Preparation

  
    School is starting the last week of August for us. I'm sort of excited and fearful all at once. Our 7th was born on November and school went well last year till the second semester. I think I got a little side track after a month and a half break and it was hard for me to get back on track.  Overall, we finished but not without feeling very overwhelmed.

   Necessity is the mother of inventions. All through our homeschooling adventure we have adjusted according to our needs and every child that we have been blessed with. This year it was no different. When we used Weaver it came with a planner, but there was a lot that I didn't write down. Three or 4 years age,when we switched to mostly Rod and Staff, I started using a daily school planner from Rod and Staff and it has become vital to our homeschooling. We include every subject, lesson, week #, date, etc... It may not make sense to others but it keeps the program going.  I have planned up to 9 weeks in advance until this year.  This year I planned everything for K, 1st, 4th, 6th,  and 8th for the first semester! This is a major accomplishment for me!
I really want things to go better this year.

    I also planned out our school day for everyone. A few years ago I bought a book called Managers of Their Homes by Terri Maxwell. I spent a week working on a master schedule and finished it this week. (except for the baby's column) I still need to work on that.  Here's a few pictures but they are not very good.

And a snippet from my planner...

  So what are we doing this year?

Everyone is doing Rod and Staff Math, English, Social Studies, and Science. Spelling for 4th will be Rod and Staff's, but for 6th and 8th we will be doing something like Spelling Power's spelling list and plugging it in to AAASpell.com.  For 8th grade we will be using Apologia's General Science. Kindergarten is using Christian Light's Kindergarten program with a dose of Hooked on Phonics. And 1st grade we will be using Christian Light's LA and Learning to Read with a heavier dose of Hooked on Phonics. We will also be using 4th and 6th grade Christian Light's Reading. And finally, I will be using Lessons from History Creation to 100 BC for  K, 1st,  and 4th grade This is my attempt to bring in the younger children in and make our science and social studies more real to them. My 8th grader will be taking an outside Speech/Debate class as well as a History/Lit class about early Christendom and we are all doing co-op on Tuesdays.Our outside extras also include Piano/Choir on Wednesdays afternoons. Sounds complex? I think so sometimes. This is why I really needed a schedule on paper. I can't hold it in my head anymore.

Homeschooling has taught me several things. Some of them being that we have to adjust to changes. Another being that I need to plan. What works for others may not work for us and vise-versa. We have grown from the days of just a few children to a family with many others to accommodate  I'm preparing to have a good year. And this year, I needed a better prepared plan.