The best laid plans...

I have finally accepted something I have been fighting for years...life? It happens. And rarely does it ever happen the way we think it should or will. I have spent years trying to figure out the best way to prepare for our school years, weeks, and days. No matter what I try one thing is always painfully obvious - even the best laid plans don't always work out. Typically, when there is an unexpected change in our schedule, I spend quite a bit of time rescheduling lessons and figuring out how to be flexible without falling painfully behind.

I've decided to stop using my homeschool planning software (I use HST Plus and have for years) in spite of the fact that I absolutely LOVE it and there are so many awesome things I can do with it. I am going to start using a different system that I am pulling together from several different sources.

Last year I purchased Donna Young's Young Minds CD-rom. I purchased it about the time that she was finalizing her Homeschool Planner V2 that is essentially a very intuitive, well organized excel worksheet. The thing that has kept me from using it thus far is that it just doesn't have all the bells and whistles HST Plus does. But do you know what? THAT'S OK! It does the basics of what I NEED, without being overly complicated. That's where I'm at right now. I need thing's to be as uncomplicated as possible.

I recently started taking online college courses again. I am pursuing my BA in English, which I will eventually turn over into a Masters and possible even a PhD in order to teach at the college level. I won't get too deep into it in this post, but I will share more about coming to this decision in a later post. Obviously, I don't have as much time to spend organizing, prepping, and keeping records for homeschool. I am not trying to do it all by any means, but I thought for a long time about how I was going to fit college into our already hectic lifestyle and I am making it work, but I have accepted that some things just have to change.

So that's where I am at and I just wanted to share. There are lots of changes going on around here and I promise, these posts are coming as well.

Blessings!
Cassie

Get Organized with Ease! 2010 Schoolhouse Planner :)

No matter what kind of homeschooler you are, there’s a LOT to love about the all new 2010 Schoolhouse planner! It’s big, it’s beautiful, and best of all, it’s bound to bless you and your family every day as you utilize any number of the 600+ pages in this awesome resource. Yep, you heard me right, over 600 pages chock full of household and homeschool helps, recipes, articles, lists, and ideas to encourage and inspire every homeschool mom and family! Just take a look at some of the awesome pages from this how-did-I-ever-live-without-it planner…

 

Like the previous years’ editions of the Schoolhouse Planner you will find all these wonderful bits and pieces:

Calendar pages for 2010-2013
84 recipes
24 articles (that’s 2 per month)
24 must-know lists + those from previous years
High school transcript forms
Party planning form
Multi-age journaling and nature journal pages
Weekly and daily schedules
Co-op planning forms
Assignment and attendance charts
Book report forms, including elementary pages
Grocery and menu planners
Schedules for any number of children
Alphabet writing charts for copywork—print, cursive, and italic
Website login/password reference sheet
Bible study notes
Budget records
Christmas card list
Home care and maintenance forms
Alphabetized address list
Schoolhouse Store resource lists
Science lab sheet
Twelve-year planning pages
High school hours tracking log
Books read this year
Extracurricular activities log
Unit study form
Report cards
And MUCH, MUCH MORE!!

AND the best part is that you are not limited to simply printing off the pages and filling them in with your trusty pen or pencil. Oh no, this planner is in TYPEABLE PDF format! That means that you can customize each and every form before you print them off, and the printed pages will appear as though they were designed specifically for you.

In addition to the above list, this year’s planner also includes some brand new features that you’ll be sure to love…

• Another daily planning page with customizable dates across the top and subjects down the left side.
• An additional week at a glance form—choose the form best suited for your needs.
• A marking period planner using six, 6-week periods with space for all subjects.
• A quarter planner based on four, 9-week quarters—a great fit for your homeschool.
• Homeschool requirements form lets you track laws or better prepare for a move.
• Forms to track unfinished units as well as a unit study brainstorming template!
• Testing forms now cover recording standardized testing and yearly assessments.
• Bible reading takes on new meaning with the new Bible reading highlights form.
• Another Bible reading schedule—this time enjoy the option of a chronological form!
• Even pages to record instrument practice and extracurricular activities are here.

