Making Plans for 2015-2016 School Year

Summer is mostly over, and we are getting ready to start back up with school. My plan is to start back on August 20th, starting out slow with just Math and English. Then, after Labor Day, we will be using My Father's World: EXPLORING COUNTRIES AND CULTURES. 

I started this blog 5 year ago in August of 2010, and ECC is the program I first started blogging through. EL was 12 at the time, and JJ was 7. Here is the post from our first day of ECC back in 2010: DAY 1 OF EXPLORING COUNTRIES AND CULTURES - August 2010 

This time around, the kids are older, so we will be digging a little deeper and exploring a little more. I'm excited to see the finished notebooks at the end of the year so we can compare them from 5 years ago. 

Along with ECC, which covers Bible, History/Geography, Science, Music and Art, we will also be using the following:

MATH & ENGLISH:  ACE paces for both kids. If the subject matter gets too difficult for EL, I may need to switch her back to using Kumon workbooks for Math, and Queen Language Lessons for English. Explode the Code is another good option we have used in the past. 

CREATIVE WRITING:  Writing Strands book 3 for both kids. We started this last year, but didn't finish it.

SPELLING and VOCABULARY:  Spectrum Spelling Workbooks for both kids. This is a new one for us this year, so we will see how it works out.

SPANISH:  Rosetta Stone for both kids. This is our first year doing this one also. I snagged a good deal on Levels 1-5 earlier in the year, so I'm hoping the kids do well with it. 

TYPING:  Typing Instructor for Kids for EL, or maybe a FREE online typing program for JJ. Every year, I have this in my plans, but never seem to get around to doing it. I'm hoping this year it will finally work out, as I think both kids could really benefit from it.

Plus, we plan to add in Book Reports, Exercises/Sports, Independent Skills, Speech/Developmental Therapies, Volunteer work, Boy Scouts, Field Trips, and a Wednesday evening program at our church.

It looks like a LOT, and it is, but we don't do it all at the same time. It is spread out throughout the year, so hopefully we will fit it all in.... but we will see. I always have great aspirations for our new school year, but tend to wane off a bit as we get further into the year. At least we have a plan in place, and will try to stick to it as much as possible. 

Our School Record Book, where I keep track of attendance, test scores, lesson plans, books read, field trips, our main schedule, and more.