Last Year's School (2024-25)

 It's been a while!  I was planning for our 25-26 school year and realized I had not recorded what we used for the last few years here on my blog. One important note: I am at the middle of my homeschooling journey and needed to have a slower pace last year in order to head into the 2nd half of my journey with renewed energy!  I had been thinking about this idea and then came across this article!  It did not really end up being less school, but it was a less traditional year for us with a decidedly relaxed feel to it. We focused more on Geography and did not do formal history (except for Remy).  I also tried out Teaching Textbooks, which I had been reluctant to do.  At the end of the year 3 of the kids did standardized testing. This is a quick outline of what we used!

All Together

The Bible Recap (began daily readings and commentary in January)

Catechism for Christian Growth by Tellinghuisen(1st 20 questions memorized)

Beat the Story Drum, Pum Pum by Bryan

Detectives in Togas by Winterfeld

God Speaks Numanggang by Hazell

Mary Jones and Her Bible by Ropes

Good News of Great Joy by Piper

A Single Shard by Park

A Child's History of the World by Hillyer

George Muller by Benge

The Bible Smuggler by Vernon

Fruit Happens by Christopher

Exploring the Himalaya by Douglas and Doore (Landmark)

Amy Carmichael by Benge

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Coerr

Journey to Jo'Burg by Naidoo

Breaking Stalin's Nose by Yelchin

My Life for Yours by Wilson

A Long Walk to Water by Park

Galloping the Globe by Pettit and Mullins (except Remy)

Explore His Earch by Voskamp (except Remy)

excerpts from Complete Book of Marvels by Halliburton (except Remy)

Drama videos from Light Shine Publishing (1/2) (except Remy)

Remy 11th Grade
Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2
Greek review (1/2 credit)
Elements of Style by Strunk and White
Notgrass World History (1/2 half and then changed to...)
Church History in Plain Language by Shelley (with workbook)

Correct Spelling Made Easy by Lewis

World Religions and Cults 2 by Hodge (1/2 done...will finish next year)

Scripture Memory with Fighter Verses

Began making Christ Centered Summaries in March 

Save the Cat by Snyder
Track (1/2 credit PE)
Piano
Chemistry 101

Mystery of the Periodic Table by Wiker

Molecules by Gray
It Couldn't Just Happen by Richards
A Rule Book for Argument by Weston
The Fallacy Detective by Bluedorn
100 Lessons in Logic by Bluedorn
The Cat of Bubastes by Henty

Watched Shakespeare's Julius Caesar 

A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens

The Hiding Place by Ten Boom

Animal Farm by Orwell 

The Invisible Man by Wells

Evidence Not Seen by Deibler Rose

Difficult Conversations by Stone, Patton, and Heen

Respectable Sins by Bridges

How to Lie With Statistics by Huff

More Than a Carpenter by McDowell

Knowing God by Packer

Get the Girl by Wilson

Dune by Herbert

iRobot by Asimov

Friday Essays

Narration

Read to younger sibling

Annabelle Lee by Nappa (read to Oliver)

Oliver 6th Grade

Bible Lessons for Juniors by Van Der Veer

Teaching Textbooks 6

Parables of Jesus Cursive

Hey, Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek 4

Caesar's English from Michael Clay Thompson

Friday Essays

Track (1/2 credit PE)

Spelling Wisdom by Schafer

Fighter Verses for scripture memory

Piano

Guitar (1/2)

Narration

Read to younger sibling

Physics 101

How You are Changing by Graver

Mary Slessor by Benge

Call It Courage by Sperry

The Invisible Man by Wells

Little House on the Prairie by Wilder

Little House in the Big Woods by Wilder

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Carnegie

Robinson Crusoe by DeFoe

Annabel Lee by Nappa (lightly edited)

The Raven by Nappa

iRobot by Asimov

The Blue by Riley Sexton

The Land I Lost by Huynh

The Big Wave by Buck

The Boxcar Children 1 and 2 by Warner

Before You Open Your Bible by Smethurst

Code of Silence by Shoemaker

Back Before Dark by Shoemaker

Olivia 4th Grade

Bible Lessons for Juniors by Van Der Veer

Teaching Textbooks 4

Parables of Jesus in Cursive

Spelling Wisdom by Schafer

Hey, Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek levels 2 and 3

1st Language Lessons by Wise

Polished Cornerstones (1/2) Doorposts

Friday Essays

Fighter Verses for scripture memory

Piano

Violin

Narration

Read to Younger Sibling

The Land I Lost by Huynh

Born in the Year of Courage by Crofford

Teresa of Calcutta by Watson and Lawson (Sower)

The Boxcar Children 1, 2, and 3 by Warner

Speak the Truth in your Heart by Mally

Love Comes Softly by Oak

10 Girls Who Used Their Talents by Howat

Farmer Boy by Wilder

Enjoy Your Prayer Life by Reeves

Daisy and the Swearing Class by Bouma

Zach 2nd Grade

I read lot's of picture books to him with Brooke and Jude!

