It's that time of year again! Time to start thinking about our next school year (to start August 1, 2012) and deciding what to use and what to buy. To be honest, I have been working on this nonstop since this fall.
I am 100% sure that for Tyler I am going to use Heart of Dakota Bigger Hearts for His Glory. My biggest complaint from this school year was the amount of time I spent on planning. I can't invest that much time into school planning again! This will help with that problem! Tyler is easy and likes almost everything.
I am still debating on Caleb. Caleb is harder to please and isn't flexible on how he likes to learn and what works for him. It is a big amount of money to spend and not be completely sure it will even work for him. I have been using my free time looking at this program through the catalog, website, samples, and reviews. I think it will work for him and I feel comfortable tweaking, if needed. But, I just haven't completely convinced myself. I would be using their Resurrection to the Reformation program with him. My biggest concern is using a non-Catholic program to teach the Reformation. This can be solved by reading the books on my own first and supplementing if needed. I do trust this company to give the facts and not be bias on their religious beliefs, but I don't know this for sure unless I read it first. I haven't found a Catholic program that comes close to what I want. My other concern is using a program with such a big history focus. Caleb is not a fan of history. I'm hoping this program may present the material in a way he will be able to connect to it and start an interest in history. There is a lot of writing with this program and Caleb isn't a writer. One goal for our current school year is to get him comfortable in writing. We have made a little progress with this, but still have a way to go. I am planning on buying BraveWriter's The Writer's Jungle later this month to get some more writing ideas.
I am certain on our choice for language arts. We will be using MCT. We have decided against the poetry part of this program. We will start at the Island level with both the boys in this program. They will do this together unless Caleb needs to move faster. If needed, we will buy the Town level if Caleb needs more.
In math we will continue with Horizons. Music/Art/ PE will continue with products we have on hand and the HOD program will address some of these topics too.
For religion/catechism we will be doing something different. We have been using the Image of God and Faith & Life books (that we love). I am going to combine the boys in a year long Saint and Liturgical Year study. I have all the books I need to do this (only have one of my wishlist to buy) and just need to sit down and plan it out. I feel the boys have a good understanding of the catechism and we can take a year off to explore Saints and season of the church. I am really looking forward to this!
These are my plans as of today. ; ) The budget is made and this plan is doable. Anyone have any advice or reviews in helping with my decision? If I don't go with HOD for Caleb, I have nothing else in mind!
No comments:
Post a Comment