So, I’m finally planning the school year. And I only have to plan for one kid this year. Pretty strange. I’m also having him do several courses that are pre-planned which will make my life easier. I already know that I’ll be gone for a week or so in September because my mom’s having a medical procedure done. And we’ve been so busy moving into the new Knitting Nest location that I haven’t had time to even really think about getting books, much the less making lesson plans.
Here’s the plan (subject, of course, to change):
History
Sonlight Core 200 – World History since the Time of Christ (with the emphasis on church history). I’ve got most of the Core 200 books, and I’ve ordered the ones I don’t have. I’ve also ordered the student guide. I didn’t order the parent guide (which is now separate) because I’ve never actually used the separate parent guide. So, I saved a little money there.
Language Arts
Sonlight Core 200 – World Literature. I’ve got most of the literature books for the literature part of the Core, so I ordered the few that I needed. I also ordered just the literature student guide.
WriteAtHome – I signed up Wild Man for Comprehensive Writing 1. Rosie Girl did this course and got a lot out of it. I really like that the instructors learn where the student is at in writing with the first two writing assignments and then gauge their evaluations during the rest of the course based on their initial writing. I have high hopes for this course.
Easy Grammar Plus – This is the ultimate Easy Grammar book. Wild Man should be able to finish it in one year, but, if not, it’s fine if he goes over two years with it. This book covers all the grammar he needs in high school and it’s using the same style curriculum he’s used in the last couple of years.
Spelling – We’ll use the Spelling Power technique on the words he misspells in his writing assignments.
Bible (Old Testament Survey)
BibleMesh – We used this last year and I thought it was rather simplistic, but I think that was because I was breaking it up into very small pieces and not requiring much of him. This year, we’re doing all Old Testament. We’ll use the BibleMesh lessons along with their book overviews and some readings from the Old Testament. This course requires the most planning from me, but I think it will be good because it uses video and reading. I’m not sure how I’m going to have him write yet – paragraphs or answering questions.
Math
ALEKS - We’re going to continue with ALEKS, but we have to be more focused. Wild Man needs to do an hour of math every day in order to finish Algebra 1 and get through Geometry this year.
Spanish 1
K12 – I’m purchasing K12’s Spanish 1 course for independent study. Wild Man used Rosetta Stone as a kid and wasn’t crazy about it, and Rosie Girl had such technical problems with the discs when she was using Rosetta Stone Japanese that I’ve decided to try another approach to Wild Man’s Spanish. Rosie Girl did K12’s Latin back when it was still PowerSpeak and did OK with it, so I’m optimistic about it for Wild Man.
Biology
Hippocampus – Hippocampus provides learning helps such as lectures and outlines as well as full courses for free on their site. Rosie Girl did World Religions last year using their site. Wild Man is doing Biology for non-majors (they also offer Biology AP). The course provides outlines and videos and is mapped to several major textbooks. I ordered one of the textbooks (only $25 since it is a few editions old!) today. There are several wet labs that they recommend that can be done here and they have several virtual labs online. The course is only 24 lessons (about a week each) so I’ll have time to add basic mammalian systems, including reproduction, and some dissections at the end of the course. The advantage to me, though, is that the main part of the course is already set and scheduled out. All I have to do is make sure Wild Man does the work and is learning.
Music
High School Band – He’s already had some summer band practice to get ready for Fall!
Youth Band and Worship Team at church
Private electric guitar lessons (probably)
Physical education
Walking/biking to and from school
Working for neighbor cutting grass and doing other yard work
Shoveling snow in winter
Well, that’s the plan so far. We’ll see how things actually play out. Wild Man starts the last week of August so he’ll be finished the last week of May.
You can go to Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and ihomeschool network to see what others are using for curriculum in their homeschools!
So how is your school year (homeschool or whatever) going?
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