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The First Two Weeks of Homeschool 2015

While we aren’t in full school mode (a.k.a. we are weaning into a few subjects as the weeks progress), the kids were literally ready to go and in the schoolroom BEFORE me on the first day of school. They were ready to jump in and go from day one.

Kids Back to Homeschool pics 2015

And these four – well, they can drive me batty some days, but seeing these pictures literally made me cry. They are growing up too fast!! In just a few short years Laurianna will be ready for college. COLLEGE!!! What in the world??! We took these pictures just a bit before school started (nope, didn’t take first day of school pictures – dropped the ball on that too!), but I absolutely adore the pictures above and am happy to consider these their school pictures for the year.

I’ll confess. I dropped the ball and forgot to make our traditional back to school breakfast of funnel cakes. The kids still haven’t mentioned it, so maybe I can have a little grace on myself and make them as a surprise soon. (SHHH!)

That said…here’s a look at what we’ve been up to the first two weeks of our homeschool time.

Learning through Labs and Science

Christian Kids Explore Chemistry-1

Zachary is working on a separate science program this year, Christian Kids Explore Chemistry. So far it has been a great fit for him and he is enjoying the ‘lab’ part of each week. His first lab required quite a bit of writing (not his favorite thing to do) but was a pretty eye-opening look at the different ingredients in products and how many we recognize.

First 2 weeks of homeschool August 2015-36

The little boy and I are working on science all alone this year. He is rather sad that Zachary isn’t doing it along with us, but he is also excited to have some ‘mom time’ and learn more about the solar system with Nancy Larson Science 3.

Kaleb has jumped right in completely subjects, asking to do more, and was the one who couldn’t figure out WHY IN THE WORLD we weren’t doing more the very first day of school. His desire to do school is the best part of the year so far for me – because typically he is the more whiney of the bunch and doesn’t want to work on everything.

Learning Algebra…

First 2 weeks of homeschool August 2015-6

McKenna was more than a little worried about starting pre Algebra this year, so it has been wonderful to hear how much she is enjoying it (and asking to do extra lessons). We ended up finding a used version of Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra version 2.0 so it will automatically grade for her (and yay, I was able to sell my old version!).

She has several new programs this year and it’s been a mess trying to get some things transferred from one laptop to the other, but she’s been a great sport in working along with me as we figure out the curve in her new subjects too.

A Little History…

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We made a last minute history switch for Laurianna to Exploring World History from Notgrass. It was exactly what I had been looking for, but the program didn’t release until mid-summer. SO glad that we made this switch! We’ll be sharing more throughout the year, but it has been a great mix of hands-on projects and textbook work for her and she is loving it!

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Her first project was creating a collage of items/inventions that were specific to the country she lives in, so she made a collage shaped like the US and had a blast digging through old magazines for pictures to use. It was also very interesting to find things she thought originated in the States and where they actually were from.  Week two she had fun creating her own dough and hieroglyphics.

In case you are wondering about the stand that is propping up her book, check out this post for 3 Tools for Your Homeschool Year (and we are loving!).

A Little Music…

First 2 weeks of homeschool August 2015-46

One thing I am not is a guitarist – but the kids all are learning in bits and pieces from their dad. Laurianna pretty much taught herself to play with some instruction from Rick last year and is doing amazing, but that has brought out the other three in full force. Time to get a guitar that all the kids can use.

First 2 weeks of homeschool August 2015-7

There may also be a little puppy that is rather happy to sit at our feet all day and not have us running back and forth all the time. If only we can keep her out of the pencils!

From Mom’s Perspective

Overall the first two weeks have gone very well. Personally I feel more unprepared this year than in years past. All the curriculum is here and overall plans are in place, but things seem disjointed with Laurianna working on more independently and the rest of us trying to find a new groove as we settle into a different routine. There are still a few things I need to focus on getting lined up because I am teaching two classes this year for our high school co-op…so a bit more to think about and plan for on that end.

We are working with several new-to-us pieces of curriculum this year and my patience level with myself is fairly low. I want it all figured out yesterday (sigh). Together we’ll work through the kinks, but really are loving all we are using so far.

One of my main goals this year is to focus on the highlights and not get bogged down by the little stuff – because that is so very easy to do. There are many moments in the day that are frustrating – especially when I don’t ‘measure up’ to my own expectations. But then there is that little glimmer of hope and encouragement that reminds you of the WHY behind your efforts. Sometimes those moments seem so far and in between, but they make it incredibly worth it as both a teacher and a mom.

A little reminder for today and sharing a highlight from our week. Crazy children in the background are just and added bonus for you. You're welcome (and know that this was the 5th video because the previous ones resulted in the boys wrestling in the background, even wackier faces than what you see in this one, and more insanity). This is my life, people. Every single day. (But I do love it).

