Our Plans for the Last Seven Weeks of School

We decided to go to a 40 week schedule this year. Our state only requires 36 weeks. I am very pleased that we added on the extra weeks. We had some catching up to do, and learning truly is the focus of our days. My kids have never thrived with free time. They do so much better with structure and parent-led activities. This is our last week off before summer break, and my son has already been on the verge of tears twice because he can't figure out how to entertain himself without media. Ah, I digress. Here is the plan for our final seven weeks of school.

Literature ~ 

We will be reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Elijah of Buxton, and  Childhood of Famous Americans Mark Twain. We will also be having two poetry teas and learning two new kinds of poetry.

Science ~ 

We will finish reading through Focus on Middle School Astronomy and make a solar system model. We will also be doing numerous experiments from Exploring the Solar System. In addition, we will be attending some science days at the library and going on a few field trips to science museums. Lastly, we will be exploring our Tinker Crates as they arrive in the mail.

History ~ 

We will be focusing on the 1960's through present. We have already covered the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race so these parts will be review. Our spine will be The Century. We will be using library books and DVDs to supplement. We will also be focusing on the Kennedy family.

Art ~ 

We will be completing books 2 and 3 of the Draw Write Now Series. We will also be having Art With Grandma. 

Geography ~ 

We will be picking up where we left off in our study of Minn and the Mississippi. We will also be studying Norway for our last Culture Club of the year. Lastly, we will be learning a little bit about Maryland in anticipation of our trip there this summer.

Math and Language Arts ~ We will be finishing up Teaching Textbooks 5 (Little Red Riding Hood) and 6 (Tom Sawyer). The kids will be finishing all of their language arts workbooks. Little Red Riding Hood has about 200 pages to go in three different workbooks, and Tom Sawyer has about 100 pages to go in several workbooks. Lastly, they will be writing a weekly paper. 

Out of the Home Classes ~ It is crunch time in their out of the home classes. In the next seven weeks, Little Red Riding Hood will be on stage in 11 shows in two different productions, and Tom Sawyer will be on stage in 12 shows in three different productions. There will be extra classes in preparation for all of these performances. Also, there will be out of the home math, drama, and writing classes. Lastly, Tom Sawyer belongs to our church youth group, and they will be running the entire service one Sunday in May. Yep, it is going to be a very busy Spring!

 UPDATE ~ I decided to make two changes before we even started the last seven weeks of school. I had a heart-to-heart discussion with Tom Sawyer about his drama class. He really hasn't enjoyed it this entire semester. I usually make my kids stick to their commitments. However, I decided to let him switch to the math class which is held at the same time if the teacher felt that his part could be easily replaced. She agreed and he switched to math. He is much more contented. 

Secondly, the kids received guitars off of Freecycle. They are both super excited about learning to play the guitar. I would normally say that our plate is full and that we will take up lessons in the fall. However, I have seen their interest in musical instruments lost when in the past I haven't encouraged them immediately. I really want them to know how to play an instrument, so we are fixing the guitars today (they need new strings) and starting lessons within the next two or three weeks. A teenage boy at our homeschool co-op has already offered informal lessons while we get formal lessons established.

Blessings, Dawn