Episode 81: Planning Our Year 2022
We each share three things we are most excited about adding to our homeschool year this next year 2022-2023. With new ideas and resources for history, Bible, art, field trips, kindergarten, and morning time, this episode is jam packed with fresh ideas and inspiration. We also answer the question, "How far should I plan in advance?" (For 10 Tips for Planning Your Homeschool Year, check out this blog post!)
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Scoop on the Coop
Mandi went to Yosemite! Prior to going, she hosted Yosemite Academy, a day of survival skills, first aid kit assembly, wildlife wisdom, and more. Then, at Yosemite, they went on a sunset hike with a naturalist, swam in a pooling river for hours, hiked to a waterfall, and experienced plenty of exploration in beauty. Next on the list is purging and reorganizing her homeschool library and room.
Jessica has been occupied with her career as a professional dance teacher. From putting on two dance recitals and planning two dance camps for young children, she has been busy! Upcoming is plenty of fun with family, a camping trip with friends, and a one week trip to Big Sur and Sequoia/Kings Canyon.
Topic
One of our favorite things about homeschooling is the planning! Today we each share our top 3 things we are excited about adding to our homeschool year. If you are interested in our other aspects of curriculum and content, check out episodes 11 & 44.
Mandi’s Top 3 Plans
1) This Year’s Homeschool Theme: All creation declares His glory - based on Psalm 19
THE WHY: We decided to start teaching a theme each year as a helpful principal for life. I’m hoping over these next 10 years we will equip them in their perspective and with mantras, Bible verses, and principals that inform their decision-making. Previous years were: I can do hard things, Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. We are on our 4th year of doing a theme, and it helps guide our perspective on what and how we teach.
Story of His glory - We are starting with creation, then diving into ancient & Bible history, ancient art school, and ancient science all woven together
Kick Off Theme - For the first 7 Days of School we are focusing on the seven days of creation.
Brighter Day Press: “All Creation Sings” Unit Study - 7 days of creation unit study includes making shadow puppets, mini terrarium, creation themed snacks, hymns, Bible readings, and more!
Brighter Day Press: I bought these beautiful creation cards that display verses and image for that day that I will hang up like pendant flags.
2) Art School
THE WHY: I grew up going to an art school once a week for about five years. Although I’m not great at making art, it gifted me with the ability to appreciate art in a deeper way. When you know a bit of the history, how something is made, the materials used, and the difficulty level of it, you can appreciate it so much more. I want to give my children that too. So many places you travel to are known for their art museums, architecture, and natural art like Yosemite. Since I value travel and experiential learning, art appreciation plays a huge role in delighting in the man-made and divinely created things of this world.
TOOLS
I bought each child their own Art Box - which is their tool box for high quality art supplies to be used and practiced with for these lessons. This tool box will build over time. I got mine starting in 6th grade and continued to have into adulthood.
CURRICULUM/ACTIVITIES:
Artistic Pursuits - I found this curriculum at a homeschool conference last year and now finally get to get started in it! This curriculum consists of 2 disc DVD of lessons with a book per topic. It goes in the order of fundamentals for Book 1, and then basically follows the Story of the World - with DVDs and book for Ancient Art, Middle Ages, Italian Renaissance, Art of Northern Countries - from Renaissance to Realism, and so on. There’s 8 volumes for lower elementary. They also have upper elementary, middle school, and highschool as well. We are doing the fundamentals this summer and then Art of the Ancients this year.
Field Trip - We are going to the Getty Villa Museum. The museum is a robust exhibit of Greek and Roman antiquities housed in a re-created Roman country home.
Pre-visit Activities - The Getty Museums provide a plethora of educational opportunities including pre-visit lessons! I plan to incorporate some of these.
Self-Guided Activities - These activities include family activities, print-and-go activities for various age groupings including dance it out, poetry writing, drawing blind, and more.
Create Your Own Gallery Lesson - I think with all of these options, we might need to make two visits to this iconic museum.
Artist Week
Every year we study one artist for an entire week - with food and activities and field trips that teach the art, experience the art in an exhibit, and learn about the person. Previous years we’ve focused on Claude Monet (France, crepes, macarons, art museum, oil painting technique) and Michelangelo (Italy, traveling exhibit, painting above our heads, made pasta, gelato).
Ansel Adams - This year we will be studying Ansel Adams, an American landscape photographer of the American West. He captures the created beauty of this earth which goes with our year’s theme. We have been to a number of the places Ansel Adams has photographed - including Yosemite (which is where we went this past summer). Plus all my kids love taking pictures and have their own personal quality cameras.
Books: Ansty Adams - This book tells the story of his childhood and how he became a photographer. Ansel Adams 400 Photographs - We will study various photographs and then remove photograph and ask what is remembered.
Photography Lessons - We will make Cyanotypes Sunprints, collect and draw items from nature, learn the Lightroom App, how to make photos black and white, adjust exposure, teach HDR and compare to non HDR
Nature Walk - We will pretend we are Ansel Adams and take a hike with our cameras at a beautiful local Forest and edit our photos in a Lightroom App.
Graphic Design - We will make collages in Canva
Homeschool curriculum for photography - I was gifted a 68 page homeschool photography lesson book with activities and art projects for various age groupings.
