Curriculum Plans Part 2

I’m continuing my thoughts on what to do when your curriculum plan seems more like a wish-list. Yesterday I shared part of how I confront this challenge in my homeschool. I’m continuing today with my additional thoughts.

4. Ask to borrow materials.

I will admit that this is something I do only if necessary. I have 6 kids and I’ve seen what they can do---lol! I prefer to own the item especially if I’m using it for a whole year or for multiple children. Sometimes though, God uses this method to humble me. If a friend offers, I try to work out a win-win deal.

5. Utilize free resources on the internet.

I feel so blessed to homeschool in an era where information is shared and easily accessible. There are many free or very cheap materials on the internet. This is a whole other post, but here are a few links to get you started:

freelyeducate.com
free homeschool resources
list of free resources compiled by Successful Homeschooling

 6. Use the library.

For some families (like ours) the library is not a free resource. It is however, much cheaper to purchase a card than to purchase books. So this is one expense I count on each year. This year the bulk of our history and reading materials will be checked out of the library. I also get many books from Paperback Swap and from using my Swagbucks Amazon gift cards (both are affiliate/referral links).

*Sonlight Families—My friend Connie has a wonderful post on how to use the library to build your Sonlight curriculum on a budget.

7. Search For Sale boards.

This is something I do continually through the year as resources are available. Here are some of my go-to sites:

Hip Homeschool Moms
Homeschool Classifieds
The Well-Trained Mind For Sale Board

8.  Revise plans when needed.

If I can’t get what I think is the “perfect choice” curriculum or product, then I review my plans again. Was this curriculum something that just made things easier for me? What about the curriculum/product impressed me? Is there a similar product that I could consider? Is this something I could use at a later date and save up for instead?

9. Be thankful for the resources I do have.

Looking around and taking inventory of the things I do have helps keep things in perspective for me. Thank you God for supplying my every need.

10. Get creative.

Photo from an Alpaca Farm Field Trip

You might not consider yourself creative, but you were made in the image of a very creative God, so there has to be a couple of those genes in you. :) For me, being creative might mean using Photoshop to create materials for our homeschool. My friend Julia is creative in another way. She creates learning opportunities for her kids  via field trips—and thankfully she invites me too. She is well-connected with local community resources and isn’t afraid to ask a business if they would be open to sharing with homeschoolers. Sometimes it takes thinking outside of the “curriculum” box to complete your curriculum.

Do you have any other cost-saving curriculum/planning ideas? Please share them in the comments. :)

Later this week I’ll share  our current 2011-2011 curriculum plans.

Be sure to check out all the other “If Homeschool Walls Could Talk” posts.

The Series:

When Your Curriculum Plan Seems More Like a Wish-List Part 1

When Your Curriculum Plan Seems More Like a Wish-List Part 1

If you follow any homeschooling blogs, you'll notice that it is the season for sharing curriculum plans. I enjoy looking at those lists because I've found options I might not have considered before from seeing their course of study. But what happens when the list you plan out for your own homeschool seems like a big wish-list? What do you do when there is little to no school budget for the year? If Homeschool Walls Could Talk they’d tell you that there will be years where it’s easy to pull everything together and years where it will be a struggle (I’ll admit—I’m struggling this year). Here’s my strategy for staying on track and avoiding the discouragement trap:

1. Pray that God will give you the right materials, educational activities and opportunities that your children need for this year.

 H20 molecule using Magic Nuudles

A recent example of seeing God take care of our educational needs encourages me to trust Him with the rest of our year. This summer I felt my older children needed to do some introductory chemistry before continuing General Science for this upcoming year. After reading reviews and searching the internet, I found the book I wanted to use with them this summer. I only had a gift card to use to obtain the book, and wouldn’t you know it--- the book was not available at the gift card store. I was so discouraged. I knew though, that they needed to learn basic chemistry. So I headed to the library in order to pull together a unit on my own (which I wasn’t looking forward to doing because I know nothing about chemistry and it is time-intensive to plan a unit.) I came home with a bag of books and sat down to start planning.

