School Status

I planned to do no school this month. However, a couple of weeks ago, I felt really good with how we were doing with the new arrival. I thought about it and figured that starting one “fun” subject would be ok. So, we started doing history using Story of the World 2. We just started Chapter 4 on Thursday and we are going pretty slow – using my lesson plans but spreading the work out over a couple of days. This has been good since I have a LOT of books for most of these chapters, so we do read-alouds most days.

We’ve “eaten like Roman soldiers” and recently also “eaten like monks.” We’ve made our own ink and quill pens. We’re learning to draw mythical creatures from a book we checked out to see how to draw Grendel from the Beowulf story. (Child #2 is very artistic.)

This past week, we also started our religious studies. So, if I feel adventurous, we’ll add science this week. I still have a few weeks until I planned to start “full school,” so whatever we get done now is “gravy.” The kids love history & science, so they enjoy it and I still have time to keep up with the laundry, house, and feeding a newborn.

The Best Laid Plans . . .

I have my book of lesson plans that I refer to daily to see what I thought we would do each day. We have only had three full days of school and already I am glad I am so flexible.

For example, this summer, Child #1 went after the Singapore math books I purchased for her to keep her math skills fresh. It went so well that the built-in review of A Beka’s math program is almost boring for her. I pondered simply skipping the first 29-some lessons completely, but think a little review is good. Besides, I haven’t been doing the mental math with her that A Beka’s program encourages. My lesson plans had us finishing Lesson 5 at the end of this week. We finished Lesson 8 today.

In another example, I planned to ease into Spell to Write and Read. I figured it would take about two weeks to review the 26 (alphabet) single-letter phonograms while doing some other fun games and such. On Day 2, Child #2 remarked that she knew all these so could we go a bit faster? So, the next day, I tested her on her knowledge. When I held up the phonogram card, she was to say the sound(s) as quickly as she could. If she hesitated or got them wrong the first time through (even if she corrected herself), I counted them wrong. She got 25 of the 26 single-letter phonograms perfect. She also knew 24 of the remaining 44 phonograms immediately and perfectly. So, a week early, I gave her a new Learning Log and we started on the Consonant/Vowel reference page.

I have also learned that I might have been a bit optimistic in how many pages we can cover each day in Story of the World I and Apologia’s Astronomy. Child #2 is doing great with Learn to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and is completing, on average, three pages per day of Singapore Earlybird Math (1B).

Planning Next Year and Interruptions

I’ve started planning my lessons for next fall.

So far, I have been able to fit 42 chapters of Story of the World I into 33 weeks. I made sure to include some slop for extra reading and activities, but we will be kept hopping in order to keep on schedule.

In religion, I am about half done. We are covering the No. 1 St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism Chapters 1-14 on a schedule suggested by Laura Berquist in Designing Your Own Classical Curriclum. Alternating with that, we will be studying the saints. That part of the lesson plans is blank at this time. I also included a two week cram of the ten commandments. We still haven’t decided if our second grader will be receiving the Sacrament of Penance or Holy Communion this year. There are a few weeks left after all these items are penciled in. If the second grader does receive the Sacraments, those weeks will be used quick review of the First Communion Catechism. They will be dropped in whenever it works to put them in.

Next, it is onto Science or Math. I can’t plan Spelling/Dictation yet as I lent out my copy of Spell to Write and Read/The Wise Guide to another homeschooler who is also knee-deep in planning. She is looking for a program to use with her kids and had never heard of SWR. We were discussing the planning process when she raised the biggest problem she has.

Was it too many curriculums to choose from?                                       Nope.
Was it curriculum that wasn’t right for her kids (too difficult/easy, not-the-right-style, boring, etc)?       Nope.
Was it that she is not a detail person?                                                    Nope.

What was it, then? The problem she has is INTERRUPTIONS! Whenever she tries to get some serious planning done, she has to take a break to deal with something.

I can relate. I am used to breaking up fights, keeping the crawler out of the flowerbed, helping the toddler get something or get out of something, assisting with some chalk drawing, or ferrying drinks outside. All while I’m trying to read something, take notes, or write up my lesson plans. I try not to simply give up. So far, my most productive time was the rainy afternoon this week when my kids had two neighbors over. I was able to have a huge (30-45 minutes) block of time to work on my history plans. I had almost finished them (three weeks left) when the rain stopped and the kids decided they wanted to move back outdoors. Cleanup ensued and chaos reigned supreme.

But, I soldier on. Math shouldn’t be that hard, but I think I’ll tackle Science. I’ve already started to work on my Apologia Astronomy rough plan to get the book done in 16 weeks. Another homeschooler wrote plans spreading it to 22 weeks, so I am paring it down to fit our school schedule.

Onward!