Big Thoughts for Little People by Taylor

Teaching Textbooks 3

365 Great Bible Stories by MacKenzie

Scripture Memory Harrow

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading Wise

Explode the Code 2 1/2 and 3

Handwriting Without Tears Printing Power

Friday Essays 

Piano

Track

The Acrostic of God by Brindle and Gibson

The Acrostic of Salvation by Brindle and Gibson

The Acrostic of Jesus by Brindle and Gibson

The Acrostic of Scripture by Brindle and Gibson

First Language Lessons by Wise

Writing With Ease by Wise (copywork only)

Daily Readers from I Can Read series

The Lord of the Rings Triology by Tolkien (audio book)

Brooke Kindergarden

I read lot's of picture books to her with Zach and Jude!

365 Great Bible Stories by MacKenzie

Scripture Memory Harrow

Big Thoughts for Little People by Taylor

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Wise

Explode the Code 1 and 1 1/2

Handwriting Without Tears Letters and Numbers for Me and My Printing Book

Developing the Early Learner 4

The Acrostic of God by Brindle and Gibson

The Acrostic of Salvation by Brindle and Gibson

The Acrostic of Jesus by Brindle and Gibson

The Acrostic of Scripture by Brindle and Gibson

I'm getting my plans together for the upcoming school year.  I'll post what we plan to use when I get it all together!

Chores: What works for us

I have been thinking about how I approach delegating work around our house.  I thought this info might be helpful to some of you as you think through these things for your family. None of this works perfectly in our home.  I still need remind people to do their jobs. But overall, I am very happy with this approach.  

I start by thinking of the things that totally clog up family life if they are not done.  I delegate as much of those things as I can.  And then, as I am able, I help out in those areas.  This way the system is automated to work without me, but sometimes my kids go to do their chore and find it already done!  Or sometimes I work alongside them.  When I do pitch in, my kids feel that I am helping them.  When I can't get to it, things still hum along.

By delegating I free myself up to be a more loving and available wife and mom and to do things that only I can do.  

In our house, and most others I would guess, the kitchen, the laundry, and the trash are the three most important things to keep up with.  So I put one person in charge of loading the dishwasher, one hand-washing the dishes, one wiping off the counters, one taking out the trash, and one doing all of the laundry.  The laundry sounds like a big job (and it is!), but they enjoy having it because they can listen to audiobooks while they do it!  The ones with the kitchen jobs are not allowed to have earbuds in because there are other people working with them.  They play music or talk while they work.

I can hear you say, "What about cleaning the bathrooms or sweeping the floors?"  Well, I do currently have a person that sweeps the whole upstairs every morning.  But, we can keep going without the floors being swept.  We can keep going if the toilet isn't sparkling inside.  We can keep going if there are splatters on mirrors.  But, we can't cook in the kitchen if it's a disaster.  And we can't wear clothes if they are all dirty. And you can't throw something in the trash if the trash can is overflowing.

A few other things:

On Thursdays I do Room Checks.  I got this idea when my oldest son went to college! This means that the people in each bedroom are in charge of tidying their room and cleaning their bathroom (and vacuuming and dusting on a good week).  I require varying degrees of cleanliness in the bathroom.  Occasionally I tell them to deep clean it.  But usually, they hit the areas that NEED to be cleaned.  Our house only needs to be as clean as we need it to be.  I'm not going for a white glove inspection! I want it to feel, smell, and look clean.  So the baseboards don't get wiped off every week. :0)

On Mondays we usually blitz the house.  We put everything back in order after the weekend craziness and I make a list of whatever cleaning we need to do.  I put the list on the buffet and people do something and cross it off as they finish it.  That removes the need for me to nag people.  If the house is really bad I will cut our morning circle time a little bit short to absorb the time the extra tidying takes so that it does not cut into the kids' personal school time.  If we need to blitz the house and it is not Monday, I just let the kids know that I need everyone to work for 10 minutes.  We can do a lot if we all work for 10 minutes!

I assign each person a jurisdiction. About once a day they put everything away in that area and make it very tidy.  This will only work if you have a home for all of your stuff.  They can't put things away if there is not a designated place that they belong. A place for everything and everything in it's place :0)  Even if it is just a big bin, let the kids know where things go.  When we are blitzing the house, people usually start with their jurisdiction.

When assigning a place for things, keep in mind what your family already does.  I got this idea from The House That Cleans Itself.  If you family always kicks their shoes off by the door put a big basket by the door to receive the shoes.  This works better than trying to train everyone to take them to another room. 

We do take all the trash out every day even if it is not full and even if it is not enough to fill up a trash bag.  Using one whole trash bag every day to empty all the trash cans in the house is a small price to pay to have them emptied regularly to avoid overflowing trashcans and get rid of smelly trash.  The two big ones in the kitchen get emptied as needed.

I have to remember to give jobs to the little kids as they get bigger.  With a little training kids can learn to do a lot of things!  But, if the house is really bad I let the tiniest kids play something in one area instead of trying to train them to clean.  Sometimes train, sometimes do what works.

