This year is a huge transition for us.
Yes, again.
If you’ve been following our story for any length of time, you’ve seen that our school year does not (EVER) go as planned.
This year has been no exception.
I intended to update this page with our school plan back in the fall for iHN’s not-back-to-school blog hop… Yet, here I am in March April(?!?!?) finally sharing with you. Yes, that’s a direct reflection for how our year is panning out.
When I attended the Titus 2:1 Conference last spring I came home recharged and knowing that God was calling our homeschool into a refining year.
We’ve stepped away from the formal curriculum we’ve used in the past few years. It was a wonderful resource, but we were trudging through it instead of flourishing. It was time to leave it behind.
We are back to the basics while we hammer out the direction God is leading us in.
You still want to know which products we’re currently using? Here goes.
*This post includes affiliate links. My disclosure statement can be read here. Money earned through affiliates helps to grow our school supplies and helps to pay for the maintenance of this site. Thank you for supporting this community!*Math
Math Mammoth– I use this (Light Blue Series) to begin formal instruction in math. I purchased this as a download so that I can freely use it for all of the children at our own pace. It is very simply presented and does not require a separate text, instruction is written into the lesson.
Life of Fred– After we conquer some core knowledge and number recognition we move from MM to LoF. It’s a fun way to keep the kids engaged in math. It’s written in a very entertaining way that incorporates so much more than dry facts. To ensure that LoF is ‘complete’ we have begun keeping a math notebook to deepen the children’s understanding of the lessons that are within each chapter.
Reading/Language Arts
Tracey Tutor– After all the switching and stumbling I’ve done trying to address the varied levels of my children’s reading/phonics/spelling, I’ve confidently settled into using Tracey Tutor. Written clearly, concisely, and without cartoon-y graphics that assign an age/level, I use this for ALL of my children. My confident readers needed some backtracking to really understand spelling. My struggling reader needed gentle instruction that didn’t leave him feeling like he was using ‘young kid’ books. My beginning readers needed something that would help them soar from day one. Tracey Tutor is helping me in each of those areas! I am still exploring the depths of this curriculum, which also includes some early writing, spelling, and basic grammar.
Rod and Staff- We use R&S’s grammar. It is pretty cut and dry and gets the job done. It is inexpensive and comprehensive.
Jump In– It is no big secret that my boys have a great dislike of writing. (Yes, this pains my journal-keeping heart!) While attending Teach Them Diligently last year I came across Jump In and grabbed it for my 6th grader. Every step of the writing process is broken into easily accomplished steps. While we are still working on the discipline of consistent writing, there are a few less battles when doing assignments.
The ‘extras’
This is the part I dislike. Part of the joy of home-educating is the opportunity to explore the subjects that time and budget don’t often allow in the school system. However, I have to be honest and admit to you that when life gets ‘busy’ around here all those enrichment opportunities get lost in the shuffle. Right now the following things are only sparingly getting sprinkled in, but I want that to change. I’m praying about how to make a major lasting change in how our schooling runs.
Science
Apologia– We have Anatomy and Physiology and the children love it… when we get to it. I like that it is easy to teach and the Notebooking Journals are easy documentation of what we’ve studied.
Social Studies
Unit studies- We’re spending this year doing more exploring instead of a formal history curriculum. We did a long study of Peru in the fall while preparing for a visit from our Peruvian missionaries. We studied the history of the Olympics and a little about Russia during the winter Olympics (including an online class through Founders Academy, which I’d HIGHLY recommend), and we’re preparing for a unit on geography soon. I had hoped to study more about each of the countries our church has missionaries serving, but that is still being developed.
Art
We’re loaded up with quality supplies for arts and crafts and the children have been independently exploring multiple mediums. Some of them are also using Phonics 4 Piano to learn how to play our piano.
So there you have it, this is what we’ve been doing/not doing this academic year…