so we got a little sidetracked LOL I did manage to keep up with LA and Math for the 5th and 1st grader and the 9th and 11th grader kept plugging away and didn't have much interaction with me, which I felt bad about but it was a season. Now that I'm feeling better we're closer to being on track, but still a few shakeups happened during that period.

5th grader switched from Mr Q to God's Design for science. She always liked God's Design better, it was me that wanted the switch, but it didn't end up working out, so we went back. It's not my favorite, but she likes it and it's getting done consistently.

Switched from MOH to SotW for the 5th & 1st grader together for history, which I'm much happier with. I also added in some Human Odyssey reading for the 5th grader, and she liked that book a lot.

I completely dropped La Clase Divertida for the 5th and 1st grader and haven't got back to it. Maybe next year 😉

The high schoolers are primarily doing what I had planned, although for a while I dilly dallied over whether Destinos was still a good fit for DS for Spanish III. He struggled for a while, but seems to have settled into it ok now.

[Seeking Squirrels]

Here's mine for my 5th grader. 

Original was in Jan/Feb, Red was in April, and Blue is now.

I've already changed a fair bit!

Math: SM, probably 4b/5a. We had to back up and dip into 3b this year (thank you ps 3rd), so she's on 4a right now. We'll just keep going with wherever we are. We also do a bit of BA on the side. She's in 3b now, so maybe 3c/3d next year. She's making good progress through 4a, so probably starting 4b in May and we'll keep that going through the summer. I'm hoping to recover the grade gap and finish 5b by the end of 5th.  We didn't keep going through the summer so we started 4b end of August and she has really struggled through it. So she is still in 4b 😕 We do math consistently but she just has a hard time with output. So it takes a long time. 

Writing/grammar: EIW5 Growing with Grammar, teach 5 paragraph essay, and write across the curriculum WTM-style. (Though I'm still not sold on GwG, it's the one thing I keep going back to and looking at other things. I want simple, cheap, and get-er-done but still appealing enough to not turn off my non-workbook kid.)  I never did order GwG and went with Bravewriter Partnership Writing instead. It goes well when we do it but we've been taking the projects slowly. We also do Arrows sometimes. She occasionally freewrites if we don't do anything from the other two. She also does Editor in Chief which she loved at first but has slowed down on as it gets harder. I feel like it's kind of a cobbled mess, but I *think* we're doing enough?

Spelling: AAS probably the last half of 4 and then 5. She's almost finished with 3 now. Still AAS, but probably just 4, she's slowed down. This is the same, she's progressing well through 4. 

Literature: Probably just a list made by me from searching other lists 😉We joined a book club and did that first semester. So still the same but overall we've read less books than I would have liked. 

Science: RSO Bio2 w/ microscope labs. This was overwhelming once all ready to go and we never got off the ground with it. First semester was really a hodgepodge of videos, random books, random 'labs', and tinker crate boxes. Which I am fine with for 1st but feels like failing her in 5th. So we just started back with the last few units of physics that she didn't finish last year as something solid to do until she's ready for RSO bio2. 

History: HO middle ages I have so failed history. We still haven't finished ancients. We just drop the ball so often and simply don't do it. 😞

Tech: I'm thinking coding and robotics, but I'm not certain yet and I have no idea what I'll use for it. I'm open to suggestions! (She has to have a separate tech class for our charter. It has to fall under technology, engineering, or entrepreneurship. This year she did engineering with legos, k'nex, and engino, so it doesn't have to be too deep. I'll have $150 to play with 🙂She is (surprisingly) not interested in coding. We're doing Tinker crate instead. This has stayed the same. 

Extracurricular: I don't know yet, but she's loving theater this year, so maybe we'll do that again. I'd also like to get her back into tumbling. She dropped it when she started theater (she does not like a full schedule), but her OT says she needs it. Ninja warrior style training class that will do parkour 1x/month. She does the ninja class, theater, and swimming. 

Other: We are in an amazing co-op but I won't know what classes she'll be in until August. We usually have really good options for kids her age. She always goes first for science, then arts, then other. 

[Seeking Squirrels]

And my 1st grader. I feel like it's going much smoother with her. 

Math: Singapore 1a/b On track to finish 1b before the end of the year.

 

Phonics: AAR. She started 1 a few weeks ago, so just wherever we are. Probably finishing 1 and starting 2 She's well into AAR2 already.

