Weekly Wrap-up: Our homeschool plan 2012

It's about that time of year.  Summer vacations are coming to a close, talk of Labor Day is around the corner and back to school sales are advertised everywhere.  September is coming soon, but what does that mean for homeschoolers?  Well, for us it means I can get some school supplies on sale because we started our school program in July.  I decided to start our "introduction" to Kindergarten in July as a "part time" program to ease us into "full time"schooling in September.  

Peanut is going to be 5 on August 21 (agh!) and is ready for Kindergarten.  He still has struggles with writing, but that is coming along now.  Sassy turned 3 in January but is so far ahead she is at the same level as Peanut!  We had the school system evaluate her when she turned 3 and she scored off the charts and didn't qualify for any services.  (A victory in my book!)  It took me a while to decide what to use for my children this year.  I tend to be indecisive so I didn't expect this to be any different.  I have been reading that many homeschool moms have the same difficulty when it comes to curriculum which made me feel a little better about it.  

This is our plan for the 1st half of the year:

• July/August: 2-3 days a week as an introduction.  This gives me time to figure out if what I have chosen is a good fit for the kids and make changes to what we are doing.  This also gives us time to have some summer fun too!
• September-December: Kindergarten 4 days a week (90 minutes per day) with additional activities and crafts during the day.
• December-June: After 4 months I will have a good feel for what we still need and don't need and may make some additions to our program depending on what the kids need.

Our Curriculum:

• My Fathers World Kindergarten Curriculum: This is our main curriculum this year.  I wanted a  curriculum that made things as easy as possible for me, was flexible, taught the basics of Gods word, and left room for me to add activities in.  I have found this curriculum to do just that.  The kids and I have really enjoyed this program so far.
• Kumon Workbooks : We are using these workbooks for visual perception, tracing/writing, cutting and pasting.
• BrainQuest Kindergarten : I am using this for supplemental worksheets to practice what they are learning as well as continue to practice those handwriting skills.
• Fundanoodle : WE LOVE FUNDANOODLE!  What a great program.  Right now the kids are using the 3 year old set because Sassy IS 3 and Peanut is behind when it comes to fine motor skills.  I am hoping to finish the 3 year program soon and move from there.  My goal is by next summer to have him up to the 1st grade program.
• Preschool Prep : Our kids LOVE these videos!

Therapy:

We are not like many of the homeschooling families out there, we are homeschooling 2 children with Autism so we have a ton of therapies worked into our schedule as well.  One of the reasons I love homeschooling because we can make our own schedule.

• Peanut is still in OT, PT, and Speech Therapy so we have those appointments weekly.
• We recently lost our ABA therapist "Miss Cool" (she got a degree as a nurse and is now doing that instead), but I feel confident in myself that I can do it.  Miss Cool is still around with suggestions if I get stumped too.
• The kids are still in group Music Therapy.
• In the fall I am enrolling Peanut and Sassy into a gym class at the YMCA.
• We are still having weekly play dates galore!
• I also have plans to work all kinds of fun activities into our schedule to target both of the kids needs.
• I also intend on writing our own IEP for home (not required by the state but still a good guide to have to keep us on track) 

My Fathers World: The days of creation 

We'd love to hear about your plans for the year.  Feel free to share your links!