When blitzing the house, I recommend playing fun music! Remind people what a blessing it is to be in a tidy house where we are not tripping over things constantly.  Thank and praise them!

Currently the list looks like this:

Morning Chores

Brooke (4): Feed and water dog

Zach (7): water plants outside

Olivia (8): put all clean dishes away

Oliver (11): take out all the trash

Remy (15): sweep all upstairs floors and spot mom as needed

Riley (17): gather all laundry from hampers and wash it

Kitchen Jobs (before meals and after meals)

Brooke: get silverware and clear the table (we all take our own dishes and help with big pots)

Zach: get serving utensils and wipe the table

Olivia: get cups and put clean dishes away

Oliver: get plates and load dishwasher and clean out sink

Remy: fill water pitcher and sweep floors and wipe off counters

Riley: fill 2nd water pitcher and hand wash all dishes and clean out 2nd sink

Jurisdictions

Brooke: mudroom 

Zach: playroom and music room

Olivia: rec room and tile downstairs

Oliver: living room and entryway

Remy: porches, yard, and garage

Riley: school room and upstairs bathroom

One last note.  We only switch chores every 4-6 months.  People get in a groove and it is easier to stick with what works instead of trying to remember who is doing what. 

The Basics of My School System

I have settled on a system that is working well for us and I have discovered that I don't change it much from year to year. Here are the basics of my system.

Flippers are one main component of our schooling. They are small laminated cards hanging on a ribbon.  The kids flip over each card when they have competed the subject listed on that card.  Every year I just decide what work each flipper will represent, put it all on a list, show it to my child, and we are ready to go!  Many of these just take a few minutes to do and some can be done at the same time.

Using the Charlotte Mason Method, I would rather do many short lessons so that the child's interests are constantly engaged.  As they get older some subjects do take a good bit of time, but it is a good rule of thumb to ask for complete attention for a shorter amount of time instead of half attention for a very long lesson.  When the mind gets tired it is a good idea to change to something different.  This is even true for adults! For example, go from a reading lesson, to math, playing with a sibling, then back to a different reading lesson.  They can tackle their flippers in any order they want to. 

Here are the flippers that I use most years for the kids 2nd grade and up:

Before 9:00 There is a list in our living room that says: Make Bed, Read Bible, Pray, Drink Water, Exercise/Stretch, Morning Chore, Clean Your Body, Get Dressed, Reset Flippers (turn them back over).

Bible The curriculum that the child is using this year (this is in addition to their daily Bible reading mentioned in the Before 9:00 list).

Scripture Memory Pick a passage and tackle 1 or 2 verses per week

Greek Hey Andrew Teach Me Some Greek and others beginning in 3rd grade

Math Math U See or Saxon

Science a variety

History Reader A book at their reading level that goes along with what we are reading together in history.

Literature Reader A book at their reading level that is good literature.

Assigned Reader  A book at their reading level about character, personal piety, or health. For the younger readers I will put Literature Reader and Assigned Reader on the same flipper and have them alternate days.

MCT Michal Clay Thompson Language Arts (I do this with two kids at a time)

Writing Every Friday they hand in an essay on the topic of their choice and read it aloud.  The last Friday of the month they do a speech with only a few notes on a notecard.  They work on these daily at an age appropriate level.  Even my 3 year old wants to get up and read her paper! 

Explode the Code/Italic This is only for the kids 4th grade and down. I make a flipper with both of those on it and they alternate days.

Piano or Guitar daily practice

Narration Tell me about each book they are reading.

Copywork Copy scripture, literature, or any quotes that are meaningful to them.  They get more freedom in this as they get older.

Play with Marley Jeremy wanted them to have this flipper because it ensures that our dog gets some attention!

15 Minutes Outside They can do their schoolwork outside or play with Marley or a sibling.  Anything counts...they just have to be outside.

Read to a younger sibling Some read a board book to the baby.  Others read chapter books to our 10 year old.  They love this time!

20 minutes with Brooke or Zach  This is my built in babysitting and relationship building.  It really blesses me to hear them say to one another, "Do you want to do 20 minutes?"

The other regular in our day is Circle Time.  We do this from 9-10:30.  Every day during that time we all go for a short walk outside, pray, read scripture and read aloud from a chapter book.  I may also include one of the following:

Geography

Picture Study

Topical Bible Study from Doorposts

While I am reading aloud I let the kids do a puzzle, dot to dot, or legos.  We barricade the baby in the rec room with us so he can crawl around and play with toys.  They really enjoy this time!

In addition to doing MCT with two kids at a time, I read a portion of our TruthQuest History guide or a recommended history book to those same two kids. In this way I am guiding them through history and it goes along with the history reader that they are reading on their own.

I am using this checklist for my week.  It has been so helpful!

Many of the things on this list just take a few minutes, but it helps me to separate them out.  I never get every single box checked in a week, but I do get a lot done and this list helps me do that.  

