How do you do "new and exciting" while keeping "tried and true"?

[chai]

I'm looking toward our new school year and trying to think of ways to make it more interesting for both of us. This was not our best year; I'm going to blame it on our move and my focus on that. I need to focus on homeschooling again and keep my dd excited about learning.

Anyway, I've noticed that dd gets most excited about school whenever we start something new--a new workbook, CD, game, etc. It seems to add a burst of energy and renewed interest in schoolwork. She even does better in our usual subjects.

On the other hand, I like to stick with my "tried and true" curricula--Singapore, Classical Writing, Latina Christiana, etc. So, how can I combine the "new and exciting" with the "tried and true"? Any ideas? Does anyone stagger new subjects rather than start them all at once?

[Closeacademy]

What I learned this year--How to make the tried and true fresh and new without curriculum hopping.

1. I start new levels in January, June or August. January is Latin, and history. August is everything language arts. June is science.

2. I scheduled things into monthly units. So each month there is a new focus for each subject and it is like starting something new. So for math--January was place values, February was addition/subtraction review, March was multiplication/division review and Multiplication with re-grouping. April will be long division. I did the same thing with the rest of our subjects.

3. We school year round and try to do a week of fun school inbetween "units." During this week we will make lapbooks or do other fun things that tie into the season or their interests.

This has been working for us and keeping things fresh while using the old standbys. :001_smile:

[Cheryl in NM]

1. Library books - every week we go to the library and look for books with lots of pictures or diagrams.
2. Workbooks - I will buy a small workbook from Wal-mart or Barnes & Noble and ds will work on it in his spare time. It's actually a reward to work in these workbooks for him. Go figure!
3. Give ds some control - I let ds decide which Science unit we will do next, what order to do his schoolwork in, what clases to do each day
4. I'm pumped up - I show my excitement over the curriculum; it's contagious

[chai]

aside: Cool! I just learned how to multi-quote!

These are great ideas. They are really making me think.



1. I start new levels in January, June or August. January is Latin, and history. August is everything language arts. June is science.

2. I scheduled things into monthly units. So each month there is a new focus for each subject and it is like starting something new. So for math--January was place values, February was addition/subtraction review, March was multiplication/division review and Multiplication with re-grouping. April will be long division. I did the same thing with the rest of our subjects.

3. We school year round and try to do a week of fun school inbetween "units." During this week we will make lapbooks or do other fun things that tie into the season or their interests.
:001_smile:

I really like the idea of staggering the start of new levels. I had never considered that before. I do science in the spring/summer though, so I guess that counts a bit. I don't know if I would break math into monthly units, but I'm going to think about that a bit--perhaps break up the lessons with a supplement for a month. I tried to lapbooks with dd; I thought that she would love it, but she doesn't like them! I'm going to try computer school for a fun treat.

1. Library books - every week we go to the library and look for books with lots of pictures or diagrams.
2. Workbooks - I will buy a small workbook from Wal-mart or Barnes & Noble and ds will work on it in his spare time. It's actually a reward to work in these workbooks for him. Go figure!
3. Give ds some control - I let ds decide which Science unit we will do next, what order to do his schoolwork in, what clases to do each day
4. I'm pumped up - I show my excitement over the curriculum; it's contagious

We go to the library a lot and we do field trips fairly often too. My dd loves workbooks too! I was trying to avoid them until I discovered that. I've tried to give dd some control with classes, but that was a disaster. If I give an inch, she takes a mile. We've had to stick with a schedule as much as possible. You really got me with #4; I'm not the type to show a lot of excitement about anything... :mellow: ...but I don't get mad easily either.