Planning Out the School Year

 

We finally finished kindergarten math!  At first, I was really proud that my little guy whizzed through 85 lessons in approximately 4 months--because he wanted to.  And then I realized that when we start kindergarten FOR REAL this fall, he's going to need something to do.  My intention behind starting homeschooling in the spring was solely as an experiment to see if it would work.  I didn't necessarily mean to knock out a year of school in 1 semester. 

Now I have the dilemma: Do I rinse and repeat? Or do I forge ahead into the unknown realm of first grade with my kindergartner?  As I flipped through my lesson plans for the rest of kindergarten, I realized that all we really have to do to get caught up for first grade is to finish Phonics.  A few months ago, I would have told you that pushing ahead in Phonics was an absolute no-go.  We were shedding way too many tears in that department.  Then all of a sudden it started clicking!  After fighting through the short "a" sounds, he started to get the concept of how reading is supposed to work.  Suddenly, he was able to roll through the other short vowels.  So realistically, finishing the kindergarten Phonics lessons before school starts (we're following the more traditional after Labor Day schedule) is not out of the question. 

So I ordered first grade curriculum.  And I guess we're going to give it a go.  If I'm going to homeschool right, I'm going to have to go all-or-nothing.  No sense NOT pushing ahead if my guy can handle it.  If it turns out he can't, then there's no harm in slowing down as needed because we're already ahead, right?  I guess we're going to have to give it the old college try and just see how it goes.

For those of you who might be interested in what curriculum we're using this year for each subject, here is my plan:

1. Memoria Press: Bible, Phonics, Copybook & Bible Memorization, Math (they use Rod & Staff),  Cursive, Art/Music/Reading Enrichment
2. Apologia: Science, Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the 5th Day
3. Story of the World, by Susan Wise Bauer: History Volume 1: From Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor (we're continuing this from where we left off this spring)
4. Christian Heroes Then and Now: Missionary studies
5. Fort Worth Museum of Science & History Museum School: science & history enrichment