Are we ready for school? As much as I would love to be one of those families where we are always in "learning" mode, I just haven't gotten that down yet. I do everything I can to encourage learning over the summer. The younger ones are in library reading programs. I had Laura doing math a couple times a week all summer to keep her skills fresh. My step-daughter was going to her tutor for a couple hours, three times per week to work on her math skills before the start of the school year. We should know this week if we are going to be able to homeschool her. If we can, she will begin her freshman year with half of her Algebra 1 completed.
I tend to look at learning as something that happens all the time, but "school" is time when we focus on certain studies. My planning for this year has gone up and down. I didn't purchase a curriculum at tax time, so I am piecing it together a week at a time. Christianbook Distributors has been one of my favorite sites for purchasing this year. Every week I spend a little here and there to piece together what I want to do with my daughters this year. I've also spent some time on Ebay and Amazon, shopping for good deals.
This was a tough year for us. I had gotten in the habit of purchasing our homeschool materials at tax time. This past year that money went totally to paying off debt. So, that meant pulling things together myself. What I have learned is that, while I can be creative while looking for supplementary materials, I really don't think I'm that great at pulling it all together myself. I still have some things to purchase before officially kicking off our school year, but I could begin without it if necessary.
Kindergarten both thrills and scares me. I went more formal in my purchases for math and phonics. I want Megan to get a solid foundation in those areas. Both the math and phonics programs that I purchased have tons of supplementary ideas. I am totally okay with following their program and adding in the supplementary ideas here and there.
As much as this goes against the Charlotte Mason and Unit Study philosophies, I wanted Laura to begin using materials this year where she will be tested. Up until now, she has only been tested in math and reading. I didn't do this because I want to torture her or myself. I did this because we are nearing a time when she will have to do well in test taking skills. I will be keeping a transcript of what we cover from here on out. In my prayer time I have felt strongly that, with the rising of hostility toward Christianity, I need to be sure my "T"s are crossed and my "I"s are dotted.
One area where God has led me strongly is the areas of time with God and getting His Word into our hearts and minds. I plan to take portions of Scripture this year and spend a month at a time memorizing it with all the children. It will be read daily together. I will use it as copywork. I will find lessons about the memory work. I so want God's Word to be a living, active part of our lives and school. While memorizing verses for school is great, I want more than just random verses. I want life and heart altering Scripture. I've seen this work. With my Wednesday night kids we took a couple of months to learn The Lord's Prayer. While I sent copies of it home, we would say it at the beginning of every Wednesday night for quite a while. Even the kids that didn't work on memorizing it at home knew it after a couple of months. The same can work at home. I still remember verses from when I was a child. They stayed with me even after 18 years of not following Christ. When I came back, I realized that those verses were still there in my mind.
So, as I get ready to begin our year, I find myself growing excited. God is leading, and that thrills me. The adventure of God's plan is always better than anything I could come up with myself!
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