Planning the Homeschool Year (2014–2015)

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August is here and for many of us that means the beginning of a new school year. Our local schools start back on August 20th and I plan to do the same, even if it is a soft start for my boys.

 

The reason for a soft start this year is that I have yet to finalize what materials and classes the boys will be doing this year.  I will have a pre-K, 9th and 12th grader in the house (the 6th grader is planning to return to school this year.)

 

 

Planning the Homeschool Year for High School

While I have guidelines to follow for our correspondence school, there is still a bit of freedom in how to approach learning.  I also try to have the boys involved in the selection process so they have more ‘buy-in’ when the going gets tough.

 

 

Here is what is penciled in for the boys so far this year with a few tweaks left to be made.

 

R’s Grade 9 Schedule

 

Math ~ Algebra I
He needs to finish Math U See Pre-algebra & Algebra during the school year.

English ~ Composition
Write at Home’s Composition 1 as well as literature selections from mom which may include use of Mirrors & Windows Level 4 books.  I’m looking forward to having someone else evaluate R’s writing and provide feedback.  There’s also a writing co-op in town, but it might be too much to manage with everything else.

Science ~ Physical Science

I plan to order the lesson plans from Kolbe to remove the planning from my schedule.  They use Prentice Hall’s Physical Science which is what I used with P.  However, it was labor intensive figuring out what to assign and when to assign it.

Social Studies ~ Alaska History

This is required and we were blessed to win an online course for this.  Yeah for mom as it also removes some of the responsibility from me.
Academic Decathlon

We are still working out what this will be labeled as for his transcript (a science or social studies), but I’ve made it a required part of freshman year as it makes you dig deeper into a topic and you get lots of practice with speeches and interacting with others in study groups.

Physical Education

We’ll most likely do Beachbody programs for this as well as count time shoveling snow and doing outdoor activities.  Hopefully it won’t take long to reach the 90 hour mark.

Health

I haven’t finalized my approach, but he’ll do this tag team with his older brother as it is a requirement for graduation.  I’m thinking time in the kitchen will be included.

 

P’s 12th Grade Schedule

Math ~ undecided at this time

P has taken forever to complete Math U See’s pre-calculus.  Ideally, we’ll do calculus.  However, my tired brain might not be able to handle it.  He already has 4 math courses under his belt and that’s all that is required for the Alaska Performance Scholarship.

English ~British Literature

We’re going to use Mirrors & Window’s British Literature along with the Lightning Literature and Composition: British Medieval  we recently reviewed.  Additionally, I love the selections for Sonlight and will be looking at their British Literature program for ideas.

Science ~ Chemistry

We’ll be using Prenltice Hall’s Chemistry and I am ordering lesson plans from Kolbe for it.  I am hoping to run a chemistry lab course starting in the fall for local families so that it is better incorporated into their schedules.

Social Studies ~ American Government and/or Economics

I’m still praying over this one….but know that he needs a firm foundation to be a better citizen.

Academic Decathlon

I’ll be his fourth year in the study group and hopefully his third year competing if he can make the team.

Spanish 2

Just in case he elects to attend school outside of Alaska, a second year of a foreign language is a must.  While I would love to save money by purchasing a program that R can use later, I know that Homeschool Spanish Academy worked better for him.

Physical Education

P has expressed interest in scuba diving, but we’ll have to see if it can fit into our schedule.  Otherwise, it is Beachbody and outdoor stuff for him as well.

Health

Done with his younger brother with materials yet to be determined.

Possibly Driver’s Education IF it will have a positive effect on our insurance rates once he obtains his license.

 

 

Planning the Homeschool Year for Preschool

In many ways, this is the easiest to do and also the most fluid.  I’m planning to use materials already in the house and take a more delight-directed approach. 

 

Items I plan to use with J include:

 

Homegrown Preschooler which has lots of fun hands on ideas.

TouchMath

CTC Math (Review)

Foundations A by Logic of English

Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row materials (including Homeschool Share for free resources)

In the Hands of a Child lapbooks for science and history fun

 

 

Past posts related to planning include:

5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials ~ Create a Plan for Success

5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials ~ Lesson Planning

Planning for Success in Learning

Curriculum, Kids, and a Frazzled Homeschool Mama leads to Controlled Chaos!

Setting a Course of Study, or Planning your School Days for Success

Keeping a Captain’s Log

 

What are you planning to use in your homeschool this year?

How often do you shift gears during the year to use something else?

 

 

 

Please consider visiting other bloggers sharing during this blog hop.  Below are just a few of those participating.

 

Nikki @ Angels of Heart
Tauna @ Proverbial Homemaker
Melanie @ finchnwren
Sarah @ Delivering Grace
Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory
Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy
Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road