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Mindy
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posted 8/26/08 0:02 AM
I would say if this is your first year of homeschooling to keep it simple. You don't need to add a lot of supplemental things, especially for Essentials and the IEW. I am planning on reading through some of the Story of the World books, they follow the timeline cards well. I am reading the back of the timeline cards and reading the corresponding scripture or using the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia for history. For science I am going to do the Young Explorer Series from Apologia, we are doing botany. I don't always follow CC with what we study. My son who is 12 will read some US history books that I bought when we used Sonlight and I am reading aloud some books from Sonlight's US history program. Last year was our first year with CC and we didn't do much aside from the memory work. If they just memorize all that information they will have obtained a wealth of information. Take it easy your first year, and allow yourself and your children to adjust to being home together full time. Whatever you do, don't overload yourself. There isn't enough time in the day to do it all, and you won't get it all done. Life happens!!!I use a lesson planner and I write out what I want to cover in a day. We have a set start time, 8 am. I always start with Bible, and then move into the subjects like math, and then language. This way I make sure I have gotten the most important things done. The Essentials' guide has a schedule to follow. The IEW, we break into a few days. Keyword outline in one day, rough draft one day, final copy the third day. To be honest, we didn't do many of the IEW assignments last year. My family had a lot of personal things and we just couldn't do it. This program is all about grace, you do what you can do. You have the final say in all things. I work with my kids until we get everything on my list done. Some days we are done by 1 pm, and other days it is 4. It just depends on what we have to do that day. I hope this helps. If you have any questions, you can email me. God bless!
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