 

Handwriting: Maybe ZB? Or maybe just work on it within copywork? IDK yet. We did a bit of ZB and a bit of copywork until she finished AAR1. The she started SYS B so I just use that for handwriting. 

 

Writing: I think I'm going to do some copywork and narration from our read-alouds. We don't really do a separate writing. She does do copywork with SYS and when she joins us for an Arrow lesson.

 

History: Tagging along with 5th grader on HO middle ages. If she decides she wants her own history or that gets too much for her, then I'll switch her to AiA. Or do nothing. I'm not too fussed about history in 1st. It was a bust for older DD and I fought it for too long and then it just clicked this year in 4th. I'm not going to stress it this time around! I had BYL year 0 so we decided to go through that for a bit of light SS. We don't do it every week but here and there. 

 

Science: RSO Life. Same as with 5th, official science has slid. They do a lot of random bits here and there but nothing formal. We have just this week started in on RSO.

 

Extracurriculars: I have no idea. Her anxiety is so high she won't do anything. I just pulled her from tumbling yesterday because she had missed for over two months in a row by refusing to go. If we get it under control then I'll let her choose whatever interests her.  Anxiety meds for the win, she is doing theater, ninja, and swimming. 

 

Other: Co-op classes which I won't know until August. Thankfully she does really well there and anxiety has not kept her from her classes. 

•  

[Hallyv]

I Love this thread!

My year completely changed from what I had planned. We moved.  Then January 2010 hit and my 9th grade son who started out in PS came home and my 3rd grade dd who started out homeschooling, went to a private school hybrid homeschooling Co-op 2 days a wk on campus, 3 days at home.  My 11th grade son went to PS and my 24 yr old dd moved out with a 37 yr old (sigh, I am not coping very well with that at all).

Original Plan for my 3rd grader was:

Math: singapore 3A/B, Multiplication math Facts 6 wk class, Jiji Math for fun.  We switched to CLE 3, and love it!  She did the class but it wasn't helpful.

LA: TGTB 3 using only parts and pieces, CAP W&R fables, Building Spelling Skills 3, Easy Grammar 3, pentime 3 cursive  We did all of that until Jan, and now we are using ABeka Language 3, IEW ATF&F, Wiseguide Spelling, all because that is what the co-op is using, but I disike Abeka, WG & IEW greatly and I supplement with TGTB 3 and can't wait to drop IEW for W&R, my daughter loves W&R much more too. We kept Pentime 3.

Fall Lit: Sign of the Beaver writing a book report: 6 wk class We did this, it went well!

Winter & Spring Lit: bravewriter single arrows coinciding with Science units: Nim's Island Then The Wind In The Willows We tried Wind In The willows, and it did not go over well, thinking Bravewriter is not for us, I just could not get into a good rhythm with it.

Science: Fall; TGTB Space Science & STEM class, We did this, really like tgtb science unit, and will do another.  Winter: TGTB Water & Our World. probably wont get to this.  Adventure of Sharks & Dolphins class, doing this now and it is just meh  Spring: Frogs & Toads, we did this, watched the tadpole become a frog and we now have 2 happy frogs.  Natural Disasters class  This will start in April

History/Geography: TGTB history yr 1, Unit 4, Beautiful Feet Around The World We finished TGTB H1- loved it!  We have dragged our feet on BF and the co-op does M0H ancients which we is just OK, but they are going way too quickly through it so we aren't getting as much out of it as we could.  being with the co=op and having to stay on lesson to check boxes off is not our thing!    

Bible/memory: AWANA  Dropped out in Jan.

CO-Op; cooking, art masters, PE Dropped out off classes to go to hybrid co-op but my daughter misses this co-op.  It was parent run, and intensive, I had a major meltdown and needed a reprieve from this so that is why I traded the parent run co-op for the private school hybrid. On a positive note, I am getting my energy back, my kids all seem to be doing well now in Feb, and I have plenty of curriculum for my 4th grader for next year.  We can do the 3rd grade stuff we didn't finish for 4th grade  rt, lol?!!!! my brain hurts

 

 

[Soror]

8 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

I like the way you phrased this. I'm not sure if this is the same meaning intended as what you describe, but when I sit down in the summer designing our plans, I generate a list of materials that contains more than is likely to be covered. I can also see possible different directions things might take over the course of the yr that might shift away from our original focus. I make notes of bunny trails that might spark interest and any supplemental materials I might have run across just in case I might need them.

