Upcoming school year!

Wow! Summer is flying by! There is so much talk of "back to school" and I think most public and private schools will be back in session within a couple weeks! We plan on waiting until the very end of August to start up our school year. We are loving summer and I love taking advantage of those few weeks when everyone is back in school and we get to have the pools and parks to ourselves :)

I finally bit the bullet and ordered our homeschool curriculum for next year. I was really having a hard time deciding what to use next year. We have tried several different curriculums but most of them just were not a great fit. I decided to give my Father's World a try for next year. We will be doing Adventures in U.S. History for Max and Sophie. I am looking forward to it and after talking to lots of my girlfriends who use it I think it will be a good fit for our family.

This coming year Max will be in 3rd grade, Sophie in 2nd, and Jack will be in Pre-K. I am sure Sam will want to join in on some activities as well.

For Jack (and Sam) I am planning on sort of doing our own little preschool thing. I am thinking it might be fun to pick a "theme" for each week (like tractors, pets, boats, on the farm, etc.) and borrow a bunch of books from the library centered around the theme. And then using my good friend Pinterest to find a few crafts or activities that tie in. I am also planning to use our favorite Leapfrog Letter Factory DVD. And then when Jack is ready we will dig into our Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. But if he isn't ready for it until next year I am in no hurry.

So far this year I have not committed to any co-ops or extra-curricular activities. The kiddos will have piano lessons on Monday mornings and so far that is all I know. I have told them they can each chose one extra-curricular activity and at the moment Sophie is leaning towards gymnastics and Max towards basketball. But, we will see!

I think it is going to be a great year. I am going to use these last few weeks to get my house organized and ready for the school year and to work on getting a routine down for the school year. Right now I am loving the care-free days of summer but I know when the time comes I will be ready for the order and routine that fall brings!