Plans for 2010-2011

Along February or so, I really get the itch to start planning next year's curriculum. (I don't think I'm alone in this.) And, since I need to spread out purchases, I usually start my shopping sometimes in April. So, with no further ado, here are my choices for next year.

History

I've decided to go back to Sonlight. Several things led to this decision

- I have always loved Sonlight books.

- We've used it in the past with great success.

- I want Robert to have a one-year overview of history before entering high school. We haven't done the ancients since we started homeschooling 5 years ago. Finding this at the 8th grade level has been tricky.

- I want everything scheduled for me.

Robert will be doing Core Alt 7. Ruth will be doing Core 6. I gave her the option of doing either and she chose Core 6. She's my true reader, so she will enjoy having more books for the time period.

Language Arts

I have also purchased Sonlight LA 6. I've never used it before, but I wanted a different type of writing assignment, rather than the informational reports we've been doing most of this year. There seems to be quite a few complaints about the lack of writing instruction in SL's LA. We will be doing them using IEW's methods, so I'm hoping this will not be an issue. I'll be sharing our experiences with it as we combine the two.

For grammar, I've decided to have a year of review. We'll be using Daily Grams and Better Sentence Structure Through Diagramming. This will free up some time for other subjects.

Sonlight recommends Wordly Wise for vocabulary. We haven't done vocabulary work in quite awhile, so we're going to use that as well.

We'll also continue history narrations using notebook pages.

Science

As I said before, I've decided I need to outsource science. Ruth will be taking BJU Science 7 in an outside class. Robert will be using the BJU DVDs for Science 8. I'm hoping this will take care of my deficiencies in teaching this area.

Math

Robert will be using Lial's Basic College Mathematics. It's supposed to be a very good pre-algebra program, and I plan on using Lial's for Algebra, so it seemed like a logical choice. And, as a bonus, I can find an old edition for cheap. Ruth will probably go back to CLE, but I haven't decided for sure.

Other

A Beka Health - very low key. We just read and discuss.

Getting Started with Latin - We quit using this at Christmas, but Ruth has asked to start using it again. Who am I to argue with a child that wants to learn Latin?

Logic - something, but haven't decided yet.

Art - This one is... complicated. We're going to use Meet the Masters again with our friends. However, I feel that we need more than that. Ruth is very talented in art and I need to encourage that more. I've looked for awhile at Harmony Fine Arts curriculum. I decided to go ahead and purchase Ancient and Medieval/Renaissance. They each have things that appeal to me. I have yet to figure out how it's going to work, but I want to use them both in some way.

Extracurricular

The kids will continue playing their instruments. We're looking at options for an orchestra program as well.

We're going to rejoin the world of co-ops. I'm feeling the need to add more fun, social activities. This year has been kind of "blah". I've found a group that has a lot to choose from and we will most likely join them in the fall.

I think that's it. All in all, I'm very excited about next year. Now, on to finishing this year.