Today seems as good a day as any to post my first official note here. We're a little more than a week away from the first day of our new academic year; the new desks are assembled and put in place; the bookcases are empty and waiting for us to fill the shelves with the books and curricula for this year; my lesson plans are (almost) complete . . .
So what do I want to say?
Well, several people have told me lately that it is a shame that my kids are the only ones who benefit from the work and planning I put into this homeschooling thing. And I've been encouraged to find some way to share whatever small amount of "wisdom" and experience I have with others.
Also, I know that I am always interested to see what other homeschoolers are doing and how they do it. Especially when I first got started, I found all those how-to books pretty unfulfilling: They seemed mostly to be long on inspiration and pep talks and general tips, but short on the kind of detail I really wanted.
So I've decided to share those details here.
In days to come, I'll start posting specifics about the books and resources my students will be using this year. For now, I'll start with the general outline.
We loosely follow the suggestions and framework from Susan Wise Bauer's book The Well-Trainined Mind, with a lot of adaptations and substitutions to fit our family's needs. I try to keep both kids working on the same general subjects and historical eras each year, with my younger student mirroring the older one's curriculum at his own level. This year's primary topics are:
Medieval and Renaissance History and Literature
Chemistry
Statistics
Logic and Rhetoric
Latin
Art History: Medieval and Renaissance
Drawing
My older student will also study German (her second year), Philosophy and Economics. My younger one is starting Spanish.
As you can see, we have a full year ahead of us! I hope you'll come back and check in now and then to see how we're doing.
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