This is definitely an all-in-one organizational resource. Not only does this nifty planner include forms and references for every educational need, it has all your household details covered as well!

-Stay focused on high-priority tasks with a new daily to-do list!
-Keep from losing track of “one of these days” thoughts—record them!
-Expand on the schedule charts with a chore reminder form, another helpful tool.
-Plan crafts easily, note cost of supplies and more with the craft planning form.
-Schedule television viewing with a TV show reminder list—never flip channels again!
-Track important information with the computer information to remember form.
-Record all important car information to remember on a form for each car—easily.
-Gather homeschool research and ancestry records with the family tree form!

There isn’t anything that this planner doesn’t have. To get yours, for a super low price of $39, simply visit the Schoolhouse Store and place your order. As soon as you do, you will receive an instant download link and you can start using your planner immediately!

Happy Organizing!

More about starting a new school year – part 2

Tonight I thought I would share a little bit about how I plan for a new year, or rather how I am currently planning (it changes every year). I shared some basic info on how I was handing planning in my previous post, but I thought I might use this time to share with you exactly how I am getting things done right now.

As I stated in my first planning post, I am planning in 6 week terms. My goal is to start the year with 3 terms worth of lessons mapped out, as well as all the papers, copies, etc. organized into term folders for future use. It’s all about simplification folks! I am not going to lie, it’s been a lot of work. But it is going to save me so much time weekly/daily and that’s a good reason for me! I would much rather plan and prep for a week every 6 weeks than every single weekend. I started out with a form I found at Donna Young’s site and tweaked it to fit my needs and preferences.

Anyhow, here is an example of the form I started out with:

^ week Lesson plan Log -

And here is what I ended up with:

Math Lesson plan term

Unfortunately you can’t see my beautiful font on these pages, because it did not transfer when I uploaded the document, but you get the idea. SO I go through each book and lay things out with a daily schedule. I then print these pages and put them behind the correct term’s tab in my record binder. I also printed off a copy of the first term’s plans to place in my son’s binder. This is what he will refer to when he looks through his binder and fills out his daily assignment sheet at the beginning of the day. (You can find that form in my previous post, More about starting a new school year – part 1.) So I have done that for each and every subject we are doing this year, except Tapestry of Grace, which I made a custom form for and has both boys’ work on one page. I am still trying to decide how I am going to work with the TOG plans for their work binders, since we do a lot of our Tapestry activities as a group. Oh yes, and I still have to make a spelling lesson plan for Drew, then I will be done with this phase of my planning. In case you were curious, here is a blank form I made to use for TOG lesson planning:

TOG Weekly block planner

I have made lots of forms in my homeschooling journey, but this has to be one of my favorite so far. It is typeable and has all the info I need in one place. Anyhow, this is what I use to plan all our TOG related work for every week. There are 2 pages because we are doing the curriculum half pace for now, so I stretch 1 week plan out over 2 weeks.

I plan on writing another post this week on how I go about planning my TOG in such a way that I don’t forget things or schedule too much work in one day, so stay tuned for that!

Anyhow, after going through this process with all our subjects for the coming year, I have a great road map that shows me exactly what I need to prepare for the coming term and put into the kid’s binders for them to work through. I will also be using the plans on these pages to pre-prepare (is that a real word) by getting papers ready and organized for upcoming terms.

Just a few sidenotes – in case you were not already aware – I love forms!! But I am never happy with just using someone else’s forms as they are, so I tweak and I modify until they are exactly what I want. Yes, I waste spend a great deal of time doing this. It makes me happy, what else can I say?

Secondly, this is my first time ever attempting to plan so far ahead. Mostly just because I am not a schedule-it, plan-it, prep-it ahead of time kind of person. I like to fly by the seat of my pants whenever possible. But I am become painfully aware that when you homeschool, and have 4 kids, this is not always the best way to do things. It’s not an easy change for me, but I know it will be worth it. The hardest part will be sticking to the plan as much as possible, at least when it is in my control to do so. Life happens!

So I hope I haven’t bored you to tears with all me detailed explanations, or confused you. I just thought it would make for an interesting read. I really enjoy reading how other homeschool families make it work and I hope you will, too!

