Here's what we are planning to do this year. I included some activities as well. This is going to help me as I prepare my children's transcripts. All of the extra things are important to keep track of. Of course, my plans may change as the year goes on. That's what I love about homeschooling. You don't have to do everything you planned or you may not like something you planned. I always love to look at what other homeschoolers are doing and get ideas from them. Hope you see something that might help you as you are deciding on curriculum. It's amazing how many choices we have now!
I've mentioned this before, but I feel very strongly that you should not compare yourself or your children to other homeschoolers. No child or family is alike. No one learns alike or may have the same interest. It's okay if your child is taking math that is two years behind his grade or working 2 years ahead in Literature/Grammar. Each child is unique and as homeschoolers, we can work at the child's level, not what the school says is required of their age. As you will see below, I decided to use history that is said to be below where my son is and he will be doing math ahead of where he should be. I do what works for our children; not what others say they must be doing.
I would also love suggestions for a few things I am still considering: Typing for older kids, and my high school son might want to be an architect. I would love suggestions for curriculum, websites, or books he could use.
I buy the majority of my curriculum used from http://homeschoolclassifieds.com/, ebay.com, and from co-op sales. We get most of our books from the library and there are a few I buy new once a year. Check out my favorite websites for websites where I get free curriculum. I'm going to add some great new websites I found through friends recently.
My children are going into 7th & 8th grade next year. Here is a list of curriculum my children will be using for the 2013-2014 school year and classes they will be taking. I'm still deciding on some subjects.
History/Geography/Literature/Bible for Posie: Sonlight Core E - Intro to American History: A friend let us graciously borrow this curriculum. We've never used Sonlight so I am excited to try it out. I believe this will be our favorite subject this year. My daughter saw all the books and she looked like it was Christmas! She is thrilled about History this year for the first time in years!
History/Geography/BibleLiterature for Shrimp: I decided to use the Sonlight History with both of the children and I will just require more for my highschooler. I may ask him to do additional research and write essays.
Later or as we go, I might have him use this free website http://education-portal.com/academy/course/us-history-i.html to take a History class while earning college credit. It even has a practice CLEP test to take after. I'm not sure if we will do the CLEP test however, because we don't know where our son will go to college and I heard many colleges do not accept CLEP. There are more classes offered on this website. Check it out!
Geography for Shrimp: I was just asked to be a home-bound teacher for a sweet boy I tutor. They asked if I would teach him geography at home as well as be his reading tutor. After much prayer, I felt God may be wanting us to do this. So, I decided I will teach both my son and this boy World Geography. I'm going to add in many hands on to make it more interesting.
Shrimp: Saxon Geometry
Grammar, Vocabulary, Spelling, & Literature 8th grade: Abeka - http://www.abeka.com/: combine both children
We will be using spellingcity.com to study the Abeka words and vocab
Writing: IEW Levels B & C at co-op:
http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/mhw-s
I will be teaching IEW level C to highschoolers, so Shrimp will be in my class
Clarinet (Year 2) : Shrimp at co-op
Language: Posie: Chinese (year 2) at co-op, Shrimp: free Spanish language course at home he won from winning Spelling Bee last year
Logic: Shrimp at co-op
Ridgewood Analogy books at home: Both children love doing these
Criminal Science: Posie at co-op (I was very surprised when she told me she wanted to take this.)
Science: Shrimp: Physical Science Abeka 9th, Posie: Science: Posie loves the Apologia books so she is doing the new Exploring Creation through Chemistry. She is so excited about this! I wish I would have been excited about chemistry at her age. She wanted this so bad that this is one of the few books I bought brand new this year since it just was released in Aug.
Typing: Not sure what we're using yet. Again, would love suggestions. We have only tried Typing Instructor so far. Need something new.
Architecture: I found a couple neat websites I would like to share: http://architectureatzero.com/tools/, http://www.archkidecture.org/
I also have him doing different activities for us since we are starting the foster process. He created a floor plan of our home with square footage and a fire escape route. My next project for him will include designing his dream home.
Co-op: At one of our favorite co-ops this year, I will be teaching: High School IEW Level C, 1st-3rd grade Books Alive class, and a Preschool class. This co-op meets every Friday where we have a bible/worship time and 3-4 classes after depending on how long you stay. We are part of several homeschool groups and we love each and every one of them. We go on different adventures with each and have wonderful friendships. We are so blessed to have them part of our lives. I would encourage those of you who are not part of one to seek out a local homeschool group.
Geography Fair, Biography Fair, and Science Fair with co-op
Spelling Bee with co-op: Shrimp
Speech/Drama: Fall/Spring at co-op (this is our children's favorite)
Field trips/Community Service: I will be setting up many fun trips for one of our homeschool groups.
Summer Engineering for Shrimp: He has done this for 2 summers now. I would highly recommend this to any child interested in a science field ( PREP) It is a free 7 week program for children finishing 6th - 10th. He is learning algebra, problem solving, logic, engineering, architect class, & physics. It has been a great experience for him and helped to boost his confidence. In Texas, there are several TEXPREP programs. Check it out and see if you live near one.
Ballet for Posie: This is Posie's passion!
Youth group at church
Dinner time: Our family just started a new thing for dinner time. Each child researches and presents10 facts on a person or place to us at dinnertime. This has been fun and interesting to see what and who our children will choose. Later, we will change it to informing us on a news story they read that day. Some interesting topics: Hitler, The Dog Whisperer, creator of Mine Craft, cereal, & St. Basil's Cathedral.
Reading:
My children love to read and will be known to go through a book a day. They love all kinds of books. Both of my children have loved reading the classics, but they have also enjoyed mysteries, adventure, poetry, nonfiction, and book series. I do not pick out books based on a certain level of reading. I try to pick out real living books for my children: high-quality literature with real-life experiences. But mostly they choose their own books.
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