As fireworks pop outside my window tonight, I’ve decided to watch them from the comfort of the AC (with zero mosquitoes) while knocking out some homeschool planning. In true 4th of July spirit, I’m gathering resources for our upcoming U.S. Studies lessons. Putting together a curriculum myself feels a bit overwhelming, but I believe it will be worth it in the long run.
Today, I took the plunge and bought a spiral binding machine on Amazon. It wasn’t cheap, but I’m hoping it will be a worthwhile investment for all the materials I print for our lessons. My goal is to create a monthly packet for each kid, though I’m not sure yet if we’ll do a packet for every subject or just a few key ones. This feels like a good place to start, and I’m hoping it will help us stay organized for our portfolio in case we ever need to present it in the future.
One of the trickiest parts right now is figuring out how to schedule lessons in an order that actually makes sense. At the moment, I have everything—assignments, lessons, and learning materials—listed in a spreadsheet, and I’ll worry about the exact order once I have everything gathered. I’ve split our U.S. Studies into these categories:
- U.S. Geography & Regions
- U.S. Symbols & American Identity
- American Holidays & Celebrations
- Native American History
- U.S. Civics & Government Structure
- U.S. Constitution & Founding Documents
- Electoral Process & Democracy
- Economics & Political Ideologies
- U.S. Citizenship & Civic Responsibility
- Foreign Policy & International Relations
- Florida History, Geography, & Government
- Florida Environment, Science, & Landforms
I didn’t realize just how much there is to cover in U.S. Studies! It’s clear this will take us some time, but I’m excited about the journey. Since we live in Florida, I also wanted to add lessons about our home state because I think it’s important for the kids to learn about our local history.
Slow and steady is my motto right now. I’m trying not to get too ahead of myself so I don’t end up overwhelmed or burned out before we even begin.
Once I have everything organized and working for us, I’ll share the results here in case it helps you with ideas for your own homeschool curriculum!