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where we get to Sam’s subjects…
Citizenship: Didn’t find anything more in depth for Sam. Perhaps it will come out of the discussions naturally?
Composition: Will happen with several subjects. He’s such a great writer!
History: I’m so excited about this! Found a new resource in Pandia Press’s “nonsectarian classical approach to history.” SQUEEE! They have a try before you buy offer which is enough for a quarter of the year. We have or can borrow all of the items necessary and are going to test out Early Modern Level Two. Woot!
Instrument: Ocarina. We have a 6 hole and he’ll start on that but by the second half he’d like to give the 12 hole a try. Saint Louis Ocarina has this ocarina and this book we will probably get. (personally I really want one of their teacarinas!)
Dictation: SCMs Spelling Wisdom Book 3 . Debated about this one for a while but went with it in the end. It is worth the $15 for me not to have to search them out. Even skipping a few we’ll have more than enough to do two a week. We’ll see how this goes.
Copywork: I am thinking of having him start (and possibly make) his own commonplace book. Where, in his best hand, he writes down quotes from books he has read throughout the year. Or from things he comes across that impress him for one reason or another. Making the book itself would make it even more special I think.
Latin: We’re doing well with Lingua Latina. He’s reading the passages easily most times and some of the mechanics are starting to stick. Someone told me that learning Latin was like learning math. IOW, stick with it and you’ll get there. At that point I was close to giving up but I think we’ll stick with it. In the first half of the year we’ll finish up Familia Romana and maybe switch for First Form Latin for a more grammar intensive approach… the next school year. (it is scary that I’m already filing things away for the 2011 – 2012 year)
Japanese: Sigh. I am happy that he is still interested but the thought gives me a headache. For the second half of the year we’ll give Latin a brief break and study Japanese. I will go back through the resources I have on hand and see what I can come up with. I am thinking of arranging it like our Spanish studies where we have relevant phrases and vocabulary each week. I would just let him take this over but he will need someone to practice with and that will probably be me.
Writing: Wow! He is such a good writer that I am really scared of this subject. LOL! I have a copy of The Writer’s Jungle and will be using its suggestions. I love Julie’s website!
Reading: Connect the Thoughts has an interesting reading program where books are assigned points based on complexity of words and number of pages. I’ve had it in my collection for a while but haven’t tried using it yet. I need to go through his literature selections and see how many points each would have. This would also include some spelling as he is to keep a list of new to him words to learn definitions and spelling.
Literature: I’ve had Sam pick out some books he’s interested in. See the reading section above. These will follow that plan. Here’s what he’s picked so far: London, White Fang; Wells, War of the Worlds & Time Machine; Collodi, The Adventures of Pinocchio.
Math: I am so proud to see how far he’s come. We’re using Singapore Math’s Primary Mathematics 5B for the first half of next year and Primary Mathematics 6A for the second half.
Phys Ed: In addition to Karate, Sam’s going to be training to run a 5k based on the training schedule found here. He’ll be half way through the program by the time the school year changes and still has to decide on a 5k to run. Hopefully he will continue after this one. We’ll see. I am going to let him decide.
Science: Living vs Non Living. Another item from GLEs I thought should be included. Teacher’s Domain has a promising lesson plan. How Stuff Works also has a video (but you have to listen to the ad first. 
And essortment has a brief outline list that could be a helpful starting point. I don’t think this will take up too many sessions.
Science: Ecosystems. Another item from GLEs but I think doing a Bottle Biology will make it fun. Found some books at the library to learn more about the others. Maybe we’ll do drawings or dioramas for the others. ‘Course Jessie will probably want to participate in this too.
Social Studies: Bill of Rights & Constitution. Based on this unit at Oklahoma Homeschool’s website, I’ve found some good books at the library. These will probably count towards his reading points.
Spelling: between Spelling Wisdom and CtT’s reading program, we should be covered. Granted he’s a darned good speller already!
Handcrafts: Build a robot from a kit like one of these (a small one), beginning calligraphy, Japanese Calligraphy ( to coincide with Japanese language study) and wood carving (with help from dad)
And that IS it. Whew!
I still have some work to do in places but I’m gonna continue on and try to find them in the process. Blogging about it has been helpful because I’ve discovered new resources (or discovered their absence) in the process.
Going to have to come back to the present for a bit and get next week’s lessons laid out. Makes for a much smoother week if I do.
Not sure if I’ll blog about our weekly and daily schedules for next year. Don’t see how they’ll be helpful to anyone but me. ‘Course I could say that about all of this. LOL! But hopefully someone will find the links and information useful.