My official plans for next year. I’m posting them now in hopes of feedback – is it too much?
For C.O. – first/second grade:
Math, 4-5x weekly:
*Saxon Math 2
Language Arts, 4-5x weekly:
*Houghton Mifflin Spelling & Vocabulary - Phonics in Action (2nd half of book 1, then move into book 2)
*Reading aloud (moving through Bob Books and then?)
*Copywork
*Assisting in writing penpal letters
*I’ll be reading aloud too – books like The Wind in the Willows, Magic Treehouse series, Frog & Toad, Aesop’s Fables, etc.
History, 2x weekly (one reading day, one hands-on day, 1-2 “projects” a month):
*Story of the World 1 - The Ancients
*Activity guide for SOTW, plus various coloring books & other creative activities, mapping, and maybe a timeline of one sort or another
Science, 2x weekly (one reading day, one hands-on day, 1-2 “projects” a month):
*Biology (animal, human, plant) through hands-on experiments/projects (growing plants, hatching butterflies, muilding model of human body, nature walks, etc.)
*The series Lets-Read-&-Find-Out, as well as coloring books, Zoobooks and more (still considering MPH, but need to look at it first!)
Art, 1x weekly (plus history & science art):
*Lots of hand-on projects, experimenting with various media
Music, 1x weekly:
*Continue listening to classical music, focusing on music from the regions of the world we are studying in history. We also listen to a lot of classical music in the car! Also thinking about The Story of the Orchestra as a sort of spine, adding in more music from each period/instrument covered in the book.
P.E., 1-2x weekly:
*Looks like it will be martial arts of some type!
Extracurricular (Social studies, community service, etc.):
*4-H: Community Service, Arts & Crafts, other projects as desired
*Park days, homeschooling association field trips...
For C.J. – pre-K (K4):
Math, as desired:
*Saxon Math K
Language Arts, as desired:
*Letter of the Week
*Printouts from Enchanted Learning, and activities at Starfall
*Assisting in writing penpal letters
*Story-time with C.O. (see above)
History, Science, Art, and Music:
*See above. I plan to have C.J. do a less intensive version of the history and science than C.O., as she desires!
P.E., 1-2x weekly:
*Ballet, martial arts or gymnastics
Extracurricular:
*Some 4-H participation, field trips, park days, and so forth!
So, that’s it. What do y’all think? Am I missing anything? Is it too much for a 6 year-old and a 4 year-old? I have considered adding in, very lightly, English from the Roots Up, but am still debating. Also still under consideration is First Language Lessons.
Well, since it looks exactly like my schedule with a few alternate curriculum choices, lol, I think it looks great! Here is what I honestly think about our schedules though (at least for me) - it's an ideal and something to strive for. I really doubt that I will be able to stick to that schedule most of the time but it gives me something to work for. Hopefully that will be encouraging rather than frustrating.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe it will work just fine! I really have no idea what a 6-yr old is really like, never having had one! I do know that this schedule seems similar (and perhaps a little light) compared to others doing a classical education. My biggest problem, I think, is actually going to be keeping it interesting and active. I have a hard time getting them to settle down and read/listen to something sometimes. But wait, this is your blog not mine. ;) I think CO and CJ will do just fine with it!! I am surprised you don't have a formal art curriculum in there, being such an artist yourself.
I think your schedule sounds fine, but that could be because mine is like yours. (Hey, that's what Jenny said. LOL)
ReplyDeleteOur schedule is printed out and on the refrigerator so the kids know what's up for the day. I would say that we get about 90% of the stuff done mostly. Some days, we hit 100%, and other days, maybe 80%. I figure it all evens out by the end of the school year.
The thing, for me, is for the schedule to have some flexibility in it. I am, for the most part, a very organized homeschooler, but I've learned to ease up on some stuff and going with the kids' moods. That doesn't mean they get out of their schooling, but I've learned to read the signs that maybe we'll do a little more today or a little less, depending.
When I first started homeschooling, I was a slave to our schedule and ended up so stressed. Then, reading some classical curriculum schedules, I was even MORE stressed because it seemed like we did so little in comparison. I think now in our second year of schooling that I've learned that schedules are supposed to be our assistants in schooling, not our taskmaster.
That said, schedules are awesome for helping organizing the day. And I think yours looks fine.
Best of luck with it!
Maria