Planning and mulling

I’ve been exploring different math curricula online, trying to determine whether to make a change from Saxon this year for my second and fifth graders. I have no problem with the way Saxon explains math concepts; with both daughters, I have the feeling that we’re simply turning our attention to something they already understand but haven’t thought about. That means that there is an intuitiveness to the Saxon approach, and I’m very hesitant to mess with that. Yet there is something about it that’s not working, too. It wearies without inspiring; it provides work to do without emphasizing mathematical thinking as much as I’d like.

I found this YouTube demo of the contrast between the U.S. method of solving a problem (using algebra) and the Singapore method (using visualization), and it’s quite fascinating. I used Singapore for part of our first year of home schooling, but there was no teacher manual, and at that time I felt like I needed more teacher support; the Saxon scripted lessons were very appealing. But there are teacher manuals once you move beyond the first levels in Singapore.

I find these decisions very difficult!

History is another subject I’m spending some time planning. I’m putting together an independent reading list for my oldest in medieval history that will correspond with the order in Story of the World 2. It includes some very brief encyclopedia reading, but most of it so far is fairy tales and legends and the kinds of information books she seems to enjoy. I’m even including library locations for all the books so I can be super-organized. It feels good to know what’s coming.

Then of course there’s nature study. I’ve been perusing the Handbook of Nature Study and considering how to organize the year, and how to pick and choose. I already have a couple of local habitats picked out for us to get to know and observe over the four seasons. I purchased this nature study journal, but rather than giving it to my older daughter to use, I’m going to use it as a resource and photocopy some of the pages and activities for both girls to use. There are scavenger hunts and drawing pages and journal prompts and even information pages, all of which is great, but more structured than I have in mind for the girls’ nature journals. I think I’m just going to get them both composition books — the kind with half the page lined, and half the page blank for illustration — and let them find their own way of organizing their observations.

I’ve decided not to do Latin this year, so that we’ll have more space in the schedule for reading and exploring. In general I’m feeling excited about next year, but I do want to use this “down time” to do the planning and clarifying of goals that will make the promise of the year more likely to be fulfilled.