A Nosegay of Freshly Sharpened Pencils

I'm starting to get school fever. I was really struggling to get my physics study off the ground until I found the God's Design Series. They have all the experiments and helpful text in one place. Phew! I was going to base it all on the Teaching Company Physics course, but I couldn't find any really good books to support my efforts to bring the material down to the kid's level, at least none that were in our family's budget for this year. If our budget grows I may purchase some Science in a Nutshell sets. I've never bought them before, but I've drooled over them for years. If anyone has any input on them, I'd love to hear it.
I'm teaching Shurley English for the second year in a row. I love the ease of preparation and the thoroughness with which she teaches grammar. We'll be continuing our daily quick writes, and hopefully we will make some progress on handwriting. Rosie's struggle with spelling--partly due to an undiagnosed far-sightedness--has convinced me that we need to add Spelling Power to our routine. I also love Color Phonics for reinforcing and teaching phonics. I have had some trouble with the disks having errors that impeded play, but it's still a great product.
History? We are basing our study on the Veritas Press History Cards. I don't like their support materials, but the cards themselves are a simple way to steer through history. I pull in books on the event we are studying from the library in order to make the viewpoint a little more in line with current research. Veritas Press is a lot too retro for my taste, but it is a good gimic. Our study this year will start in 1815 America and continue to the present.
I must admit that I take the wimp's way out with math and leave the bulk of mathematics instruction to the prepackaged curriculum we use during quiet school. I will be doing drills on basic facts and emphasizing counting.
Our study of the Bible will be an oldie, but goodie Betty Lukens flannelgraph. I remember it from my childhood, and it's fun. The girls love it. I may let Mea and Rosie prepare some of the lessons this year.
As always the girls are responsible for their own education in the afternoon--though I may move Quiet School to the morning hours. The older girls use SOS because it is so easy for me. The computer does the majority of the grading and such. Mea is going to give Latin a go. The littles will be working through the Horizons workbooks.
I am so excited about next year. I hope you have a wonderful time preparing for the next school year no matter how you teach your children.