Environmentalist Day - Since Ansel Adams was also an environmentalist, we will discuss ways to help our environment, pick up trash at a local beach, and take pictures of trash. We will read this Usborne recycle book as well.
Camping food night - Food is always a big component of our artist week! So, being an American artist who enjoys the outdoors, we will grill our own hot dogs over a fire, make s'mores, and watch a movie outside to end the week!
3) Dailies
THE WHY - My kids’ favorite thing we do on our formal schooling days is the Dailies. It’s a wonderful time of bonding, learning life principles, and delighting in each other’s company. It starts our day with positivity and fun. Learn more about Dailies here.
- Previously we have a question of the day, word of the day, gratitude journal, farty facts, joke book, Madlibs, scripture reading, prayer, a picture book, etc.
Curriculum - This year we are starting “Morning Time - 36 weeks of family discipleship and foundational learning” by Brighter Day Press. I bought the printed version since it will last us all year. It comes with the PDF which makes it easier to click on learning and product links. She writes: “Many people believe that the success of a day depends largely on how a person spends his first thirty minutes of the morning.” This quote completely supports my “Why” for the dailies - I want to start off our educational time together with goodness and delight.
QUOTE - “Morning Time is designed to ingrain a rhythm into our lives so that long after we no longer practice it, it still speaks to us, instructs us, and guides us in the way we should go. In Ephesians 6:4, Paul tells parents to “bring [their children] up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Our task then, as Christian parents, is weighty and can often feel overwhelming. I have sought to lighten this load by creating a purposeful, gospel-centered plan…”
Curriculum is set up as 3 terms, 12 weeks each.
Time commitment is that it takes 30 minutes plus for all the activities and another 30 for the read-aloud option.
It includes Bible devotion reading, prayer, memory verse, hymn, poem, and a catechism or two per week. There is also a a couple options for read aloud chapter books per 12 weeks. The read alouds go along with the theme of the term.
For each term of 12 weeks there is a missionary study, composer study, and an artist study focus.
1st Term: David Livingstone, Bach, and Leonardo da Vinci
2nd Term: Jim Elliot, Beethoven, and Rembrandt
3rd Term: Corrie Ten Boon, Stravinsky, and Claud Monet
The book includes Spotify playlists links for the composers, printed hymns, printed poetry, and printed works of art.
Jessica’s Top 3 Plans
1) U.S. History Year Long Unit Study
THE WHY: We believe history is incredible important to know and understand in order to be a present member in society. While we’ve studied parts of U.S. History throughout the years, this will be a much more concentrated focus.
THE CURRICULUM: Jessica is using several sources to put together her own unique U.S. History study. The framework will be based on Gather ‘Round Homeschool units and built out from there.
Gather Round Units:
North America
Indigenous Peoples
North American Birds
US History 1-6
Underground to Canada
US Government
History Unboxed - subscription history boxes
For Kids History Books
Jim Weiss Audio Stories
Who Was/What Is Series
History Games
American History Go Fish by The Classical Historian
Colonial Days
Prelude to the Revolution aboard the Star of India
Riley Farm’s Civil War Experience and Reenactment
Literature
Other Sources
2) TK and Kindergarten Activities for August
THE WHY: I’m officially adding another homeschool kid to the mix and will be introducing activities and content that are unique to him rather than him just going along with the curriculum for my older child.
THE CURRICULUM: I don’t feel any pressure or need to buy or implement curriculum, but being that my 4.5 year old has shown development leaps toward language and math, I would like to continue to reinforce and develop those skills through intentional activities. I feel most of my goals will be accomplished by continuing to read books and play games, now I’m using those resources to target specific goals.
3) Co-op Planning!
THE WHY: To have a successful co-op, it takes loads of planning.
THE CONTENT: In addition to the administrative leadership planning, I am working on field trips and at least 1 club to bless our group.
Field Trips
3 Living History Events (based on my U.S. Study above)
Community Helpers: Police Department, Fire Station, Post Office
Book Club for Tweens
Gameschooling Event
Family Camping
Coop Q & A
Question: How far should I plan in advance?
Answer: We tend to use a different timeline for different types of events, activities, and curriculum.
9 Months Ahead of Time - When I want to make sure my friends or co-op can be part of my educational experiences/field trips, I like to plan up to a 9 months ahead. If you don’t plan it, others’ schedules may not be clear for joining you.
6 Months Ahead of Time - For our major family events or week-long studies (like the artist study), I plan 6 months ahead of time. Priorities need a place in your calendar.
1 Month Ahead of Time - I like to plan generally one month at a time for general objectives, books to read, and specific objectives for various curriculum subjects. Studies show that when you set goals, you are more likely to progress in the direction you want to go.
1 School Week Prior - I like to write down concrete plans on Friday or the weekend prior to the week at hand. I find that I feel most successful and we experience wonderful learning moments when I review the following week’s educational materials, videos, books, and more. I don’t like to make a detailed plan until that weekend prior, because things come up, life happens, and I don’t want to feel like I am falling behind by planning more than one week at a time. I’ve learned this from trial and error over the past few years.
Last Day of the Week Looking Back - Sometimes it can feel the most rewarding to write down what you did do the week prior. Special moments and experiences in addition to the books and curriculum you devoured can get you a truer picture of your homeschool life.
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