Get ready, get set...

Almost "GO" time! We are just about ready to begin a fresh academic year. To help ease back into things, I ordered a special gift for each of the kids...


I think these little gifts will help us start off right!

Besides ordering gifts, I have been going through our resources and generating a very loose lesson plan... mostly a plan to go through each lesson as we get to it.... but I have been thumbing through Igniting Your Writing (level 1) and breaking the lessons down into small chunks. There is actually a lot more there than I thought at first glance! I have been able to divide each lesson (Start It Up and Intermediate parts of the lesson) into at least 4 chunks, sometimes more. While I think the program will be a great fit for Cyrus, as the activities are fun and build on themselves, I am breaking it down so he doesn't get overwhelmed - he is a reluctant writer to say the least.

With Cassia, I went through that last minute planning panic again already. I was convinced I had to buy All About Spelling immediately. Even though we don't have any money for this right now. I posted about it on message boards, thought about it, entered two free giveaways (didn't win either), and while I still like the looks of the program, I don't think I need it. All I need with Cassia is consistency (duh.) She likes the look of her (very inexpensive) MCP "Plaid" Phonics so much that she has done work in it of her own accord. And she brought out The Reading Lesson and was re-reading the first stories to herself, and then me. Maybe, just maybe, she is moving past her self-imposed moratorium on reading? Anyhow, I would still love AAS, but not right now.

I also installed Teaching Textbooks on the computer, got all our history books together, and ordered Map Trek: Ancient World from Knowledge Quest. While I don't love downloadable books ( I like holding books in my hands.... the feel of the paper, the weight of the book, illustrations, etc.), I like downloadable, printable items, like worksheets, maps, and that sort of thing. Speaking of which, I need to print off the student pages for our first week of biology, and read through the parent guide. We need a new light bulb for the microscope, and I ordered the program so last minute that I haven't ordered scientific supplies yet, but the author very kindly includes links to online microscope work!

On the table for next week... math, writing/phonics/reading, biology, and history. We'll add in everything else--composer and artist studies, art lessons, The Sentence Family, etc.--bit by bit after the first couple of weeks. That way we're not overwhelmed.

Until then, I'm outta here! We have lots of fun activities still this week, and this evening I have my first class of the semester.