Homeschool Planning, Part II

As I said in my last post, I have been paralyzed thinking about just homeschooling my youngest. I tried to sit and think about it many times over the last few months and got no where. Normally, I have the following year planned and curriculum purchased before the close of the current year. I was getting worried.

Andrew will be in 7th grade this coming year. I want to focus on getting his writing up to speed, continue to make progress with his spelling (this is his downfall), and have fun with science. He needs a structured literature program or he would choose not to read at all. History is something that we will go light on, but the program I am going to use also allows us to beef it up and go off on tangents if he is inspired. I am also going to work on doing 1-3 fieldtrips a month to correspond with our studies in history, science, or perhaps literature.

Here is what I have planned for Andrew:

Middle School Physics I & II-together this is a one year course in physics without the crazy math. His sister will be doing AP physics at school, so I thought it might be cool to have a basic understanding of what she is talking about half the time.

Ancient Greece-I let him choose what he wanted to study.

Pre-Algebra using Saxon Algebra 1/2, which I already own which is a plus.

Write Shop I - I only need to buy the student book as I used this for my middle child a few years ago.

Lightning Literature 7th grade-structured literature program.

All About Spelling-he will complete level 4 and move onto level 5, which was just announced for release and is currently having a 25% discount sale! For a new speller or a struggling speller this is a great program. Mine is a struggling speller and it has done wonders for his spelling and his confidence.

Easy Grammar Plus-I've used some form of Easy Grammar with all the kids at some point. It is not overbearing and I really like how prepositions are taught first and well. I already own this too.

Band - he will continue in the intermediate band playing trumpet.

I would like to get him into a local ceramics program I hear very good things about. I know he would enjoy something hands on like ceramics - it is not a paint your pottery class, it is really working with the materials to create things, this includes using a pottery wheel at some point in the progression of the class.

P.E. is our daily activities in addition to the physical outings with Boy Scouts (hiking, backpacking, day long bike rides, etc.).

I am feeling better about this all the time. Now I need to start buying the things we need. I also need to go through my current materials and start placing some of it up for sale, I think what I have to sell will more than pay for this year's curriculum - that is a very good thing.