Do you know what you're using for next year yet?

Yes, I am in the thinking stages at the moment. Considering our long range vision and goals and whether or not we need to adjust.

I priced out what I would like to use, but it came to about $1000.  My budget is about half that, so I guess it is back to the drawing board.  Sheesh.

Yes, mostly.

History is going to be early American history. I came up with family read alouds for the first half of the year and a book list to read aloud to the 3rd and under kids (7 of them by then) as their independent read. The 7th grader will read chapter books independently after the family read aloud each day. Then the second half of the year for history the younger students will listen to me read the Little House on the Prairie series. The 7th grader will choose to go deeper on anything or anyone she is interested in from the time period.

Science for the 7th grader is Apologia General Science. For the 3rd and under crowd it’s nature study and hands on exploration plus fun science books to read.

Math for 2nd, 3rd and 7th is Math U See. Math for the K and under crowd is living math.

Language arts: Narrations oral or written depending on age, Language Lessons for Little Ones Volume 2 from Queens for the 2nd and 3rd grader. Analytical Grammar season 2 for 7th grader plus learning Greek and Latin roots with cards. Writing is still a bit up in the air, I’m reading The Writer’s Jungle from Brave Writer and will try to implement some of that with my 7th grader. Younger ages still have copywork. 7th grader also has prepared dictation with SCM’s Spelling Wisdom. Lots of reading books for fun and learning.

Art/Picture Study – No clue. I have many art materials and tend to let the kids go at them. We have two Artistic Pursuits books for drawing and then the follow up book for those who are interested. I’ll choose some artists before this fall!

Composer/Hymn/Piano – 7th grader has piano lessons. I have Kinderbach here for the younger ones if I get it ready. We learn a new hymn each month. Still need to choose a composer or three for the year.

Handicrafts – I get the materials they want and let them go at it. 🙂

Gospel studies – We memorize 2 scriptures each month, read scripture and discuss. Hoping to help the 2nd and 3rd grader transition to reading from the scriptures for their personal study over the course of the year from reading in children’s versions.

I would like to add some poetry study and Shakespeare next year but we’ll just have to see what life is like when baby 8 arrives. I’ve got nearly everything purchased already, still need a few of the chapter books for history and experiment materials for 7th grader’s science.

I ordered everything appart from grammar, leaning towards Grammar key…

I have just about everything here or at least ordered. I was going to attend our convention, but decided against it since my husband has been layed off. I would spend too much if I went, because I always buy extras:) I am homeschooling just one, so it doesn’t involve quite as much planning.

We are are already using Richele’s Living Math guide. I have ordered Ray’s math and Life of Fred. We’ll see how each works.

I am using Phonics Pathways and will continue that next year. We will also use English for the Thoughtful Child, Queen’s Copywork for Little Girls, Queen’s A Living History of Our World w/ US geography using Uncle Josh’s outline Map and Name That State card game. For Science we will do 106 Days of Creation and I have Queen’s Our Animal Friends curriculum that I may combine with that. I know that will take us more than a year. We will do nature study using Hour’s in the Out-of-Doors.

Bible/character study will be through A Child’s Book of Character Building and Queen’s A Humble Heart. Memorization is done through Ron Hamilton’s Patch the Pirate Club at church and I will give other verses that go along with what is being taught.

Music is done through piano lessons and singing in Patch the Pirate Club. Art is going to be drawing using A Backyard Nature Drawing Guide and I am going to order, for my daughter’s birthday, Barry Stebbing’s Beginning Painting DVDs. She loves art, so I think having professional instruction will be good.

Mostly. In the fall I will have a 4th grader and a 1st grader.

4th grade:

Bible-continue our reading plan from both Old and New Testaments. SCM Scripture Memory 4

Language Arts-continue copywork. Possibly AAS Levels 2 & 3. If he hates Level 2, I’ll figure something else out. Foreign language-unknown. He’s hinting at wanting to learn French or German. Poetry: Robert Frost. May begin keyboarding with Dance Mat.

Math-no formal curriculum. Focus on multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals

Science-Ecosystems using AiG’s God’s Design for Ecosystems. Add in other books to supplement. Study animals of Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand to coincide with geography

Geography-finish our study of world geography.

Mississippi Studies-designing myself using M is for Magnolia, 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi and other books

Literature-undecided. May use combination of AO and SCM lists or come up with something else

Fine Arts-Manet, Rembrandt, Degas, Homer, Handel, Schumann

1st grade (may already be reading):

Listen in with Fine Arts and Bible. Also cover Bible with a story Bible

Reading-work through Little Bear and Frog and Toad and other simple readers

Begin formal copywork that I create. Her self-taught script needs polishing

Poetry-Stevenson and Milne

Literature-continue picture book read alouds. Toward end of year introduce Winnie the Pooh and House at Pooh Corner if her attention span/interest allows

May begin systematic use of Salsa Spanish

Math-no formal curriculum. Will try to follow CM’s scope and sequence from Mathematics: an Instrument for Living Teaching (place value to 100–she can already count and recognize numbers that high; possibly introduce addition if she seems ready). Calendar and clock work

Science-considering doing our own version of 106 Days using books we have on hand.

Will put off formal history/geography until 2nd grade, instead showing any geographic connections on a map and mentioning the time period of a story as it applies

I have it mostly planned.  I think the warm weather of spring that is just around the corner has us all thinking of the coming school year! My kids start 6th, 3rd, K next year, with a 3yo and a newborn in the mix.

For art, I’m going to start my oldest son on creating a masterpiece.  I had been leaning towards the DVD’s through seethelightshine.com, but my son said he would prefer creating a masterpiece, so that’s what we are going with!  The younger ones will just color, draw, paint – nothing formal just yet.

I’m going to continue to use Hands on Homeschooling with my 2 youngest.  I don’t follow it to a T, but pick and choose what I want to do that day.  We also have  a giant booklist we’re working our way through – books like Harry the Dirty Dog and Angus and the Ducks.  Good living books that are a don’t miss.

For our scripture and scharacter study, we’re using this bible reading plan: http://www.kid-friendly-homeschool-curriculum.com/Bible-reading-plans.html along with 365 days through the bible, and once we finish Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends, I’m not sure what we’ll move onto next.

We’ve started using Visual Latin for our oldest, and will continue with that next year.

We will continue with Emma’s Serls books for grammer.

We’ll pick up where we left off on our crocheting for handicrafts.  We started the DVD, and didn’t finish it.

History we move onto the 3rd book in American History in the TruthQuest series. 

I’m planning on reading through the Little House Series with my daughter.  We read it when my son was her age, and she tagged along, but she’s dying to read it again. I’ll have my son pick a few books to read off of AO’s site.

We’ll continue with Ray’s Arithmetic for math and McGuffey Readers for spelling and practice with my daughter’s speech.

For Poetry, we’ll just keep plugging away at the poems in the book Poems old and new.  I think there are enough poems in there to last a lifetime!

We’re following AO 5 for living books with science for my son.  He read almost all of the ones on the SCM list.  My daughter we’re following the SCM list.

I’m going to start having my 5 yo tagging along with Literature, picture study and composer study.  He usually does now, but next year it will be mandatory.  I find it helps them to ease their way into a full school day!