Immersing myself during the summer in the general direction/goals for the upcoming yr grounds me both ideally and philosophically in the bigger picture for what I want to achieve in that child's growth between the beginning and the end of the academic yr. Those goals are the ones I keep focus on.  The exact path is flexible according to their daily needs.

Curriculum is simply a tool to use or not use. I don't teach a curriculum to my child.  I teach my child.

Our planning and plans are not the same but the end result is the same, more direction with what you are doing and why. 

I meant big picture planning and also the day to day details. For example, when using something like SoTW making the copies I need for all the kids to start with, it's a matter of efficiency of time and setting us up to get things done. If I'm doing science or something else that requires supplies getting them all ready to go, I hate having to do that through the year and it makes it more likely things will be skipped. Making booklists before the year starts, so I'm able to get books requested in time because it isn't in my budget to just buy it all. In the big picture sitting down and focusing on our goals for the year and making sure I'm able to articulate why we're doing what we're doing so when I am making plans and am going through the year I can stay focused. I'm not making all my own plans but that doesn't mean I'm just blindly following anything. I had thought to be a real veteran homeschool I should be planning it all on my own 10 yrs in but I came to the realization that is just unnecessary guilt and burden and I'm letting it go. A big part of making things work is not doing what you think you should do but what works for you and your family.

[MrsRobinson]

3 hours ago, Seeking Squirrels said:

Here's mine for my 5th grader. 

Original was in Jan/Feb, Red was in April, and Blue is now.

I've already changed a fair bit!

Math: SM, probably 4b/5a. We had to back up and dip into 3b this year (thank you ps 3rd), so she's on 4a right now. We'll just keep going with wherever we are. We also do a bit of BA on the side. She's in 3b now, so maybe 3c/3d next year. She's making good progress through 4a, so probably starting 4b in May and we'll keep that going through the summer. I'm hoping to recover the grade gap and finish 5b by the end of 5th.  We didn't keep going through the summer so we started 4b end of August and she has really struggled through it. So she is still in 4b 😕 We do math consistently but she just has a hard time with output. So it takes a long time. 

Writing/grammar: EIW5 Growing with Grammar, teach 5 paragraph essay, and write across the curriculum WTM-style. (Though I'm still not sold on GwG, it's the one thing I keep going back to and looking at other things. I want simple, cheap, and get-er-done but still appealing enough to not turn off my non-workbook kid.)  I never did order GwG and went with Bravewriter Partnership Writing instead. It goes well when we do it but we've been taking the projects slowly. We also do Arrows sometimes. She occasionally freewrites if we don't do anything from the other two. She also does Editor in Chief which she loved at first but has slowed down on as it gets harder. I feel like it's kind of a cobbled mess, but I *think* we're doing enough?

Spelling: AAS probably the last half of 4 and then 5. She's almost finished with 3 now. Still AAS, but probably just 4, she's slowed down. This is the same, she's progressing well through 4. 

Literature: Probably just a list made by me from searching other lists 😉We joined a book club and did that first semester. So still the same but overall we've read less books than I would have liked. 

Science: RSO Bio2 w/ microscope labs. This was overwhelming once all ready to go and we never got off the ground with it. First semester was really a hodgepodge of videos, random books, random 'labs', and tinker crate boxes. Which I am fine with for 1st but feels like failing her in 5th. So we just started back with the last few units of physics that she didn't finish last year as something solid to do until she's ready for RSO bio2. 

History: HO middle ages I have so failed history. We still haven't finished ancients. We just drop the ball so often and simply don't do it. 😞

Extracurricular: I don't know yet, but she's loving theater this year, so maybe we'll do that again. I'd also like to get her back into tumbling. She dropped it when she started theater (she does not like a full schedule), but her OT says she needs it. Ninja warrior style training class that will do parkour 1x/month. She does the ninja class, theater, and swimming. 

 

Wow, your dd and mine look like twins on planning pages! We should teach them together, alternating weeks on who does the teaching! 😂 

[MrsRobinson]

Changes in italics:

Reading: A Wrinkle in Time, Number the Stars, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM, and more but I don't know what yet. We haven't read any of these! 😂 We've read gobs but just not these.

Sequential Spelling Yes!

