Oh, I just got an email from Nancy over at Homeschooling Is Life. She's posted  pictures up of what she and the kids entered at the fair this year. I insist you stop reading this blog RIGHT NOW and go read this entry:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ByHisGraceInColorado/565218/?#c1108936

Way to go, you guys!

It's time for the obligatory "here's what we're doing this year" post on the blog.   I'm pretty excited about what we'll be doing, but I guess only other happy homeschoolers could possibly be interested in this sort of thing. I really enjoy planning lessons, researching curricula, spending time in prayer about what to choose,  and getting organized.   So, if lesson plans and curricula aren't your cup of tea, skip reading this one. 

We will be incorporating much more Scripture into our daily lessons, more character training, and less busy work.  We will continue to do as many subjects together as possible [Bible, read alouds, history, geography, art, and some science] .  This year we'll be using selected projects/themes from the Doorposts' books Polished Cornerstones and Plants Grown Up. Part of the appeal of these books for me is how positive character traits are teamed with great memory verses and interesting projects. I like these books so much I put copies on our church's library shelves.

We are rather brand loyal for some items [A Beka math, grammar from First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind, and Modern Curriculum Press' Spelling Workout series], so our familiarity with those products helps the kids get back into a "school routine" faster.

My usual planning problem for each year is to overplan, overbuy,  and under-schedule [not allowing enough time for projects or time off for breaks].  And then sometimes I get  a bad case of homeschool envy reading about what others are doing.  Yeah, those lapbook pictures look great, but my son would roll his eyes if I gave him a lapbook to do. He's not big on cut and paste.  Other times,  I suffer from guilt that we "aren't doing enough" and try to push too much academic "stuff" into a week's lessons.  That makes me pretty unpopular with the class of two, as well. When people ask about their school, they've been known to say, "We have the meanest teacher in the world." 

This year, I'm trying to be more realistic in what we can accomplish, not be a slave to the scope and sequence, and incorporate more real life activities into schooling.  I need to allow for time off after baby gets here, and some time off in the Spring.  I had hoped to sign up for a co-op with classes I thought the kids would enjoy, but I just don't think we'll be able to swing it, especially in the first semester.   Among other upcoming events, my husband will be going to the  John 3;16 conference in November --which I think  makes up for his missing Mayberry Days in September due to the arrival of  our little one that month---LOL.  [His favorite things are good preaching, banana pudding, and the Andy Griffith Show!]   

I also need to plan lessons for the upcoming Sunday School year which also starts in September---good things happen in ninth month, apparently.  I'm making a strong effort this year to avoid "extra" committments. It's hard to have a happy home life if my housework and basic responsibilities go undone to meet deadlines I shoudn't have imposed on myself in the first place. SIMPLIFY is our motto this year.

Right now I'm setting up my teacher's notebook.  I have a large three-ring binder with tabs for each month of the schoolyear. Behind each I put  a monthly calendar  [which I print out from our Microsoft Works program], a grade log form, and weekly lesson plans.  I usually mark attendance using the Homeschool Tracker .  Sometimes I'll get really bold and try using the assignment list option from Homeschool Tracker, but I've found that doesn't always work well for us. If I've scheduled assignments ahead of time, sick days or other life disruptions  make it difficult  to change the daily plans on the computer.  Weekly lesson plans on paper work best for us.  However, I really like the daily journal feature of the basic homeschool tracker program.

I also have a section in the teacher's book to track all the books the children read, and educational videos/dvds/websites [plus time spent on each], blank paper to make informal evaluations, and different character/school issues to pray about.  I use forms from Highland Heritage [see link in my sidebar]  and  www.organizedhome,com .  

Our curriculum looks like this:

Together:

Bible study, New Testament

Mystery of History 2

Copy work/dictation from sources I've pulled together

Alpha Omega's Thomas Kincade Art course

Geography: State notebooks from A Beka

read alouds that coordinate with MOH2

Mind Benders thinking skills books [occaisionally]

February: test prep month

Son, 5th grade;

A Beka math 5

A Beka grammar 5 [without their book reports, we'll coordinate compositions with our history course]

Spelling Workout "E"

Plants Grown Up/Contenders for the Faith

2 Bob Jones Booklinks, and other reading he chooses

Christian Kids Explore Chemistry

Daughter, 2nd grade:

A Beka math 2

First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained MInd, second grade

Spelling Workout "B"

Polished Cornerstones/Keepers at Home books

1 Bob Jones Booklink plus other easy readers off our shelves

American History read alouds from the D'Aulaires

Bob Jones 2nd grade science. 

optional: Scholastic Success with 2nd grade reading comprehension worksheets, Mcgraw Hill 2nd grade reading workbook as needed

Obviously, we wont' be doing all of the above every day!   Our master schedule looks like this:

Bible, every day

Math, every day

Reading, every day

grammar/spelling//writing, Mon -Thurs

art--Fridays

science-Tuesdays/Thursdays

history-M/W/F

geopgraphy-Fridays

 The kids will set up notebooks with subject dividers later this week and decorate them.  They have stocked pencil boxes and each have their schoolbooks in separate plastic tubs to pull out at schooltime. We've not departed from a basic schedule in summertime--we get up at the same time, chores are still done by a certain time, etc.

The biggest  variable we have yet to see about is adjusting to the new baby!  Everything sounds ready to roll right now, but we'll see how well these plans work when two a.m. feedings have to be figured in to the schedule.  We may simplify a whole lot more!

From my favorite homeschooling book:

You may know discipleship up, down, backward and forward, and you may even be a great discipler and teacher. But one thing is certain--no matter how much you know or are able to do, your children will want to become only as mature as you are willing to become. Jesus taught, "A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40). Your child is not above his teacher (that's you), and will in fact become like you when his education is completed....You are your child's standard for Christian maturity....