See you soon!

Blessings,

School Planning Progress

  I had shared with you last week how I have been so very busy getting things in order for our new school year. I am in the homestretch now and thought I would share some of what I have been doing with you. Here are some screenshots of what I've been working on in HSTPlus...

Here are the goals I have painstakingly entered into HST, one-by-one. This is what has been the most time consuming for me. It will be really nice to have a detailed list of skills the boys have learned at the end of the year!

Here is Isaiah's Daily Lesson schedule...

And here is Drew's Daily Lesson Schedule.

This is my progress thus far on my planning checklist, which was typed in the Journal in HST.

Here's Drew's assignments (so far) for the first day of school...

and here are Isaiah's.

So you can see from this how very hard I have been working. I have entered HUNDREDS of skills/objectives into the goals section thus far. To be honest, there have been times I wanted to pull all my hair out! But I know it will be worth all the hard work in the end.

I also spent several hours putting together some new file folder games over the weekend. I had lots of help cutting things out from my dear bff, otherwise I would have never gotten nearly as many done! I am hoping having these will give me something to direct the boys to do while they may be waiting for me to help them with something.

Also, I finally managed to gets hubs to install our cabinet locks in the kitchen. Now Joey can go into the kitchen and explore. The first thing he went for was the snack cabinet...

Yes, fun times are ahead!

Blessings,

Cassie :)

In the Throes of Prepping for Next Year...

...which actually starts in less than 2 weeks.

Sorry I haven't been around much the past week or so. I decided to let the kids have a small summer break. I updated my school records and we were 17 days over our required attendance. Both boys just finished up their math books and are ready to start the next grade level, so I thought it would be a good time for a bit of a break.


While they have been lazing around, enjoying NOT doing lessons, I have been extremely busy preparing for our new school year which will start (tentatively) July 13th. This just happens to be the same day my dear hubs starts college classes. It works out well for him and the children because they get to spend some good quality time with him before he gets super-busy with school. It works out well for me because I get to get some super-powered planning done while he is still home and available to help wrangle the children.

So forgive me if I am not posting much over the next week or so, I have been very busy getting things together. I do have some pics to share with you as soon as things settle down a bit for me, so stay tuned...

Blessings,

Cassie :)

School Records and Spring Cleaning

I know, I’m sorry I have been away! I have been struggling to catch up on paperwork and record keeping for school for 3 weeks now, and I have been spending the majority of my computer time doing just that.  I had been using a much simpler, but not as thorough method to keep track of grades and assignments for the beginning of our school year and I just decided it wasn’t making the cut. So I have been working on getting everything back into Homeschool Tracker. It has been a real chore because as I mentioned, my previous records were not very detailed. Basically I had just been keeping a list of grades. So now I am pretty much getting all our paperwork out that we have completed this year and starting from scratch. 

Speaking of Homeschool Tracker, have you seen the recent software updates? they have added so many new features that are super useful!  I am really loving it! I still have TONS left to do but I am trying to be pro-active and enter in lesson plans and goals in order to make things easier to keep up with once I get everything done I am behind on.
I also started spring cleaning this week. I have been concentrating on all those deep-cleaning jobs I have wanted to do, but never have time for. I borrowed a friend’s steam cleaner and have done all of the carpet except the bedrooms.  They will get done this week as I have time. I have also been choosing one area each day to scrub the walls (our apartment has flat paint and seems to attract dirt, scuffs, and handprints) and organize. My dining room/school room is completely done and the hubs and I did the entry way today. I will have to take a picture tomorrow and post. We hung a print we have had for a while but never hung done by a local artist and a small shelf and made it warm and inviting. The picture is really cool and I love it that it is finally up where others can see it! The walls are so pretty and white and clean and my carpets are clean and fluffy soft, too!

Which reminds me of a quick tip for carpet cleaning: do you ever clean your carpets only to find a few weeks later they look dirty again? i have found the secret to avoiding that! When you mix your solution, use just a wee bit of cleaner and about a half a cup of white vinegar. It cleans and deodorizes and also helps get rid of any soapy residue that might attract dirt later on! I was really impressed by how clean and soft my carpet is! It actually feels softer that it did when it was new and it smells great!
Anyway, as you can see I have been really busy! On that note I am really tired and I think it is time to put my laptop away and snuggle into bed for a good night’s sleeps. I certainly feel as though I earned it today!

