Prioritizing the Homeschool Year, Part 1

I've been trying to organize my brain by writing important information down in one notebook - genius, right?  Oh, everybody else already does that, you say?  Well, this girl has been living in a bit of mental chaos for a while, now, just staying organized enough to get by, without doing much real planning.  My easy excuse is that I've been too busy, but let's be honest and say that I just didn't make it a priority.  I struggle somewhat with the idea of being too structured.  If I put a formal schedule down on paper, I may very well break that schedule right away, then feel like a failure, and then just stop trying.  So why start and experience the failure?  Hmmm.....

So as I am trying to wrap my brain around the organization required to properly homeschool my daughters, knowing that I am prone to breaking schedules and knowing that I struggle with too much structure, I have to ask myself what is the proper balance of having fun with my girls and making sure enough learning takes place?  This is especially concerning for me with regards to my oldest daughter, who is behind in math.  I want to make some good progress this year!  And then there's balancing the needs of two children five years apart in age.  Some things we can do together and some things we cannot, so I need to structure our day to allow for  plenty of individual time. 

I'm going to start with what is the most important to me, which is spiritual growth and character development.  We purchased the first year of a six-year devotional study.  It breaks down the content for each year into four quarters and also contains lessons about the birth and death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.  The first year covers all of Genesis and Job with references to other scriptures throughout.  I am so excited to be covering these books of the Bible so deeply with my girls!  They each have their own book based upon their grade level/age, so we may have to do some one-on-one time with each girl, but I think it will be an excellent way to start our day!  There are five lessons per week that require reading the Bible, memorizing a verse, answering questions each day about the scripture, which includes cross references all over the Bible, asking for your thoughts on what is discussed and then a "Going to God" day/lesson, where you apply what you've learned to your own life.  I love it!  There are fun activities mixed in too. Here is a sample worksheet from the Middler book, which I purchased for my 7-year-old: 


http://www.lampquill.com/uploads/3/0/5/9/3059530/101c.pdf

And here is a sample of the first week from the Junior book, which I purchased for my 12-year-old:

http://www.lampquill.com/uploads/3/0/5/9/3059530/101d.pdf





They have a parent book as well, but I just couldn't afford it.  Hopefully as I do these with my daughters, that will be enough.  I found out about the company that makes these books while at the CHEA Convention in Anaheim in May.  They were just finishing the ESV version of their devotional studies, which is what I purchased, but they also have NIV and NKJ, I believe.  I think they are great and I'm very excited to get started!  Here is a link to their website and I chose the page that says what they are all about - it's good! :

http://www.lampquill.com/about-us.html

I plan to do this with the girls, still in their jammies, on the couch together before we even eat breakfast.  How can the rest of the day go wrong if we start with scripture and prayer?  So this is my first priority and plan for our homeschooling year!