My son Chris will be in 6th grade this next school year.It will also be our first year homeschooling. I had already set up his 3 year plan as per the district we are in. Is it a good idea to follow this plan? should I add additional courses based on his interests? Any suggestions? Thanks...lynn
Hey there! And welcome!!! What is the 3 yr plan so far? Does he have any special interests? What are his strengths academically?
First you just need to double check your state requirements for hsing. Sometimes those requirements do not follow along with the ps requirements. Then I would say look at everything year by year. Do not worry about year 2 or 3 of the plan till you get to them. Look at what the requirements are and base your curriculum around that, if you can add in some courses or tailor those requirements to fit his interests all the better! Try and remain flexible and remember you can always change things up as the year goes on.
We just wrapped up ds 6th grade year. This was our first year also. I can't agree more with mschickie. Small piece of advise. Don't plan too far in advance with details. Ask me how I know! I worked my rear off over the summer to have a day by day plan for the 1st half of the year. I threw everything out after a couple of weeks. The only thing I kept were the goals I had planned. I realized I had NO IDEA how best to teach my son. The good news was after changing things here and there, we finally got in the groove. Debbie
If I remember correctly, you are in Texas. The only requirement in this state is to teach the core subjects, but they don't tell you how, nor does anyone check. Your ps district has no jurisdiction over your homeschool. You plan what or how you want to, but I have never had a plan, 3-year or otherwise. I have an upcoming "6th grader" too, and I'm not doing anything different this year than I'd normally do. You will find most homeschoolers don't really go by "grades", they just teach what needs teaching and what their kids want to learn! Have fun!
I agree. Do not go with a three year plan. Homeschooling changes every year in our home. The beauty of homeschooling is the ablility to make changes where they are needed, when they are needed. In CA we have to teach the subjects that are taught in the public schools but we can teach them however we want to teach them. Definitely check your requirements. What do you have for your kiddo this far?
Thanks for all the wonderful advice! He is an avid reader. He is interested in robotics, mythology and in general learning new things. He has had a lot in trouble in ps b/c he says the teacher never taught b/c she was constantly handling disciplinary problems. So far all I have are ideas...Chris has started looking at websites and giving input. I have to admit I am an over planner...always have been...I think the one that needs deschooling is me I know we want to do something literature based... Thanks...lynn
If you want something literature based check out Sonlight. We use that and I love it, so many great books! It is also scheduled out for you which can help calm the nerves when you are new to hsing.
I would also recommend looking at Hewitt Homeschooling. They have some good Lit. based options and a plan for each grade level through 12th. You can even have them keep records for you. It is pretty nice, but the web site is a bit hard to follow for the long term plan. If you request a catalog though, then it has it all laid out for you by grades.
