Starting Fresh

It is that time of year again. We are getting ready for school to start. I have a couple of things that are coming in the mail and should be here by next week. I had such a hard time finding the lesson plan books I like that I ordered 3! I would have ordered more, but then shipping got a little pricey, so there you are. The kids are gone all next week for various activities, so I'm taking a day to plan. The big girl is planning herself again this year. She learned a lot about planning last year and the pitfalls involved, so this year should go much smoother. We hope. Here's what's on the agenda for the year coming up.

• Science- You have to love friends that love to teach subjects you don't want to. Last year I taught biology. Loved it! This year my friend G is teaching chemistry. I have a very weak chemistry background and I don't feel like I could do the subject justice. The boy and the big girl will both be taking that while the baby is going to study earth science. For chemistry, they'll be using A Beka. The earth science is God's Design for Heaven and Earth: Our Planet. We already know that the 2 olders will have homework, but so will the baby. The set comes with a CD with all the student consumables, like worksheets and fun stuff, on it. We'll see, we'll see...
• Bible- This is the first year that everyone is doing something different. I'm not sure I like it, but that's the way it goes. I'm thinking a devotional together before we start and then they can break up into their respective corners. The big girl and the boy will be "sharing". While the big girl works on BJU's Walking in the Spirit, the boy will be using A Beka's Joshua and Judges. Both of those are 1 semester, so they'll switch after Christmas when we start the second half of our year. The baby is using Explorer's Bible Study. I actually bought this several years ago, and never used it. Now is the time!
• History- It was so nice for many years to be able to use 1 curriculum for my multi-level kids. Oh how I miss those days when things were so uncomplicated. This year the boy and the baby will both be using A Beka. The baby is studying the old world, while the boy is studying America! The big girl is also studying American history, but she's using BJU. I already have several books for everybody that correspond to the different time periods they'll be studying. They are not liking me very much right now, but they'll get over it.
• Math- The big girl will be studying Geometry this year. While I understand that the general consensus is algebra, geometry, algebra II, we did something different. She did algebra, algebra II, and now geometry. Makes much better sense. The boy is going to pre-algebra it this year. He's so lucky. Both the geometry and pre-algebra are A Beka.  The baby is getting booted up to 6th grade math. She's using BJU. She is one excited chicky about getting to skip a year of math.
• Language Arts- This is where is gets just a bit tricky. The boy and the big girl are both using A Beka's Grammar and Composition, but their literature will be different. The big girl is studying American lit this year using BJU, and the boy is using A Beka's Of Places. The baby is using Rod and Staff for grammar. She's using a Progeny Press study guide for The Secret Garden and a Total Language Plus study guide for The Courage of Sarah Noble. If she finishes both of those and we have time left, I have either The Whipping Boy or Mr. Popper's Penguins. 
• Electives- PE and fine arts credits are dance. As much as we dance and as much as the kids perform with company, I can separate the 2 and call it good! We also have been bowling and dancing this summer so that also counts for PE credit. The kids want to learn German, and I found a program I think they'll like. We'll see if it actually gets fit into the schedule. The big girl may not have a choice.

There is a bunch of A Beka and BJU in there. I was given most of the A Beka, and I bought almost the entire BJU 10th grade for $50 last year. Thank you very much, I'll take that every day! There were a couple of things I didn't have, the chemistry and some work books, that I got super cheap at a used curriculum sale. I love a good used curriculum sale! The readers for the kids for summer reading and the year coming up have been purchased at thrift stores. Thrift stores are your friend. The most I have paid at one was $7, but you should have seen the stack of books I walked out with! I even found a student workbook for the grammar the kids will be using next year. I paid .54 for that bad boy! It retails new for almost $20, and used was as expensive as $10. I save most of what 1 kid uses for the next one down the line. It's actually kind of sad when I sell something. That means that we're all done with it. I could cry because that means the baby is not so much of a baby anymore.

That's our year coming up at a glance. My friend K is going to try to pre-plan her kids' entire year. She gets super busy with work at the most inopportune times. I'm not doing that (but I would if I could). I am, however, going to plan a month at a time. We get that busy and I need to get it done and not slap something on paper the night before we start. We'll see how it goes.

Have a great day.