We've been discussing, as a family, what we need to do to finish up this year, when the year should be finished, and what we want to keep/change for the coming year.

I think we have decided that our year will end the last day of March. We will not order our new Sonligth Cores until the middle of February, so that will give me enough time to get the order and go through it all. It's like Christmas when we get that big ole box full of books! Can't wait!!

We won't be taking a break really, we take too many breaks throughout the year...and every day is a day to learn something.

Young J will be finishing up his math workbook right after New Years so I am ordering his new math next week. I kind of let him work through it at his own pace. Sometimes he likes to do a whole chapter in one day. Hey, he's in 2nd grade so that's still possible...and he thinks it's fun.

Other than math he just reads to me...and does the same Sonlight Core, with me, as older J. I'm not *planning* to add anything for him this year...though we may look at Sonlight LA (we already have it and it's very relaxed) when we get our new Core). I've seen from my experience with older J that certain things come so easily after a certain age, and it is not worth struggling to make them learn it when they could learn it easily later.

Older J has math and LLATL to finish up. I do need to sit down with the books and plan it out a little. We are kind of relaxed about things, so most of the time it does no good to really plan. I cannot use a *teachers planner* because we just cannot always do certain things on certain days. We get sidetracked to easily...and life happens before *formal school*. I do need to see if it is possible to finish those two things by then. 

We'll continue using Spelling Power with Older J the way that we do...not the right way, but what works for us. The thing that has helped Older J the most is the desire to write. He's always carrying around a notebook and copying things that interest him. When he writes he asks about spelling, and his spelling has improved 100% in the last 6months. It's amazing really, and a real eye opener. We use the SP just as a *list of words*...as I said, not the way it's meant to be used, but it works well for older J.

He also uses Daily Grams and Wordly Wise...and he enjoys them. My children actually like some bookish work, and I have found that if I say "we're having school today" that they just naturally pick these things up...instead of just saying "oh what do we have to do...?" meaning what's the least we can get by with to satisfy Mama.

I have Apologia's Botany for Younger J and Older J to start in the spring. We really haven't done any *formal* science for the year, but we live on a farm...daily life is science. I purchased the Botany during the summer, and after looking it over I decided it was better suited to be done in the spring. I don't look for it to last very long, and I think we are going to do Considering God's Creation after that..or maybe another of Apologia's elementary science programs.

The younger two are doing Core 1 in Sonlight. Even though most would consider older J too old for this Core, it is the perfect fit really. His attention span is very short, so even though his reading level test normal for his age, he actually does better with things that require less concentration (lower level). Anyway, I did ask them if they wanted to quit Sonlight (because it is soooo much expense at one time) and they said "NO WAY!"  So we stick with it for them...honestly, it would have broken my heart if they had asked to quit it.

Anyway, we want to finish up Core 1 by the end of March...but will probably be done with it before that. Sometimes we start reading and we just don't want to stop...and Mama is a meany and stops anyway.

*A* is doing Core 100. He's so enjoyed this Core that I am sure we will all be sorry when it is over. Even though he is doing all the reading on his own, we are discussing what he learns as a family. He's always telling us new and interesting facts. One day he made the statement, "God really had His hand on George Washington" and proceeded to tell us how many times he had near misses...and even had horses shot out from under him. Yet he walked away without a scratch. He saw that God has a tremendous plan for Mr. Washington, just as He does for all of us.  

He says that he can finish his Core in the timeframe that I mentioned, but I'm leary of that. He loves to read, and he says he wants to finish when we do...so I guess that I will just let him do as he wishes but I will not pressure him. That's a lot of work....

He also needs to finish up his science and math. Science is no problem, but I'm not sure about the math. He's done really well in it...I'll just have to see how many lessons he has left.

The other things that he uses for English are not on any kind of timeframe, so we don't have to worry about those.

We kind of dropped the bar with our extras (Spanish and Art). Maybe we'll plan those better, and pick them back up...maybe.