Spring Session Plans ALL SET!

Got every little piece tidied up this afternoon and it is like a weight has lifted from my shoulders. As I have said a bazillion times before, although I am willing to switch things up it is SOOOOO nice to just have things set and ready to go.

After some discussion DN has decided to stay on an every other week schedule, which means he will be here for only two or three days every two weeks and will complete the majority of his work at home. I had to switch things up a bit so that this could work, but I think that it will go well as long as he stays on top of things. KM's schedule will basically remain the same as it has, but we are tweaking a few things here and there to hers as well.

Literature -
City of Embers - DN

Animal Farm - DN

Math - 

Manga Joku - Both

Science - 

Biology Coloring Workbook - KM

Janice VanCleave's Bio Labs - Both
Usborne Science Encyclopedia - DN

Health & Phys. Ed. - 
Bowling - KM

Tennis - Both

Ice Skating- KM
Basketball - DN

Heads Up: Real News About Drugs and Your Body - Both
Mind Over Matter - Both


Social Sciences – U.S. History & Geography - 
A History of US Books 1-2 - K

Liberty Kids - K

Story of the US DVD -  - K

U.S. History – Basic Not Boring - K

Hip Hop History - U.S. - D

Westward, Ha-Ha!, 1800-1850 (America's Funny But True History) - D

The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: The Donner Party Expedition (My Name is America) - D

The Revolution - D
Journey North - Both
25 Map Crosswords - Both

Elective - Financial Literacy -
Building Your Future - Financial Literacy Curriculum - Both


Foreign Languages - 
Japanese from Zero!  - K

Spanish Grammar Study Cards- D

Spanish Conversation Demystified - D
Spanish (The 100+ Series) - D

Current Events - 
CNN Student News - Both

AHHHH...sometimes she surprises me!

It was a really good weekend! Saturday morning early call for bowling league is getting a bit easier, KM had a friend over who she doesn't get to see as often as she would like and Sunday CJ got home after being gone since Tuesday. After her friend was picked up, I thought she was going to be quite tired and need to just veg, so when CJ and I ran to the store to pick up a few things I thought she would be out cold on the couch when we came back. However, this is what we saw when we returned she was ---

DOING HER BIOLOGY!!! I nearly fell over! 

My anxieties over this new routine have been lifted for the moment! Ahhhh...I love when I am proved wrong!

If at first you don't succeed....

try, try again - so they say.

So we have tried in the past for KM to set her own schedule and it really didn't work out all that well past the first day or two. She did get the swing of getting her things done daily when I gave her a list and the freedom to complete things as she wanted, but it seemed like everytime we tried for more than that it just wouldn't work. She would become overwhelmed and feel like she needed more structure.

Our summer session begins next week and we are trying it again . This time, after some simple instruction and guidance on how to use the Homeschool Tracker, KM has set her own schedule up. We both agreed that this would be the perfect time to try it out because we have far fewer pressing time constraints, places to be at specific times, a lighter lesson load and we are already adjusting to changes in the house, so this can just be another one of those adjustments that should hopefully be all worked out by the fall.

She is very excited about the programs that she will be doing over the summer and feels that she has set things up in a way that makes sense and won't be overwhelming for her to handle in her own way. Here is the schedule that she came up with.

There are no actual guidelines for "timing" other than getting things done on those days and/or within reason. Like if she knows that she wants to go to the beach on Tues, she may want to do a little extra math on Monday so that she can have less to do that day. 

Here is an example of one weeks assignments -

Her assignments are quite short so she can easily bump them around here and there with little problem. I really think this will be helpful in her managing her time in a constructive way so that she feels as though things are flowing.

Her program choices for the summer include

• beginning a year long Shakespeare Study
• Math & The Cosmos - a Duke Tip program
• an overview of U.S. Government, Economics and Citizenship
• Keyboard Level 2B
• Beginning French with some online and computer games
• CNN Student News for Current Events
• Some more advanced Nutrition study - including cooking and baking
• Bowling Camp, Swimming, Basketball and Dance for P.E. 

New Routine -

--- things are really feeling good around here. I had briefly mentioned that we were trying a new routine in a previous post and have gotten TONS of questions about it! I am glad to say that it is working out nicely and I now feel rather comfortable disclosing it.

It really isn't that big of a deal, but has made a HUGE difference around here. Instead of switching gears CONSTANTLY through out the day as we go from subject to subject - we have decided to do one subject each day. As of right now it looks something like this:

We are finishing up our math program which is mostly review, so it really isn't anything that needs to be done daily. The next math that she will be doing in our spring session is a new program that I think will also work well with this system. However once she gets back into Teaching Textbook for Algebra 1 in the summer we will tweak it so that she does Math everyday and electives on Mondays so that we will have a four day week - leaving Fridays open for field trips.

So far it has been really productive and gives a good flow to the material! It seems like it was just the right time to switch things up!