Mood:  don't ask

Not really, but it got you to look didn't it?!?

Really, though, this year of planning is driving me up the wall! We have always been very eclectic in our homeschooling. We have never gone with just one canned curriculum that covered all subjects. We pick our subjects depending on the strengths and weaknesses of our children and of a particular curriculum. For example, John Allen does wonderful with reading good "living books" for history. He has learned some much from reading good historical novels and discussing them than he would ever have from reading some boring historical textbook. Joshua, on the other hand, requires a little more structure and flourishes with hands on things.  

Well, anyway, this year is no different. We are picking a very eclectic mix of curriculum and subjects. This time, however, to save money, I've chosen to put together John Allen's World History curriculum myself. So, I've looked at some book lists from some good World History curriculum and I have most of his books picked out. I also have some lapbooks and unit studies chosen to supplement the books. But, putting it all down on paper and writing down when he should read this and when he should do that is driving me up the wall. Before, I always had a teachers book that told me what to assign to him and what to tell him to do. We never did it all and often did other things that complimented the study as well, but at least we had a guide. This time around I have to figure it all out myself. AHHHHHH!

Then, if that isn't bad enough, I bought a Spanish textbook at a library sale. John Allen has wanted to learn Spanish for a long time. The textbook had a pronunciation CD with it that went corresponded with each chapter so I thought it would be great. After looking at the book I saw that it also had a great on-line website with flashcards, practice quizzes and more. The only problem was that I didn't look close enough at the book. I thought it covered things a little more quickly than what I remembered in high school, but I wasn't ready for the surprise when I finally realized it was a COLLEGE textbook! So, I'm trying to divide it into bite size bits and stretching it out to fill up a year instead of a semester. John Allen doesn't know that it's a college textbook and I'm not telling him! It's going to be an interesting year.

BUT, that's not all! He's also decided he wants to continue with Latin again this year. He has taken Latin off and on all three years that we have homeschooled, but last year, instead of doing regular Latin, we just studied Latin and Greek roots. This year he wants to really study Latin again. So, a high school Latin curriculum is ordered. These, along with, physical science and pre-algebra/algebra should make for a challenging year for him...and me!

Joshua is going to be a little easier. The Download-N-Go curriculum that we are reviewing this year covers a lot of science and social studies in a fun and interesting way. We are going to continue with Rocket Phonics and McGuffey Readers for reading and keep using Language Smarts for language. Wrapping it all up will be Math Mammoth this year. So he is set without a lot of planning.

Jacob is even going to join in this year as we begin phonics and more math with him, so he will be like his big brothers.

Call me crazy? Maybe I am, but I enjoy it. Just pray for my sanity. As the old movie line says "get ready for a bumpy ride"!

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