Planning our material and curriculum for next year

I’ve been looking at next year’s school material; browsing Amazon, talking to friends (here and over the internet), looking at homeschooling resources sites, and I’m slowly putting together a list of all that needs to be purchased over the summer. We not only need to buy the books, but also most of the material we’re going to be using.

My biggest challenge is finding a grammar book for August that can match up to the excellent “English for the Thoughtful Child.” As recommended I got A Beka Book Language A last summer, but after having started it, I’m disappointed. Yes, it goes through everything, but it’s cluttered. It’s grammar, for Pete’s sake, it’s supposed to be neat, clean and to the point. Also, the religious references do not always exactly match up to our convictions. I haven’t found anything ideal yet, so I’m on the lookout. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

For history next academic year, we will be concentrating on the 1600-1850 period, and for science, we’ll be doing chemistry. Our literature and reading will as much as possible relate to this timeframe and subject, so I’m looking for appropriate books that not only I can read to the boys, but also that they can read themselves.
Although it’s fun to plan for the next year and find material, it’s very time consuming, and at times frustrating. It’s one of the most important parts of homeschooling though – once we have the material and curriculum ready in front of us, all we have to do is go through it all!