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Theresa
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| Posted: Feb 10 2007 at 5:52pm | IP Logged
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I guess I need someone to really spell it out for me.
When you plan your school year, how do you do it. I'm so used to having My Father's World plan out most of the work as to what is covered.
Currently we use the following curriculum
MFW - Creation to the Greeks This includes our history, science, bible and art (whcih we do not use)
Spelling Power
Learning Language Arts through Literature for 2nd grade and 7th grade
Rod and Staff English for 5th grade
Math U See
Apologia General Science
I want to move into more of the Charlotte Mason method this next year, but am quite nervous to not have the plans already planned out.
We are able to add in lots of great book with MFW and we do alot of read aloud from the books in our book basket which are in relation to our history and science for the week.
Could you share with me how you plan your year?
Do you use any packaged curriculum at all?
Do you break your year up into quarters and decide what to study for that quarter and then just read books? Do you have any work in history, science and language arts that isn't just reading?
My boys hate to read and that makes me sad. I want them to love learning and right now they dont. They are great self starters but they do the work to move on to "funner" things. I want them to realize that they are learning all the time! You don't just stop for the day.
My heart tells me this is the direction but I'm at a loss as to how to put it all together.
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Theresa
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Paula in MN
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| Posted: Feb 10 2007 at 6:10pm | IP Logged
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Theresa,
I have been using the CHC package and adding in a ton of books. This year I also added in some of the history ideas from MA, and again a lot of books. CHC barely touches that part of it.
Next year I plan on using the schedule/plan from MA with any additional books. I have enjoyed the CHC, but cost is a factor. And the kids really like reading and narrating. 
I, too, like to have schedules and lists that I can cross off, and have everything all laid out for me. Frankly, I am scared to NOT have a schedule, as I am afraid that I won't cover everything they need to learn. Oh wait, I'm in Minnesota -- there is no detailed list of what they need to learn, is there?! 
I am reading the CM series right now, and I really do want to get away from "schedules". I'd like to be able to look at a quarter or a trimester at a time and be able to decide that we will cover 7 items during those 12 or 15 weeks.
I need to keep praying!
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 Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Feb 10 2007 at 6:40pm | IP Logged
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Theresa,
I blogged about how I plan here
which I know you already read, because you commented. 
But some things were not spelled out explicitly in the post because I have written about them before. Like the fact that we use Bravewriter lifestyle as a basis for our writing program (very CM, if you ask me) and that for math I am using a variety of materials I've cobbled together , which I am confident about because I used to teach middle school math (and science) and am familiar with the national standards, and that my degrees are in biology, so I've designed my own biology curriculum (as well as the other sciences), or that the vast majority of our narrations are oral, or in the form of projects.
I know the way I do things is quite different than alot of others, and may be pretty unique to my situation, which is why I hesitate to recommend that anyone do as I do.
But, if this approach appeals to you at all, I would be glad to assist you in looking at how it might apply to you in your homeschool.
If not, then how about trying Elizabeth's booklist, or Ambleside online? AO is a CM curriculum that many seem to have alot of success with. The Catholic version would be the wonderful Mater Amabilis online curriculum, which you could also follow, just switching out your own religion materials.
Perhaps those who have already written planning posts on their blogs could link them here so that you could see all the different ways that we plan our years/months/weeks/days?
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Feb 10 2007 at 6:51pm | IP Logged
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Sorry, forgot to add:
Another thing that makes my situation a bit different, and why I hesitate to say my way is right for anyone else, is that I don't do spelling, vocabulary, reading comp, or formal grammar with my ds. The majority of that is addressed through his writing, and the reading, well, he is voracious, so I am not worried there. He just read "Little House in the Big Woods" last night, the night before was "Peter and the Shadow Thieves", the night before that was "Eldest" (that actually took 2 nights)...I can't keep the boy in books.
Again, this is not to be discouraging or whatever, but just to point out that once we move from a boxed curriculum, it is easier to tailor your choices to your child's particular needs. So, MY planning is likely totally irrelevant to anyone else, unless they happen to have a kid just like mine (which, honestly, is unlikely because he is pretty odd!LOL!).
But you probably already know this and I am rambling on, and not being very helpful. I wish I could be more helpful, really.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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JuliaT
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I do a mix of classical and CM, so I do use some packaged curriculums, but the majority is living books. I use AO's booklist. Have you looked at that? Or Mater Amabilis? They have schedules that has it all figured out for you.
This year we used the schedules. We also just did the reading and narrating, but my dd likes doing activities and going on rabbit trails. She doesn't like doing just narrations. I read Real Learning before Christmas. So now we are using the AO books but we are putting a RL spin to them.
For my first year of AO I liked the schedules. They gave me confidence to go it alone. So we don't follow the schedules anymore. We use the AO books to go on rabbit trails. This is much more enjoyable for my dd.
I do use separate curriculums for history and science still. I think, though, that as time goes on, I will gain more confidence to let those go as well.
I think it would be wise to take small steps (like using AO or MA as a guide) at first. Before you know it, you will have gained enough confidence to jump in the deep end without a life jacket.
