Over the half-way mark...

Anyone else nervous about how much schooling we still have left to do before this school year is up? I am... we have been doing school since early August, but since we started a week after my mom passed away, I wasn't exactly in the right frame of mind for school. Thank goodness that I had already planned my beginning lessons out back in early summer, as I do every year. If I hadn't done that... I doubt we would have started school much before now. Anyway, most of us, who go by a more traditional school calendar, are now a little over half way done with our school year. This is the point in the year that I always wonder if I'm doing enough, if my kids are far enough along in their subjects, if I've chosen the right curriculum...

We're getting ready to add some more traditional work to our schedule. I've been using the Beyond Five in a Row curriculum, and all though we have absoultely LOVED this style of learning, in addition to Bible, English, Math, Spelling and independent reading... I feel my kids are lacking in the history and science areas, again. These were the two subjects my kids didn't excel at during last year's testing. So... after looking through my bookshelves to see what I already own... I've decided to add some History and Science into our schedule.

I have a few great Christian Liberty Press books that I bought last year when friend from church had a "Going out of Business Sale" at the Christian Book store he owned. I'll be starting "A Child's Story of America" with my 2nd grader and "Exploring American History" with my 5th grader. We'll actually be adding them in beginning tomorrow.

I had some Harcourt Science books on the shelves, too, so we'll be starting those as well. I'm expecting that I'll feel a little more comfortable with the amount they've covered in these two subjects the closer we get to testing day, although, I'm sure my kids won't think the extra work is necessary.

We love Beyond Five in a Row, though, so we'll also be reading our last book for the year, "Betsy Ross", from the Childhood of Famous American's series and keeping up with some of the FIAR lessons from the manual.

Anyway, I just wanted to write a bit about the aprehension that I feel every year at this time. You see the end of the year in the near future, and know that you don't have the WHOLE year ahead of you anymore to get in all that you intended. You might make adjustments and that's the blessing of homeschool... you aren't bound to any specific path... you get to make your own.

Thank God for the ability to homeschool our children!

If you, too, are struggling with the "mid-year anxiety"... I'd love to hear from you with how you're dealing with it.

Until next time....

Have a Blessed Day in your Homeschool!