The section at the bottom labeled Afternoons is full of suggestions for ways to spend the time well.  I rarely remember to look at it or mark off things that we did, but I should!  

These things are the backbone of my homeschool.  I am thankful to have them in place.  They keep me from having to start from scratch each year.  I hope that they will be helpful to some of you reading this!  The Lord bless you in your efforts to disciple and educate your children!

Do not despise the short nature walk

 I have always wanted to do nature walks.  I have always felt guilty for not being better at fitting in nature study.  Well, this year I have changed that!  Everyday at 9:00 everyone has their shoes on and we go for a short walk down the road together.  It takes 10-15 minutes. We don't have any planned curriculum.  I don't direct anything, but we have noticed so many things!  My kids often stop me to show me a pretty flower, a caterpillar slowly crossing the road, lovely clouds, or a new bird.  This has been such an encouragement to me and has blessed all of us.  It is a wonderful way to start our school day.  Everyone gets a little bit of energy out, we get fresh air, and we get to chat for a bit about whatever is on our minds.  The baby is happy in the stroller.  The 3 year old walks on the way out and usually asks for a shoulder ride on the way back.  I absolutely love doing this in the mornings.

It has been nice to notice how the same area changes with the seasons.  We notice the new flowers, the different birds (or lack of birds), the wind, and the trees.  Sometimes I remind the kids that God is so creative in making all of this variety.

So, if you are not sure what to do for nature study, just tell everyone that at 9:00 every morning you are going to walk down to the cut-de-sac, or walk to the end of the block, or to the bridge, or to the mailbox.  Just pick a spot to walk to and do it every morning.  And then open your eyes and your ears.  Listen to your kids and start the day by connecting with them and with nature.

2020 School Post (Super Quick Edition)

A friend asked me to jot down what we were doing for school in the coming year and so I thought it was about time to write it up here.  It looks like I forgot to do it last year!  Oops!  Maybe sometime I will get around to looking back and jotting that down as well.  For now...

Summer School

We are not taking a real summer break.  My big kids have some great work opportunities and we are building a house right now so we need more flexible time off than we need one huge chunk in the summer.  But we are doing some things that are different this summer.  Here is a quick rundown.

Bible (wrapping up Bible Road Trip Year 1 and doing misc Bible studies)

Trim Healthy You (oldest 4 kids)

Foundations of Personal Finance (oldest 4 kids)

Artistic Pursuits (Riley, Remy, Oliver, Olivia, and Zach in 3 different levels once or twice a week)

Cooking-- I am making it a priority to have the kids cook with me and cook meals on their own.

Exercise-- the boys are all over this :0)

Work--taking the many work opportunities that present themselves with family and neighbors.

Trail Guide to World Geography  and these Notebooks

History Revealed World Empires, World Missions, World Wars (I LOVE THIS!)

Greek (details below)

Catechism--I wrote one based on the ideas in this book but I made it my own.

Read Aloud The Lord of the Rings

Teaching Reading to Oliver and Olivia

Story of the World with Oliver, Olivia, and Zach

School Time with the Millers Oliver, Olivia and Zach

2020 School Year

All the kids have Daddy School with Jeremy in the morning one or two mornings a week for 30 minutes or so (the older 4 in one group and the younger 3 in another group, Brooke hasn't started yet since she is only 18 months :0).  He works on Bible Drills, Theology, Catechism, and Scripture Memory.  Sometimes they just go on tangents and talk about the Bible and how it applies to life.

Aiden 12th grade

History Revealed World Empires, World Missions, World Wars

Apologia Physics

Math U See PreCalculus

Trail Guide to World Geography

Bible Road Trip Year 2

World Religions and Cults books 2 and 3

McGuffey Reader 6 and Lesson book

Greek (Still deciding what to use)

ACT Prep  with this too

Michael Clay Thompson Grammar/Writing only

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Alex 11th grade

History Revealed World Empires, World Missions, World Wars

Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology 

Introduction to Logic by Jason Lisle

Trail Guide to World Geography

Bible Road Trip Year 2

World Religions and Cults books 2 and 3

McGuffey Reader 5 and Lesson Book

Greek (Still deciding what to use)

Math U See Geometry

ACT Prep with this too

Michael Clay Thompson Grammar/Writing only

Jerry Bridges book to be determined

Riley 9th grade

History Revealed World Empires, World Missions, World Wars

Answers in Genesis Physics I have an older version of this that has more to do with physics
Other Physics Resources (He LOVES this!)

Trail Guide to World Geography

Bible Road Trip Year 2
World Religions and Cults book 1

McGuffey Reader 4 and Lesson Book

Greek 

Teaching Textbooks Algebra (I have my kids take Algebra 1 twice since it is foundational to so many other things.  TT is not my favorite since it is all on the computer, but it is easy to use and I don't mind to use it as a supplement to Math U See Algebra.)