Posted by Homeschool Creations on Friday, 28 August 2015

Last week I shared a quick video clip on Facebook (with both boys being goofs in the background). Mind you, it was the FIFTH ‘take’ on the video because the boys were trying to be as goofy as they could possibly be.  It’s unedited and silly, but hopefully it will encourage you all a little bit as well.

Setting a Goal to Write Notes…

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Each week I’ve also set a goal to write an encouraging note to the kids as well. I found these super cute encouragement notes from one of my friends Mary Dean Draws (she hand draws these and they are great!!), and I’ve been printing them off and putting one on each kiddo’s desk every Friday highlighting something I am proud of them for during that week. (Yes, there have only been two so far, but I printed off a stack to remind myself!).

That’s a quick overview of our first two weeks – what highlight can you share from your school time with us? Leave a comment and let’s encourage each other!

weekly wrap up

Linking up this week with Weekly Wrap-up!
 

 

 

3rd grade homeschool curriculum choices from Homeschool Creations

Eighth Grade Year in Review – Homeschool Curriculum Choices

8th Grade Homeschool Year in Review



Laurianna’s eighth grade year was enough to make me break out in a cold sweat. Seriously. Somehow the start of last year really had me realizing that every little thing mattered. We were on the verge of HIGH SCHOOL, deciding if she would be taking high school credits and the panic set in.

The bulk of Laurianna’s work was independent, although there were several classes that we did in a co-op setting, because we have some fabulous friends and it was much fun interacting with a few other high schoolers (and commiserating together on their science or literature woes). Laurianna is very dedicated and responsible in managing her time, so although we had talked about what programs she would use, she put together her own schedule for the weeks and years. There were a few times we had to review her plans and reorganize things, but otherwise we met weekly to go through her work, correct papers, and look at what was coming up next.

You can see all of our 8th grade homeschool curriculum choices for the 2014-15 year here, but below you’ll get a good look at what we used for Laurianna’s eighth grade year and what we will be continuing on with in the upcoming year.

Geography

The plan: North Star Geography (1 credit) and Wondermaps

 

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Hands-down, North Star Geography from Bright Ideas Press was the BEST addition to our curriculum and Laurianna’s workload. If there was one thing I heard constantly, it was how much she absolutely loved the program and it was her favorite. She earned a full credit for the program, and I rather loved the grading sheet that was a part of the program (and did all the computing for me).

There were many hands-on projects that Laurianna worked on throughout the year, and I hope to share her hydroponics project with you all soon. Between mapping, learning country facts, and the well-laid out program, it was a definite win for our year.

Science

Physical Science from Exploration Education (1 credit), The Fossil Book and The Cave Book from Masterbooks (1/2 credit)

Glider from Everday Exploration

Science was one subject that we worked on with a very small co-op this year (four kids). One of the moms took on the weekly teaching and the kids were responsible for the reading assignments during the week and working on their lab projects (these varied from building a glider, a miniature house, solar-powered fan, or other projects). The kids each brought their assignments during the co-op meeting and ran additional experiments together and had their lab booklets checked out as well.  Overall, Laurianna really enjoyed the program, especially the hands-on projects.

Her second semester she started working on the two Masterbook science classes for a total of 1/2 credit. Both of these books are counting toward her elective classes.

Literature

Introduction to Literature (1 credit)

Homeschool Week in Review-17

Literature was another class that we opted to work on together in our small co-op. This was the class that I taught and having the small group worked very well. Each week we spent time talking about various writing techniques and reviewing the most recent assignments together. Writing is one area that is so important because it covers so many different aspects of life and will follow the kids wherever they go! This year we focused on putting together a strong essay (see the fun hamburger essay outline that Laurianna drew for herself and friends).

Hamburger essay outline for literature

Next year we will be working through the next book in this literature series. We read some fabulous books together (see Laurianna’s reading list here) and at the end of each unit we watched a movie version of the book to compare/contrast if it followed the book or completely digressed (more often then not it was the latter – but it was still fun).

The best part in working with the small group was the opportunity to work on peer reviews and share different writing styles with each other. Having someone else read, edit, and review your papers can be very intimidating, but the kids all handled it so well.

It is also here that I remembered why I though teaching high school English was not the direction I wanted to head. While I love many of the aspects of the class, having four papers to grade each week was crazy enough and I cannot even imagine having a crazy amount of papers to review each day/week.

My only ‘complaint’ with the program was the not-so-clear-cut grading scale/rubric. For my sanity I ended up creating a grading rubric for each type of paper, along with checklists for the kids to review before handing papers in. These were similar in style to the ones that I was familiar with from WriteShop, giving the kids and parents a clear idea of what was expected and how they could improve papers.

Grammar & Spelling

Easy Grammar 180 Daily Teaching Lessons, All About Spelling Levels 6 & 7

This was a fairly ‘light’ area for Laurianna this year. The Easy Grammar lessons were overall review for her, and we did spelling lessons sporadically throughout the year. She is a very proficient speller and we will finish up level 7 with her next year.

