My homeschooling plans for next year - content subjects

Last week, I talked about what we’ll be doing for our skill subjects in this next school year. (If you missed it, you can read about my skill subject choices here.) Today, I’ll share what we’ll be doing in our content subjects. For those unfamiliar with the term, content subjects are those that are more topical in nature. They don’t require students to complete them in a certain order or to attain a certain level of mastery before moving to something else. Typical content subjects include social studies, science, and the humanities.

When it comes to content subjects, there’s one vital piece of information that will save you loads of time and preserve your sanity. As much as is humanly possible, combine your kids for content subjects.

“Wait! Are you telling me you want my seventh grader, fifth grader, and first grader to learn US History together?”

Yep. That’s exactly what I’m telling you. And if you’re deeply ingrained in traditional school methods, your head probably just exploded. But believe me, trying to keep up with multiple history, science, and fine arts curricula will push you to the brink. Instead, bring everyone together and adjust each student’s work to the level that is developmentally appropriate.

We center our content subjects around our history theme. You can structure your plans however you’d like, but this method has worked well for us.

Here’s what we’re planning to do this coming school year:

History - We’re continuing our study of world history, picking up where we ended last year, with the end of the Middle Ages. We’ll aim to get through at least 1900. We use The Story of the World and this year we’ll draw from volumes 2, 3, and 4. We won’t go deep into US History, because we’ll devote next year to learning US History. We’ll supplement our history text with picture books and reference books.

I try to start the year with something a little more special, so we’ll have a mini Robin Hood unit to get us going. This will include, of course, watching one or two Robin Hood movie adaptations.

Science - My kids will have some science instruction once a week through a program outside our home. We’ll supplement with science kits and lessons from the Science in History program. (We don’t do all the lessons, but hop around as it goes along with our history lessons.)

Art - I would like to do more art projects and art history this year, because it will align closely with our world history studies. (The Renaissance! French Impressionists!) We have a few Usborne reference books and the ARTistic Pursuits Art for Children series.

Music - As with art, I am eager to include more music history this year to sprinkle in with our history lessons. (Bach! Beethoven! Chopin!) Besides, it will be nice to dust off the music history I learned for my bachelor’s degree in music :)

Religion - The kids usually have some kind of memory work from our church, and we’ll learn about different religions in our history studies.

And that’s it! My kids are five years apart in school. The older one will be expected to do more (answer discussion questions, write, read more supplemental material, etc.), but the younger one will still participate in coloring maps, reading picture books, helping with experiments, creating art projects. and listening to music.

I think content subjects are lots of fun and they give our homeschool a different flavor every year. I love doing them as a family, because then we all have the same context and it gives us a lot to talk about.

Have you thought of what you'll be doing for your content subjects next year? If you need help sorting through options, I offer homeschooling coaching services. I offer a free 15-minute consultation call, so we can figure out if we’d be a good fit to work together at no risk to you.

Got your year all planned out? Awesome! I'd love to hear about it. Use my contact form to send me a message and tell me what you're doing.

Next week, I'm going to share how we structure our days, weeks, and overall school year.