Yippee! I’ve finally finished planning our learning for next school year! (Well, except for a few minor decisions.) Here’s the list for our five children, grades 12, 10, 8, 5, and 2/3. It is very long, so I’ve color coded the different grades to make it easier to find a particular grade.
If you’re interested in what curriculum other families use for learning, you’ll love this week of the Not Back to School Blog Hop. It’s all about curriculum, and currently almost 300 families have joined in to share their plans for the year.
So here are our subject and curriculum choices, color coded as follows: Grade 12, Grade 10, Grade 8, Grade 5, Grade 2/3
All of us
Memorize John 3-8
Keep reviewing last year’s memory work (John 1-2, Prov 1-4, Ps 125, Ps 92) as well as texts from other years
Learn more hymns and Psalms
Read church history
Drill French conjugations and idioms
Read aloud in English and Dutch
Miss 17 (grade 12)
Bible and Worldview
Bible (Hebrews to Revelation)
Church history review
Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Universe Next Door, Seven Men Who Rule the World from the Grave, The Deadliest Monster, Postmodern Times and parts of Beyond Opinion
Reformed faith classes
English
BJUP British Literature
The Roar on the Other Side by Suzanne Rhodes (poetry)
Classics to accompany history (1500 to present), with reports
Two science biographies or other science books, with in-depth reports
Wordsmith Craftsman, partially
Rod and Staff Building Christian English 9/10
Elements of Style
Math
Finish New Additional Math from Singapore
Calculus and/or statistics (university texts and ALEKS)
University of Waterloo Math competition and preparation
Corporate accounting (ALEKS)
Sciences
Advanced Chemistry (Apologia and ALEKS)
Advanced Physics (Apologia)
Anatomy and Physiology of Large Animals (yes, this is a vet course, but she really wanted to do this for advanced biology. She will need to learn background material as well. I think I’ll grade it by having her do a report or a hands-on project for each chapter. She has at least two job shadowing days planned with vets, so that will help. If this becomes too challenging, we will change our plans.)
History
Second half of Spielvogel’s The Human Odyssey, including map work
Read relevant Truth Quest guides and do the assignments
Read and report on classic literature from the time period
Two essays
Time line work
French
Finish BJUP French 2,
French Three Years from AMSCO
Rosetta Stone Levels 2 and 3
Various readings
Speak with co-workers
Dutch
Finish Rosetta Stone level 2
Visit the Netherlands
Read novels and nonfiction
Finish Hugo’s Dutch in Three Months and then begin Taking Dutch Further (if I can get a copy) or some other intermediate level grammar book.
Greek
Finish Elementary Greek 2, an unfinished commitment from the past
The Arts
Music: organ as well as flute, guitar, or fife
Picture Study
Physical Activity
Judo: work on brown belt
Other
Work on dairy farm, full time September and October, part time for the rest of the year
Trip to Netherlands, December
Gary North’s Study Habits (free download at garynorth.com)
Prep and write SAT
Apply to universities and scholarships (This means I need to get transcripts and reports finished!!)
Puppy training
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Mr 15 (grade 10)
Bible and worldview
Bible book summaries (Psalms to Nahum)
Promise and Deliverance (Volume 2 lesson 44 to end of Volume 4)
Church history review
Lifeviews and The Consequences of Ideas by RC Sproul
Catechism classes
English
18 quality works of literature, with reports
Finish The Grammar of Poetry
Three science biographies or other science books, with reports
Rod and Staff Building Christian English 8
Website writing
Wordsmith Craftsman
Peterson Handwriting
Type It by Joan Duffy (until typing speed is 50 wpm)
Math
Geometry (ALEKS and Jacob’s)
New Elementary Math 4A, Singapore
New Additional Math, Singapore
University of Waterloo Math competition and preparation
Logic: computer programming
Computer
Website building (HTML, CSS, XML)
Intro to programming (Java or C, to be decided)
(Optional: prepare for and take University of Waterloo computer competition)
Sciences
Finish Biology (Apologia)
Begin Chemistry (Apologia and ALEKS)
Nature study, nature notebook, and nature walks
History
Streams of Civilization, volume 2 with one report per chapter
historical fiction for each chapter
Powerpoint geography presentation for each chapter
Time line work
French
Finish BJUP French 2,
Start French Three Years (AMSCO)
Rosetta Stone 2
Read short stories
Dutch
Finish Rosetta Stone level 2
Read several exciting teen novels
Finish Hugo’s Dutch in Three Months for grammar
The Arts
Music: organ and recorder
Music theory and history
Picture Study
Physical Activity
Judo: work on brown belt
Swimming lessons
Other
Drivers Education
Volunteering with therapeutic riding
Puppy training
Gary North’s Study Habits (free download at garynorth.com)
Bee keeping
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Miss 12 (Grade 8 )
Bible
Finish Show Me Thy Ways 6
Then quickly do Covenantal Catechism 4
Church history review
Catechism classes
English
18 quality works of literature, with reports
Rod and Staff Building Christian English 6
Spelling Bee
Rod and Staff Spelling 8
Blog writing
Writing Strands (finish level 4, do level 5)
Math
Algebra 1 (ALEKS)
Key to Algebra books 5-10
New Elementary Math 1, Singapore
Start New Elementary Math 2
University of Waterloo Math competition and preparation
Math Score (drill/review)
Building Thinking Skills: Book 3 Verbal
Sciences
Physical Science (Apologia)
Three science biographies or other books, with reports
Nature study, nature notebook, and nature walks
History
CLP Streams of Civilization volume 1
historical fiction for each chapter
mapwork for each chapter
Time line work
Geography
Contact Canada (with The Home Works Study Guide)
French
Finish French is Fun 1,
Begin French is Fun 2
