Planning is in full swing at my place. We are just finishing up a few lessons for this year but are mostly ready for summer mode. This is the hardest part of the year for me because I often think about jumping ship on what we are finishing and diving into our new plans. I’ll do my best to hold onto the excitement of the new school year but I can sense the kids already know its going to be awesome and we might just start earlier than planned.
Most subjects don’t require a ton of planning on my behalf with the exception of choosing which program and level we will use. I’m extra though, so I generally pick a theme, topic or book and do my best to bring some magic into our home. I haven’t shared a bunch of our magical plans here but I’m hoping to catch up on them. Stay tuned.
Ready for the reveal? 2024/2025 will be out of this world! We are blasting into Astronomy.
Let the Magic Begin
Now that I’ve chosen our theme of the year, the fun really begins. I know this is entirely extra and unnecessary but it adds to the excitement and I happen to love it. I often dedicate a space in our home for some fun decorations and art. One year I had the kids climb through an old cupboard for our Narnia Lessons, another year we gathered on stump shaped pillows by The Hundred Acre Woods backdrop.
This year will be something but I won’t decide til later on as I want it to be a surprise for the kids. That basically means I can’t set up until the middle of the night before we start school. I’ll buy a few space themed classroom supplies and a few toys for hands on learning and imagination play. Even though my kids are bigger they still love sensory bins and make believe play.
I wish I had the perfect nook to make a space corner like Angela Rose did. I’ll be inspired by her and create something wonderful but it will most likely be made out of cardboard.
Curriculum Choices
I’ve chosen the curriculum we are going to use for our spine then added a few more resources so I have something age appropriate for each of my four kids. Previously, we’ve used The Good and the Beautiful science units but I felt like my oldest needed something deeper and more of a challenge. We are still going to use The Good and the Beautiful for our family lessons but my oldest will be studying with Apologia and teaching some of the things he has learned. I also snatched the Sparks and Stars from The Good and the Beautiful for my youngest.
Now, the challenge is weaving 3 curriculums together. Since my kids are grade 2 – grade 6, I am not worried about covering all the material. Our homeschool depends a lot on me and space is not my jam but my kids love it. I have chosen to do 10 weeks of space, which seems like a lot to me but its going to be worth it.
Weekly Plans Will Include
Each week will have a topic or two for example, I combined Jupiter and Saturn into one week. I’ll have two experiments planned and decide that week which we will do. I will pull experiments from the curriculums and online searches as needed. My 11 year old will share interesting facts or deeper understanding each week, I will work with him and help however much or as little as he needs. We have separate plans for history but I will weave dates, inventions and notable people in each week. I’m building a list of movies and tv shows that I can show whenever we have downtime. Videos such as Magic School Bus episodes and Hidden Figures. I have a few very artistic kids, obviously we are going to need regular projects or supplies that they can use to create on their own. We are big library users, save your money and get a card!! We will have lots of picture books to read and explore for the younger kids. The goal for chapter books is to include a historical fiction book, a biography and let the kids choose the rest, often a few picture books for the bigger kids too.
I won’t be able to share specific lesson plans as I am using curriculum but if there is interest in how I wove these curriculums together I would be happy to make a pdf that shares the page numbers we used and add whatever tweaks we made. Leave a comment asking for the plans and I will share them when they are finalized.
Science is Always Changing
Space always has a dash of controversy to it and that’s the way I like to learn. Is Pluto a planet or not? Do aliens exist or not? Do we have answers or do we think we have answers? What new discoveries are around the corner or what have we gotten wrong? The truth is that nobody has all the answers, science is always changing.
The more you know, the more you don’t know – Aristotle
I love a good theory and hard questions. We will be diving deep and looking at astronomy from many different perspectives both modern and ancient. I am getting excited to explore and learn together. I have questions and my littles do too. Will we find the answers to our questions or will we finish our unit wanting to know more? Honestly, I hope we finish our unit feeling like there is so much more to learn.
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