It has been pretty much a lazy summer for us...and while that has been nice in a way...it may make getting back to a normal daily routine a struggle.  One good thing was that I had everything organized and ready to go back in June...so I wasn't scrambling all summer to get ready for this year.  But now I need to go over it all and remind myself of just what we are doing!

Here's what we have planned for this year. 

Bridgette requested that we read through the book of Isaiah for bible.  Our method of "bible study" has been that she would read the chapter on her own, then we would read it together and she would draw something that stood out to her.  Then we listen to the chapter on cd and there would be somesort of devotional from that passage.  This year with Isaiah being a longer book, we will have 2 chapters a week...with basically the same set up, but instead of the devotional part, I found an actual bible study for Isaiah (that I downloaded) that we are going to use instead.

For History we are continuing with our unit study style method for more American History...with 1800's Pioneers and Westward Expansion being our topic.  I have several source material that I'm pulling from (with reading/ Q&A) as well as living books and notebooking assignments and some essay writing planned.

Science we are using Apologia's General Science...and have purchased a lab kit to go with it as there are a lot of experiments to do.  We really enjoyed the Zoology 2 from last year, and I hope that Bridgette will enjoy science again this year.  But the book seems big to me and more involved than she's had before...so hopefully it will go well.  I would also love to see Bridgette participate in our homeschool group's annual Science fair this year...held in the spring...we should start researching ideas early!

TLP/Writing - we are continuing with Total Language Plus (our 3rd year) and this year she will be reading Words By Heart, The Hobbit and Around the World in 80 Days.  We also purchased Painless Grammar to use  this year as well.  But the big thing is writing for Bridgette.  She has decided this year that she wants to become a writer.  This past year she has begun writing a couple of stories that have been in my probably somewhat biased opinion, very good!  So our plan is to focus more on writing in the coming years.  I originally was only going to give her creative writing assignments to do through out the year, but we recenlty got the opportunity for her to take a writing class with someone who has a bachelor's degree in English...so starting in September for 12 weeks she will be taking this writing class and we are very excited about that!

Math - we are continuing with Math U See.  And as any of you know who have read any of my previous posts of what we use...Bridgette is a bit behind where 8th grade public school kids would be, but we are okay with that.  When we began homeschooling we decided to start over with math and get her feeling comfortable with it.  So this year we are moving into Epsilon...which if you are familiar with MUS focuses on fractions.  It's at this point in the game that even mom will be getting an education...I always had trouble with fractions.  And so from now on I plan to learn right along with Bridgette! 

I'm not sure what "extra curricular" activities we'll be doing this year.  We decided not to stay with 4H...Bridgette only did a couple things last year and so we just decided it really wasn't worth it for us.  I wish there was someplace she could take dance - I mean obviously there are places to take dance, but we don't have the extra money to put her into a class.  She used to have her worship dance class...that was a free thing at our church lead by a volunteer...but unfortunately that is no longer an option and there isn't anything anywhere else that I know of.  So I guess other than going to some plays or other field trips, we probably won't do much.  Maybe that's a good thing?!  

Well all this begins in just 4 weeks...Monday August 31st!  Perhaps this year will go by without any major distractions...such as whooping cough!!!!

Posted by tlpgina

Hope your enjoying your TLP, we just finished Witch of Blackbird pond and are testing a new one coming out in January, Ben and Me.
Gina

Posted by HoneyBee10269

TLP is going fairly well so far...out of the 3 books planned for this year, this first one will probably be our least favorite...but hey ya don't have to be crazy about every book! Bridgette is really looking forward to the next book - The Hobbit - as she is already a Lord of the Rings fan! :-)

Posted by tlpgina

As far as I know there's not a way to notify on comments...

We loved Hobbit, it's one of our all time favorites! Hopefully it will be a good one for her too!
Gina