To Do, 2009

I've decided that both boys are going to be home next year, so I've had to plan what to do with them. So far, I've come up with:

Harry:

• Grammar: First Language Lessons 3
• Spelling: I'm not sure yet if I want to use a specific spelling program. Harry is a natural speller and it gets tedious. Right now I'm planning to use words from his texts that are at the level he is at and go from there.
• Reading: We don't use reading texts, instead we tie his formal reading into his history work. For this he will be required to narrate what he has read and it will go into a special reading notebook.
• Writing: Writing With Ease, Level 2 or 3. I'm testing him right now to see where he is.
• Penmanship: He'll start cursive and continue to fix the mess that his writing became when he was in school. I use copywork for that--phrases from his reading or from other good books.
• Math: Math-U-See Gamma

Sam:

• Grammar: First Language Lessons, Level 1
• Spelling: We'll start with Spelling Workout A and go from there.
• Reading: Similar to Harry's work, but on his level.
• Writing: Writing With Ease, Level 1
• Penmanship: copywork to clean up his printing.
• Math: Math-U-See Alpha

Annika:

• I'll teach her to read using The Ordinary Parent's Guide.
• Playing and being crazy.

Emma:

• Eating Legos.
• Following Annika around.
• Pointing to the hamster.
  

Combined:

• History: Story of the World 3: Early Modern Times. I'm excited about this--most of our reading for the year will be based off of this time period, so SOTW is kind of the basis of what we do.
  
• Science: Classic Science, I think. It's an elementary overview, so I'm not positive. This is really the only thing that I'm not positive about. We'll also continue on our nature studies. We'll take at least one nature walk each week. The boys will have to find three things to draw and discover more about.
• Geography: I found an interesting set of lessons that I'm planning to try with the kids. It'll take them on a trip around the world.
  
• Art: We'll study artwork from the time period we're studying and try our hands at different techniques. My kids think I'm a talented artist, but I'm not really, so they will have to take outside classes for that.
  
• Music: Harry is taking piano lessons, so he'll continue that. We'll also listen to music at lunch and breakfast.

I've already realized that I forgot to add in poetry, so I'm going to figure that out. I'm sure there's more that will come to me, but for now, these are the materials that I plan to use. Now I just need to figure out exactly how to use them.