Blessings,

Cassie

Our Re-revamped School Plan – Part 1 of 2

Ok. So a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I had restructured our curriculum and the way we get things done. This was a major necessity as things were NOT going well as they were.  We have been going strong for about a month now and I have had enough time to tweak things here and there so that they work for us.  First off, I have to share with you how I have finally tackled organizing, planning, and recordkeeping! I cannot, however, take the credit for all of this myself, as I first got the idea from a blog I came across. Sadly, when I changed laptops, I lost that bookmark. If I come across it again, I will post a link!
We now have a loose “routine” that we follow, rather than trying to adhere to a schedule, which has never worked for us. We basically just have a certain order we complete things in and this is posted on the wall so that there is no confusion..

1. Prayer, pledge, Bible
2. Math
3. Isaiah does Phonics/Reading while Drew does Spelling
4. Drew does Phonics/Reading while Isaiah does Copywork or journaling (he doesn’t start spelling til next semester)
5. Science or History (depending on the day)
6. English/Writing
7. Specials (Art,music,PE)

I also allow time for one break somewhere in the day. We have been getting everything finished within 2-3 hours since we changed things up. Now on to how we plan and organize our school time….
To start off with, I purchased 2 items for each child….

Notice these are 2 pocket tab dividers. Two pockets are a necessity, and I will explain why in a moment….


These are 1/2” binders with the clear insertable covers.
Ok, after getting these items home I gave the boys some paper and crayons and told them to decorate covers for their new weekly binders. While they were off doing that like good little boys (HA!) I proceeded to make 1 tab divider for each day of the week and place them into each child’s binder. When they finished their pictures, I placed them into the covers and VIOLA! we had our weekly binders!
“Ok,” you are probably thinking, “and that means what?” Well I will elaborate!
As I plan our lessons for the week (usually the weekend before) I take each page from their workbooks or worksheets and place them into the front pocket of the proper days divider. The front of the divider is the “To-Do” folder. Then when we sit down to do lessons each day there is no scrambling around to make copies or printouts or figure out what page to do in their books. You would be absolutely AMAZED at how much time this has saved us! Once we implemented everything and got used to it, our school time was reduced by 1-2 hours a day! Which basically means we actually get things DONE! I know, amazing right?
So, you have probably already guessed by now what the back pockets are for….that's right, completed work! This is also a huge timesaver for ME when I grade, record, and file everything at the end of the week. So when the week is over, I go through and grade each paper I have not already graded and write the date completed on it. Once everything is graded, I then go back through and group the papers by subject..Math, Spelling, phonics, etc. Then I enter grades into each subjects printed gradebook page.  (I will share more about that with you in a moment.) Once recorded, I add that week’s papers to the paper-clipped stack (one per subject) in each child’s current term file folder, and place it back into my filing cabinet. Now the weekly binders are emptied and ready for the next weeks pages! And the process starts all over again!
Now there are a few minor details I have neglected to give you that I will elaborate on now. I mentioned lesson planning earlier. My lesson planning consists of a little more than just ripping out workboook pages and sticking them into a binder  folder. I also type everything out for each day on my own custom-made lesson plan sheets….
I love making my own forms and tweaking them as my needs change! Any how if you want an example of a filled out form click this LINK. I also mentioned that I use a printed gradebook. Actually, I use an excel form from DonnaYoung.org called Grades and Attendance. I use weighted grades for most of our subjects, so naturally I used the weighted version. I print off a copy off each subjects page before I add any grades to them.  That way I enter them in by hand before I ever put them into the excel version.  I am really bad with excel and this way if I mess something up, I can just erase! I only enter grades into the excel version from my written copy at the end of the grading period for report card purposes.
So that pretty much wraps up how we have reorganized our schooling so that it works for us! Stay tuned for part 2 where I will discuss why I have changed curriculum AGAIN and what I chose!

