A long term plan

I've had a wonderful discussion with the ladies over at the WTM forums, and I wanted to leave a copy of my conclusion here:

I absolutely agree with both of you. [*Note* This is referring to letting the kids have fun, and rediscover just how exciting history is.] I think that's at the heart of my dilemma. There are definitely so many curricula I could just pick one and go with it. But I lean towards science/geography for fear of burning them out on history (already!) and that won't really address the problem. I think looking at history exactly as you described it with a little reading and a lot of fun is definitely on the cards.

I guess one way to do that would be to take Jessica's idea of looking at our state history from a very hands on/adventure/exploration perspective. Along with that we could look in depth at some animals that we have here - starting with insects, looking at birds, and some of the bigger animals - skunks, foxes, coyotes, bears etc. That would mean a trip to every reachable zoo in the state, and definitely a reciplrocal zoo membership!

Thank you to all of you for helping me to think this out. I definitely want to take advantage of the fact that they're 'only' in 1st and pre-k and use that to have fun and allow them to function at the level they're at. I also want to take advantage of their sponge brains and fill them with facts. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter what we're doing because we will still be focussing on the 3 R's, but I do want to do other things that will make them excited and look forward to school because I believe that along with the 3 R's, the foundation of expection and attitude needs to be created at this point, and will have lasting effects, hopefully in a fantastic attitude towards learning for the rest of their lives. I want to take advantage of being able to just take off and have fun somewhere, or do a fun project or activity, and within that, I want to build our relationships and learn more about them so that I know how to adjust our long-term plan for their benefit according to their gifts and needs in the future.

My tentative long-term plan for C, M and J is this:

(I do not think we will be using MFW for anything. I had planned on Adventures, but I may just put it all together myself, because I am so attracted to so many different resources out there. I would feel like we'd missed out if we were stuck to resources someone else had chosen.)

So that means this next year is a "filler" year. But I hate to call it that because filler sounds so much like...well, cardboard. I want it to be an exciting year filled with adventure and following our interests. I already have some ideas for how I'm going to approach it. But more on that later.

I am so thankful for the ladies over at the Well Trained Mind forums. They really helped me think through this one.