Jun. 17, 2006 - Been Two Weeks, and I'm still PUMPED!
It's been two weeks since I returned from the homeschool conference and I'm still so excited about getting the new school year started. Now, normally, I school all year long. But, because I'll be starting so many new things with my high schooler, I'm going to take the summer off (for the most part) and work on getting ready for the fall. Of course, my 12yod will keep doing her reading lessons, and I'll keep doing my 7yos's reading with him, but other than that and fun reading, we're going to be "off" for the summer. 
Here's what I'm planning for my high schooler this fall:
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Daily Bible reading - He's using a Max Lucado study for youth right now
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Starting Points (which I'm co-oping to all the hs group's high schoolers, and this will probably take most of the year.)
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Algebra - using VideoText this year
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Mystery of History (which I'm doing with all the kids daily, and includes Scripture Memory work)
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Apologia Science - Biology (which I'm pretty sure will take us two years to do, but he might surprise me)
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Weekly Creative Writing with "Writing Down the Days."
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He may be taking a CW course that one of the mom's in our group is planning, but it would only take 6-9 weeks.
For my special needs 12yodd:
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Daily Devotions and scripture memory
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Daily Reading lessons with ExpressWays to Reading, and a weekly phone visit with her tutor
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Five In A Row /Beyond FIAR - She's never been able to enjoy this as much as my oldest did, b/c she's not been able to read. Now, I think she'll really enjoy reading the books with me. We'll be alternating these every other week.-covering Social Studies, Language Arts, Science, Applied Math and Art.
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Daily Handwriting practice (cursive) from her reading program
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Memorizing her math drills
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M.O.H. with the other two kids
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Lots of reading with Mom!
For my 7yos, 2nd grade this year:
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Daily Devotions and scripture memory
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Finishing Reading Made Easy - which we might do before fall starts
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FIAR/Beyond FIAR - Flexible lesson plan with him b/c of his S.I.D. - if it's a good day, he'll be joining my 12yod.
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Daily handwriting practice from RME
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Making Math Meaningful - level 2
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M.O.H. with the other two kids
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P.E. once a week
Now, I've always been somewhat critical of doing "too much" and have always wanted my kids to have more of a relaxed schedule, so we'll probably play alot of this by ear. PLUS, I'm going to do some daily work with "Manners, Please," a book I got from Pumpkin Seed Press at the convention.
The other big thing that I feel the Lord leading us to work on is honor; not just showing honor to others, but genuinely thinking more of others than ourselves. Praying a great deal about that one.
Well, so far, that's where I'm at with school in the fall. Things may change, but I'm very excited to get started. Back to the lesson planning! 