Math

Algebra 1 from Saxon Math (1 credit)

Saxon Algebra 1

Algebra is probably one of Laurianna’s least favorite subjects overall. She is still muddling through two tests and reviewing some of the material – it just isn’t her favorite area. While she didn’t struggle completely, it was the subject that took her the longest to complete each day and made her eyes want to gloss over.

Next year she is still debating on using Saxon for Algebra 2 or moving back to Teaching Textbooks. The main reason for the switch to Saxon was one of her friends was using Saxon, so she wanted to as well. We’ll have to decide in the next bit, but fortunately have both on hand just in case.

Elective

Greek Myths from Memoria Press (1/2 credit)

Laurianna really enjoyed reading the Percy Jackson series, so she thought that Greek Myths would be along the same lines. It wasn’t quite what she expected and while it started out okay, she now wishes she would have chosen something else as a 1/2 credit elective. (grins) She did finish the class during her first semester and earned the 1/2 credit, but has mentioned to her younger sister that it might not be the best option for her. Overall a good lesson in perseverance and finishing what we start.

Foreign Language

Spanish Tell Me More program (1 credit)

We didn’t quite get the first year finished and had a glitch in our software. When the program was initially purchased, Tell Me More was their own company, but they were bought out by Rosetta Stone. Trying to figure out how to get past our glitch was put on the back burner since we weren’t sure where to go for customer service. Fortunately, because we started it her 8th grade year, we have a little bit of wiggle room and will finish it up and move on to year 2 shortly.

Vocabulary

Dynamic Literacy Word Build Elements

Although we intended for Laurianna to work on this, we ended up shelving it because she was working on so much with literature and Daily Grams.

History

Mystery of History 4 combined with Story of the World 4 (see below); Liberty Kids dvd series

Laurianna worked primarily on taking good notes this year and getting ready for an independent class next year. She took the quizzes to go along with the class as well but decided to skip the coloring pages (grins).

Bible

Picture Smart Bible – wrapping up our Old Testament Studies and 90 Devotions for Kids – morning devotions

The Picture Smart Bible coloring pages were something Laurianna enjoyed, although our switch back to Grapevine Studies was her favorite study overall.

Co-op

PE, Art, and other electives

homeschool January 2015-36

The other co-op we were a part of included an art class that Laurianna really enjoyed. This year they worked on creating marionettes and decided to make characters from the book of Esther. When they were finished, they helped sew the costumes, created scene backdrops, wrote a play, and put on a 15 minute presentation for the co-op.

Click the images below to see our 2nd Grade Year in Review4th Grade Year in Review, and 6th Grade Year in Review. Stick around too – I’ll be sharing our curriculum choices for the upcoming school year soon!

2nd Grade Homeschool Year in Review 4th Grade Homeschool Year in Review

6th grade homeschool year in review

 
 

New to Homeschooling?

If you are new to homeschooling and aren’t sure where to begin in choosing homeschool curriculum, please don’t let this post overwhelm you! Here are a few posts that you might find helpful as you discover what is best for your family. Be sure to check out the entire Homeschool Basics series for answers to more frequently asked homeschool questions.

Homeschool Teaching Styles and Philosphies.png Identifying Children's Learning Styles copy How to Choose Homeschool Curriculum

Additional Resources: Unfamiliar with some of the curriculum choices above? Follow the links below to learn more about the companies and resources:

Curriculum Choices from Years Past…

If you’d like to see what curriculum we’ve used in years past, click on one of the posts below. Grade levels taught each year are listed with the posts.

Sixth Grade Year in Review – Homeschool Curriculum Choices

6th grade homeschool year in review



McKenna’s sixth grade year was one of great growth for her, both academically and otherwise. Many of her subject areas were independent, so learning to manage her time wisely was important (she is doing well in that area).  You can see all of the homeschool curriculum choices for the 2014-15 here, but below you’ll get a good look at what we used for McKenna’s sixth grade year and what we will be (or won’t be) using again next year.

Science

Rainbow Science 7th Grade

McKenna was a bit mixed on science this year. There were things she loved (the hands-on days) rather than the reading and blah, blah, blah (her words).  Her typical schedule was supposed to be 2 lessons and 1 lab each week, but somehow she managed to get herself on a daily schedule, resulting in her finishing up the program rather early. That may also explain her feeling like it was too much. Next year she will be following the right schedule and finishing the second year of the program.

History

The plan: Mystery of History 4 combined with Story of the World 4; Liberty Kids dvd series

homeschool history time together

Although the lessons were longer in MOH 4, the kids loved this year because we were able to add in so many REAL videos from recent events and see pictures of things as they happened.  McKenna used the coloring pages some to keep her occupied, but her best learning came when she would make cartoon strips of the history lesson as we went along (in part thanks to Grapevine Bible). She would draw stick figure scenes from key points in the lesson and then re-tell us all the lesson when we were done. Hugely effective for her!

