I have been doing a lot of reflecting about our past couple of years of schooling ... the goods and the bads. Although we have accomplished so much in the past two years, I have noticed that we haven't had the fun that I desire for us to have. We spend the majority of our day on language arts and math and when we get to our unit study, we are rushed for time so just cram in what's easiest. We haven't put our full hearts into our unit studies which we desire to be the core of our studies. Somewhere along the way we have drifted away from it. I think it's probably because unit studies take a lot of work and planning, and regular ol' workbooks, dvd and online lessons are "easier". But I am bored. I haven't had my usual excitement to start school, and it's coming up in just a short month. And that has kind of worried me.
I have had a full-year unit study planned for us for this upcoming school year. But I realized that with everything else we have planned that we will only be able to half-heartedly accomplish all that the unit study offers.
And then I had an epiphany moment. The first year I homeschooled Dawson, we used a full-year unit study called A World of Adventure by Dorian Holt. It contained everything we needed except for math. It was a great year! So why not take that approach this year with Eli and Brynne? Why not use our unit study FULLY, doing everything it offers, add in some daily math, grammar and more intensive writing, and call it good?
And it will be good!
So here is our curriculum ...
It will cover Bible concepts and building character, Bible memory, crafts, health, history, government, social studies, geography, history through biographies, literature and language arts, living, general science, animal science, and the human body.
For math we will stick with what is working for us ....
For grammar we will pick up where we left off with Logic of English (and it also has us keeping up with our cursive handwriting) ...
And for writing we will be using WriteShop Junior Book D.
Additionally we will be doing lots of reading, attending programs at the library, and WE WILL GO ON FIELD TRIPS! We did not go on even one last year. Shameful!
And that's it. All of a sudden I am excited about school again. My goal is to make this year as fun and enriching as possible. Learning something is optional. (But we all know how that goes, huh?)
(And next year I think we will pull back out our A World of Adventure and learn all about the ancients in the same way.)
I am linking up with Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers for her Curriculum Weekly-Wrap up.
That sounds perfect!! I actually think we used that Prairie Primer when my now adult children were homeschooling- if not that, then something very similar. Stick to your plan- it is a GOOD one. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. Like you we are going back to what made us most happy - history as our spine and everything through history (except for math). We are trying Diana Waring's program for high school. Like you, I found much of the joy missing and realized we were happiest doing Story of the World and immersing ourselves in the study of history. I hope you update us on how you like it!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a ton of fun!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, I've heard such great things about Prairie Primer. I can't wait to hear about your year!!! I, too, have to be careful or LA and math will suck our day away...I've made some changes this year, so we shall see!
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