Monday, July 18, 2011

School Year 2011-2012

It's getting closer and closer to school starting, so I need to put together a plan to make sure these kids get educated over the next year.

To start with, here are our general academic goals for both kids before they finish their formal education:

  • They will be fully literate with very good oral and written communication skills.
  • They will have good “number sense” with the ability to use math to manage their money as well as whatever math is required for any higher education that they choose.
  • They will have a good understanding of the tenets of the Christian faith and the contents of the Bible along with a basic understanding of the other major world religions.
  • They will understand the basics of world history and how the Church and our country fit into that history.
  • They will have read a wide range of literature.
  • They will know how to find information that they need.

Now, on to specifics for the 2011-2012 school year.

Rosie Girl (11th grade)

Bible – New Testament Survey

- Rosie Girl will read through the New Testament in conjunction with How to Read the Bible Book by Book and write an essay after she finishes each book.

History – Twentieth Century World History.

- Sonlight Core 300 reading with one essay after she finishes studying each decade of the 20th century.

Literature – Twentieth Century World Literature

- Sonlight Core 300 literature with an essay after she finishes each book.

Composition

- Write At Home – Research paper workshop in the 2nd quarter in conjunction with her science studies.

- Essays for Bible, History, and Literature.

Creative writing – She regularly writes stories for fanfiction.net and will probably be in the high school writing club.

Science – The Science of Music

- This is a self-directed half-credit course. Rosie Girl will study either the science of how music is made and/or the science of how music affects people. (If she decides to do both, we will extend this to a full-credit course.) She will keep a journal of her reading, do a presentation after the first quarter of the year, and write a research paper (in conjunction with her composition course) in the second quarter of the year.

Math – Algebra 2 (ALEKS)

Japanese – BYU online course

Art 3 – Local high school course

Metals – Local high school course (in the art department)

Piano and Keyboards

- Lessons at Lawrence Academy

- Playing keyboards with the worship team at church once a month.

Music Composition and Arranging – at Lawrence Academy (if there are enough students to have the course.

Physical Education

- Tap dance class and perhaps acting as a demonstrator for more basic classes at Dance Dynamics.

- Regular exercise – walking, biking, etc.

Community Service

- Helping our church's Worship Arts Director once a week.

Occupational Education

- Working at The Knitting Nest (our family business – opening August 23) as we need her.

- Babysitting

- (Possibly) teaching piano lessons

Wild Man

Bible – Apologetics

- Wild Man will read several books on apologetics over the course of the year with discussions and journaling to supplement.

History/Science – Weapons

- Wild Man wants to study weapons this year. For at least half a year (and, perhaps, the whole year), Wild Man will read Warrior and Weapon, two books that study warriors and weapons through world history. He will then use other materials (books, internet, etc.) to study the specific time periods in history, the important conflicts, and the weapons that were used. He will also take Hunter Safety course as well as go with family friends to use various types of weapons (bows and arrows as well as firearms) on a closed range. He will learn to use weapons safely. This course will cover both social science and natural science as he learns the historical use of weapons along with the mechanics of how they work. Wild Man will journal daily and do a project each quarter.

Math – ALEKS

Literature

- Sonlight Core W literature (we have the books from doing this Core three years ago)

Composition

- Institute for Excellence in Writing

- Writing about weapons in his unity study

Grammar

- Easy Grammar

Spelling

- All About Spelling

Music

- Band at the local middle school

- Drum lessons every week

- Youth Band practice every week at church

Community Service

- Senior Nutrition Site volunteering once a week

- Helping the Children's Minister at church on Sunday mornings

Physical Education

- 30 minutes of physical activity each day

-Tae Kwon Do

Occupational Education

- Working at The Knitting Nest as needed

One of the biggest changes that we're going to do this year is be more flexible and less scheduled. I've started by getting rid of their chore lists. The kids haven't been good about doing the chores regularly and PWM and I haven't been consistent in enforcing it. This does not mean that they won’t work around the house!!  They may actually end up doing more around the house since PWM and I will be working at the yarn shop!!  Instead of a schedule, we've asked the kids to step up and do things before we ask them. PWM and I will also assign the kids tasks around the house (cooking and cleaning) as needed. They won't be working less, but it will be less structured.

Instead of giving the kids school work lists each day, I'm going to have them take more responsibility for their education. Rosie Girl is going to have her Sonlight schedule and a Bible reading plan. For all of her subjects, she will journal the amount of time she spends on the subject as well as a paragraph about what she's done. Her science course is completely self-directed, so I'm expecting her to be very independent. She and I will have “conferences” every Friday so I can make sure she's keeping up.

Wild Man’s social sciences and natural sciences are a self-directed unit study, but since he’s thirteen, I don't expect him to be as self-directed as his sister. I'm going to have him read from one of the “spine” books (Warrior and Weapon) every day. As he gets interested in topics, I'll help him find more materials for study. Wild Man still needs my help with spelling, grammar, and writing, so we'll probably do those in the evening or up at the shop (although I'm hoping the shop will be too busy to allow us to do schoolwork there).

This has been a really long post, but it has helped me to sort out next year's schoolwork. One thing that I need to work on, though, is keeping up with Rosie Girl's work and assigning credit.

Fellow homeschoolers, how is your school planning going?  Everyone, are you feeling ready for the kids to go back to school, be it public, private or home school?  Are you wondering where all the time is going?!

 

3 comments:

Luke Holzmann said...

The summer sure is rushing by! Enjoy Cores 300 and W (and may you find the time to keep up with all the reading [smile]).

~Luke

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

It's always so hard to find just the right balance of schedule vs. flexibility. At least it is for me! I tend to be too lax or too rigid, but hoping for a better balance this year.

Your plans for the year look great. I'm trying to finalize the remainder of my plans this week.

Catherine said...

I sometimes think God gave me these migraines so I would learn flexibility and give up some of my need for control! It's going to be an interesting year in the Martin household!