Now that we're about a month into our homeschool year, I can evaluate how the new, minimalist schedule is working out. I did so much planning beginning last spring, tweaking things (way too many times!) over the summer, and fretting about this thing called Jr. High. But I also prayed a lot, and that makes all the difference. I was very well prepared, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised by how smoothly things are humming along. Yet I find myself amazed! I am converted to minimalism.
I decided not, at this time, to try to do a double history-based unit study, combining the Old Testament and Victorian England themes. We're sticking with ancient history, focusing right now on the Old Testament. We begin each lesson time with prayer and a Bible reading. Since we began with King Solomon in our Bible History book, the Bible readings are coming from the books he authored--Proverbs, Canticle of Canticles, and Wisdom. This also comprises our poetry study!
For literature right now, we're simply doing free reading. This means that my daughter got to choose from among 10 books of literary value that we already had in the house. She simply reads a chapter each day to herself and is not required to do vocabulary lessons, analysis, chapter questions, narrations, or anything but enjoy it! This is also a practice used in schools which is believed to be of great benefit for the child's language arts skills. (They call it Sustained Silent Reading, or SSR, 'cause you gotta have an acronym for a thing to be real, right? Here's an article on its benefits: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr038.shtml.) Beezy also reads a novel of her own choosing each night before bed. One of my primary goals this year is to facilitate more independent reading.
We have covered a couple of chapters in A Child's Geography of the World (Hillyer) on the "Bible Lands" but won't continue with that until be get to the chapter on Babylon in Bible History in a few weeks. At that point Beezy will begin working on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon art project in the Draw and Write Through History book. In the meantime we are reading about prehistoric art in The Story of Painting (Jansen) and a book from the library.
Our spelling words come from dictation lessons. Misspelled words are copied three times, followed by a test. We're also going to work through The Everything Kids Spelling Book, which I got from the library. I think it will be beneficial to go through the rules and get more practice in this area. Another major goal is to step up the writing skills, so in addition to dictation, Beezy has cursive writing (or copy work), journal writing, and written narrations. She also still does the occasional oral narration. Note taking, book reports, and literary elements and devices will also be introduced this year.
I think the rest of the schedule is self-explanatory, but don't hesitate to ask for more clarification in the comments! For those who are new to the blog, this curriculum is for my 7th grader. We have pared down our Catholic Charlotte Mason schedule and are trying out history-based unit studies. We are basically tracking 12 subjects, and a few more with extracurricular activities. Only 7 subjects are done per day. The liberal arts feast is being spread, but it doesn't feel like a circus trick to keep up with. In fact, this feels to me like the most perfect balance I've ever achieved!
Catholic Homeschool Schedule 2017–2018
For literature right now, we're simply doing free reading. This means that my daughter got to choose from among 10 books of literary value that we already had in the house. She simply reads a chapter each day to herself and is not required to do vocabulary lessons, analysis, chapter questions, narrations, or anything but enjoy it! This is also a practice used in schools which is believed to be of great benefit for the child's language arts skills. (They call it Sustained Silent Reading, or SSR, 'cause you gotta have an acronym for a thing to be real, right? Here's an article on its benefits: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr038.shtml.) Beezy also reads a novel of her own choosing each night before bed. One of my primary goals this year is to facilitate more independent reading.
We have covered a couple of chapters in A Child's Geography of the World (Hillyer) on the "Bible Lands" but won't continue with that until be get to the chapter on Babylon in Bible History in a few weeks. At that point Beezy will begin working on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon art project in the Draw and Write Through History book. In the meantime we are reading about prehistoric art in The Story of Painting (Jansen) and a book from the library.
Our spelling words come from dictation lessons. Misspelled words are copied three times, followed by a test. We're also going to work through The Everything Kids Spelling Book, which I got from the library. I think it will be beneficial to go through the rules and get more practice in this area. Another major goal is to step up the writing skills, so in addition to dictation, Beezy has cursive writing (or copy work), journal writing, and written narrations. She also still does the occasional oral narration. Note taking, book reports, and literary elements and devices will also be introduced this year.
I think the rest of the schedule is self-explanatory, but don't hesitate to ask for more clarification in the comments! For those who are new to the blog, this curriculum is for my 7th grader. We have pared down our Catholic Charlotte Mason schedule and are trying out history-based unit studies. We are basically tracking 12 subjects, and a few more with extracurricular activities. Only 7 subjects are done per day. The liberal arts feast is being spread, but it doesn't feel like a circus trick to keep up with. In fact, this feels to me like the most perfect balance I've ever achieved!
Catholic Homeschool Schedule 2017–2018
Old
Testament Unit
Daily Core:
(Open
with prayer and Bible reading)
-
Total Math
-
Free reading: Into the Land of the Unicorns (Coville)
-
Piano practice
-
Cursive
writing (Seton)
Twice
Weekly Loop:
-
Grammar
(CHC)
-
Learn Spanish with Grace!
-
Health: The Feelings Book (journal writing)
-
Spelling
Weekly
Loop:
-
Bible History (Seton)
-
Prehistoric Art (dictation)
-
Religion (Seton)
-
Nature Study: Some Animals and Their Homes (written narration)
Extracurriculars:
-
Piano lessons
-
Tumbling class
-
Religious education class
-
Choir and Musical Theater homeschool co-op classes