Spelling

The plan: All About Spelling Level 5-6

We are in level 6 now, and lessons this year were fairly laid back. The initial plan was one lesson a week, but it became more of an as we need it.

Grammar

The plan: Growing with Grammar 7 and Daily Grams Grade 7

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This program is a great fit for McKenna, although I may not always be crazy about going through all the paperwork each week. The above picture is from one lesson I came across.  The assignment in grammar was to write five sentences – and she didn’t do it, claiming it “Takes forever.” Granted, it was the last time she did that, but still. (grins)

Vocabulary

The plan: Dynamic Literacy Word Build Elements

This year we switched to the online version of WordBuild and while price-wise it worked out well (and I appreciated the fact that the lessons were graded for me online and I could access the grade book at any time to see progress). McKenna prefers the old pencil/paper route though (after I asked her partway through the year). For her the pressure of having something timed made it harder for her to focus in on the assignment. Typically each lesson takes a max of 15 minutes.

Writing

McKenna’s writing has grown immensely in this last year. I am so completely in love with the WriteShop programs and know that she is getting a solid foundation in all she is doing. Her papers have a different twist than Laurianna’s and it is fun seeing her personality come through in the things that she chooses to write about. Looking forward to using the 2nd year of this program next year with her.

Reading

The plan: books to go along with history text as well as suggestions from Reading Roadmaps possibly some lapbooks to go along as well. See our full 6th grade reading list here.

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With the exception of three books on the additional list that I put together for her, McKenna finished all of her required reading for the year and found a few new books to love. She wasn’t super thrilled with Little Women, but muddled through that one. Usually she and I sat down weekly to talk about the books she was reading (plot, characters, questions on story progression, etc…). We didn’t get around to doing any lapbooks, but based on our discussions, I was ok with that. Overall, a great year and I loved the book suggestions from Reading Roadmaps.

Math

The plan: Teaching Textbooks 7

Obviously not McKenna, but taking pictures of math is so boring otherwise, right? Olaf was a frequent guest in the school room, so it seems appropriate. McKenna finished up Math 7 this year and will be moving on to Pre-Algebra this next year.

Bible

The plan: Picture Smart Bible – wrapping up our Old Testament Studies and 90 Devotions for Kids – morning devotions; also Apologia’s Who Am I? and notebooking journal (6th grade); Who Is My Neighbor? and journal (when finished with previous book/journal)

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We did work through most of Picture Smart Bible and at the end of the year switched over to Grapevine to work on a unit on the book of Ruth. All of the kids were in agreement that they want to do more Grapevine next year again. It’s not that we don’t like Picture Smart Bible, but Grapevine is just a better fit overall, and if the kids enjoy it, I’m all game!

The key part of McKenna’s day was the Apologia series. She finished up the remaining two books in the set this year. This is one of her favorite subjects overall. When we would get together for our weekly meetings we would talk about her lessons and what she was learning (although she is one to typically share every day what she is reading – grins).

In November and December we took a break from our regular lessons to focus on Unwrapping the Greatest Gift. We loved the Advent study from Ann Voskamp.

Art

McKenna wasn’t as keen on doing art with Zachary this year, so the bulk of her art time was completed during her co-op time and classes.

Co-op

PE, art, mini-society, LEGO Story Starters

homeschool mini society project-1

We participated in two different co-ops this year, and McKenna especially loved the one that included a mini-society class. She and a friend developed their own business plan, products, and sales strategy. This was actually a great class for her because there are a few things that you can’t learn until you actually are in action. Something could also be said for not believing what your mom is trying to explain to you, but that’s a story for another day.
McKenna and her business partner created pet rocks, t-shirt bracelets, and bookmarks. Hours and hours were spent painting, twisting, and folding to get it all done. The two girls had a blast together and it was a wonderful experience to discover what works with marketing a product, how much time to budget for projects, and what products are worth the time/effort and have the best cost/effort ratio.

the SEX talk with Passport to Purity

This was also the year that we had a sex and dating talk with McKenna. I recently shared a post on the resources we used. Let me say this – if you have been dreading it or are scared to death – DO NOT BE!! I promise, it can be a wonderful time together and there are some great helps out there to walk you through the panic!
I’ll be sharing our year end review of 8th grade soon, so be sure to check back! Click the images below to see our 2nd Grade Year in Review and 4th Grade Year in Review.

2nd Grade Homeschool Year in Review 4th Grade Homeschool Year in Review

 

 

New to Homeschooling?

If you are new to homeschooling and aren’t sure where to begin in choosing homeschool curriculum, please don’t let this post overwhelm you! Here are a few posts that you might find helpful as you discover what is best for your family. Be sure to check out the entire Homeschool Basics series for answers to more frequently asked homeschool questions.

Homeschool Teaching Styles and Philosphies.png Identifying Children's Learning Styles copy How to Choose Homeschool Curriculum

Additional Resources: Unfamiliar with some of the curriculum choices above? Follow the links below to learn more about the companies and resources:

Curriculum Choices from Years Past…

If you’d like to see what curriculum we’ve used in years past, click on one of the posts below. Grade levels taught each year are listed with the posts.

