Getting back on track

     Soon the Twelve Days of Christmas will be drawing to a close, so it's time for me to get back on track!  We'll be starting up our studies again on Monday, so today I'm making some plans and thinking about the direction our next term will take.

 For me, the arts are the easiest and most fun subjects.  We will be studying Diego Velazquez   as our artist and our composer will be George Frederick Handel  (the only 17th century composer of note that we haven't yet studied).  Continuing our work on American poets, we will take a look at the poems of Robert Frost.

In history and geography, we will be concentrating on the Spanish exploration and settlement of the Southwest and Mexico.  I look forward to reading to the children the Vision Book  Father Kino: Priest to the Pimas (which I bought when it was ever-so-much-cheaper).  I have a special interest in Fr. Kino, and I hope that one day he will be beatified.  We will also study Fr. Junipero Serra. 
 

Each boy will choose one Southwestern state to study in depth, just as we did for New England last term.  I'm terrible at keeping records, but I'll try to work on an annotated bibliography of the books we are using for the benefit of other families studying this part of the country.   I have already requested a ton of great books from the library and have many on hand and ready to go!  Such a good feeling!

Math and writing continue along at a steady, yet somewhat grudging ;) pace; reading assignments will be based on our history/geography lessons.  

In science, the human body will continue to be our focus, but we will add a study of the soil of our garden in preparation for planting a few early spring vegetables.

In religion, Bugle Boy (ds10) wants to read a biography of St. Ignatius in addition to his regular catechism work.  The younger learners will keep on with short stories of the saints as well as their catechism.

One last thing I hope to introduce this term is music lessons.  We haven't taken any music lessons, other than recorder, since we moved here.  With my  dd coming back to be homeschooled, I am thinking we could even start a little quartet.  Maybe violin, cello, and flute?

Well, now that's all settled!  Phew!