Homeschool Memoirs #19 – Making a List

THEME

This week I want to set our minds on setting some goals for next year, whether personal, for the whole family, or for school.
Ok, this is something I really, REALLY need to do.  Therefore I am very excited about this week’s “assignment”.  There are a LOT of things I want to improve upon or change and the New Year is as good time as any to do so!  Right?  Right!  So off we go…
PERSONAL GOALS for 2009
1. Have a CONSISTENT daily quiet time with the Lord.
2. Read through my Chronological “Bible in a Year” for the first time in the 4 years I have owned it.
3. Be a better wife and mother.
4. Make an effort to smile more, yell less and enjoy my children.
5.  Say what I mean and mean what I say…in all circumstances.
6. Make a more conscious effort to put time into my appearance instead of staying in sweats or PJ’s all day and throwing my hair up in a bun (come on now I know I’m not the only one).
7. Be more conscious of my spending habits.
8. Keep up better on laundry (a constant struggle).
9. Implement and use a system for housework so that certain things will not be neglected.
10. Get organized (not so tough) and STAY organized (ah that’s the clincher).
11. Get into a better routine.  Meaning getting up earlier and using my time more wisely.
12. Be more attentive to my husband’s needs and wants.
13. Attend church services more regularly (we have been slacking in this area).
14. Pray more, worry less.
15. Learn to be more patient, consistent, and cheerful (regardless of circumstances).
FAMILY GOALS for 2009
1. Have daily prayer and devotions as a family.
2. Spend more quality time together.
3. Set up a chore routine for the children and stick to it.  Teach the kids new skills in this area.
4. Establish a working “routine” for our days so that they will go more smoothly.
5. Put more emphasis on child training and spend less time “putting out fires”.
6. Include the children more when doing household duties (laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc).
SCHOOL GOALS for 2009
1.  Get more done!!!!!!
2. Teach the children to do more independently and find ways to make them more responsible for completing their own work.
3. Do more science experiments.
4. Spend more time DOING and less time PLANNING to do.
5. Find a better system for keeping records and stick to it.
6. Get Isaiah reading fluently (we are slowly getting there).
7. Encourage Drew to read more independently.
8. Be more consistent with our school days.
9. Do more creative writing.
10. Improve Drew’s spelling skills.
11. Get more organized (again a constant struggle for me).
12. Encourage diligence, responsibility, neatness, and a good attitude in my children (with school and other things).
I know there are probably a LOT more goals I could list, but this is a good start.  I am looking forward to working on these goals, and others, this coming year and I pray that the Lord will bless me and my family with the ability to achieve as many of them as possible.

Blessings,

Cassie

Homeschool Memoirs #3 - Routines

THEME

I am sure some of you are still getting into your homeschool routines. I know some people are very routine oriented while others may be more “day-by-day”, and it all depends on your family and what works best for your life-style. This week please post what your planned homeschool routine is. The theme banner should give you some ideas on how to do that. I had fun making that and adding in real info (except for the times! lol).

When you’re done posting your routines please share
your prayers for this school year, and then sign the linky so others can visit.

Ok, this is hard for me because I am still trying to figure out our "routine". It definitely varies from day to day depending on whether I am babysitting or we have errands to run. My hubby's scedule also affects what we do from day to day.

With all the different circumstances we encounter from day to day around here, I have recently decided to take a more relaxed approach to our school days. On the days when I watch my friends toddler, we do lessons in between his and Joey's naps until he leaves for the day. Then we try to get some more things done in the evening before dinner.

But I can share with you what our IDEAL routine would be.... who knows, maybe we will get into a routine similar to this after we find our niche. Just a note, we do not schedule blocks of time per subject. Rather we schedule blocks of time for lessons and try to get done as much as possible in that period of time.

