It’s that time of year again! I can hardly believe we are starting our fifth year of homeschooling. Where, oh where did the time go? I’m almost afraid to blink because I know we’ll be doing high school work before I know it… (thoughts of Algebra & Geometry…Heaven, help me.)
I love the “back-to-school” time of the year. The smell of new crayons. The bright white paper in the notebook. Newly sharpened pencils. And clear student calendars just waiting for assignments to be written.
While the boys were at camp the first week of August, I finalized some of our curriculum choices and worked on scheduling. We officially started back to school this past Monday. So far, so good. 
For those who are interested, this is what we are doing:
Bible - We take turns reading from the Bible daily.
Spelling - Both: Spelling Power. This is our first year using this. Today is Day 3, so far we like it.
Math - Tigger: Speed drills, Math-U-See Alpha & Beta; Woody: Speed Drills, Math-U-See Gamma & Delta & Times Tales.
Composition - Both: Writing With Ease, Write Shop B, Young Writer’s Club with our homeschool group.
Geography - Both: Trail Guide to World Geography.
History - Both: Sonlight wrap up Core 1/Core B, start Core 2/Core C.
Handwriting – Tigger: A Reason for Handwriting B; Woody: A Reason for Handwriting T.
Language Arts (Grammar/Vocabulary/Phonics) - Tigger: Wordly Wise A, Explode the Code 4 &5, Alpha Omega Language Arts LIFEPAC Grade 2; Woody: Finish Wordly Wise C & start WW1, Explode the Code 7 & 8, Alpha Omega Language Arts LIFEPAC Grade 4.
Read-Alouds – Both: Sonlight.
Reading – Tigger: Sonlight Grade 3 Readers, & Younger Boys Book Club with our homeschool group.; Woody: Sonlight Grade 4-5 Readers & Older Boys Book Club with our homeschool group.
Science - Both: Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Astronomy, followed by Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Zoology 1.
Art - Both: Art museum field trips, Artistic Pursuits.
Other Electives - Both: Music – Symphony field trips, considering piano lessons or maybe guitar?; Cooking with Mom; Keyboarding – for Woody once he can easily write in cursive.
Phys. Ed. - Looking into options for classes. I’ve rejected three options so far because they either don’t have enough structure, it takes too much time away from our school day, or it’s too far away. I have two options left to research, it they don’t pan out, I’ll need to figure out what we can do at home.Hmm. Putting this in writing makes it appear somewhat daunting, but I still think this is do-able. I’ve mapped out a schedule, but that’s a post for another day. Anyway, I’m pretty sure we can get close to finishing it all even with the 34 Field Trips & Away-from-Home activities already planned for the year, and who knows how many more will be added.
I feel pretty good about covering the basics. However, there are still things I want to add. Like Chess, only I don’t know how to play it. How do you teach your kids a game if you don’t know how to play it? And, I’d like to figure out a way to add more Music, but I’m not sure how.
Do you think I am missing anything else? Do you have any suggestions? Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?
