My homeschool plan for this year.

   The beauty of homeschooling is that it's very flexible. In the years where a family is busy bringing a new baby, or caring for sick elder, or moving, they can plan for lighter curriculum, or time off. Since Monkey In-Waiting is due this November, I have planned for it. Normally what I would do is have 3-4 days off between semesters to give the Monkeys a little break. Since I am planning to take all of December off I planned for only one day off in between semester. So our first semester will go from September 3 until October 11, with October 14 off (it's Thanksgiving here in Canada) and next semester will start October 15. We normally take about 3 weeks off over the Christmas Holidays, but this year they will be extended due to our Monkey In-Waiting's arrival. Second semester will end on November 25th, so that will allow lots of time for baby to arrive.

   My plan for this school year is this:

 - Semester I - Cover following countries: Canada, Oman, Turkey, Central African Republic, Argentina, and Guatemala. We will also learn about Georgia O'Keeffe's work, and study Carl Orff's music. We will then look at Renaissance for history.
 - Semester II - Cover following countries: Serbia, Dominican Republic, Czech Republic, Sierra Leon, United States, Trinidad and Tobago. We will learn about James Abbott Whistler's work, and study Giacomo Puccini's music. We will then look at Age of Discovery and Exploration for history.
 - Semester III - Cover following countries: Ukraine, Dominica, China, Cape Verde, United Kingdom, Barbados. We will learn about Jacques-Louis David's works, and music of Joseph Haydn. We will learn about Enlightenment and Revolution period in History.
 - Semester IV - Cover the following countries: Zimbabwe, Sudan, Israel, South Africa, Tunisia, and Ecuador. We will look at works of Raphael, and study music of William Byrd. Then we will examine Early modern Era (19th Century until 1930's) in History.
 - Semester V - Cover the following countries: Micronesia, Myanmar, Georgia, Vietnam, Equatorial Guinea, and Lebanon. We will examine works of Fra Angelico and music of Francesco Landini. We will also finish up with Modern Era (from WW II to present).

   We will study Spanish, different topics in Science, Poetry, Short stories, and read as many books as we can. Last year we left off with Eldest (in Eragon series) so we will continue with that. I would also love to start Lord of the Rings or Narnia since I really enjoyed them both. In the past few years we have read Ann of Green Gables series, Hunger Games (I know it's a little grown up, but they really liked it, especially Funky Monkey), Red Pyramid (series), and few others. We really enjoy reading books together, and we even get them on tape for long trips in the car.

   I have a plan for Funky Monkey to finish grade 5 Math, Read book himself, continue with guitar lessons, and continue with copywork as well as start dictation exercises (more on this in other posts).

   Girly Monkey will do her Grade 2 Math, continue with Copywork, continue to learn to read, and guitar lessons.
   Little Monkey will, for the first time, begin to learn to write letters, numbers, do shapes, and just play.

   It looks daunting, but it's doable. As long as I get most of my plan accomplished I should be happy!