Michael Clay Thompson Grammar/Writing only

Other Assigned Reading about science and devotional life

Remy 7th Grade

History Revealed World Empires, World Missions, World Wars

Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology and

Exploring Creation with Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day

Trail Guide to World Geography

Bible Road Trip Year 2

McGuffey Reader 3 and Lesson Book

Greek

Math U See PreAlgebra 

Michael Clay Thompson Grammar/Writing only

Nature Readers from Christian Liberty Press

Rush Revere Books

Oliver 2nd Grade

Story of the World Book 1

Answers in Genesis Biology I have an older edition.  We just do the small "beginner" section.

Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 2

Trail Guide to World Geography
Bible Road Trip Year 2

Math U See Beta

Primary Language Lessons

McGuffey Reader 1 and Lesson Book

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading

To the Top Reading Flashcards

Teach Rules from the Logic of English

Millers Stories

Olivia Kindergarten

Story of the World Book 1 (coloring pages and read aloud)

Answers in Genesis Biology I have an older edition.  We just do the small "beginner" section.

Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 2
Bible Road Trip Year 2

McGuffey Reader Primer and Lesson Book

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading

To the Top Reading Flashcards

Teach Rules from the Logic of English

Millers Stories

Misc Activites

Zach Preschool

Story of the World Book 1 (coloring pages and read aloud)

Artistic Pursuits The Way They See It
Bible Road Trip Year 2

Millers Stories

Misc Activities

Recommendations for Kindergarten and First Grade

It's really fun to get started homeschooling!  But, there is so much out there that you have to sift through.  Here are some recommendations as you begin.

Figure out what style of curriculum you can use well (one that is written the way that you think).  For years I wanted books that had 1 lesson per day so that I would know exactly what was expected.  I could always do something different, but I knew what a normal progression would look like.  I did not like (as much :0) when a book suggested that I could spend "a week or two on a lesson."  I did not know how this would look day to day.  Find something that is laid out in a way you can understand.  A variety of options could work well for your kids if you, as the teacher, are having fun, energetic, able to know what is going on, and able to communicate it to your child with patience.

Figure out how your kids learn.  If you have an extremely energetic boy who wants to climb the walls all the time do not expect him to sit and do workbooks all day.  If you have a kid that wants to get done quickly with school don't drag it on and on with fancy games if he would rather do a black and white math sheet.  This requires insight.  I am a big fan of giving kids freedom and being fun about when and where school happens.  However, little kids need the skill of sitting still and focusing on a task.  Do some of both.  Work with them as much as you can and stretch them some to strengthen the things they are not good at.  Familiarize yourself with learning styles but don't box your kids in.  This is a helpful guide.

Establish cheerful, exact, first time obedience.  I know at this point you are looking for an actual book recommendation, but these things are truly more important as you get started.  Your older kids will set the tone for your home.  If you can cheerfully require them to do what you ask them to do, the first time with a good attitude it will make all of your homeschooling years much easier and more fun.  So, be very clear about what you are asking them to do.  Make them stop and look you in the eye.  Ask them to repeat it if you think they need that.  Then discipline them (sweetly and kindly) every time that they don't do it (when you can...sometimes life makes it hard to do EVERY time :0).  I said exact above because sometimes they will do a version of what you asked, but it is obvious to them and you that they are still trying to keep control and not do exactly what you are asking.  The discipline could be a spanking (if it is willful disobedience), or, if you have a compliant-but-spacey kid that just has trouble remembering what you say, then you could have them run a lap around the house or go to their room and sit there for 5 minutes, or clean something.  Anything to shake them out of their slumber and make them realize that they need to obey.  Praise your kids tons when they obey and do a good job!!  They need to get more attention when obeying than when disobeying.

Create a fun learning environment!  Get out paints, spend money on good books, bring the things they find outdoors in and set them on your table.  Hang up their drawings.  Draw with them.  Play scrabble with them as they sound out 3 letter words.  Go on field trips everywhere.  Just try to be fun.  This is always a challenge.  When you have all little ones it can seem like there are no big helpers and you are exhausted.  When your older ones get bigger then you have "more important things" that can't fall through the cracks so you quit fitting in the fun things with your littles.  But, making time to create a fun learning environment should be a huge priority.  Let go of decor a little and hang up maps and other cool learning things if you your kids get into it.

Now, for a few recommendations for what to use.

Bible.  It's by far the most important thing to teach them.  The fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom and knowledge.  I said elsewhere that if they have read tons of great literature, but don't love the Lord, His Word, and their neighbor then we are missing the boat. Use the Bible Project animated videos (they are amazing!), Bible Story Books, and printable resources like this or like these.  Teach them anything you can about the Bible so that they know it as well as possible.  Use Proverbs a lot and use songs a lot!  We love the Harrow Family, Jamie Soles, and Randall Goodgame.  I have only heard the albums by Randall Goodgame and have not seen the videos yet.  Dance around with them and sing them.