...Wholehearted Christian children come from homes led by wholehearted Christian fathers and mothers. We must take the gospel to the nations, but the home will always be God's primary tool for reproducing believers in the world. And it all starts with your heart.

~~~Clay and Sally Clarkson, in Educating the Wholehearted Child: A Handbook for Christian Home Education

Educating the Whole Hearted Child

You may have seen it, but in case you didn't, here's the link   to a neat story about a homeschooled whiz kid.

A seventeen year old homeschooled kid has customized two cars to run on electric power, completely rechargeable through a regular household outlet. He figures charging both vehicles adds only $10 a month to his family's electric bill.

Pretty cool, huh?   Makes me if I wonder if I should tweak my lesson plans a bit for the coming year.....

Homeschoolers who try to do everything that advertisers and others say they need soon find themselves overloaded, so they must look for ways to simplify the curriculum...Start by using the Bible as the main textbook. It leads your children to eternal salvation and leads them to making good use of their lives while here on earth. Beyond that, it leads to a better academic education than the humanist and pagan and other approaches the world uses.

~~~Dr. Ruth Beechik, from

A Biblical Home Education: Building Your Homeschool on the Foundation of God's Word By Ruth Beechick

How about  getting in and out of a curriculum fair in less than two hours? No kidding, that's all the time I spent at this year's fair. I skipped workshops (hubby was sick) and I was much better organized this year.  Our local group allows for free internet  download of workshops after the event, so I decided just to wait on those.

Here are my tips on a speedy trip to the fair:

1. Pre-pay with the sponsoring group if possible.   Our local group, SMHEA, allowed folks to register and pay dues early. They had contacts at local umbrella schools with everything needed to register at testing time in March. This allowed me to skip much of the line to get into the fair.  I'd like to tip my hat to the SMHEA folks---they know what they are doing and make getting in and out EASY. Very well-run affair.

2. Leave the kids at home.  If possible, you can get around much faster  if they aren't stopping every two mintues going, "Hey Mom look at this!" Most years they go with me when I can devote all day to looking around because I want to see what interests them. This year, when time was short for me, having them doing chores at home was much more helpful.

3. Bring pre-printed labels with name, address, phone, and email information. It's easier to quickly stick a label on an email or newsletter sign-up sheet than to have to try fill one out with lots of people milling about. 

4. Bring a wagon,  wheeled cart, or baby stroller  to haul the stuff you buy. It will save your back and keep you from having to make several trips to the car to deposit things.

5. Get a map of the facilities and vendor locations ahead of time.  This way you can circle the location of the vendors you HAVE to see and number them in order of the stops you need to make. Leave the vendors you merely wish to browse for last.  Follow this order when you get to the fair. Then  the "have to do" stuff will be out of the way quickly and you get on to browsing!

6. If you are ordering textbooks, get the publishers catalogs ahead of time.  Browse the catalog and fill out the order form before you get to the fair. We always use A Beka math and like Bob Jones booklinks. I couldn't find any used this year, so I had to buy new. I had my forms filled out  down to the subtotal lines before setting foot in the facilities. DON'T GO AHEAD AND FIGURE TAX. Sometimes different states will tax certain items and not others. Let the representative do the final figuring on taxes! 

7. Make a shopping list.  Sometimes I just want to check things out before buying. There are, though, some things that are much better to buy at the fair, especially items like textbooks which often feature no shipping charges when ordered there. 

When you make the shopping list, make a page for each student's planned curriculum [I just write mine on notebook paper].  Highlight the things you need to buy at the fair. On a separate piece of paper, make a list of all you need to buy or want to look at and beside them write the price of these items from booksellers like Rainbow Resource , Shekinah [they match prices], or Christian Book Distributors . Remember, some of these sellers may not charge sales tax [depending on where you live] and offer free shipping on large orders as well as better prices than you'll find at the fair. At the fair you may find higher prices, pay sales tax, and may even have to pay shipping!  Be prepared to compare.  Be sure to staple you shopping lists, label page, vendor map, and workshop shedule together. 

8. Do the textbook shopping first.  Get your map of the facilities. Get there early. If you have pre-registered hopefully you'll be near the beginning of the line.  Get to the tables and grab a representative before they get busy answering questions with other folks who need more help/time from the rep. 

This year I was able to make five stops in about thirty minutes [A Beka for math, Alpha Omega for an extra set of art workbooks for the Thomas Kincade course from last year, Bob Jones for  a Booklink study guide, Miller Pads and Paper for handwriting and graph paper pads that were just a $1.50 each, and the Doorposts booth to get a copy of Plants Grown Up--which also happened to be on special  cheaper than  the Rainbow Resource price] . Then I had time to browse the fair for some other things I needed. 

Granted, our local fair is smaller in scope than a large convention, but this kind of planning can make navigating a larger convention  easier as well.   Happy shopping!

Oh, this is neat. I found a link to this from Robin Sampson's page, installed it earlier today and really like it. 

While we've put away the math textbook and spelling words along with other assignments, learning doesn't stop on vacation. A resource I like a lot is Dianne Flyn Keith's monthly  Carschooling calendars--jam-packed with historical events that are great for discussion.

For example, the June calendar lists info about Hernando de Soto, Alexander the Great, birth/passing dates for famous figures  from art to sports to poilitics to science, American and international dates of interest.  Completely free and fun. 

Here's some of her other websites:

www.carschooling.com

www.homefires.com

www.UniversalPreschool.com

Don't forget to check out her Clickschooling Yahoo Group---  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ClickSchooling/ .