Fourth Grade Year in Review – Homeschool Curriculum Choices

4th Grade Homeschool Year in Review


While getting all of our curriculum lined up for the year can be overwhelming, sometimes putting it all into practice can be equally as daunting. Choices that may have seemed great at the beginning of the year might not pan out by the end of the year. It’s fun to see all the different options that we share when we start, but I also love hearing how programs worked out for families during the course of the year – and hope you do as well.

You can see all of the homeschool curriculum choices for the 2014-15 here, but below you’ll get a good look at what we used for Zachary’s fourth grade year and what we will be (or won’t be) using again next year – and why. Many of Zachary’s subjects this year were more independent, but he still struggles (cough) with staying focused on what his assignments are. Part of it is my fault – and part of it rests with him. There are always things more interesting to do. Like watch dust in the air. Just sayin’.

Science

The plan: Nancy Larson Science 2 with LEGO Education programs ~ WeDo and Simple Machines; three weekly Snap Circuit assignments; K’Nex Simple Machines set

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Zachary worked on Science 2 together with Kaleb. Although he has worked through the level before (several years ago) he really enjoyed doing it with Kaleb. Because of the way the program is laid out (lesson plans already in place), there were a few days when he offered to do the lesson teaching with Kaleb (I may have enjoyed that a lot!).  Above you see the end results of dissecting an owl pellet (something both boys enjoyed much).

read aloud time

We added in some fun simple machine projects using our Simple Machines from LEGO and also our K’Nex Simple Machines set. When we were learning about pulleys and levers, Zachary built a ‘working’ elevator using the K’Nex set (he may have been very proud of that!).

Snap circuits

The initial plan was to have him work on 3 Snap Circuit assignments each week, but in truth that ended up being when he wanted to work on them. There were days that he did between 3 to 5, but he did work on most of the projects in the box over the course of the year. This was one of those “I’m really glad that we purchased it” items for the year. He loves hands-on projects like the ones included and it keeps him away from other things…such as my vacuum cleaner. (ahem)

History

The plan: Mystery of History 4 combined with Story of the World 4; Liberty Kids dvd series

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Although the lessons were longer in MOH 4, the kids loved this year because we were able to add in so many REAL videos from recent events and see pictures of things as they happened. Zachary in particular absorbs so much of history and especially enjoyed when we started getting into recent wars and learning all about them. We did fill in here and there with Story of the World, but primarily focused on Mystery of History.

While the coloring pages are ok for Zachary, he prefers making his own drawings or LEGO creations to go along with the stories we are reading.

Spelling

The plan: All About Spelling Levels 3 (finishing) & 4 and All About Homophones

We typically worked on one lesson a week (although not always). We finished up Level 3 this year and are almost finished with Level 4. All About Homophones ended up being put to the side for the year since we were working on a lot of the same stuff in our literature program. We are both ready to get into a better swing with spelling next year as we change our grammar program and it will merge better with it.

Language/Writing

poetry unit

Switching to Learning Language Arts was a huge change for us – different format and style, but the main reason for the move was to include more book studies for Zachary. Truly this has been the BIGGEST area of improvement for him over the year. Because of several of the book choices (that he had to read independently), he was pulled into the stories and completed his first book this year, and then he subsequently read several more that weren’t a part of the program, but on a reading list I pulled together for him (see reading section below).
Personally I would have liked to see a little more consistency in grammar rules in the LLATL program (I understand that it is a little more informal). We could have used Daily Grams to go along with it, but I held off on that this year. Next year we will be switching to a different program, but still following a similar format for book studies since that is something that I did really appreciate about Learning Language Arts Through Literature.
Zachary’s confidence and love for reading has definitely been pushed this year! In addition to the books that he had to read for school, he also read all of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and several other books of his own choosing (yay!!)
As for book reports – ummm, other than the reviews that we did for the four books as a part of language, we didn’t do a single one. Oops!

Reading

image

Zachary really enjoyed finishing up the Level 4 program this year (I’m sad that’s the highest they go!). He’s received such a strong foundation in reading with the program and really can read well, but half of the time it’s mentally convincing him that he can.

The reading list I put together for him at the start of the year included four books to go along with the Learning Language Arts Through Literature program and then nine others that I picked out, so thirteen total. Out of those thirteen books, he completed TEN of them and truthfully I am beyond thrilled with that! Considering that he read his first actual book from cover to cover at the beginning of the year (September), this is HUGE for him and then to read nine more almost makes me cry with joy.

If anything, this year has put confidence in him. He is picking up books independently to read, choosing and wanting to purchase books, and branching out beyond the typical ‘easy’ books that you can flip through when we go to the library. So – hugely successful overall.

