Lately...

I haven't blogged in a while.  We finished our 2009/2010 school year the first week of June when the public school year ended.   Many of the kid's friends were off of school.  Since we'll be moving in a couple of months I felt it was important for them to soak up the time they have left with them.  Anyway, we took the first couple of weeks to relax a bit.  We went to the movies a few times, bowling, the pool, the mall, etc. Pretty much just chillin.  It has been great! 

In between chill time, I have been gearing up for our next school year.  I hit a couple of the used curriculum fairs. Which I am happy to say I made out.  I saved our homeschool budget about $500.00 by sorting and picking through many many tables and boxes.  It took quite a bit of organization and planning on my part but with that kind of savings I have to say it was well worth it.

I have decided to have the kids study American History this year.  Since both children would be studying the same thing I thought it would be best and probably more fun if we did it together.  We'll be using the Joy Hakim series A History of US  as our main text.  Adding in various literature selections, poetry, and music to co-ordinawith the study. Sweet girl will have three current event assignmets per week.  I am hoping she will post them on her blog but we'll have to see.  She doesn't like when I tell her what to post on her blog;). 
Science- Silly Guy Christian Kids Explore Biology , How Nature Works   and library books. 
Sweet Girl -Apologia's General Science.  I decided to go with General Science because after looking through the table of contents she covered a lot of Physical Science last year.  She is excited about Apologia. 
Math-  Both kiddos will be using Saxon (Silly guy- Saxon 6/5 and Sweet girl Saxon Algebra 1)
Bible-Both kiddos AOP Lifepac Bible
Language Arts- Silly guy-BJU English 5, Wordly Wise, and Spelling Power.
Sweet girl- Sonlight Core 100 writing, Spelling Power, Wordly Wise, , and
Easy Grammar 180 Daily Teaching Lessons
I plan on doing some nature studies once we reach our new home. We can't wait to explore!
Art- I am going to be pulling lessons/activities from various websites.  I am trying to stick to an "American" theme.  Deep Space Sparkle , Art for Homeschool, Artyfactory, Captain Watercolor, and Sketch Tuesday all have great ideas and lesson plans. 
So, needless to say we are most definitley eclectic homeschoolers. 

I have decided to start our school year next week since we will be moving in September.  I would love to take a couple more weeks off, but with moving the kids will be taking off quite a bit.  I want to get in a solid six weeks before getting on that big bird back to the mainland.  I am planning on having them continue Math, Language Arts, Literature, and possibly History while we are in transition.  Our household goods could take up to 45 days to get to our new home. 
Along with all of this planning comes organization.  But I will have to post about how I've been tackling that later(maybe tomorrow).  I just peeked at the clock and well I have to go to bed!!