2012/2013 School Year

One of my favorite times of the year is the time right before school is finished. It's not because we'll be on summer break, with lots of carefree time on our hands. Well, okay, that's part of it. I mean, come on!

But for me, it's because I love looking toward the next school year and planning what we're going to use. I love looking at curriculum possibilities, and different ways of organizing our homeschool and our schedule. If you are one of those that loves new school supplies or office supplies, then you know what I'm talking about. Except for homeschooling, it's that feeling, but on steroids!

I love to search online and in catalogs for things that might improve the way we do things, or replace something that just didn't quite work for us. Most of the time I browse just for fun, but with no intention of actually buying anything. Yeah, I can do that. I know many can't, but I'm strong-willed. Sometimes, though, I get the added thrill of looking to buy. I might need a new math program, or a new science book for my oldest child. Sometimes I'm just buying the next level of something we are already using, or the supplements that coordinate with it. For instance, our history curriculum uses real books for the lessons - biographies, historical novels, and literature - for each time period we're studying. So when we move onto the next year plan and the next time period, we need some of the books that go with it.

Truthfully, the majority of what I buy I find used. I mean, why pay $30 for something when you can buy it from someone used for $15, right? So I find what I want to use, and then I search and search for good used options. But sometimes I get lucky am forced to buy it new. I love hate that!

I've already searched for things that I need to get, and things I might want to get. I made a list, and now I'm checking it twice. Now the fun REALLY starts! Purchasing! And then I wait as package after package starts arriving at my doorstep. I'm getting giddy just thinking about it!

Then I get to sit down with everything and plan how to use it for the next year. I also get to plan our project, field trips, and days off at the same time! I already looking forward to Thanksgiving! Ha ha!

Anyway, that's a glimpse into my life right now. My next post I'll share how I plan our weekly schedules. Oooohhh! Dare to dream!

We're going to be starting our second year of home schooling next week. I'm still unsure exactly all that we'll be using, but I'm just going to start with what we have and go from there.

Most of what we used last year was thrown out the door. It didn't work for one reason or another. We started with Singapore Math, Tapestry of Grace, Apologia - Exploring Creation through Astronomy, and a couple handbooks for help with writing, as suggested by Tapestry of Grace.

The only thing we are continuing with this year is Apologia for Science. We finished the Astronomy book and moved onto Botany, and we are still in the middle of it, so we'll just pick up where we left off with a little review. Everything else is going to be different.

The kids both struggled with Singapore. It's more advanced than they were ready for and doesn't offer enough review before moving onto the next concept. Plus, although we were using the U.S. edition, the measurements were all using the metric system. It was kind of hard to measure meters when all you have is a ruler for inches and centimeters. I've never been good at converting to metric, anyway.

Tapestry of Grace was good, but it was frustrating because a lot of the books suggested for reading were not available at the library. I was having to substitute whatever I could and sometimes it just was not comparable or appropriate. There was no instruction for the geography portion so most of what we did was label the kids' maps using the teacher's map. I tried getting atlases at the library but the kids didn't enjoy looking at them or they didn't have the information we needed.

The writing component was also difficult. I liked the idea of having the kids write essays and articles based on what we were learning in history, but they were simply not inspired enough to get creative and have fun. It made it that much more difficult to teach them how they were supposed to write and explain what they were supposed to write about.

This year I decided to focus more on the three R's: Reading, Writing, and 'rithmetic. So I found a math program online that is free and will help get them up to the level they are supposed to be at. The math we'll be using is called Mindsprinting. I would really like to get Math U See but I can't afford it right now.

I also decided to go with Growing with Grammar and Writing Strands for their language arts. We'll continue doing copywork for penmanship and www.aaaspell.com for spelling.

For history and geography, I'm going to try Mystery of History. It's not my first choice, but I think it will be good. My first choice is My Father's World - Exploring Countries and Cultures. It looked like so much fun because it's a full year studying geography from all over the world and all the different cultures. But I can't afford it, so I'm continuing in history where we left off in Tapestry of Grace, which is from the fall of Rome and through the Middle Ages. Mystery of History continues with history chronologically and it also teaches from a Biblical worldview. It also includes a geography component that looks good.

There are some other things we might try this year, but I'll write about those as we start them. I think it is going to be an interesting year!

Thanks for reading!