Progress

Remember my By 1 July 2010 list? I've been working on it steadily. It occurred to me that if we're going to sell this house & move into a freshly purchased one, I'll spending my free time packing boxes and organizing for moving soon. That doesn't leave free time for homeschool planning. The result has been a near-obsession with finishing as much of the planning for next year as possible.

Smrt Mama might want to stop reading here, since sometimes my plans give her a panic. ;)

What have I finished?

• Type up art appreciation lesson plans.
This was more or less complete, except for typing. I did add some supplemental books to the appropriate week in a third column on the spreadsheet. This is for EG - the spine is DK's Art, and she'll use books from the Taschen Basic Genre series as well as the Art in History series to add to specific topics. Near the end of the year, she'll reach the Renaissance and start reading biographies of specific artists as well - I decided to stick with Venezia, even though they are an easy read for her, because they are the most practical investment.

• Make music appreciation lesson plans.
I'm so excited about EG's music appreciation for next year! We're using The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music History which is, despite the name, a great resource for chronological music appreciation. She'll cover the first two chapters of the history of Western music next year, as well as two chapters on other parts of the world - Middle Eastern music and Asian music. I've picked out a lot of great music for her to listen to (iTunes is my friend, especially with Costco-purchased iTunes gift cards!). One of my good friends who lives in China currently is helping me put together a selection of Asian pop music, as well.

• Map out framework for language arts.
I sat down with the Voyage level MCT materials and attempted to figure out what would be studied when, at least on a week-to-week level. I think I have a good framework in place. I'm so impressed by Essay Voyage!

• Finalize supplemental history books for kindergarten.
Not only are they supplemented, the last of the ones for purchase are on their way to me from amazon, B&N, and Rainbow right now! I'll try to post the final list on here in the next few days.

• Finalize general science overview lesson plans.
Luckily, I had finished more than I had previously remembered, so this was easy-peasy. EG's going to use Science Matters as well as the DVDs The Joy of Science from The Teaching Company. I'm also going to require her to read Angier's The Canon.

• Consider possible supplemental or source reading for science, and schedule.
It was very hard to find reading for geology. Biology and ecology were easy, for me - The Double Helix, Silent Spring, and a couple of books by one of my heroes. *Looks longingly in the direction of Nashville.* Astronomy is Cosmos and a few other things I found poking around amazon; similar for meteorology. I don't know how well they are scheduled but each subtopic at least has an order. *shrug*

• Make lesson plans for Latin Prep 1.
These are, of necessity, very tentative, because I have no idea how long it will take her to do these exercises. I think I've estimated relatively well, though, and she will have two chapters under her belt at the end of this year.

• Figure out timeline.
I bought the Add-A-Century timeline. So pretty! I need to get EG to help me set up one weekend, so that we're ready and raring to go.

I've made headway on several others as well. The panicky feelings are officially starting to subside. Of course, I have a feeling that as soon as I stop panicking entirely, it'll be time to gear up for moving.