Progress is Relative

Here is where I stand in planning our homeschool year 2012-2013.

I do not have a clear outline for most subjects.
I do not even have a hint of an outline for our first science unit.
I have a white board covered in vague ideas about things like music lessons and art classes.
I have not spent more than a few minutes this summer seriously working on the plan.

However, my classroom no longer looks like it did in the above picture. Now it looks like this.


The desks have been cleaned and organized.
Most surfaces in my office are free of clutter.
Old books have been gathered and passed on to others.
The boys have already put in several days of schooling, thanks to Kids' College and Coursera.
The books are nestled all snug on their shelves.
And so on...

Unfortunately, I still lack a concrete plan and I have only ten more days until the day we chose to be the beginning of our fifth year of schooling at home.

Luckily for me, many of our subjects can just pick up where they left off at the start of summer. American history and world history are both ongoing studies, following a timeline using a variety of reading selections. My overall plan for math was put together early in the previous school year and I will continue on that same path. My purchase of new grammar workbooks should allow a more independent approach for each of the boys for that subject. Our unit studies for some of the 'minor' subjects will be following the same outline from last year. They just need a little tweaking before we start. Spelling, reading and art will pretty much be a continuation of last year. The only subject I really need to sit down and outline will be science.

Apparently, homeschooling the same two children for multiple years, means the work lessens as the time schooled increases. If this trend continues, I'll have absolutely nothing to do in a few more years!

I know that is not really a true statement, but there is some truth there. Because they are in the same classroom, with the same teacher, year after year, they can have a fluid, individualized learning experience.

And I love it.