Several of you have asked what we are using this year. I get slightly overwhelmed thinking about everything we are using, but I'm excited because we finally broke free of school-in-a-box and created a school year customized to our child, our beliefs and our preferences! And, just because we have it, it doesn't mean we will use all of it...we'll see how (and where) it goes!
Like last year, we will do Bible, reading, writing and math every day and then rotate through other subjects throughout the week. We also don't do everything during "school hours". We usually do Character Concepts for family devotions and we do Read Alouds for quiet time or bed time. Art and PE vary according to what we have time for but we often replace those with NoNut's current interests (sports, field trips, etc.).
I'm noticing that the older your child gets, the longer your school day gets, too. The 30-45 minute school days are long gone, and even now, I'm wondering if two hours will be long enough! We have yet to have a full day of school, so it will be interesting when it all comes together next week. Like every other year, we will be tweaking our schedule a lot the first few weeks especially as we juggle hanging out with friends who are on summer vacation and going to the pool. However, going to the pool is the best incentive for getting school done work early!
Here is what we are using this year:
- History: Sonlight Core C, God's World News
- Science: Science in the Beginning; How Things Work book; Magic School Bus (books and Netflix)
- Math: Horizons, Life of Fred (Butterflies & Cats)
- Language Arts: Explode the Code, Easy Grammar, Sonlight Reading, All About Spelling, Handwriting Without Tears and Sonlight Read Alouds
- Bible: Positive Action Bible, Character Concepts Kids of Character, Notgrass' Walking in the Truth and words2remember4kids
- Extracurricular (as we have time/desire): Baby Lambs Book of Art (still working on How Great Thou ART curriculum...it still has not captured our interest like we had hoped even after meeting the author) and Fitness 4 Homeschool (Family Time Fitness).
While we were traveling this past weekend, I began creating our lesson plans for the first ten weeks of school. Every year, I relied on Sonlight to tell us what to do and when for every subject, so it was rather fun creating our own lesson plans. Okay, I felt liberated and like a Sonlight rebel creating our own version of the familiar Sonlight boxed schedule! It is exciting to see everything come together for a new school year!
NoNut and I had our usual ice-cream celebration after we mailed off our Notice of Intent (NOI) last week. And then we celebrated again when we received the customary NOI form letter from the Superintendent. Every year, we use these days to celebrate the freedom and blessing to homeschool. We want NoNut to realize that homeschooling is a gift and a sacrifice that come at a cost. There are many pioneers who fought for the right to educate our children at home and we have no clue what the future holds for the freedom of this educational choice. So we purposefully celebrate this freedom and thank God for this blessing!
NoNut asked me today if we can start school on Friday because he just can't wait to officially start his school year on Monday! I love my child's enthusiasm for school and for his desire to learn, to snuggle up together and read the afternoon away (although we don't need school to do that...) and to see what adventures await him each school day (me, too)! While we have a lot on our plate this year, I am confident that God will lead us to what He wants us to know for each day. He will lead us to the right resources, right field trips, right contacts and right opportunities that enrich and complement NoNut's education.
Here is to another great year...!
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