School’s over, we have had a fantastic end of year celebration and we are enjoying our month off. So let’s talk about next year’s homeschool plans. My brain is always, always planning. I start thinking about the next school year after we put away the Christmas decorations, so I have a lot of ideas for our upcoming school year already ready to go.
Unit Studies
We will again be following a unit study approach for the 2023-2024 homeschool year. Like I mentioned last week, we’ll be doing one unit across the entire first semester, and a separate unit during second semester. This will really allow us to immerse ourselves in the topic and will be smarter financially, as we’ll only be buying for one unit and spending more time with the materials than when I’ve tried to squeeze four units or so into each semester.
First semester, I’ve decided to cover Biology. We will be working our way through the Tree of Life. This was a topic my kids have been interested in for a long time, and something I knew we’d be able to supplement with lots of field trips and hands-on experiences. Since we won’t be alternating to a social studies concept as frequently, we will include a lot of geography learning about the habitats of the animals we study, and where they’re located on the globe.
We’ll spend June through October learning about different species of animals. In November and December we will slow things down with holiday themed lessons. And second semester will be a large history and geography unit. I haven’t decided on the final focus yet, but I’ll be sure to share when I do!
Curriculum
We will again be using Math with Confidence and Hooked on Phonics for our curriculums this year. We’ll supplement with Handwriting Without Tears workbooks and copy work as well. There are dozens of extra things we do during our homeschool week to learn, and a few are: listening to audiobooks and watching phonics and math DVDs in the car, singing songs about what we’re learning, playing games together, and imaginative play. In our homeschool, we truly believe, as Julie Bogart says, “You Can Use Anything to Teach Anything”.
What do your homeschool plans for next school year look like? Are you an early planner, like me, or do you function better at the last minute? Let me know in the comments!
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