T-minus 4 days to liftoff!

Our new school year is getting closer all the time - launch date - 8/10/09.

During the first week or so, we will be embarking on our new, parent designed course, Middle School Essentials. First up: Study Skill 101. Beginning with time management and organization followed by reading skills, note taking skills and outlining skills, we will be giving our son a foundation of ideas to draw from as he begins to progress through the more academically heavy work of 7th grade and beyond. I am very excited about being able to teach him skills that I did not learn until my college years.

Another thing I am doing differently this year is taking that first week to slowly introduce each subject, concentrating on one per day (or in the case of language arts, combing some). I will be providing a written summary of the subject matter and expectations for each course. The summary will remain in the student notebook for reference throughout the year.

Our first week plan looks like this:
Monday: Begin Study Skills using Painless Study Techniques, Note Taking and Outlining and What Smart Students Know, as well as online resources. Introduce the following subjects: Bible Study; Spelling & Grammar and Pre-Algebra.

Tuesday: Continue Study Skills, Bible, Grammar & Spelling and Pre-Algebra. Introduce History.

Wednesday: Continue Study Skills, Bible, Grammar & Spelling and Pre-Algebra. Introduce Science.

Thursday: Continue Study Skills, Bible and Math. Complete Science Project survey at Science Buddies.

Friday: Continue Study skills, Bible, Spelling & Grammar and Pre-Algebra. Introduce the literature reading list.

Our regular schedule should look something like this:
Monday: Bible; History; Spelling; Grammar; Pre-Algebra; Science and Art. Meeting time for Grammar, Spelling and Pre-Algebra.

Tuesday: Same subjects as Monday. Meeting time for History and Pre-Algebra.

Wednesday: Same subjects as Monday. Meeting time for Science (including labs) and Pre-Algebra.

Thursday: This is co-op day. Registration is next week, when we will see what classes he will have. Bible and Pre-Algebra are also completing on this day. Meeting time for Pre-Algebra.

Friday: Same classes as Monday. Meeting day for Bible and Pre-Algebra with Literature as needed.

That sounds like a lot! We'll see how it goes!