I have used The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading for all of my kids (after trying a few other things first).  I also use the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD and skip the first 26 lessons in The Ordinary Parent's Guide.  I don't recommend lots of videos, but if you are going to do 1 a day make it something really useful that teaches phonics or Bible.  You could also use this free guide that I am using with one of mine right now.  We just needed to change it up.  This is only 52 pages and it has been fun!  I recommend focusing on one kid at a time when teaching reading.  Let the oldest get pretty solid before you start adding the next one in.  It can be very discouraging if a younger sibling passes the older one.  But also don't get stressed if it takes a while for someone to "get it".  My latest reader is one of my best readers. 

The Revised McGuffey Readers.  I don't use this to teach reading, but after they are reading a little bit these are terrific resources for copywork, narration, dictation, spelling, and drawing.  Especially when used in conjunction with these Lesson Books.  I love this system!

We have never been part of a Classical Conversations co-op, but we have used their memory work at home.  We have enjoyed the history sentences (set to a song) from cycles 1-3 and the timeline song and cards that go with it.

I have used the Ambleside Online booklist and love it though I might do things in later grades than they suggest.

My kids LOVE Storytime with the Millers and all of the others in the series.

I have used the Explode the Code series and I think it has reinforced things that I teach them in other ways.  There are also books A, B, and C that go before books 1-4 if you want to start them in something easier.  Those 3 are more pre-reading.

Math U See is great.

Read aloud as much as you can!  Read everything to them.  This really helps when they begin reading because they are used to the flow of written language and can anticipate what the next word might be.  It is also just lots of fun and a good way to educate them on a variety of topics.  Let them play with blocks or color as long as they are not too loud.  This will never look perfect and it will always be interrupted!  But just keep plugging along.  Read stuff at their level, just above, funny stuff, non-fiction, and really good literature.

Make them go outside (with you and without you) and start learning about nature together.  These are great!

I started off reading the Three R's.  You could only get this one book and have everything you needed if it was up your alley.  I wanted something a little more structured, but the ideas here are great!

You could use Montessori.  I think this is especially helpful for boys because it challenges them to sit and do an activity precisely, but they are very quick.  This book will help your kids learn to do things for themselves that will help you.

We have also used My Father's World and Sonlight at different times and enjoyed them when we did. 

Last, but not least, pray all through this process.  Ask for divine guidance and insight and He will give it to you!

Answer to a friend thinking about homeschooling...

As for whether it's a good fit and any hesitations you might have I would love to talk in person about that sometime!  There are so many considerations and each family is so unique that I think it's best to address your specific needs and challenges as a family instead of giving general info.

As for curriculum...  It sounds like you need very efficient schooling where you are able to boil it down to the basics (and add on as you are able).  It also sounds like you are looking for things that have one lesson after another instead of requiring a lot of creativity and figuring things out as you go. I'm just going to type my ideas as they come into my head.  I will give specific books to look at so you can start somewhere.  I use a little Charlotte Mason, a little classical, and a little delight directed studies.  I change things up all the time.

One thing to consider is that you really only have 2 that need lots of schooling.  The others need to be learning of course and need structure.  But as far as pressure to educate...just focus on the older two for now.  I don't start Kindergarten until my kids are 6.  So, for the younger ones you can organize some time for them to do activities (like the ones in this book), give them tons of time to play inside and outside, read aloud to them as much as you can, work on obedience (you can't homeschool very easily if your kids won't cheerfully do what you ask them to do:0), teach them to play independently and be content.  If some of them are interested in reading you can use The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  My kids all liked The Letter Factory so I skipped the first 26 lessons in the Ordinary Parent's Guide that introduce letter sounds. I don't recommend using videos too much, but if you do use 1 a day make it count to teach letter sounds or Bible truths.

Now, back to the big kids.  There are 4 areas that you can think about in education: 1. Your kids in relation to God and man (the most important area to know about). 2. Skill areas in which you have to learn how to do something (Language Arts and Math) 3. Content Areas in which you learn information(Science and History) 4. Life Skills (how to cook, balance a checkbook, have a good work ethic).

Area 1. Use the Bible and especially Proverbs.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.  Also tackle character issues as they come up and deal with them biblically.  This truly is the most important curriculum that you can teach your kids.  What good is it if they have read all the Great Books but don't love the Lord, love His Word and love their neighbor?

Area 2. For Language Arts You Could use the McGuffey's Second Eclectic Reader  with this level 2 Lesson Book or if they are more advanced than that use the Third Reader and the 3rd  Lesson book.  The Beauty of this approach (that I learned from this mom of 15) is that it provides structure for Copywork, Narration, Dictation, Spelling, and Drawing using good literature that is already picked out for you.  It's accessible, but the language is elevated so that you get a lot of bang for your buck.  Easy!  If you wanted something different you could look at 

First Language Lessons and Writing with Ease (whatever level you think they are ready for).  For Math you could do Math U See.

Area 3.  You can just start off by assigning them readers.  Let them pick something they would love to learn about in Science, read a good solid book about it then tell you about the book.  They have to read 1 chapter from the book each day.  For history assign them a biography and have them read 1 chapter per day and tell you about it.  You could use the book suggestions on Ambleside Online, but you might want to use books suggested for lower grades to start off.  Or you could use Story of the World. and Apologia Young Explorers Series.

