Back to our Regular Schedule! (The Charlotte Mason Girl)

Hello, everyone! Whew! We have been busy as beavers around here getting the new house ready, and our stuff ready to move to the new house. I believe we will be moved within a month.

I have been thinking a lot about Dina’s questions, and I wanted to share a few more thoughts with you on the subject of planning and setting goals. I know it’s hard as a new homeschooler to know where to begin with this process. I know I didn’t have a clue when I first began!

I believe the easiest way for me to set goals has come from our history curriculum. I have set up a four year rotation for our history study. Year one is Ancient History, or creation to Christ (in the curriculum we use, that’s Ancient Civilizations and the Bible by Diana Waring), Year two is Christ to the reformation - I’ll fit in the explorers, also (The first 8 units in Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries), Year three is America’s founding years (I’m using the Knotgrass company’s curriculum for this next year – I’ll let you know how it goes!), and Year four is Civil War to the present time (Diana’s World Empires, World Missions, World Wars, and then some of my own things I’m putting together).

I use these curriculums as a guide to help me set my goals for the next year. As you know, history is our core, and that sets most of my school agenda for the year. I add in a math curriculum – and this one needs to be individualized for each child – I haven’t figured out how to teach a 2^nd grader algebra, when they haven’t learned division, yet! I also add in Nature Studies – I like to use the Exploring Creation series by Jeanne Fulbright as my guide for that, some. I really try to follow Miss Mason’s advice to let the children explore the creation around them as much as possible in the early years, and that becomes a wonderful foundation for later science learning.

So, my goals often look something like this:

History: All - Complete units 1-8 in Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries

Math: Rebekah – Pre-Algebra in Teaching Textbooks

Jeremiah – 5^th grade math in Teaching Textbooks

Esther – 2^nd grad math in Making Math Meaningful

Science: Rebekah – complete Building Blocks of Science

Others – nature study walks once per week, add in readings from Exploring Creation with Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day

Artist Study: I usually list one artist to study for each term

Composer Study: I usually list one composer to study per term

Life Skills: I like to make a short list for each child of the next level of chores, grooming responsibilities, and other character issues in this section. I don’t always share this with the children, I just know what I want to see them work on, and I look for opportunities to teach this area as they come along.

Next year, we embark into the scary world of High School! I’ll be doing some things in more detail, I’m sure, as I work to develop a transcript that will be acceptable for my daughter’s future college, employers, or others who may need to see what her high school time looked like.

Well, I hope that helps some of you who are trying to figure out how to set your goals for next year. I encourage you to pray about it, and see what the Lord has for you to teach your children. Something Cindy Rushton said that I really took to heart was this – “Teach your children what you have in your hand.” This is especially true for new homeschoolers. I’m sure there are many things you would love to teach your children, but you just haven’t had time, or it didn’t seem like ‘real school’, so you’ve not done it, yet.

Maybe you love to sew and create clothes or home decorations, maybe you love to garden and can the abundance in the fall to enjoy throughout the winter months, maybe you love to attend the symphony and listen to the great classical composers, maybe you love to study animals because you have a love of biology – all these things and many more that you love, you already know a LOT about them! Have you not taught them to your children yet? Well, I say, DO IT! Show them what you know! Share the skills and knowledge the Lord has given you! Your children will benefit from it, and you will strengthen your relationship with them as you share your enthusiasm for life and for the things you love.