Best-Laid Plans

I can't believe the summer is coming to an end already.  We have one and half weeks and then we are off to Cape Cod, where we go yearly.  This year, we are going Labor Day weekend and the week after -- we are paying off-season rates and will enjoy emptier beaches and restaurants.  Yet another reason to homeschool!

We are going to start school the week we get back, so I am scrambling to get everything prepared.  Ever since we knew that Christopher would be coming home this summer, I started -- very slowly --  getting things ready because I knew desk work would be hard with a baby.  Good thing I did that because Christopher might just be my fussiest baby (and I thought it couldn't get worse than Olivia).  I simply cannot get Christopher to stop crying and arching his back lately.  Sitting at the computer with him around is almost impossible.

Last year, I would prep every Sunday for the entire week.  I am trying to get most of that out of the way this summer by prepping for the year now.  What I mean by prepping is putting all of my assignments into my online Olly homeschool organizer, reading skimming all the instructor guides, getting the supplies organized so we can grab them easily, and planning our schedule.

I don't really need to put all of the assignments into Olly because I use Sonlight, and their Instructor Guides plan out everything very nicely for us.  But, I think these guides are mostly helpful for the teacher, not for the students.  One of my biggest homeschool goals is for my kids to become independent and organized learners.  For instance, when I am working with the boys in the morning on their reading, I want Olivia to be able to come downstairs and open her weekly assignment folder and be able to start on her work that she can do without me (workbooks, reading, etc.)  Olly is fantastic for laying out a student's assignments.  Here is an example of one of Olivia's assignment sheets from last year:

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I am just now beginning to lay out 36 weeks of assignments, with a few weeks left blank because I know we will need them if we get off-track due to illness or whatever life throws at us.

I also laid out a weekly schedule for our family.  I got the template from the Busy Homeschool Mom.  This is really just a guideline for us because I know we won't follow it to the letter.  But it is a rough idea of what order we should do things in.  Kids seem to do better when they know what is next.  So do I.

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Our curriculum choices have not changed much from last year, except for math.  Also, we have added Ellie as an office "Tiger Academy" student.  She is so eager to learn and write her letters and numbers; just so cute.

Olivia (4th Grade):

Math:  Singapore Level 4   -- Additional work with a tutor.  We will supplement with Math-U-See
Delta and Beast Academy 4A

Language Arts:  Sonlight Core Language Arts E and Latin Bridge

History and English:  Sonlight Core E, American History Part 2 + Readers (with Nicholas)

Science:  Sonlight Science E, Electricity, Magnetism, and Light  (with Nicholas)

Foreign Language:  Mandarin lessons with tutor, supplement with Rosetta Stone CD-rom

Music:  Homeschool Choir, guitar lessons

Art:  Kiwi Crates (I know, this is pretty lame but I just can't in a full-blown art lesson)

Sports:  Water Polo, Fencing, Ice Skating (in the winter)




Nicholas (2nd Grade):

Math:  Singapore Level 2   -- Additional work with a tutor.  We will supplement with Math-U-See
Beta

Language Arts:  Sonlight Core Language Arts 2 + Readers

History and English:  Sonlight Core E, American History Part 2

Science:  Sonlight Science E, Electricity, Magnetism, and Light

Foreign Language:  Mandarin lessons with tutor, supplement with Rosetta Stone CD-rom

Art: Kiwi Crates

Sports:  Water Polo, Swim team, ice skating (winter)



Peter (1st Grade):

Math:  Singapore Level 1   -- Additional work with a tutor.  We will supplement with Math-U-See
Alpha

Language Arts:  Sonlight Core Language Arts 1 + Readers (might jump to LA 2 because Peter is progressing rapidly in reading)

History and English:  Sonlight CoreB, Intro to World History

Science:  Sonlight Science B: Animals, Astronomy, and Physics

Foreign Language:  Mandarin lessons with tutor, supplement with Rosetta Stone CD-rom

Art:  Kiwi Crates

Sports:  swimming lessons, Swim team, ice skating (winter), possibly martial art of some kind




Ellie (Pre-K):

Math:  Math-U-See Primer

Language Arts:  Handwriting without Tears

History, English, and Science:  Sonlight Core Pre-K

Foreign Language:  Mandarin lessons with tutor

Sports:  swimming lessons, gymnastics

Music and Art:  stuff with Mom and Christopher, Kiwi Crates