my learning goals for 2007

I love new years. I think it's a very Biblical and Catholic concept to think in terms of seasons with their ebbs and flows, increases and decreases. I read in a book about Edith Stein that she said every day ought to be a new beginning and it's made a difference to me to think about it that way. As the Psalm says: "Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me." That language is all about beginnings and new things.
So here's one idea I have about how to order and prepare for next year. I hesitate to post this because I certainly haven't tested it for two months and I know a lot of those untried ideas fizzle out, but I've been pondering about how to approach things next year in a way that suits my learning style. So maybe writing it out here will help me keep some accountability -- at least, I hope so : )

Anyway, the idea I had was somewhat inspired by this thread about planning for the liturgical year. Some of the moms mentioned that they used a file box with folders by month and added ideas in there ahead of time -- book lists, recipes, crafts and devotions. That way they could simply pull out the file, say a month ahead of time, and start preparing.

My challenge is always in preparing --I have an easy time thinking up ideas and doing the research but my difficult is in execution. This seemed like a simple way to get things set up so that I wasn't scrambling at the last moment, feeling a step behind.

Something like this seems to be working for me now with the Liturgical Year. And a system for doing things bit by bit seems to be the best thing I've found for keeping up with the housework.

SO it occurred to me to apply the concept to something else I've wanted to do for a while -- take different homeschooling ideas one at a time and look at them in depth. Mostly Charlotte Mason ideas, but possibly some others from Montessori or other sources.

Most of these are ideas I've already "done" in some form or another, but I think it would be fun to focus on them in a bit more depth. So my plan is to take the list here and assign a month to each one -- to learn about it, research and experiment. I already have January's theme but the rest are still up in the air.

I'm not sure how to do the "habits" yet -- whether to choose one per month or to have one or two months devoted to the concept of "intellectual and moral habits".

• Notebooking--January
• Handicrafts --September
  
• Narrations -- February
  
• Nature Study -- MAY
  
• Composer Study
• Art Study
• Living Geography and Travel -- June
  
• Century Books -- March
  
• Scripture Reading
• Plutarch and Shakespeare -- October
  
• Foreign Languages
• Copywork/Dictation/Composition -- November
  
• Poetry/Poet Study -- April
  
• Recitation (Memory)
• Habits

Perfection
Attention
Obedience
Observation



New Additions:

• Medical/Therapy --- July
  
• Sports/Games/ Physical Training -- August
  
• Domestic Church -- December
  

There's more than a year's worth there-- so I'll continue into next year or combine some into one month. I'll probably think of some others that are higher priority, and if some major life event occurs, that will take first place. But this is the tentative layout!