2010-2011 school year goals

Well, not so much goals as some things we'd like to cover.....somehow.....:

Ancient History: Egypt, Greece and Rome.....we covered these last year a bit, but due to circumstances beyond our control, did not get to do the fun activities we had planned or go into as much depth as we would have liked. However, we are facing this year with waaaaaay more stuff than we need for each of the above (Rainbow Resource is like crack to a homeschool mom) so the challenge will be deciding which to do first!

Unit studies/lapbooks/notebooking: So far I have a few planned......I'll report as we actually do them, because photos are more fun.

Science: We'll be getting together with my sister in law and her kids for this subject once a week, after swimming. We'll be starting with Human Body and then Chemistry. At least that's the plan......we're all science buffs and tend to get off-topic and into other science experiments at the drop of a hat. I also have Lyrical Life Science on cd and since my daughter is definitely an auditory learner, we tend to throw in extras that she enjoys listening to at bedtime. [Current cds on her night table: Oliver Twist, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and biographies of Louis Pasteur and Gallileo (she asks for them! I swear!).]

Art/music appreciation: For this we'll be using the excellent program designed by Barb at http://www.harmonyartmom.blogspot.com/ as well as maintaining a nature journal.

For my preschool sidekick I have Before Five In A Row. He'll also be attending an all-French daycare a few days per week which I expect he will soon be speaking as alarmingly well as he does English. Soon he'll be able to argue fluently in either language! Gosh, I can't wait.......

Copywork: Again, more choice available than days in the year. Definitely have this covered!

Other stuff: We're currently working our way through Volume 1 of Beyond Five In A Row. We have so far spent about a month on the first two chapters of Boxcar Children because we were having too much fun playing with soap and eating things made with blueberries. Eventually we'll get to the geography, writing, and all the other things that make BYFIAR great!

Math: Math-U-See Delta and any related game that strikes our fancy (or can be used as an excuse to eat M&Ms and call it school).

What's everyone else got up their sleeve for this year? I'd love to hear what others are planning to do.

A New Homeschool Year

Well, we are entering year 6 of homeschooling. Child #1, who will be 18 this weekend, has finished high school and has decided to work for a year before taking any courses. Child number 2, almost 10, will be in grade 4, and we have a preschooler, about to turn 3, joining us in some of our activities this year too. With the able assistance of our two dogs (always willing to eat failed cooking experiments!) we should have a great year.

Our homeschooling tends to lean towards Charlotte Mason's philosophy but we can never resist a good unit study..... I'm hoping that blogging our school year (with photographic evidence!) will encourage us to actually do all the fun things that we plan out every year and only do half of. You other homeschoolers know exactly what I'm talking about; I bet you have as many shelves and boxes of extra curricula that you couldn't resist, too.