Written by Michelle Eichhorn
(I can’t find the link! If anyone knows, please leave a comment)

While checking my email while planning (my way of procrastinating,) I came across a link for a free download of a chapter from a science book by Treasure Box Press—and it was the chemistry chapter! It had a student and teacher section and the student section was a text/workbook. It was just what I needed—sitting right in my inbox! Using these materials plus the books from the library, I easily put together a month-long independent study for my two older children. It was exactly what I needed but not what I had planned at the beginning. It was even better than what I expected! I know this was a God-thing.

2. Make a plan.

Write down objectives, goals, and possible curriculum choices. Then start planning one month at a time with the resources you do have on hand. This is hard for me because I like to know I have everything in order and ready for the entire year. Sometimes I only have what I need a week in advance. So I plan that. It sounds so easy-but for some reason this is one of my biggest hurdles when I know I have to be pulling together units on my own. It seems so overwhelming—which is why I try to break it down into smaller time-frames.

3. Stick to the basics.

I try to make sure I have the basics covered first: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. I figure that’s what they concentrated on in those old one-room schoolhouses I watched-er read about on Little House on the Prairie. If my kids are proficient in these areas, I know they will have a good educational foundation.

Continue to Part 2 …

If Homeschool Walls Could Talk…

This post is part of a link up with some other awesome homeschooling mamas. Make sure you take a few moments to visit them and check out the things they are sharing from behind their homeschooling walls.

Honey @ Sunflower Schoolhouse

Jimmie @ Jimmie’s Collage

Tiffany @ Sweet Phenomena

Lisa @ The Army Chap’s Wife

Megan @ Half Pint House

Reesa @ Suburban Tree Hugger

Laura @ Day by Day In Our World

Jasmine @ Ponder The Path

Lee @ Homeschool Canada

What would your homeschool walls say if they could speak?
Link up a new post or a previous one and come join the party.

Up, Up and Away!

There is something about hot air balloons that are just fascinating to me. They come in so many beautiful colors and even shapes, but it is rare that we ever spot one. Well this past Friday our whole co-op got to see one up close, and even were able to help set the balloon up.

One of the first things that was done was to release the black balloon to see the direction of the wind and what the air currents were like. Here's a more technical explanation from How Stuff Works:

"Additionally, a pilot might send up a piball (short for pilot balloon). A piball is just a balloon filled with helium that the pilot releases to see the exact direction of the wind at a prospective launch site. If it looks like the wind would take the balloon into prohibited air space, the crew needs to find a new launch spot."

Next the kids helped pull the balloon out of the trailer.

Up....

Up...

Up and away! We didn't go for a balloon ride (thank goodness! I don't think I could handle going in the balloon even if it were tethered!) but we all got to circle around the basket and see how the balloon worked. For a good explanation check out How Stuff Works: Hot Air Balloons.

And here's the inside of the balloon. Just beautiful!

Hot Air Balloon Resources for Kids:

Make a Hot Air Balloon

Hot air expands, cool air contracts experiment
Build a Hot Air Balloon out of a plastic bag

Printables:
Hot Air Balloon mini-book for a lapbook
Hot Air the (mostly) true story of the first Hot Air Balloon Ride - complete lapbook unit
Hot Air Balloon Mobile Coloring Page
First Hot Air Balloon to Cross the English Channel Coloring Page
Hot Air Balloon Coloring Page

Books and Movies:





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WW2 Final Projects

This past session in our local co-op, my oldest two children studied World War II. The team of teachers did a wonderful job going all out to teach different events. They did so many more hands-on activities and learning than I would have had time to do if I taught this at home. I appreciated all the hard work those teachers did.

For their final projects, each student had to have a 1-2 page typed report, a project and then give a presentation to the whole co-op.

My daughter chose to study Corrie Ten Boom. She read at least 5 different books about Corrie. She was hooked on learning more about this courageous woman! I was proud of her because speaking in front of people was a new skill for her and she was very nervous. She did a good job!

My son chose to learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen.

His favorite part was creating his first model airplane. We found a model of the P-51 Mustang airplane that Tuskegee airmen flew. With some help from his dad, he was able to finish this model just in time for the presentation.

He also did a good job on the presentation. I think this was a wonderful experience for the both of them.

For more World War 2 resources see:

Jimmie's Collage --she posted a lapbook and resources that she used with her daughter when teaching about WW2

World War II for Kids -- book that has great hands-on activities and projects. We used this several times during the unit.