Rosetta Stone level 1, 2
Dutch
Finish Rosetta Stone level 2
Read at least one novel
Do copywork
The Arts
Music: organ and recorder
Music history and theory
Picture Study
ArtPac 7
Physical Activity
Swimming lessons
Cross country skiing
One organized activity, to be decided
Other
Volunteering with therapeutic riding
Puppy training
Sewing
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Miss 10 (Grade 5)
Bible
Show Me Thy Ways 4
Covenantal Catechism, level 2
English
Living Together, Pathway reader and workbook
Natural Speller
Spelling Bee
Intermediate Language Lessons
Type It by Joan Duffy
Peterson Hand writing
Math
Key to Decimals
Finish Key to Metric Measurement
Math Galaxy: Decimals Proportions and Percent Fun
Quarter Mile Math for drill
MathScore, drill and review
Sciences
Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day (Apologia)
Nature study, nature notebook, and nature walks
History
A Pioneer Story, A Pioneer Thanksgiving, A Pioneer Christmas, and The Kid’s Book of Canada by Barbara Greenwood
Fifty Famous Stories by James Baldwin (from Ambleside Online)
Historical novels
Story of the World, all volumes by Susan Wise Bauer (just reading)
Time line work
Geography
Finish Homelands Around the World
French
Powerglide Junior or Rosetta Stone 1 (haven’t decided yet)
Dutch
Finish Rosetta Stone level 2
Read alouds and songs
The Arts
Organ and guitar
Picture Study
ArtPac 4
Physical Activity
Swimming lessons
Judo
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Miss 7 (Grade 2/3)
Bible
Covenantal Catechism Level 2
English
Climbing Higher, New Friends, More New Friends (Pathway readers and workbooks)
All About Spelling 2
Finish English for the Thoughtful Child
First half of Primary Language Lessons
Peterson Handwriting
Math
Miquon Blue Book, Green Book, and maybe begin Yellow Book
Math Galaxy: Whole Numbers Fun
Quarter Mile Math (drill)
Sciences
Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day (Apologia)
Nature study, nature notebook, and nature walks
History
A Pioneer Story, A Pioneer Thanksgiving, A Pioneer Christmas, and The Kid’s Book of Canada by Barbara Greenwood
Fifty Famous Stories by James Baldwin (from Ambleside Online)
Geography
Finish Homelands Around the World
French
Powerglide Junior or Rosetta Stone 1 (haven’t decided yet)
Dutch
Finish Rosetta Stone level 2
Read alouds and songs
The Arts
recorder
Picture Study
ArtPac 3
Physical Activity
Swimming lessons
I came over from the “Hop”. Looks like a fabulous line up! I hope you have a great school year.
LOVE that puppy training is on the list! This is what makes homeschooling so wonderful. We also have puppy training on our list. Best of luck in the new year!
Thanks! The puppy training is the one thing I’m nervous about, though! LOL
Annie Kate
WHEW! I am so tired after reading your list. You are an awesome mom and I pray huge blessings on your for the difference you are making in the world!
Hi Carrie,
It’s the children doing the work, so I won’t be as tired as you’d think. 🙂 Although the very thought of starting school again makes me tired.
I’ve also been careful to choose curricula that don’t require me to be a teacher. That makes a huge difference.
Thank you for your prayers.
Annie Kate
found your post first; going to explore the hop later. I love finding Canadian homeschoolers. I especially appreciate your Canadian history selections. Need to look into those. I have a couple kids at that age (girls).
I enjoyed seeing all your “classes” for your kids! I appreciate that you have on there “finish” ______. I finally after years of homeschooling realized that when summer break came I needed that break! What ever was not done would wait till fall! I am working on lesson plans now and finally getting motivated for the fall.
Thanks for your kind words. Yes it is difficult to imagin 200 steps….and please continue to pray for total healing. I pray every day for that! It has been 10 years since the diagnosis…we have seen Gods hand in it all. He is not wheel chair bound, He is not totally crippled. ( orginal prognosis) He does live in constant pain and discomfort. We were just sharing today how this difficulty in our lives turned us more toward God.
Absolutely! Finishing a book need not coincide with finishing a year, or even finishing a grade. Realizing that was a major breakthrough for me, too.
God bless you and keep you close to Him. And, yes, I’ll keep on praying.
(((Hugs)))
Annie Kate
I’m tired too! It looks like a great plan Annie Kate.
BTW, since you’re apparently coming from a Reformed perspective, TOG would probably suit you fine, opinionated or not ;-). But, you seem to do just fine without it!
Wow, that is an impressive list! Of course, even my kids get a lot done every year and it amazes me how much. High school intimidates me, but I know it’ll work out by the grace of God. As you say, they can take control of their schooling more and more as they mature.
Thanks also for identifying our gigantic “tomato hornworms” which is as descriptive a name as I’ve ever come across. We were admiring the horns. And they sure liked our tomato plant!
Just wanted to make sure you saw my reply to your comment on my blog. I’ll repost it here:
Annie Kate,
The meme is weekly and it’s all about being Canadian. We all get the linky; it’s the same on every page; there is a code (Get the code here).
And my schedule, well, this is the first year I’ve done it so detailed. We’ll see how it works. I’ve been experimenting with MOTH and it’s been working, so we’ll try. In fact this week I have not been following our schedule and the house and the kids are MISERABLE!!!!
Your plans look terrific. It looks like your family has a rich year of learning ahead.
You certainly will be busy this year! Quite a few interesting subjects on your list. I am still compiling the last of our own list, but I am thinking about posting it this week or weekend–even though it is too late to join this blog hop.