My venture into blogging began the same year I started homeschooling, and every year I’ve posted about our plans for the school year. Some years we’ve stuck to the plan pretty closely. Other years, we’ve veered off as things change during the course of the year. I’ve learned either way is okay, as long as we do begin with a plan in place, and as long as veering off course comes about due to valid reasons.

So here we are, preparing to begin our 12th year of homeschooling. (Twelve! Years!)

As the years go by, we’ve become more unschoolish in our eclectic approach to homeschool. We’re not radical homeschoolers and probably never will be, but we’ve set aside more and more of the traditional approaches to education.

My biggest change this year is in scheduling. This is something we’ve played around with over the years; a strict schedule does NOT work for us, but we do need a bit of a routine, more so this year as my personal schedule has gotten busier with working part-time outside the home.

Kathryn: age (almost) 17

At this age, and after this many years of homeschooling, Kathryn has a big say in what she studies. In January, we’ll revisit how it’s all going and whether we want to add in anything else.

• Khan Academy Algebra & Geometry
• Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance (see my review)
• Compass Classroom’s Visual Latin 2 (our review of Latin 1)
  
• Literature + Composition using various sources and book lists.
• US History: Netflix movies and documentaries + How the States Got Their Shapes
• Photography: hands-on learning with Ken

Community Service: our local sea turtle conservation program.

In addition, she’ll add in electives that interest her, including but not limited to art/creative projects, sign language, and ukulele.

Our weekly(ish) library days are a treat for us all, so we’ll definitely continue those.

Jem: age 8

I’ll assign each of the weekly activities below to a particular day of the week (yet to be determined) so they don’t fall by the wayside, but we’ll do read-alouds and math daily. His schedule will leave a whole lot of free time for play.

• daily read-alouds, plus reading practice
• daily CTC Math, plus math/logic games
• weekly outdoor hour nature study
• weekly art: chalk pastels, watercolors, nature journal, and so on
• weekly baking/cooking
• weekly STEM projects (I’ve started a pinterest board of ideas)

Scout (4th grade) will continue at the private school she attended last year. She enjoyed it, and it worked well for us all. I adored her 3rd grade teachers and I’m hoping this year’s teachers will be just as wonderful.

That’s our plan, friends! Follow along as I update throughout the year.

Jamie

Wife, mom, J-ma. Introvert who enjoys good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand – unless it’s lost yet again in the microwave. Read more »