Full disclosure, I had originally written this post in January, which is just so telling of how homeschooling in the new year can go. We are now deep into February, a time in the homeschool year that Sarah McKenzie of Read Aloud Revival calls “low tide,” meaning that everything is pulled back and the raw issues that can make homeschooling difficult or frustrating are revealed. For me, the continual battle is for consistency. So here I am again.
Happy New Year Valentines Day Lent! It’s January February, the tree is put away and although there are lingering reminders of the Christmas season, the structure of the new year has been implemented and begrudgingly accepted embraced.
Sleep schedules continue to be a challenge for all humans in the house, but we are working toward consistency. I am very proud of myself for continuing my consistent morning workouts, even adding a new challenge of jogging on a rebounder mini trampoline.
The best part of the new year season for me is getting back to the structure of homeschooling our kiddos. This year has been one of my favorites when it comes to the content of the courses we are studying individually and together.
Here’s a rundown –
(I am not affiliated with any of these curricula choices, they are simply the personal choices we have made.)
Algebra 1 – Denison Algebra – Mr. B is rocking this course and is consistently acing his exams. Although he struggles with getting the daily assignments done in a timely manner, he fully grasps the concepts and is able to explain them to me. That is huge!
MasterBooks MFALE – Ms. A, Mr. E, and Mr. D are all in the same level of the MasterBooks Math for a Living Eduation series this year. Ms. A is almost done with the level because we just carried it over from last year, but it’s actually really cool to see how far she has come as her brothers are coming up through the level.
Paragraph of the Week Journal – This little gem from Lakeshore Learning is one of my favorite simple writing tools. We had tried a more formal writing curriculum, but no one was quite ready for it, so we took a step back to work on some basics. Every week has a new topic and a new “style” to explore, so it keeps things fresh and engaging.
PenTime – Cursive, oh beautiful cursive! We get our PenTime books from Rainbow Resources and I love how economical they are. It brings me such joy how much my boys especially love writing in beautiful script. We are exploring what career choices might be out there for an autistic young man who can read and write cursive.
Fix-It Grammar by IEW – A great, concise tool that uses classic literature to teach grammar, editing, and diagramming skills. We will do them all. If you have multiple kids the levels are very economical because you can simply reuse the teaching manual and buy the student workbooks.
Notgrass – Our 50 States – We are working through this amazing US Geography curriculum together at the table and it has been so fun to learn about the history and features of each of the states that make up our nation. We are compiling quite the road trip bucket list!
Notgrass – Our Star Spangled Story – This beautiful US History curriculum is blowing my mind with how much I didn’t learn in school. We are studying this course together as well, and it is full of stories of brave men and women who helped shape our nation. It deals with the ugly parts of our history honestly and with grace. I am always excited to tell Hubby who and what we learned about on history and geography days.
Not Consumed – Sadly, one of parts of our routine we are having trouble getting back into is our Bible study from Not Consumed. We love the Old Testament Apologetics study that makes it so easy to teach each book and its significance in the cannon of scripture. By God’s grace, we will get back into routine of family worship with our verse/prayer box, Bible study, and maybe even some ukelele-led worship songs.
Games – Enough said. There will always be games. 🙂
As we experience the telltale February thaw it’s easy to get caught up in Spring fever, but I am even more thankful for the freedom we have to learn together as a family. I am beyond blessed to be willing to witness and be a part of the education of my children, and it never ceases to amaze me when I see how far they have come in the skills we practice every day.
Carry on with the good work, faithful ones. It is worth it. It will be worth it.