• 
  
  7 am - Mom gets up and feeds Joey
• 
  
  8-9:30 am - Mom's pc time and a couple loads of laundry
• 
  
  9:30 am - Boys get up (sometimes earlier) and eat and have free time, I tend to Joey (by now he has usually had his morning nap and woken up) and try to get things done around the house as I can
• 
  
  10 am - Mom feeds Joey his second bottle and he is usually ready for a nap soon afterwards
• 
  
  11am - Mom preps lessons for the day and boys complete some work with my help periodically
• 
  
  12:30 pm - Lunch
• 
  
  1 pm - Mom feeds Joey lunch and has playtime with him, then lays him down for a short nap
• 
  
  2 pm - Lessons resume for as long as we are able (usually no more than an hour or so)
• 
  
  3 pm - Mom gets housework done and boys have free time (they usually play with Joey for a bit to help me out)
• 
  
  4 pm - Mom feeds joey his fourth bottle
• 
  
  4:30 pm - More lessons as time allows
• 
  
  6 pm - Make and eat dinner
• 
  
  7 pm - Joey eats again
• 
  
  8:30 pm - Joey has a bath and dresses for bed
• 
  
  9pm - Mom feeds Joey his cereal and he goes to bed for the night, kids have showers and clean rooms, dress for bed
• 
  
  9:30 pm - Mom reads to kids, Kids to bed, Mom cleans up kitchen and has free time
• 
  
  11:30 pm - Mom to bed

The above is a very loose routine (not a strict schedule) that I would like to stick to, though the ability has eluded me to this point! But we will keep trying!

Dear Father,

This year Lord, please help me to focus on what's really important. Please bless me with the energy and discipline to do what needs to be done. Help me to let go and follow Your leading for my life and the lives of my children. Help me to enjoy every day to it's fullest and to embrace every opportunity to teach my children. Thank You Lord, that You are with me. Amen.

Homeschool Memoirs #2 - Agendas

THEME

This week’s theme is about sharing your 2008-09
homeschool agendas and plans. You’ve been preparing your plans for sometime and
you’re ready to go. Or you’re still in the planning-stage and need some
inspiration or tips on what to use. Because many use different curriculum and
methods there is always something new to be gleaned from other homeschoolers.
It’s always fun and interesting to see what other’s are using and the WWWWH as Robin
Sampson suggests. So this week I hope you will share what you’re
doing this year for your homeschool agenda. Share the different curriculum
you’re using. You can also include what age/grade you’re using it for, how long
you’ve been using it, and why you like it.


Please share a Bible verse that has encouraged you
or inspired you during this planning-process, and how.

Ok, I briefly posted on this topic a few weeks ago here , but now that our year has actually gotten started I will update everyone on our plans.

The following subjects I am combining for both of the boys:

History/Geography: We are going through Volume 1 of The Mystery of History together, doing 2 lessons a week. We are keeping a history notebook which includes a timeline for each boy. We are having a lot of fun doing these together. We will also be including some map work in our lessons.

Bible: We are using BJU Bible Truths 2 together for our daily Bible lessons. We are also going to be memorizing the catechism at the beginning of the teacher's manual. Though we have a curriculum for Bible, Bible is sprinkled throughout all of our subjects as we desire to have a God-centered homeschool.

Science: For science this year we are making our own units incorporating living books, experiments, internet, dvd's, notebooking and lapbooking. The boys have chosen to study the following subject areas:

• Geology (a brief overview of volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.)
• Weather
• Insects
• Electricity
• Space and Our Solar System

This is the first time I have ever attempted to put together my own studies, so it has been a bit intimidating, but I am trying to let our learning in this area follow a natural progression, taking my lead from the interests of the boys, and not take the feel of a structured curriculum.

Art, music, and PE : We are incorporating these areas into our lessons as opportunities arise. We will be doing a variety of arts and crafts throughout the year that I am still researching and planning. I am looking for materials to use for music instruction and we will be learning some keyboarding.

For Isaiah (7 yrs) :

Language Arts: Our main goal this year for Isaiah is for him to learn to read and gain confidence in this area. We have taken things very slow up to this point, as he is showing signs that this is a troubling area for him. He is going through Abeka Phonics and Reading K and after trying about 5 different curriculums in this area, he is showing progress with this one.

For grammar we are using Grammar and Punctuation 1 and Language Fundamentals 1.

He will also be using a journal to practice using what he learns and as an evaluation tool to check his progress.

Math : Isaiah is halfway through his BJU Math 1 curriculum and will start and hopefully complete BJU Math 2 by fall next year.