????? haven't figured out grammar yet We tried Partership Writing and I just couldn't hack the loose goosey projects. So we went back to tried and true EIW. I pointed out to dd that if we can knock out schoolwork without so many moving parts, she'd have gobs of free time for projects and her other interests. She (finally) got the picture and its been going really well.

English from the Roots Up... I think...maybe...maybe not. Definitely not.

IEW Theme Based Writing Ancients went with EIW instead

???? unknown handwriting. She is using a therapy program from her OT this year so we'll see what she recommends for next year. We went with McRuffy 5th grade Cursive Handwriting

??? unsure on typing. She is doing Dance Mat right now so we'll see where she's at for next year I kept saying as long as we get to typing by the first of the year, it will be fine. Now its mid February and I still haven't enforced typing. Need to get on that.

Math Mammoth not sure about level, will probably make a separate post of questions about this soon Oy vey. We are still in 4b. I'm trying really hard not to stress and just go at her pace. She was diagnosed with a learning disorder with math and we are trying to figure out next steps.

STOW Ancients Every year, I say I'm going to do a curriculum but we just have too much fun following our interests. 

Science in the Ancient World we pick and choose what interests us but we are not doing this as written. 

Extras: weekly piano lessons, weekly homeschool PE, monthly art class, monthly field trip, monthly playdate with friends. We have had so many medical appointments for chronic illness that we've been doing piano on our own and dropped HS PE. We've been doing okay with the rest. Some have been cancelled for ice/snow

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

Language Arts: Michael Clay Thompson Island, TorchLight Year 1, NaNoWriMo 

We dropped TL early on; it wasn’t a good fit at all. We’ve enjoyed a few of the science / history supplements but that’s all we found useful. Instead we’ve enjoyed other random novels... lots of Dahl, the Dimwood Forest series, Charlotte’s Web. 

We are both loving MCT Island! I initially thought it would take us two years, but we’ll easily complete it in one so now I’m planning to alternate years with a couple of other programs. 

DS participated in NaNoWriMo again and really enjoyed it! 

Mathematics: Singapore 2B-3B + IP, LivingMath L1U1

We completed Singapore 2B, then switched to Beast Academy 3A. We may or may not circle back to Singapore; I like both programs, but for now BA better meets our needs.

Early in the year we did a good bit of the Living Math activities. They are sporadic, so as the year has gone on I’ve tended to forget about them a bit. There’s some great material there, though, so I am going to try to remember to get to it more often. 

Life Science: Mr. Q Life Science 

I knew from the get-go that I wasn’t satisfied with this, but it was free so I thought I could make it work. I ended up just dropping it and creating my own. 

Ancient History: Real Science Odyssey 

This has worked well. It’s enough of a framework to feel accomplished when I don’t have a ton of time or energy to devote to planning something more, but light enough that when I do want to add things it doesn’t become cumbersome. 

Free Choice: Educational Games, Snap Circuits, Scratch Programming, etc

We’ve stuck with this pretty well throughout the year. Things got busy at one point in the midst of switching from one program to another so we paused for a while, but it’s been fun. Also a good motivator, as we only have as much time as his focus during earlier subjects allows. If he goofs off and wastes time, no Free Choice. 

 

All in all we stuck pretty closely to our plans. I kind of wish we could include more subjects, but at the moment I’m not willing to sacrifice depth for breadth. 

Edited February 14, 2019 by Expat_Mama_Shelli

[Seeking Squirrels]

17 hours ago, MrsRobinson said:

Changes in italics:

Reading: A Wrinkle in Time, Number the Stars, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM, and more but I don't know what yet. We haven't read any of these! 😂 We've read gobs but just not these.

Sequential Spelling Yes!

????? haven't figured out grammar yet We tried Partership Writing and I just couldn't hack the loose goosey projects. So we went back to tried and true EIW. I pointed out to dd that if we can knock out schoolwork without so many moving parts, she'd have gobs of free time for projects and her other interests. She (finally) got the picture and its been going really well.

English from the Roots Up... I think...maybe...maybe not. Definitely not.

IEW Theme Based Writing Ancients went with EIW instead

???? unknown handwriting. She is using a therapy program from her OT this year so we'll see what she recommends for next year. We went with McRuffy 5th grade Cursive Handwriting

??? unsure on typing. She is doing Dance Mat right now so we'll see where she's at for next year I kept saying as long as we get to typing by the first of the year, it will be fine. Now its mid February and I still haven't enforced typing. Need to get on that.

