Isn’t the New Year always such a thrill? It feels brand new to write January 1, concentrating on writing the next numbers 2-0-2-4 correctly. Let me share what has worked for us: New Year, New Curriculum.
Combatting the January Blues
Does anyone else find January a bit dull after all the fall holidays? I noticed this about five years ago and decided, as lead teacher and principal, to do something about it.
I decided that I would shift our year to start new material in January. What a huge difference! I had the Christmas break to prepare for all the new books. I brought a renewed energy to the table, and, as a result, my kids were excited!
How We Shifted Our Year
It was 2018. My twins had completed the first grade curricula in June. We had studied Ancient History using Story of the World Volume 1 and My Father’s World 1st Grade.
The second grade curriculum for My Father’s World is Adventures in US History, beginning with the Vikings, Pilgrims, and quickly progressing to the American Revolution.
Instead of starting Adventures in September, we studied Medieval History using Story of the World Volume 2 from September to January. It was the perfect transition for us.
What we do Over the Summer
At the time we studied Adventures in US History, we lived in the D.C. area where there is an incredible amount of history to be found in Smithsonian museums and the local battlefields. We took our time with the 36-week schedule to go on extra field trips.
In this way, history came alive and we continued the curriculum at our pace through the summer. It was so freeing to take days off for field trips, vacations, and just weeks off whenever we needed it.
We did finish the 36 weeks well before December that year, in time to move to a new state and settle in before the 2020 pandemic.
New Year, New Curriculum
We are about to restart the history cycle with Ancient History. My youngest is in the middle of Ancient History already with My Father’s World 1st grade. (Side note: I’m so sad that I’m doing it for the final time!) We are also going to do a family study using My Father’s World: Creation to the Greeks.
I’m a big fan of studying history chronologically. It was never my strong subject growing up, and I partially blame it on that lovely catch-all subject that public schools call “Social Studies.” I felt that it jumped from Ghana to colonial America to ancient Egypt.
Continuing Other Streams of Study
That said, we still have a few other streams of study. Charlotte Mason scheduled two time periods of history simultaneously, and I believe children are capable of keeping them straight. Especially helpful is the timeline that takes up an entire wall of our homeschool room.
We will continue our study of American history and the states. We’ve only just hit the midwestern states and learning about pioneers moving west.
We are still traveling the world one country at a time through a variety of picture books. We have the countries of southern Africa, eastern Africa, and the countries of the Middle East/SWANA (SouthWest Asia and North Africa). The latter will mesh perfectly with our Ancient Studies.
Resolutions aligning with a New Year, New Curriculum
Ummm…. none. I don’t have any specifically just because it’s the beginning of the year. Throughout the year, I reevaluate and readjust our curricula, goals, workloads, and habits throughout the year. It’s so freeing!