IHIPs Due Soon!

Hello - all of you New York State homeschoolers.  Just a little reminder, here - your Individual Home Instruction Plans are due to your local school district on August 15.

New York State Capitol Building, Albany, NY

So, who has a plan this year?  Our plan is changing up a bit from last year (actually I'm still tweaking it - panic!) because I started subbing at the local school district two days a week.  It works well, because Hubby is home then, but also not so well, because I basically have to  prepare sub plans for him to work off of while I work off someone else's sub plans in the school.  Oh, well.  At least it's something!
So, because of that, I'm trying to plan specific subjects for specific days (making sure Grammar does not fall on Hubby's days - you live and you learn).  This is different from what I have done in the past, which involved running through the list, and then starting over, no matter what day we were on.  I like that way better, because it allows for various days off, and you still have time for everything.  But I've decided that we'll have to be more structured in our vacation days, too.  I guess structure isn't always a bad thing.

That said, we are planning on continuing our Ancient History, using "The Mystery of History" volume 1.  My 5th grader has requested to study Chemistry, so we'll be using Apologia's "Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics."  We also plan to study the sea for American History, using a Kaleidoscope Kids Book called "LIghthouses of North America,"  "Carry on, Mr. Bowditch," "Seabird" by Holling C. Holling, and "Treasure Island."  We'll also be studying Davy Crockett, and the Santa Fe Trail ("A Tree in the Trail" by Holling C. Holling).  Adding in Bible, Math, Spelling, Grammar, Music, Poetry, Art, and Reading, I guess that makes a pretty full schedule.  My Kindergartener will be working on basic math, reading, writing, and phonics, along with piggybacking with her older brother on the other lessons.  This is the first year I'll be really trying to teach both of them at once - my little one has been doing "school" on her own schedule up until now.  So, I really do have to plan a little more strictly to get everything in.

So - your turn - how do you do it?  Especially with multiple grades, and/or working while homeschooling?  Please share your ideas in the comments!

Until next time - Happy homeschooling! - Robin

Summer Plans

Hello, everyone - the school year is drawing to a close.  It's time to think about summer!

Homeschooling families do many different things to schedule their year.  Some use the public school calendar, which is an easy way to schedule school days and vacation days.

Some "school" year round, taking breaks as needed, or on a regular rotation (i.e. six weeks on, one week off, or four days a week school with three day weekends).  

I like to do a kind of "extended" schedule, focusing on field trips and experiential learning during the summer, while being more structured come September.  This gives me the flexibility of taking longer vacations during the "school year," because I already have some days logged from the summer, but also gives us a different focus for a few months, to give our brains a break!  I also find it easier to do special trips and things in the summer, without having to worry about the weather as much.

We are planning a couple of trips this summer, one to Lake George overnight, and one to visit my family in Pennsylvania for a week.  My 9 year old also has sleep-away camp for a week, and we have Vacation Bible School for another week.

What are your summer plans?