Math

The plan: Teaching Textbooks 5 and Life of Fred

We were rather sporadic with Life of Fred this year with Zachary, which was ok since he was primarily focused on Teaching Textbooks. Our biggest issue is staying focused. We’ve had multiple headphone issues this year (someone keeps leaving them on the floor and they break…and then needs them when working so he isn’t distracted by all the noise/talking in the room). I won’t mention any names.

Bible

The plan: Picture Smart Bible – wrapping up our Old Testament Studies and 90 Devotions for Kids – morning devotions.

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We did work through most of Picture Smart Bible and at the end of the year switched over to Grapevine to work on a unit on the book of Ruth. All of the kids were in agreement that they want to do more Grapevine next year again. It’s not that we don’t like Picture Smart Bible, but Grapevine is just a better fit overall, and if the kids enjoy it, I’m all game!

Almost every morning we started off with a quick devotional from 90 Devotions for Kids. Short and sweet, so we purchased the next devotion book because we loved it so much!

In November and December we took a break from Picture Smart Bible to focus on Unwrapping the Greatest Gift. We loved the Advent study from Ann Voskamp – those coloring pages just seal the deal!

Handwriting

While this may not be Zachary’s greatest joy in life, his handwriting is neat (when he wants it to be) and he has the basics down. (grins)

Art

Zachary completed about 60% of the art projects in the Home Art program, but also participated in art during his co-op time, so I didn’t push too much with it. He’s a boy that would rather work on Snap Circuits or K’Nex, and that’s okay too.  We also managed one pastel from HodgePodge (the kids always love those!).

Co-op

PE, Art, and other electives
We participated in two different co-ops this year, and Zachary really enjoyed both. Although our kids are active with swim team and life in general, PE at co-op is always fun, some of his art happened via co-op, and Zachary was also able to work through a human body class (he rather enjoyed that one!).
I’ll be sharing our year end review of 6th, and 8th grade soon, so be sure to check back! Click the image below to see our 2nd Grade Year in Review.

2nd Grade Homeschool Year in Review

New to Homeschooling?

If you are new to homeschooling and aren’t sure where to begin in choosing homeschool curriculum, please don’t let this post overwhelm you! Here are a few posts that you might find helpful as you discover what is best for your family. Be sure to check out the entire Homeschool Basics series for answers to more frequently asked homeschool questions.

Homeschool Teaching Styles and Philosphies.png Identifying Children's Learning Styles copy How to Choose Homeschool Curriculum

Additional Resources: Unfamiliar with some of the curriculum choices above? Follow the links below to learn more about the companies and resources:

Curriculum Choices from Years Past…

If you’d like to see what curriculum we’ve used in years past, click on one of the posts below. Grade levels taught each year are listed with the posts.

What We’ve Been Up to in Our Homeschool Time – a Sum-up of the Last Five or So Weeks

The last time I shared about our homeschool goings-on was quite a bit ago. March to be precise. It was just before life got crazy with travel and doctor’s visits. And then it started to feel like I was so behind and there was so much to share – which is true on both accounts.

But, it is always so much fun to see what others have been up to, so this is the abbreviated version of what we’ve been learning about in the last six or seven weeks. There are a few subjects that we still have to wrap-up for the year, and we likely won’t finish on schedule, and that’s ok. Really ok. (I need to keep reminding myself of that).

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We did finish up Nancy Larson Science 2 with the boys and they both had so much fun with dissecting owl pellets. The last unit is all about birds, so it was a fun way to round out the unit. I ended up buying a more owl pellets online because they wanted to do more! Kaleb was a bit grossed out at first, but he was the one that ended up pulling apart the most!

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For the last eight weeks of school the kids asked if we could work on a Grapevine Bible study together. While we’ve enjoyed Picture Smart Bible, they told me they prefer Grapevine – so we made a quick and easy switch. They all love drawing their figures and illustrating their stories, so we are working on the book of Ruth together.

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For me that meant some new teacher supplies – a lovely rainbow collection of dry erase markers. Can someone please explain how all the colors you need seem to dry out the fastest? I’m rather happy with the new collection. (grins)

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We had been using graph paper for Kaleb’s math, but truthfully – for a 2nd grader, it was a bit much (and more expensive). A reader suggested turning a sheet of lined paper sideways and lining up columns for him to work on his math problems that way. SO much easier for him!

Laurianna has been working hard on several projects for her physical science credit. Her most recent one was building a solar-powered fan. She was really frustrated because it didn’t work for quite some time, and we couldn’t figure out why, and then one day it suddenly started working. Yay!!

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This entire high school thing is really sinking in now that we are wrapping up our first year – yikes! When helping out at a homeschool convention, I picked up a microscope for next year’s biology lab. Like a real heavy-duty for REAL microscope. I know it’s not a huge thing, but it somehow just makes it even more real.

