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Monday, July 4, 2011

Homeschool Planning

I said I was going to homeschool through the summer.  Nope.  I need a break.  Although we enjoyed Little Hearts For His Glory, at this point it is too easy for Lucy.  We're shelving it and going with the next level in the fall.  Lucy is still reading through the Emerging Readers set; I certainly can't stop her.  She asked for books for her birthday and loves to read.  :)  We may still read through the Burgess books this summer as the girls LOVE those.  We'll see.  I like the freedom of being able to stop and just breathe and enjoy summer.


I always enjoy planning our homeschool curriculum for the coming year.  I haven't had to do much searching this time because we are looking forward to using Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory.  I placed my order tonight from Heart of Dakota and have several of the read alouds on hold at the library so I can read them myself ahead of time.  The girls are pretty sensitive, so I want to be sure I am choosing story time books they will enjoy.  I'm excited that some of my favorites as a child are scheduled this year - In Grandma's Attic, Mr Popper's Penguins, and more.

Lucy will be using Explode the Code books, and Artistic Pursuits (she really likes this art program, we did a portion of it last year).  Other than that, we are using everything as recommended by Heart of Dakota (Singapore Math, etc).  I have a Playmobil covered wagon set with a family that was mine when I was little.  I am planning to give it to the girls sometime during the year; I think they will enjoy acting out some of the stories we will be reading.


Julia is turning four at the beginning of August and loves joining in with Lucy when she can.  I'm sure she will listen during story time and participate in any crafts.  She has such a different personality and learning style than Lucy, that I am definitely not teaching her the same way Lucy learned at that age.  We are planning to use Learn Your Letters Learn to Serve (Click here to view more details) and The Reading Lesson at a slow pace as she shows interest.  I'm excited about Learn Your Letters Learn to Serve because Julia has a very caring heart toward others and I can see this really nurturing that in her.  The activities look like things our whole family will enjoy, although it will take a bit of planning in order to fit it in.

I am debating getting a preschool table and chair set, kind of like this, or small desks, or just continuing to use our kitchen table.  The table is fairly small, and I like the idea of having a kid sized workspace, but that means Esther would get into whatever the older girls are doing.  We would also have to really rearrange things to even be able to fit that table in our house.  What do you think?  


Are you planning ahead for the fall yet?  Any fun ideas to share?
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9 comments:

  1. Dusty (To the Moon and Back)July 4, 2011 at 12:14 PM

    I was just looking over the Learn your letters, learn to serve curriculum yesterday to maybe use with my son this coming year. He is finishing up LHTH this year and will do it again for his prek year, but I need something this upcoming year for in between. I was worried we didn't know a person for every letter of the alphabet though!

    We are year round schoolers, so we're still pluggin galong here, although I am really looking forward to the fall when we will start LHFHG with my oldest daughter!

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  2. JimKelsJuly 4, 2011 at 1:12 PM

    We will be starting Learn your Letters Learn to Serve in the fall. We will couple it with 100 Easy Lessons

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  3. Shannon WallaceJuly 4, 2011 at 5:03 PM

    Thanks for sharing! I've never heard of the Letters or the Pursuit books. I think Evan is a bit too old for the Letters curriculum, but I've been wanting to do an art curriculum. Is this one easy to use? Have you tried any other art curriculum? I am really debating on buying this!

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  4. TraceyJuly 6, 2011 at 8:30 AM

    I enjoy reading what everyone has planned for homeschooling in the fall! My girls are school-aged, so we do a summer learning program every year in which we take the time to do an in-depth study of subjects in which they're interested. (They're in a Christian school during the regular school year.)

    Actually came to your site through a link to your baked oatmeal recipe. I tried something similar for breakfast today and really enjoyed it!

    Hope you have a nice day!

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  5. ChristineJuly 8, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    We love Explode the Code, too! Our homeschool plans are here:
    http://christine-mary.blogspot.com/2011/05/planning-homeschool-year.html

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  6. AnonymousJuly 8, 2011 at 1:40 PM

    Looks like you're really on top of things! Some days I consider home schooling. Other days I think I'm crazy :p For now I'm just doing some pre-k workbooks with Rebecca. We'll see what next year brings. I may have to check out LYLLTS.

    Mary @ Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

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  7. KimJuly 14, 2011 at 10:04 AM

    Hi! Stumbled upon your blog from a MFW search...am curious what made you switch from MFW to Heart of Dakota? I haven't read through all of your blog so if you have a blog post about this already that you could direct me to that would be great! Thanks! We're planning on MFW-K in the fall but have also considered Heart of Dakota.

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  8. ChristyJuly 17, 2011 at 11:45 PM

    Hi Kim! Thanks for stopping by. :) I do have more info about my thoughts on the switch here - http://onelittlewordsheknew.blogspot.com/2011/02/switching.html

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  9. Brittany ThomasSeptember 23, 2011 at 11:59 PM

    Just found your blog. You are the second person I've come across that uses Heart of Dakota. I might have to look into it for next year. This year we are using Sonlight which as far as I can tell, is really close to HOD but not as christian based. Sounds like our kids are pretty close in age too. I've got a 5 yr old (kindergarten) 4 yr old and 10 month old.

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