Lesson plans / schedule

I've tried to be more organized this year, and since Kendall is doing more work independantly I've started using this scheduling method to list her assignments for the day/week:


Please excuse the wrinkled up page, this page has already survived a whole school day in a room with a 6th grader, her 18 month old sister, and a dog...

The subjects we're currently using are:
Seminary
Math
English/Writing
Reading Comprehension
Anatomy
Science
History
(There is also a Misc. section)

You can see that I don't have the whole week of assignments filled in for every subject, because I may need to adjust depending on how she does on quizzes, etc (may have to spend more time on certain chapters, that sort of thing). So, for subjects that might need to be adjusted I sometimes fill them in as I go...I find that easier than trying to erase and start over.

This is really nice because she can get started on something herself while I'm changing a diaper or something, and I have an easy reference (for what pages I'm supposed to be looking at!) when I go back to check her work.

6th grade textbooks/workbooks

This is a big textbook/workbook year for me! Up until now (6th grade), I used a few workbooks and texts, mostly found or made my own lesson plans and worksheets. Things are getting more complicated and the subjects are getting more varied every year, so I finally had to break down and start delegating it out!

I'm happier with some of the workbooks and textbooks than with others, but for the most part its been fine. I should add that I got almost everything on Amazon.com for very cheap - most of the workbooks were around $1 (new) plus shipping.

Here are some of the new additions we've been happy with so far -


Margaret Matt Human Anatomy Coloring Book (Dover Coloring Books) This is the same type of workbook that they use for college level anatomy classes - you actually color the body parts to help you memorize them.

New Testament Seminary Student Study Guide (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, CES manuals). This is the same manual the high school age seminary students use, which is so much easier than trying to develop my own seminary-style lesson every day! I got this (used, no marks in it) at Deseret Industries Thrift Store for $1.00. I was so thrilled, I went back later and bought the Doctrine and Covenants and Book of Mormon editions as well, since I'm planning to use them every year (they didn't have an Old Testament manual, but I have 3 years to find one, and by then she'll be in seminary!). Each lesson has a section of scripture to read (a whole chapter or sometimes several) and related vocab words, quotes, and activities/questions.

Skill Builders Reading Comprehension - Grade 6 (Rainbow Bridge Publishing). This was her weakest subject according to the standardized testing for grade 5, so I bought this workbook to help supplement her regular reading at home and reading/discussion for her book group. Each chapter (2 pages) has a short story and then 5 questions to check comprehension (some are multiple choice, others require a short paragraph).

Stanley F Schmidt, PhD's Life of Fred - Fractions (Polka Dot Publishing). This is part of a series of math textbooks that was highly recommended by Latter-day Family Resources (a family-run homeschool supply catalog). She did warn that there is very little busy work involved (which panicked John a little, since he questions how she could possibly learn something without doing 100+ worksheets to drill it into her brain). The text is based on silly adventures of a 5-year old math professor named Fred who gets into all sorts of shenanigans. Dr. Schmidt's philosophy is that if you explain things well (and in an interesting way) and give some chances for practice, drills and busywork aren't necessary. I would like that to be true. So far so good- as long as she does well on the quizzes (that are included every 5 chapters or so) I am buying it.