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School Prep for a New Year – How is it going?
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I’m wondering how everyone’s prep for the new school year is going? While we do a little academics during the summer, we move to new subjects in August some time.
That means I’m currently trying to wrap my head around our new materials and figure out what our routine/schedule will be to meet everyone’s needs during the day with just one of me to go around. This year I’m doing one on one tutoring with my 10th grader in the morning (10am) for an hour. Before that I’ll do group work with the rest of the kids while she works independently. During our tutoring the other kids will have a break and then do their individual literature reading.
I’m also still gathering experiment supplies for science – this year we’re doing chemistry and physics.
Beyond that, I think we’re ready.
What about you?
I’m hoping to start in August too…which is quickly arriving! We will need to take a gardening/canning break at the end of summer and are going to Florida this fall, so we’ll take of 2-3 weeks then.
I’m still not at peace with our schedule. Right now, I’m planning to have preschool & 1st grader’s mom-time at the beginning of the day. The older ones can get started on their independent work. Then we’ll have Latin & 3Rs. That should take us to mid-day. We’ll break for lunch (with them in charge of the cooking this year). After lunch we’ll have our “morning basket” and 1-2 other subjects (science, history, art, geography, or Bible). Following that will be some outdoor & chore time.
I’ve yet to gather science supplies. 🙁 We’re focusing on physics this year, so I have quite a few things to locate or purchase. I’m also trying to prepare by reading through my teacher guides as much as possible. Getting ahead of them in Latin has been my other summer project. I’m currently 7 weeks into MP’s Henle guide and a ways into Visual Latin’s lessons.
My other big project is trying to organize and declutter the house. It’s been two steps forward/one step back. We’ve had lots of company this summer and unexpected delays taking up my time.
I guess I’m not as far along as I’d like, but farther along than I feared I’d be at this point. lol
Well, to make life easier on me (plus, I like the selections), we’ll be using AO. I’ve had to pick up a few books they use that I didn’t have, but otherwise most were on my shelves. We’ll still be using several resources from SCM, co-op classes and some other odds and ends. I’m *trying* to get some binders/notebooks together and pre-read what I can, but my health gets in the way.
My oldest will be a senior and although that’s almost unbelievable, he’s ready to move into even more independence with his life. So, he’ll be working more this coming year and do the regular Gov/Econ, English, some Fine Arts and an instrument.
I’ve been selling a lot lately since my boys are getting older and bringing in some material that is new to us, so that’s been pretty exciting 🙂
We work through the summer, but on a lighter schedule. We’re starting the fall semester in September because I babysit part time through the summer. When the kid I babysit goes back to school, we want to use August for some family connection time. Plus my daughter’s birthday is in August.
I have the school year loosely planned. I made my own planner this year with quarterly “how are we doing” pages that I can jot down notes and see what needs to be changed. I believe education should be ever flowing and alive, so sometimes we need to change things up. I also added quarterly goals for myself, books I want to read, etc. because I want to always be learning too.
I’m really excited about starting fresh in the fall!
I have most of our plans/resources scribbled out on paper, but I keep changing my mind about details. 🙂 Our baby is due in November and I’m probably over-planning, but I hope we can fit it all in. I’ll have a 10 yo, 8yo, 6yo beginning to read, and a very rambunctious 3yo! One strategy I’m using this year is to do science the first half of the year as a family and have dd10 to do history during the last half. The boys will have history read-alouds throughout the year.
Things have been very light over the summer. We will start our new term in September. I am trying to get my mind around what I want to accomplish, picking up the pace a bit yet still keeping things lighter than they were last fall/winter. It is so easy to be excited about all that we can be learning that I want to fit it ALL in, but I have seen great results from our simple summer, so I may add in a few more things and just let the rest wait.
Maybe focus on Science/Nature Study for awhile.
It is not going well, because I’ve not begun yet. For the life of me I can’t seem to pin down what I want to use with my rising 8th grader and I must confess that I’m a little stressed about the situation. My plan is to do a stagger start with the boys, starting the older one earlier and hopefully getting him into a routine. I’m hoping that will make things a tad easier. I also need to make a RR order soon and earnestly begin looking into the program’s I have to see what I think will work.
We are already a good month into our new school year since we school year round. Everything is going pretty smoothly. We are adding in a few interest led studies and we recently decided to switch back to Truthquest history.
Tristan-Speaking of interest led studies-what are you using for your daughter’s herbology course? My daughter has expressed interest in this area and I’m not sure what we will use at this point.
Melanie – Makayla does Herpetology, the study of reptiles, not Herbology. 😉 I suspect that resources I offer won’t be helpful! LOL
Des – I remember how important those 8h grade decisions felt and how paralyzing it was! Hang in there. Check your shelves to see what you already have that he could use. Then shop after that.
I have my big picture set out, but I need to do more of my own prep and read the teacher manuals and get things organized. I was able to clear out my boys’ binders and get them ready for starting fresh. We weren’t going to break for the summer, but with family visits this time of year, I decided it was too stressful to do a day here or there. Plus I think we all needed a break.
In August we will pick up where we left off and start with fresh minds and hearts, Lord willing! And thank the Lord, I have had some of my physical needs met, and I’m hoping that will give our homeschool a renewed spirit and ability to move forward at a better pace.Becca that sounds wonderful. I was just reading my high schooler’s writing manual last night because it is new to me.
Well, all my curriculum is in, read aloud books on the shelf, printables are printed (Visits to maps, Using Language Well lessons, Spelling Wisdom lessons, Science Notebook pages printed (106 Days of Creation & CGC) and Handwriting sheets. This will be our first year doing 4 day school weeks! My life needs margin built in for this season 🙂 I am organizing my year by terms (around 9 weeks per term). So, as far a preparations go, I’m ready! However, I am still finding it challenging to figure out how I will get to everyone! I have 6 kiddos 8 and under! That’s a lot of people that ALL require me!!! My oldest (8yrs old/3rd grader) can do Spelling, Handwriting & Visits to map work independently, but everything and I do mean everything else requires me! Then there are my two 1st graders that require me for everything. I was trying to make a schedule mainly so I could look at all I had to do and who I could work with while my oldest was working independently & I still can’t completely figure out how to get almost everything in to the morning this upcoming year! I am taking lots of deep breaths and having lots of talks with myself. Does anyone else do that? I have to remind myself it will all get done, but on paper, I can’t imagine how. LOL Other than that, we are golden. Our art supplies came in this past week. We are looking forward to Artistic Pursuits this year. We are just doing it 1 afternoon a week! I have been slowly gathering all the science resources we will need! We are starting the next school year in exactly 1 week (mid-July) after a 6 week break, which is just perfect to me! I am very much looking forward to our next school year!!!
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