Cindy Schultz, The Mom Maven Talks To Us About “Back to School” Homeschoolling style.

Posted in Featured education Cindy Schultz is the author of The Mom Maven and you can find her on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn at

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For most families back to school means buying supplies off a list the school posted on their website, getting some new clothes and shoes, and maybe organizing the student’s desk at home so they have a place to do their homework. Back to school for this homeschooling family starts before the previous year ends. As we are finishing up our school year, I evaluate the curriculum choices we made for this year and look ahead to what I feel would work best the next year. From grades pre-K-8 this task was based loosely on a scope and sequence of what topics I felt we should cover as a family in history/social studies and then adding grade appropriate math, language arts, science, the arts and PE around it. Once the boys entered high school we have had to follow a few more rules to make sure enough credits are earned for graduation. This requires a 4 year plan so that nothing is missed and everyone graduates on schedule. Once I have the basic subjects/topics for the year then I start shopping for curriculum. Our huge state homeschool convention is at the end of May so, if I plan on attending I need to know in advance what topics I am shopping for. Our local homeschool bookfair is usually the first Friday and June so again, I must have a plan early in the summer. I then spend May-July watching for sales/deals and eBay finds to fill out our school year. As my orders arrive then I have the privilege of creating lesson plans for every subject and each student. When August arrives I usually have most of my planning done and I have decided what supplies/notebooks we need for the year. First we dig through the school cubby to see what supplies on our list we already have and then we hit the stores for the back-to-school sales. This year my 16yo high school senior is dual enrolled at our local community college. Dual enrolling is a great way for advanced student to earn high school and college credit at the same time and the state pays for the classes! First semester he is taking English 1101 and Spanish 1101 at the college, Economics with our senior pastor and Christian Worldview and Piano with me. Second semester he will be enrolled as an early admissions student at the community college and he will be taking Spanish 2, U.S. Government, Music History and Intermediate Algebra as well as Christian Worldview and Piano with me. My 14yo high school sophomore is taking Economics with our senior pastor, and Algebra II, English/Lit 10, Biology, World History 1455-1707, New Testament Survey, Health/PE, Spanish 1, Piano, Drama and Art with me. Back to school means change and a fresh start for every family no matter how they choose to educate their children. I hope you and your family have a great 2009-2010 school year. Cindy Schultz TheMomMaven.com 14 year homeschooling veteran

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