Gearing up for the School Year

So, this is going to be my SIXTH year of homeschooling.  I'm surprised about how excited I am about this year.  I think we have a really nice and solid academic plan that is not going to overwhelm me (or Bee or Bug).  I'm thrilled about what we are going to be doing together at home, and I'm excited about the classes they are going to be taking. 

Baby Girl was born, and we are all madly in love with her.  I think I'm going to call her Dot on the blog.  It's going to be interesting homeschooling next year with a baby.  Because of that, I'm really focusing on my planning.  I know I'm not going to have much time at all during the school year to plan. 

It hurts my heart to think about how fast Bee is growing up, going into the sixth grade!  At the same time, I'm really proud of him.  I copied his finished writing assignments that he completed last year with his tutor from WriteGuide into a file, so that I can save them.  They are so precious and capture his unique perspective.

I am actually thinking about doing writing with him this year, now that he has got the hang of completing writing assignments, and I have a better idea of what to expect and how to work with him.   I will be using a book from which to select many of the assignments.  His WriteGuide tutor is no longer working there, so this is a good time for us to take a break.  I'm sure we'll use WG again at some point though, and I am incredibly grateful for his time with WG. 

I have made a flexible morning schedule made that includes Spanish, Math, Writing, and Spelling 4 days a week.  Science will be done mostly through outside classes, and history will get done on certain afternoons.  I don't teach "Reading" formally, but they read on their own each day, and Bee will have some assigned reading this year, and I'll be reading out loud some longer picture books to Bug (and hopefully Bee will join us too). 

The main thing I am needing to do is make lesson plans for Spanish for several weeks. Spanish is going to be our number one priority for a while, but I've never found a curriculum I could follow.  Bee will continue his wonderful lessons at Homeschool Spanish Academy, which I cannot recommend highly enough, but if we could spend more time on Spanish as a family, he would learn even more. 

I have a lot of copies to make, from expensive books that are intended to be reproducible.  I'd like to get all of that done this summer because I never feel like doing it on the weekends during the school year.  

I am planning for August through November.  December will be much more relaxed.  I plan to do mostly Spanish and crafts, and other subjects only as needed.  And, hopefully, find some time to plan the rest of the year.