Thursday, June 18, 2009

Creating a Plan- Homeschooling Curriculum



The kids have been out of school for about two weeks in our county. We have all been taking it easy, enjoying being able to stay up at night and sleeping in when we all should be up and moving. I however, need to get back to a routine before all is lost. I have so much to do and when I sleep in I lose too much valuable time.

What do I have to do?

Well for starters, I need to be getting two separate school agendas figured out. I feel that it is much easier to gets the kids homeschooling curriculum figured out ahead of time instead of waiting till the last minute. This way I can be more relaxed and spend good quality time teaching the kids instead of being in a hurry to gathers all my lessons, thoughts, crafts, etc. at the last moment.

On top of all the school planning that lies ahead of me, I would also like to spend some fun "ME" time doing some crafts and hobbies that I enjoy before we go back to the old grind of school in the fall.

Since I'm talking about school, I'll tell you that last year I used the ABeka History book for 3rd grade and we loved it. I am able to obtain county textbooks to use for our schooling but last year I was really surprised when I began reading them. The lessons skip around so much that I, as an adult, was very confused. After a short time of using them I decided to chuck them and go with the Abeka books.

This year I chose to buy many of the Abeka textbooks for my Kindergarten child and 4th grader. I have already received them and am very excited to get started on them.

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Along with the ABeka books I use some of the county textbooks, lots of ideas and materials from the Internet, library books, Scholastic Workbooks as well as everyday experiences.

I have found out in the past year that the more hands-on activities that I can do with the kids, the better they learn. I try to take any subject and find a way to have the kids get into the subject and be a part of the lesson and then they create a long lasting memory which they will remember much better than just sticking their nose in a book with worksheets and tests.
If there are any homeschoolers out there reading my blog, then I'd like to ask you which you find easier?
1.) Planning ahead of time
2.) Just taking it one day at a time
Do you have a favorite curriculum that you use?

5 comments:

Donna Guthrie said...

Dear Jessica, In planning your homeschooling curriculum, please consider the free video pod casts with MEET ME AT THE CORNER, Virtual Field Trips for Kids (www.meetmeatthecorner.org) Each kid-friendly episode comes with fun websites and a special Learning Corner of extended activities and questions.
The site lists over 50 free shows for kids by kids about everything from the history of the harpsichord to building a worm bin.

Unknown said...

You know I don't wanna think about school yet! LOL I really need to start next years schedule but I'm putting it off. Ugh! I can't believe Junes almost over

Nancy M. said...

I like to have a sort of guideline to go by, but then I don't have to stick to it. Sometimes we like to stay on something longer and go a little more in depth, so we can still do that as long as we don't have a strict schedule. I guess I'm kind of eclectic cause we use all different forms of curriculum.

Janet, said...

I don't home school, I couldn't be organized enough to do it. I applaud all of you who care enough to put your time and effort into doing this for your kids.

Kentucky Farm Girl said...

We just had my oldest son's Kindergarten meeting today. He will be attending a Christian school with a class size of 7. They use the ABeka program, and my husband and I were very impressed after looking over the books today.