After a month-long break, we resume with homeschooling 1st week of September. Besides CM workshops and various homeschool events, I’ve been busy planning for the next school year. I enjoy planning and take it rather seriously. I make sure all are scheduled and all needed are within reach because once the beautiful chaos starts and I suddenly can’t find the book or the tools or the schedule or notebook, chaos becomes unmanageable. 
I’m not kidding.
This is part of the Discipline of a CM education, or maybe just the “J” in me wanting a bit of control 
If it is not on paper, I might not be able to do it. Not because I’m rigid, ehem. I’m actually quite spontaneous but when handling kids of different ages with different sets of books, and different math lessons – planning and preparation Is.A.Must.
It would be nice to just sip coffee and chat about our CM ideals all day long but we have to do our part and work on it, CM mamas. We can do this 
Apart from Ambleside Online’s recommendations, here are some of the books I am adding this year.
Indio Bravo – this will be the main Philippine biography for my 11 year old son. I am still not sure if I will schedule it for 1 term or for the whole year. Available at The Learning Basket.
Mga Rebolusyonaryong Dekalogo – this is a gift from cousin-in-laws. Excited to use this for son’s Filipino copywork.
The Story of Mankind by Van Loon – This one is for me. I appreciate Van Loon’s take on how history played out. I see the bigger picture when I read about different perspectives on things, and this will help me as I discuss world history with my children.
On the Shores of the Great Sea and Discovery of New Worlds by M.B. Synge – We have been using Synge’s Series on World History instead of A Child’s History of the World (CHOW). I prefer Synge’s more comprehensive narrative on World History. It has short chapters but does well in capturing the essence of each event. It has more to say than CHOW and works well schedule-wise since we took out This Country of Ours and some American biographies. Books III, IV, and V of the series are on it’s way! Meantime you can purchase the first two at Our Living Learning Shop.
*This series is best used from years 1-5. I made a schedule based on Ambleside Online’s history rotation to help you plug in the chapters to the corresponding year. Feel free to use it. You can view and download here.
Been wanting more Asian living books on history and literature. Excited with these! I have not decided if I will place them under free reads or add it as required reading.
Drawing with Children – I used this book years ago. I will revisit and see if the latter part of the book will help in our formal drawing lessons.
There are a few more to purchase, gather, and prepare. Quite excited with another year of learning 🙂
Thanks for sharing Gina! I love seeing how you plan for your school year. 🙂
Thank you. I do what I can. Hoping for more time to write 🙂
Thanks for this Gina! Btw, what’s the “J”? 😅
hehe 🙂 Have you heard of Myers Briggs Personality Type? Google it 🙂 I’m J (instead of P). I basically love to plan my work or tasks. That is just the gist. Read more, and let me know your personality type 🙂
Thank you for sharing this Gina! I really admire your dedication and discipline in planning your homeschool. We only have a child and hoping to balance in our family rhythm without going crazy! 🙂
Thank you, Lauren. You can do it! I wasn’t as disciplined as I am now. You have no idea 🙂 hehe. Do know that it is a habit that can be formed. Start small, and do it consistently and excellently unto HIM. Sooner or later, it will become a lifestyle already 🙂
I know this is an older post, but I would love to see how and where you plugged in Synge to your schedule. How did you break up the readings? I’m considering this myself and want to start on the right foot!! Thanks so much!!
HI 🙂 This series is best used from years 1-5 or even 6. I made a schedule based on Ambleside Online’s history rotation. Feel free to use it. You can view and download here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wmCC8-2s584CaHdodpHJvBTKFmm64O3b/view