Area 4.  Just include your kids in your life.  As you need to cook, teach them how (maybe one at a time if it's easier).  When you need to fix something let them watch or help.  Talk to them about money.  Talk to them about adult decisions.

This is a lot to think about.  Write back if you have specific questions!  Homeschooling is lots of work, but I love it!

School Post 2018

I keep meaning to come back later in the year and post what we actually ended up doing!  Each year after we start we decide what is working and what is not.  We adjust and get in a groove.

This year I am doing my school post after we have been doing school for a month so I think it should be pretty accurate. 

 Aiden is in 10th grade, Alex is in 9th grade, Riley is in 7th grade, Remy is in 5th grade, Oliver is in Kindergarten, Olivia is 3 and Zach is nearly 2.  We have another little girl due in October!

This is what we are doing.

Everyone
The Bible Project All of our readers are using this to read through the Bible in a year.  Everyone reads on their own in the morning and we watch the videos together now and then.  The plan to read the Bible in a Year is found when you scroll down on this main page.
What Does the Bible Say About That
School of Biblical Evangelism  We are doing this together as a family.  They allowed us to pay the $150 enrollment fee and use the curriculum for our whole family.
Read Alouds  This year we plan to work through the Great Christian Adventures (Swiss Family Robinson, Titus:A Comrade of the Cross, and The Life of Henry Martyn) as well as The Chronicles of Narnia, The Trumpet of the Swan, and Robinson Crusoe
Flash Cards I just drill one big boy per day with different kinds of flash cards.

Aiden and Alex
Video Text Algebra (Aiden only)
Teaching Textbooks Algebra (Alex only) 
Devotional Biology and labs
Great Christian Classics
Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts
Kickstart
Holiness
Basics of Biblical Greek and workbook
Narration Telling me about what they read or writing an essay about it.
Recitation Memorizing verses from the School of Biblical Evangelism and What Does the Bible Say About That
Piano Lessons 
Record They each have to write down what they did in each subject every day.  This is not detailed, but helps us keep track of how much school we do every day.

Riley and Remy
Math U See Epsilon for Remy and Pre-Algebra for Riley
Hey Andrew Teach Me Some Greek
Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the 5th Day (with Oliver) I am also using this simple schedule for it.  It was worth the few dollars to have things divided up neatly for me.
Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts
History's Heroes and Trial and Triumph
Auditory Processing (Riley only)
Plants Grown Up They choose things to work on from the book for about 15 minutes per day.
Narration Telling me about what they read or writing an essay about it.
Recitation Memorizing verses from the School of Biblical Evangelism and What Does the Bible Say About That
Piano Lessons 
Record They each have to write down what they did in each subject every day.  This is not detailed, but helps us keep track of how much school we do every day.

Oliver, Olivia and Zach
Read 2 picture books to them
Do activity with them (play ball, go outside, build a fort, lincoln logs, play dough, etc.)
Read 1 Bible story per day from children's Bible or ESV Bible
Narration
Recitation
Mathematical Reasoning (Oliver only)
Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (Oliver only)
Explode the Code A, B, and C for Oliver and Olivia when they want to

An Outline of Our Day

Our day is roughly divided up into 4 sections.

First, we are all together for Circle Time.  Around 9:00 we read 1 chapter of the Bible and pray.  Then we move on to What Does the Bible Say About That or School of Biblical Evangelism (we usually alternate weeks).  Next we go into Oliver and Olivia's room (hopefully stretching on the way). We read aloud, and I do some kind of flashcards with one kid per day.

Second, I do Preschool and Kindergarten with Oliver, Olivia and Zach while big kids do whatever they can do on their own.  We read 2 picture books, do some kind of activity, read a Bible story, practice a memory verse, I do math and reading with Oliver, and they narrate to me.

Third, I get with Riley and Remy.  We call Oliver in to do Science with us (reading a lesson or doing some activity) and then he goes to play.  I do MCT with them, read History's Heroes, do Auditory with Riley, and they recite their verses and narrate.  I also wrote a reminder to check their papers so I can touch base with them on their math grades and other things they have turned in.  I sometimes ask a big boy to keep an eye on Olivia and Zach, or put him in a pack and play and give Olivia an activity.  We are still working out the kinks!

Last, I do what is needed with Aiden and Alex.  We watch Devotional Biology videos together, read from Great Christian Classics, do MCT, watch a Kickstart video every couple of days (then they work on the workbook on their own), talk about what we are reading in Holiness about once per week, they narrate and recite their verses.  I check papers and touch base with them about math and other papers they have turned in.

I am trying to do a lot WITH them this year.  So far it has worked for me to do that during the day (especially during nap time for the little ones) and make my private reading time their school material.  However when the baby comes in October we will see how well I keep up.

