If your homeschool takes off the summer to refresh and renew, then you know, it is almost that time… a new school year is about to start!
Maybe you’re like me and you’re kind of sad that the summer is leaving, but kind of happy that lessons will start again so that something that resembles a schedule will return to your life. I’m not an uber-scheduler when it comes to lessons, because I feel lessons can pretty much happen year-round, but I do think having the kids on a regular schedule actually helps them. I know their sleep schedule has been completely thrown off, and part of that is due to the time change and the crazy sunlight that comes into their rooms. Even with room-darkening curtains, it seems they cannot relax enough to go to sleep. Maybe they get that from me! Either way, come August 17th, I hope our two kiddos have a good night’s sleep because this mama wants to get off to a good start!
Our curriculum is kind of a mixture of things for 2014-2015. I can’t even believe I just wrote that. When we first started homeschooling in 2012-2013, I couldn’t even begin to see three years later. It was enough for me to wrap my head around getting through the first year of homeschooling. It wasn’t the easiest, but I knew it was where God wanted our family. Now, going into our third year of homeschooling, I still have the same concerns…are they learning what they need? Am I doing a good enough job? What I don’t have a concern about is whether or not we made the right decision. We knew we were supposed to homeschool and God made that abundantly clear. Now going into our third year, there is no question that we were supposed to homeschool. The hows and whats are still there, but the whys are gone. Thank God for that!
What does our curriculum look like this year? It’s a mix of everything. I wouldn’t exactly call it eclectic, but it is varied. The longer we homeschool, the more we find out that learning takes on a life of its own and will not look the same day to day, month to month, or even year to year. Since I am homeschooling a 2nd and 3rd grader, I try to combine as much as I can!
- For Language, we are using Abeka. We are big fans of Abeka in our house and their phonics program is amazing! 3rd grade brings with it a new experience for us with the introduction of language skills, comprehension and LOTS of writing. THIS should be interesting!
- For Handwriting, it’s Abeka again. I know schools have done away with cursive, but I think learning how to read and write cursive is something that should be mandatory. I’ve never taught this before and with my mix of manuscript and cursive, I hope I teach it well!
- For Math, it’s Abeka. My son loves the worksheets and pretty much only needs me as a mentor. My daughter will be using some manipulatives I have purchased from the Target dollar bins or Dollar Tree. She needs something in her hands to sometimes work out the problems.
- For Science, we are using Apologia Land Animals with the Junior Notebooking Journal. We are also going to do field trips to the zoo and watch videos like Animal Atlas (our favorite) and Wild Kratts.
- For History, it is Abeka, Our American Heritage with an emphasis on geography and national landmarks. We will also be watching Liberty Treehouse (love that show!) on The Blaze, every day and Travel with Kids. See my blog on Travel with Kids for more details about this great show!
- For Art, I have a new book on the masters, that I am going to try out.
- In addition, we will be traveling, which I always count because we always make lessons out of everything, and visiting lots of local landmarks and parks.
So, what are your plans for this school year? Do you take a break or do you school year-round? I’d love to have you join our discussion over on my Facebook page!
