Thinking Ahead

So this is the time of the year when I need to think about next year. Since we are with a school, we run on their schedule. The year "ends" in early June and "begins" in late August. Right now I'm putting our orders in for September.

The biggest change is that Sam will be in Kindergarten, so I need to think about what to get for him. Should I do the same as I am with Harry or branch out to something different? He's reading on a 1st to 2nd grade level now, but his writing and math aren't quite that high. The curriculum I'm using with Harry is obviously working--he's doing very well according to the testing they do at the school, but they are such different kids.

The other thing I'm thinking about is what worked and didn't work this year for everyone. I started the year out kind of Charlotte Mason inspired. I used ambleside online for a lot of the readings and books that I used. Unfortunately some of the books bombed, one of them was too offensive for me use, and it just didn't work with what I wanted from our homeschool. So we began adding in more grammar and spelling--workbooks and just lessons. Harry (and Sam, when he wanted to listen) learned a lot, but most of it was boring, repetitive work with very little connection to life and to Harry. I'd like to figure out how to best take what I like from Charlotte Mason and ambleside and add it to what I like and need from the more classical approach.

These are the thoughts floating around in my head right now. For next year I'd like to:
1. have a theme for the year, both for the boys individually and for the family.
2. make connections between what they are learning and their lives.
3. get out more and do more "fun stuff." We do quite a bit, but with gas prices so high we've curtailed a lot of our field trips. I'd like to add some of them back in.
4. figure out how to get Annika more involved with our schooling and spend time just with her. I'm thinking about preschool for her next year. She needs other kids and while we've got quite a few here, she needs other two-to-three-year-olds on a regular basis.

So, if anyone has a magic curriculum that will answer all of these things, let me know. In the meantime, I'll post my ideas for next year in the next few days.