Where, oh where do the summer days go? Here it is three weeks from the new school year and we’re still finishing up all the things I had planned for the last! According to state law, we accomplished our school year months ago, but for myself, we still have things to cover.
So I guess this means we’ll be starting the new school year by continuing on with what we’re using. Not as exciting as cracking open a fresh new book, but hey, learning isn’t about new books, is it? What good is excellent material if you’re just ‘getting through it’.
I have a feeling this upcoming year is going to be a real adventure for us. For the first time in our homeschooling career, we have a year full of unknowns. Instead of a daily schedule outlined for the entire year, we’re starting off with a rough draft. I’ve got an idea of what I want to accomplish but I’m more concerned with the actual learning rather than checking boxes. I suppose this is a sign that I’m becoming a more confident home educator and more comfortable with natural learning.
Some of our variables this year include, the meshing of two full history curriculums – one literature-based and the other hands-on activity-based. My plan is for this to take us a year and a half… we’ll see. lol
Another variable, is our participation in the Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s Homeschool Crew. We’ve already begun testing out new materials – some I never would’ve thought to include in our schooling.
At the beginning of a typical year, I would spend several hours planning out daily assignments for the entire year. I would enter all of these into my Homeschool Tracker Plus and calculate the hours and attendance for the entire upcoming year. Not so this year. I’m going to try entering on a weekly basis this year. Let’s see if this works. I’m praying I keep my self-discipline!
While most of my curriculum plans are purchased and half-way planned, science remains a mystery. I have several lapbooks lined up and some curriculum to use as a guide but no real ‘plan’. I think God has providentially had me do this. He’s definitely moving in our family at the moment, (I’ll share more about this at another time) and I think the science thing will have a role in His plans. I’m not completely sure how this will play out, I just… know this is right and purposeful.
So these are our ‘plans’. I’ve also discovered a new resource called Lesson Pathways that I’m excited about. I’ll share more about this at a later time too. For now, you can check them out, here.
Sara O’