Blessings,
Julia
mom to 3(7,6,4)
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Juliainsk
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Theresa
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| Posted: Feb 10 2007 at 9:06pm | IP Logged
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I have looked at the booklists in Elizabeth's book and I guess I'm just not understanding how they work. Are you just to read those books in each month and that is all? Or are those just a start and then you can add in further study?
The MFW can be very Charlotte Mason friendly... but my kids are sick of the text we are using for it and it seems like the kids prefer more of our book basket books than the texts themselves. What I do like about the MFW is that it is divided up for me by weeks, with specific themes and then I am able to pull resources from other places to help support that.
I have a lot of trouble keeping up with Science though. We tend to let that drop the most and do our own thing. We have been reading about birds for the last month and are switching to gardening/planting right now so our book display for science has about 15 books and we are basically just reading them.
My daughter is doing the Apologia General Science, mostly on her own right now. We put it away at the beginning of the year because it was causing a lot of frustration for her and the she had failed the first two tests. We just brought it back out and I have decided to let you get as far as she can without the book and then the last 10 minutes she can finish as an open book test.
I don't think we are enjoying science as much as we could be though and that concerns me.
Theresa, I'm going to go back and re-read some of your posts. I like a lot of your hands on and station work. That would work well for my 4 year old.
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Willa
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Theresa in MN wrote:
| I want them to love learning and right now they dont. They are great self starters but they do the work to move on to "funner" things. I want them to realize that they are learning all the time! You don't just stop for the day. |
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One of my children was/is like this. I had to work hard to slow things down. He does love reading though and that's a plus.
THough I don't follow a pre-set curriculum I do find I need a general "big picture". If you like MFW maybe you could follow their general scope and sequence but more loosely?
My big picture is here
Having this in my mind, I can pull in different literature resources and I usually try to rely basically on some booklist and add or subtract from there. This year I am using Mater Amabilis and Ambleside resources but I always supplement from the Real Learning booklist.
Science -- all my kids got a lot of mileage out of backyard and local nature study plus field guides plus library-type reading plus occasional seasons of doing experiments and investigations. I am thinking this looser format is actually a fairly effective way to nourish a scientific frame of mind in a child. I like Teresa's stations and am thinking hard about how to do something like this in our home environment.
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Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
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Paula in MN
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Thanks for sharing this Willa. It looks wonderful.
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Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Feb 11 2007 at 8:41am | IP Logged
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Willa, that looks like a great plan. I really like what you said about the literature/history being the core of the education while the 3Rs are tools or instruments. That really resonates with me. (Though I would add science to that core list ) Thanks for articulating that so well!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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Meredith
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| Posted: Feb 11 2007 at 11:36am | IP Logged
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Theresa in MN wrote:
| I have looked at the booklists in Elizabeth's book and I guess I'm just not understanding how they work. Are you just to read those books in each month and that is all? Or are those just a start and then you can add in further study? |
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Theresa in MN, here is a recent post for my dd Violet's Charlotte Mason Term
To answer your question about Elizabeth's booklist and how I've used it is kind of like treating each month as a unit study, but I've also used her list as supplemental independent reading to whatever "plan" we happen to be working through. Here's my post on Our General Plan
keeping in mind that I reserve the right to change this plan at any time if it's not gelling the way I want with the dc (or Me  ) for that matter.
About planning in general, I plan quarterly afer I lay out the Master plan, cause there are always "tweaks" throughout the year. New ideas come up, new books, new crafts, units, what have you, and I really like to follow the dc's lead lots of times and that may take us out of the parameters of the "plan".
A skeleton is always good though and it sounds like you have a good one. As for making it more CM, I might recommend looking at the Ambleside Online site and also our personal favorite the Mater Amabilis site. We use many of their suggestions for our skeleton and then I add in all the rest.
I hope this isn't too overwhelming, I know when I first discovered Real Learning and all these lovely ideas (and women) my head was spinning so fast I wanted to do it all right now You'll find your nitch and things will fall into place. For your boys that maybe aren't enjoying reading, have you tried letting them choose a book for them to read independently that's fairly lengthy, so it will take them a bit to get through it?? This might lead to some great CM type discussion (aka narration) along the way, just a thought.
Blessings in your journey and we're so glad to have you here asking all these great questions!!
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Anne McD
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Hi Theresa,
I'm muddling through now, so I'm riding on your coattails reading these answers.
One thing stood out to me, though-- your comment that your boys don't like to read. Do they see your husband reading? I've been (gently  ) getting on my husband's case about this, b/c my 5yo has been straying from looking at books, and I know my dh grew up never reading. That's because he never saw his parents reading. And as my mil told me, she never saw her parents reading . . . I realized that they see Daddy watch TV to wind down, and he reads to them a lot, but I want them to have the male example of reading for fun.
Just a thought. 
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Anne
Wife to Jon
Mommy to Alex 9
James 8
Katie 6
William 3 1/2
Benedict Joseph 1
and baby on the way! 10/14
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Putting it all together - help?
