Is this plan crazy??

[sted]

I'm having a strange thought for next year. I was thinking of doing Sonlight Core 3 or 3+4 with my oldest daughter (10 yrs. old) adding my second daughter in for read-alouds and some of the easier readers (8 yrs. old).

 

Then ordering WP Animals for my 6 and 4 year old with the idea that we would all do science with this. I would then add maybe Apologia Zoology for my oldest and we'd all be studying animals for science. We'd then be juggling Read alouds from both Animals and Core 3+4. Is this a crazy plan???

 

Thanks,

Shannon

[Tree House Academy]

Sounds a bit confusing (not for me to read...but that it might be confusing as you get into trying to do it all).

[mommyto6]

You could actually do AW with your 8 yr old too. It has resources for 2nd grade & up as well as K & 1st. Also, AW uses God's design for Science-Animal Kingdom for it's spine. That is a great science resource by itself that you could use to include your 10 year old.

[JenniferB]

I thought Apologia Botany was too difficult to do with my youngers this year. So, we dropped it, and I do separate science now with my oldest and my youngers. The reading was fairly dry in my opinion, and my kids would either zone out, or fidget, or talk over me when it was time to listen to our Botany lesson.

 

I think doing separate science lessons is a good idea, each geared toward their own level of understanding, comprehension, and abilities to do projects. Keeping with the same subject matter should make this easier on you, and the overlap in overhearing the other child's lessons would be good too. I think it's a fine plan if you can pull it off.

 

I don't think I could pull it off, however, it seems like a lot of planning. You know yourself and what you are able to do. It sounds like a good plan to me, if you can do it. :001_smile:

[Donna T.]

I think it sounds like a great plan.

 

Except, you may want to hold off on the Apologia Zoology. Animal Worlds schedules a title that may meet the needs of your ten year old just fine. I can't recall the exact title. Animals and their Worlds are something similiar. It's the one that is available through Answers in Genesis. Animal Worlds isn't just crafty activities... you will be taking nature walks, building habitats, learning to identify animal tracks... there are many opportunities for active learning. It would be light enough that you could add the Apologia book if you really wanted to, but you may find it's not really necessary.

 

Both Core 3 or 3+4 and Animal Worlds really is open and go. When we did AW, I did practically no prep. (you can get your supplies early, before you even start because Karen has written it all out for you) and my then 3rd grader did a large portion of it on his own. It was an excellent self-study program for him, but he was really motivated and loved the subject. The read-aloud schedule is alot lighter than Sonlight. I don't think you would have any difficulty doing the read-alouds from both. Just don't be a slave to the schedule, relax, and enjoy the process. We always read at our own pace and I rarely follow any schedule exactly as it's written.

Edited March 27, 2009 by Donna T.