This Year's Plan in a Nutshell

We have been homeschooling for nine years and have enjoyed every minute of it (for the most part - lol.) When we started, our educational philosophy was centered on the Charlotte Mason approach. Throughout the years, we have gone from her philosophy and tweaked it to include aspects of The Well Trained Mind and Classical approach. Then we started using boxed curriculum with Sonlight, went to Tapestry of Grace Year Four. Now, these curriculums are excellent, but I felt after last year, I had lost the "gentleness" that I had started with. I became a task master and was not happy with the direction of our homeschool. So, I started praying about what to do this year. God is so faithful...I really felt Him leading me to "go back where you started." I re-read The Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola and set about to make a plan. This is what we are doing this year and so far, so good. The children are really enjoying school, as am I teaching it, and we are all learning a great deal.

DD 13/8th Grade: Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra, Apologia Exploring Creation with Physical Science, Queen Homeschool's Language Lessons for Secondary Child - Vol. 2 (will probably finish this rather quickly and go on to the next), Starting Points Worldview Primer (will probably take longer than 1 year to complete), Rosetta Stone Spanish and My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures.

DD 8/3rd Grade: Singapore Math, Math Drill, Queen Homeschool's Language Lessons for the Very Young (will probably finish this rather quickly and go onto the next) and My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures. I must say how much we are enjoying My Father's World. I wish we had tried it sooner.

Both girls are in AWANA this year, so Bible reading and memory verses are studied daily. Also, we attend two different co-ops...both on alternate Fridays, which works out great! We have always had Friday Fun Days in our homeschool and this just makes them better. One co-op focuses on community service, field trips and projects. The other one has art, drama and gym classes. We are very fortunate to have found them.

DS 1/pre pre pre K: keeping busy with toys, the dog, scribbling on paper, the table, his face and getting into whatever he can get into...

So, that is the year's plan in a nutshell. Our days seem to go much smoother. We are having shorter lessons, usually finished with all but My Father's World before lunch. We are usually done school by 2:00 pm to pursue hobbies and interests.