Elementary, My Dear Lauren {Back to School Blog Hop}

I think the hardest part of school planning for this year was narrowing down all the options I could think of for Lauren's fourth grade year. She's not much help with the planning because she'd happily work one-on-one with me for nearly the whole day. I'm still not sure how everything is going to fit into our days, but I've at least narrowed down my lofty ambitions.

Math

Once again, if it's not broke, don't fix it. Lauren will be continuing on with Math U See and tackling division (Delta) this year. She will also continue using CTCMath for review and enrichment, especially when we decide to do a "fun day" for schoolwork.

Language Arts

Language Arts is always my hardest subject to plan for because it seems to incorporate so many different subjects and skills. My plans going in to this year are to use All About Spelling and Daily Grammar activities from SchoolhouseTeachers.com. For readers and read-alouds, we will pick from the rather large stash of Sonlight books in the closet. As the year goes on, I hope our language arts time can include some composition activities following the Institute for Excellence in Writing models.

American History

Last year, Lauren completed (and loved) the Self-Paced History: Explorers to 1815 from Veritas Press (read my review). She will continue with that program and do the second half of American History this year.

Science

I haven't finalized science plans for this year. Right now, I'm leaning towards lots of reading from the science books I've recently unpacked. If any of them spark her interest, I can expand them into a unit study, find a lapbook on that topic, or just find more books at the library to read. I also have a set of Discover & Do DVDs that I hope will inspire us to do some simple experiments this year.

Other Subjects

My biggest academic goals for Lauren this year are focused on helping her learn to work independently. SuperTeacherWorksheets has activities for many different subjects, many of which will not need my direct involvement. Recently I also found the materials from Kid Scoop (my review), and they may be perfect for some additional independent learning activities. Lauren is especially excited about a review opportunity from Middlebury Interactive Languages so that she can learn some Spanish.

It looks like Lauren and I are going to have a busy year!

This post is part of a huge Blog Hop sponsored by Homeschool Connections and The Schoolhouse Review Crew. If you'd like to read more homeschool encouragement or would just like to spy on other homeschooling family's plans, be sure to click the picture above and find the links to everyone else's ideas.

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