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While this picture is a little cheesy, my thought is if you take pictures using your mom’s phone, it becomes her property to do whatsoever she desires with it. A few weeks ago I took our high school lit co-op class to see Much Ado About Nothing at a nearby Shakespeare center. SO MUCH FUN. Not only with the kids, but just in remembering part of what I loved about being an English major. Our class had been studying The Tempest, so it wasn’t the same play – but still worth every minute there. The theatre was packed and our small group of six had nearly front row seats – and two on the stage so the kids had to participate a few times. We are definitely doing it again next year!

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With the weather turning beautiful, we’ve been spending time outside on the front porch or our back deck. The birds have been out in full swing and it has been so much fun to look for the different species. We’ve been using our Bird Nature Study Printables to count how many have been at the feeder and using our iBird Pro app to imitate their calls. McKenna and Zachary spent about 45 minutes outside one morning and managed to have a piliated woodpecker get close to the house. It really has been a blast!

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One of the things I’ve had the hardest time keeping up with this year is the grading of papers. The typical day to day isn’t too bad, but having papers from lit class in co-op is a little more challenging. It’s one thing to grade your own child’s paper, but quite another sometimes to grade papers for other kids. Over the last year it has been so encouraging to see how each of the kids has grown in their writing abilities – and it can sometimes be hard to give constructive criticism. As hard as it is to give it, the kids have been so gracious in how they receive it too, working even harder. Love that.

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Since the boys have finished their day-to-day science lessons, they are all about finding nature around the house and enjoying that. They unearthed a red salamander one morning and have been checking often to see if it is still hanging around in the same spot.

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We are *almost* at the end of our history lessons with Mystery of History 4. We had to put a hold on them when life got crazy, but all of the kids have been engrossed in the modern history we are learning (Kennedy, Nixon/Watergate, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks to name a few). There are only six more lessons to wrap it up and we will get around to it – eventually!

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There have been a LOT of audio books lately. A lot. As we travel back and forth to appointments, there is usually one on in the car. One series that we have really been enjoying lately is from Lemony Snickets – A Series of Unfortunate Events. It’s one we had put off for a bit (I wouldn’t recommend it for kids under 8 years old), but the humor in it has the kids and I cracking up all the time. I’ll be sharing more about the books soon, but we are almost finished listening to the fourth book right now and have the fifth and sixth waiting!

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Another project Laurianna and I will be sharing with you soon is her hydroponics system. In North Star Geography she has been learning about farming and one of their assignments was to build a hydroponics system and see how their plant grew. She did a bit of research and found something she thought would work and has been having a lot of fun working on it the past two or so weeks.

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As for day to day life, we’ve made it through the hardest part with my parent’s surgery and things should be slowing down here. This week is TESTING – yippy, Skippy. One of the kids has whizzed through her testing already, so the focus this week (after dealing with two follow up doctor visits for a concussion and my mom’s surgery) is getting it all DONE and in the mail. My stress relief has been walking and exercising lately – and making my health a priority. We live on an amazingly beautiful road that just needs to be admired. One of my goals this year is to run a 5K (and to make sure I do it, I volunteered to teach a co-op class!!). I’m either crazy or – well, let’s not go there, shall we?

That’s the overall sum-up. I know when it gets close to the end of the year we are all just ready to be finished and over with it all, and trust me, I am as well! With all the chaos the last bit, my plans have gone out the window and we’ve had to move to a day-to-day, sometimes hour-by-hour plan and that has been really hard for me. If you’ve been around here long enough, you know that I’m a girl who likes to have a plan in place. In all of that though I have to say – God has been amazingly good. We have been surrounded by friends and family that have been walking beside us and helping out in tangible and non-tangible ways. So thankful for all of them and their support!

What have YOU been up to these last few weeks during your homeschool time?

The Longwinded Homeschool Wrap-up Where I Prove Brevity is NOT My Strong Suit

The past three weeks have been a blur, quite truthfully. We’ve been plugging along in our school work. Really – nothing overly exciting. Just routine. Normal. And life as it happens. But that’s what it’s all about, right?

This past week was more of a ‘catch-up’ week where we were tying up any loose ends, doing some review, and I spent some time packing and doing some last minute prep for speaking at Teach Them Diligently in Nashville (I’m sharing more on that below, so keep reading!).

The End is in Sight!

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The winter months can be hard on a momma…and the kids. It was really exciting for the boys to see that we are ‘this’ close to finishing up science for the year. Once we’re done, we will work on some fun projects together, but science is one subject they love working on together, so if they ask – we do it!

Most Mornings…

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This is the view that I have many mornings before school even starts. Kaleb is a get-it-going early boy. He typically pulls out his independent work long before school even starts (see – the blinds behind him aren’t even open yet!!!), pulls up a stool at the counter, and begins his work. If only I could pull some of that motivation and pour it into a few other kids…

Life with a Pre-Teen

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One of my ‘goals’ the last few weeks was to take more pictures of a certain 6th grader residing in our home. I finally (after 2 weeks) realized why it’s so hard to get her picture. She intentionally hides when she thinks there is picture-potential. I’m dead serious.  So this is my attempt to document that she does indeed exist and participate in school with us.

