These reading plans were designed for you! This is truly a "choose-your-own-adventure" style curriculum. Use it to piece together materials that you think your family might enjoy.
First, PRAY!
Pray that God will guide your school year. Pray that He will lead you to the right subjects and books. Pray that He will help you make wise choices. Pray that He will work on your child's heart so that he or she is receptive to learning. Pray that He matures you and helps you grow in character and that your children will follow after their teacher, like the Bible says (Luke 6:40) and that they will also grow and mature.
Second, choose your cycle:
The Gentle Learning Co. reading plans are built around four chronological cycles. To learn more about the cycles, see the following pages:
You can teach from whichever cycle you choose. If you’d like to follow the same cycle as STAR Homeschool Community, we will be in:
Cycle 4 2024-2025
Cycle 1 2025-2026
Cycle 2 2026-2027
Cycle 3 2027-2028
and so on…
Third, plan your school calendar:
The STAR curriculum is a 28 week curriculum with assignments that can fit into four days per week. (Accommodating for a homeschool community that meets once per week). If you are home five days per week, you may spread out your assignments or schedule more reading, or perhaps you would like to schedule a day as a cleaning day, a baking day, or a board game day.
Fourth, determine which Form each child is in:
Form 1: Pre-K through First Grade
Form 2- Second & Third Grade
Form 3: Fourth, Fifth & Sixth Grade
Form 4: Seventh & Eighth Grade
Form 5: Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Grade
The forms are going to help you decide which books are appropriate for the children in your home.
Fifth, decide which subjects you want to cover this year:
The subjects to choose from are:
Bible
Memory Work
Apologetics
Hymns
Character Study
Read Aloud (Chapter Books--Literature)
History
Biographies
Geography
Science and Nature
Life Skills
Enrichment Studies (Poet, Artist, Composer, Handicrafts)
Math
Language Arts
Each cycle has multiple tracks for Science & Nature, so you’ll need to make a decision about what topics you plan to study this year. Don’t fret about not covering *everything* this year, because you’ll come back to each cycle (ideally, three times before your child graduates from high school).
There is also optional independent work for older students.
In order to choose your subjects, you may want to peruse this course and look through all of the different subjects. Download the syllabus for each subject you aren interested in. Look at the book titles and decide what you think your family will benefit from the most.
Sixth, choose your books:
Within each Cycle and each Subject, there are lists of BOOKS! You cannot read them all in one school year. Don't worry, though, if you stick with the GLC reading plans, you'll come around to each Cycle again, and you can choose different books that time.
Maybe you already own some of the books? Use what you have first. Think about which books will make sense to get from the library, and what you will need to purchase.
Seventh, print your syllabuses (reading plans):
The weekly reading schedules are all created for you and all you have to do is "Download PDF" and print! Put your schedules in a binder and you are ready to go for the school year.
You may choose to do school straight from a pre-made syllabus, OR you might want to write your family's weekly assignments into a planner or onto a printed schedule page from this course. OR, you might want to make your own spreadsheet, like this one. Whatever you do, get it all into one place--into a 3-ring binder, or a disc bound system, or a folder--something.
Eighth, gather your supplies, books and resources:
Plan where you will do school and set up your space. Perhaps you will cover some subjects in the living room, and some at the dining room table. A dedicated school room is a blessing, though it is not necessary. I have set up a dedicated school room but I always seem to go back to the living room and/or the dining room table, and the school room becomes a mere storage space. Do what suits your family!
Order the books you will need. Make sure you have the supplies you need, like pencils, pens, paper, graph paper, rulers, math manipulatives, small dry erase boards, dry erase markers and erasers, etc.
Decide how you will store your resources. Maybe you want a basket of books next to the couch and a rolling cart of supplies in the dining room. Or, a large bookshelf in the hallway or family room. You decide what works best for you and your family and fits within your budget.
Ninth, pray again and start your year!
Pray again--and pray daily! You are educating God's children, lent to you for a short while, and you are doing sacred work! Please do not underestimate how important your role is or downplay the significance of the things that you do each day.
Dig into the books you've chosen and begin your year. There is nothing wrong with changing course if a book isn't working for you, or if you have chosen to read too many books, or too few books. Adjust and redirect. Do your best to get through some school work each day, from Monday through Friday. Little by little, your school hours will add up. By the end of the school year, you will be amazed by all you have accomplished!