New Focus

I have been very grateful for the vision from Generations about having a thoroughly Biblical Worldview saturating your curriculum all during your homeschooling years.  They have a huge focus on the Proverbs, Psalms, the growth of the Church through history, Bible knowledge and personal piety.  They tackle other worldviews, but mainly after your kids have been thoroughly taught Godly principles and beliefs.  We are raising disciples and I want my kids to know God and His Word more than anything else.  I also want them to learn everything in light of His Word.  So far I am thrilled with our curriculum for the year and the way that it is nurturing each of us in our faith.

Thanks for reading this!  If you have any questions about what we use or how we use it I would be happy to answer them.  Have a lovely week!

School Post 2017

This post is my plan.  But, just like every other year, as we go through the year we realize what is really working and what really isn't and we cast the latter aside.

Zach's (age 1) school mainly consists of me learning some new finger plays, lap bouncing songs, and other ways to play with him (like the ones in This Little Piggy and Games Babies Play) and training him for blanket time and sitting on my lap better.

For Oliver (age 5) and Olivia (age 2 1/2) I am pulling from these resources:

A Year of Playing Skillfully

Busy Bags Kids Will Love

Montessori at Home Guide

Bible Stories (read straight from the ESV Bible or Olivia's ICB Bible or other children's Bibles)

Reading Classical Literature at their level and picture books

Recitation to help them learn memory verses.

Outside for 15 minutes (at least 15 every day)

Storytime with the Millers (and others from that series)

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (Oliver only).

Explode the code A, B, and C You don't have to have the teacher's guide.

Jamie Soles music (especially Good Advice)

For Riley (grade 6) and Remy (grade 4) I am using these things:

Proverbs workbook

Hey Andrew Teach Me Some Greek

Exploring Creation With Zoology 3 (with notebooking journal and Jr. notebooking journal)

Italic Handwriting

Math U See (Riley in Zeta, Remy in Delta)

Narration

Outside 15 minutes (at least 15 every day)

Help for Auditory Processing (Riley only, but Remy asks to do it too!)

Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts Curriculum

Explode the Code  the boys love these!

History and Literature books from 1900 to present.  I chose books from Ambleside, Sonlight, and other credible reading lists and pieced together a history and literature book list that my 4 big boys were going to use.  Then I came across something different for Aiden and Alex.  Now I am going to use World War 1 for Kids, The Great Depression for Kids, A History of US (book 9) and others to read through these things and discuss with Riley and Remy.

Recitation (Memory work from Prov workbook and 1 longer passage from Romans)

Piano lessons

For Aiden (9th grade) and Alex (8th grade) I am using these things:

Proverbs workbook

Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek with workbook, study guide , DVD lectures, and Sing and Learn New Testament Greek

Devotional Biology with Kurt Wise I'm SO excited about this!

Italic Handwriting

Type It (Alex only)

Math U See (Aiden in Algebra, Alex in Pre-algebra)

Narration

Outside 15 minutes (at least 15 every day)

Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts Curriculum

Discipleship Curriculum from Generations with Vision we are doing 9th grade with both Aiden and Alex

Recitation (Memory work from Prov workbook and 1 longer passage from Romans)

Piano lessons

Aiden is also finishing his One Year Adventure Novel from last year.  He is really enjoying that.

As a family we are using The Family Bible Study Series for the Psalms and Proverbs.  We all read the portion for one Psalm per week and get together to talk about it on Sunday night.  We do one lesson from the Proverbs books as a family each night during Bible Time. We are also using lots of songs to help us learn the Psalms (Jamie Soles, Sons of Korah, and Seeds Family Worship) and trying to have more of a plan and focus for our family prayer time.

Also, all together we are using Draw the USA (love it!), Laying Down the Rails, and lots of Lamplighter books!

If you have any questions about how we use things please ask!  I have loved asking others the same thing!

Modesty

Here are some helpful resources on the topic of modesty.  All of these links were extremely helpful to me in thinking through this topic and would be especially wonderful in helping your daughters have a well rounded view of modesty.

Here is the first of a 4 part series that I appreciated.  It's just the intro, but if you like to start at the beginning, here it is.

The second post in that series includes 8 terrific questions to ask yourself about modesty.

The third post in that series had some great original thoughts about modesty in worship.  Do we aid others in worship or do we detract from it with our finery or by showing too much skin.  Do we really want to steal attention that should be directed at God?

The last post focuses on how your fashion affects your worship and the worship of others and it asks hard questions about the nitty gritty.

Are you contributing to a culture of lust?  Wonderful thoughts about what our pictures say about us and how women can unknowingly imitate the form of porn in the way they pose, use make up, or photograph themselves.

The ones above were all by the same author, but this last one is from The Bible Project.  We have loved devouring these videos!

1 Timothy tells women where their beauty should come from.  The Bible Project video about 1 Timothy brings this to life and helps us see what was going on in the church that the letter is written to.  In case you are short on time you can start at the 3 minute mark and see that some of the women were using church as a fashion show.  Do you think that would distract from the worship of the Lord or bring him glory?

May we be lovely and righteous women who seek to honor our Lord!