Math Mammoth not sure about level, will probably make a separate post of questions about this soon Oy vey. We are still in 4b. I'm trying really hard not to stress and just go at her pace. She was diagnosed with a learning disorder with math and we are trying to figure out next steps.

STOW Ancients Every year, I say I'm going to do a curriculum but we just have too much fun following our interests. 

Science in the Ancient World we pick and choose what interests us but we are not doing this as written. 

Extras: weekly piano lessons, weekly homeschool PE, monthly art class, monthly field trip, monthly playdate with friends. We have had so many medical appointments for chronic illness that we've been doing piano on our own and dropped HS PE. We've been doing okay with the rest. Some have been cancelled for ice/snow

Wow they do look quite similar! Definitely on LA! I so want to go back to EIW; it got done! But she says no she hates it. She did it well at the time though. I also hate the looseness of BW. I know so many love it, but I really prefer "do this on this day" and I can keep us on track better with that. I'm glad you got through to your DD, maybe I'll try again. Is she doing at grade level in EIW? 

[MrsRobinson]

1 hour ago, Seeking Squirrels said:

Wow they do look quite similar! Definitely on LA! I so want to go back to EIW; it got done! But she says no she hates it. She did it well at the time though. I also hate the looseness of BW. I know so many love it, but I really prefer "do this on this day" and I can keep us on track better with that. I'm glad you got through to your DD, maybe I'll try again. Is she doing at grade level in EIW? 

Ha! No! I wish!

I bought grade 3 and grade 4, waving them under her nose each year but she said she hated it and wanted to do Brave Writer. It was like a lawn mower that won't start. We made very little progress in 2 years with Brave Writer. 

So we are going through the grade 3 EIW level. Without the DVDs so we can get through it faster. We do all the lessons on one grammar topic in a day. So if there are 4 pages on adjectives, she can whip all that out in a day.

On the writing lessons, we do have to slow down and do it one step at a time. We plan to just keep going through the summer into the 4th grade book. I will probably have her watch the videos for the writing assignments in the 4th grade book. 

When I was showing her where we've gone wrong with LA, I pulled out my box of school work from when I was in 5th grade. Pages and pages and pages of full sentences and huge topic paragraphs all single spaced handwritten in cursive circa 1995. 😊 She hasn't complained since and thanks me for adjusting my expectations to her abilities. 😂 

[Seeking Squirrels]

1 hour ago, MrsRobinson said:

Ha! No! I wish!

I bought grade 3 and grade 4, waving them under her nose each year but she said she hated it and wanted to do Brave Writer. It was like a lawn mower that won't start. We made very little progress in 2 years with Brave Writer. 

So we are going through the grade 3 EIW level. Without the DVDs so we can get through it faster. We do all the lessons on one grammar topic in a day. So if there are 4 pages on adjectives, she can whip all that out in a day.

On the writing lessons, we do have to slow down and do it one step at a time. We plan to just keep going through the summer into the 4th grade book. I will probably have her watch the videos for the writing assignments in the 4th grade book. 

When I was showing her where we've gone wrong with LA, I pulled out my box of school work from when I was in 5th grade. Pages and pages and pages of full sentences and huge topic paragraphs all single spaced handwritten in cursive circa 1995. 😊 She hasn't complained since and thanks me for adjusting my expectations to her abilities. 😂 

I'm afraid mine would panic if I showed her something like that! She's pretty sure every single writing curriculum or writing requirement is nothing more than nasty evil moms intent on torturing their children. I've tried so many different things with her and it feels like all it's gotten us is a headache and a lot of wasted time and money. 

 

[MrsRobinson]

2 minutes ago, Seeking Squirrels said:

I'm afraid mine would panic if I showed her something like that! She's pretty sure every single writing curriculum or writing requirement is nothing more than nasty evil moms intent on torturing their children. I've tried so many different things with her and it feels like all it's gotten us is a headache and a lot of wasted time and money. 

 

A couple of things that at least diffused dd's panic about writing were the Thinking Tree Journals, Listography, and Wreck This Journal. Posters here suggested them. She loves those and it really showed her that writing and expressing herself could be fun.  

Writing is still a challenge for her but its much less of a battle than it used to be.