Penmanship : For handwriting practice I am making my own worksheets using StartWrite 5.0. We use italic printing style. I have decided not to teach my boys cursive unless they desire to learn it later on their own. I want our focus to be on neat, legible handwriting, not the style in which they write.

For Drew (8 yrs) :

Language Arts: For Phonics and reading we are combining several resources. We are using certain materials from Abeka to review blends and special sounds throughout the year. We are also using Read and Understand: Stories and Activities Grade 2 and it's companion MORE Stories to Read and Understand from Evan-Moor publishers.

For spelling we are adapting Abeka materials for now, but I have my eye on purchasing an Evan-Moor title called Building Spelling Skills: Daily Practice Grade 2.

For grammar and writing we are using Grammar and Punctuation 2 and Language Fundamentals 2from Evan-Moor publishers. Drew is going to be doing more writing this year as we have yet to do any formally. He will be learning about the writing process from start to finish. We are going to be using a mish mash of materials to learn these skills. He also will be keeping a journal.

Math : Drew is halfway through BJU Math 2 and will hopefully complete BJU Math 3 by fall next year.

Penmanship : Just like for Isaiah, for handwriting practice I am making my own worksheets using StartWrite 5.0. Again, I want our focus to be on neat, legible handwriting, not the style in which they write. For Drew he is not doing as many formal handwriting exercises as I am trying to instill the importance of always writing neatly. And all of his formal writing assignments will receive a penmanship grade as well.

If I had to choose one Bible verse that really speaks to me and the needs of my family when planning for our new year it would have to be

Psalm 20:4 (NIV)

4 May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.

I know my plans are nothing without HIS divine blessing and provision. I hope you have a blessed year!

Cassie

A New School Year Begins Soon...

So here I sit at my pc in our new home, in our new school room
(which also doubles as a dining room) with just about all of our things
organized and put away in their newly created "proper places". And as
much as I have accomplished since we first moved three weeks ago, I am
still burdened by the knowledge that I must finish my planning for the
year, I still need to assemble and bind the boys' portfolios for last
year, I still need a new marker board and I need to peruse the shelves
of our local used bookstore for good books covering the various science
topics the boys have chosen to study this year. I am also, for the
first time, going to be figuring out HOW to get things done every day
with a baby in tow and make sure that everyone's needs are addressed.
Who ever said that being a homemaker isn't challenging?

So
I recently found a free e-book for the kids to use in making a Family
Notebook and I think I will be using it the first week of school along
with Bible and Math. I will also be reviewing what Isaiah had learned
at the end of the year in reading with him to make sure he is up to
speed and ready to pick up where he left off. I think it's a good idea
to ease into things, there is so much that's new and different about
"doing school" this year.

We also have a lot
of intense catching up to do this year, and our school year will not
end until Drew has completed 3rd grade math and Isaiah 2nd grade math.
We are a bit behind in that according to grade level but I am not
worried. They are both excellent in math and BJU is written in a way
where theres a lot of repetition and review, so there are things we can
speed through to get there. I am going to allow Drew to speed through
the rest of his phonics and reading curriculum as he is doing
wonderfully with his reading skills. For him I am focusing this year on
Spelling and Writing. I will also be cutting down his penmanship
lessons, as he gets very tired with all the practice in cursive. I want
to make sure he is able to write daily journal entries and other
writing assignments. We are going to be doing unit studies for Science
and I allowed the boys to pick from a list of topics to study. They
have chosen to study electricity, space and the solar system, geology
(a basic overview), insects and bugs, and weather. For history we will
be going through The Mystery of History Vol.1 and keeping notebooks and
making timelines. And of course we are still using BJU Bible Truths
curriculum for our Bible studies.

I am excited
yet stressed about the science units because making my own unit studies
is new to me. My plan is to use the internet, living books,
experiments, hands-on activities and using notebooks and lapbooks to
show what we learn along the way. The boys enjoy these activities wayyyy
more than worksheets and I really want them to enjoy this part of our
school time so they can develop a love for real life learning.

So now you know our plans for the year! Please pray for us as we venture into another year together at home.