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I was able to sneak in an extra picture before she realized that I was snapping it (and held the dog up in front of her as a shield). She uses her bed as her reading space every day, just for a little added quiet time.

Hands on Multiplication and Division

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Math with Kaleb has been – well, math. To make multiplication and division a little more hands-on, we’ve been using our Spielgaben set to create the numbers and show how the problem would be divided or multiplied out. It’s been a great tool to help him visualize the problems and put his problems into practice.

Moving into World War 2

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There are two boys that are rather thrilled with all of the lessons on World War 2 (minus all the stuff on the Holocaust – that’s not so thrilling). There are endless tanks, weapons, and scenes being drawn during our lesson time.

McKenna loves to draw stick figure comic strips of each lesson – and I have to say, her ‘retelling’ of the Germans invading Russia in the middle of the cold, cold winter was pretty hilarious. While I never would have thought that comic strips would be a learning tool, it’s really amazing how much she retains from our lessons with her drawing. (And no, I don’t have a copy of it because she was a little too self-conscious about it. You’ll just have to take my word on all the laughing that went on when we saw her depiction of the Russians wearing puffy coats and staying nice and warm while the unprepared Germans shivered in the -60 temps).

Games and More Games

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One thing that’s been happening every single day in our house – games. Between Battleship and Settlers of Catan, the kids have been little game fiends. Most mornings are started with Battleship before they even have breakfast (someone please tell me why I waited so long to buy this game?

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Settlers of Catan has been one of my favorites though too. We’re going to start adding in some of the extensions this week and I can’t wait to see how that goes. I know that they are just games, but the conversations and time spent together have been so much fun – and there have definitely been some character-building moments as well too.

The Crazy Dog

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Now that our puppy Addie is pretty much house-trained (PHEW, people – can I just say, PHEW!!!), she is up in the school room with us most of the time. She has an affinity for Ticonderoga pencils (what can I say, she has great taste). Unfortunately, she manages to ferret out every single pencil that we somehow missed picking up from the floor. On the bright side, the school room floor is looking DIVINE lately). Between the kids breaking the erasers off and her chewing the other end, I’m going to need to break the bank getting more pencils.

Flying, Speaking, and Learning at Teach Them Diligently

I cannot even begin to tell you how much of an HONOR it has been to be a part of Teach Them Diligently last year and this year. Before I go any further, I’ll tell you that I may have been mildly freaking out in the week or so before I had to fly out to Nashville. Like any momma, I may have been looking forward to a few days of no kiddo demands, but there was a new session that I was working on and frankly – it was a bit overwhelming for me.

Ironically, it was on balancing life and homeschool – and not being overwhelmed. (Oh yes, the IRONY people. It is not lost on me.)

But trying to figure out how to fit everything into a one hour session and actually have it be helpful to others – well, that right there can be just enough to throw me over the edge. My heart is SO MUCH to help and encourage you all – and I really didn’t want to have it be a big, fat bust. Yes, there’s a bit of pride in there too.

And can I tell you a little secret? I’m really truly not one that enjoys getting up and sharing in front of a large group of people. I’m more comfortable sharing with a small group, more like friends chatting over a cup of coffee. Or tea. Or water, if you prefer. This computer screen offers a whole lot of buffer in some ways, but I really know how much hearing something in person, from someone’s heart, makes a difference too.

Carisa and me TTD Nashville

This girl, my fabulous wonderful in-real-life friend Carisa from 1+1+1=1 has been such an amazing encouragement and well, FRIEND over the years. We joke that we are proof that you can meet normal people over the internet, but she is one person that I know God brought into my life at just the right time and I am so thankful that she is also a part of Teach Them Diligently as well. We have one session together and a few separate, and I am not afraid to admit that the opportunity to spend uninterrupted time with her is a huge bonus!

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All that said, once the conference started and the sessions were underway, I felt such a peace and excitement. For those of you that came up and introduced yourselves to me – thank you! It is so wonderful to connect with you and hear from you all in person and means more than you will ever know. Your sweet patience as we waited for the tech guy to get started, sharing seats and spots with other parents – just made it something absolutely amazing. For those of you who had to sit behind me and had a lovely view of my bum instead of the powerpoint – you have huge hugs (and apologies) from me.

(And if you were in my session, you’ll understand when I say I’m crying right now – but also laughing because of the entire bum comment above).

For those of you not in the Nashville area – well, I’d love to connect with you in either Atlanta, Ohio, or Dallas for Teach Them Diligently. I had the opportunity to sit and listen to a few sessions and can’t wait to hear more at the upcoming events. I promise you will be encouraged beyond measure! 

Well, that’s the super-long wrap up of the last few weeks. What have YOU been up to?

Mary_CollageFriday weekly wrap up

 

Linking up this week with Collage Friday and Weekly Wrap-up!