2022-2023

I really only blog for the kids to have something to look back on, sort of like a yearbook. So, here I am, pulling this post together nearly 2 years after the fact. 

The 2022 school year started off with a bang. We were barely 4 months into our school year when we were asked to step up for kinship care of our great nephew (4 years old) and nieces (8 y.o. & 3 months). Everything was upside down there for a while.  I didn't even remember to take "school" pics this year. 

We had our 11th grade daughter, 8th grade son, oldest great niece in 1st grade, great nephew in pre-k, and the baby was still taking a bottle every 3 hours. I think we all went on autopilot and were really just praying and hoping for the best. The littles stayed with us for 3 months and were then pulled into foster care. 

Following was the homeschool plan but honestly I can't remember if we made any mid-year changes or what was actually finished. Our daughter took one class as a dual enrollment student and decided she would wait till after high school to continue. I think the stress of having the littles with us played as much a part in her decision as anything else. Oh, she did decide she wants to pursue a career as a paralegal. Our son continued with Civil Air Patrol. Whatever else happened didn't hinder or hurt them since the oldest is headed to college and our son is headed into 10th. 

8th Grade

Bible

• Wise Up! Wisdom in Proverbs
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, Covey

History

• Uncle Sam and You, Notgrass
• Brighty of the Grand Canyon, Henry
• Sam Colt and His Gun, Winders
• Lost On a Mountain in Main, Fendler
• Alabama History
• From Mounds to Missles, Akens

Language Arts

• Fix It Grammar, IEW
• Lightning Lit & Composition
  

Math

• Pre-Algebra, Teaching Textbooks

Science

• InnovatorsTribe.Com
• Thinking Like an Engineer
• Thinking Like an Architect
• Robotics and Automation
• Thinking Like an Innovator

Extra-Curricular

• Civil Air Patrol

11th Grade

Bible

• Issues in American Christianity, Notgrass

History

• Exploring America, Notgrass

Language Arts

• The Power in Your Hands: Writing Non-Fiction in High School, Watson
• American Literature, Apologia

Math

• Geometry, Acellus

Science

• Conceptual Physics, Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum
• Physics, 101 DVD
• Physics Lab Kit

Electives

• Spanish II
• MicroComputer Applications (dual enrolled)

2021-2022

These last couple of years have been odd school years. The pandemic of 2020 threw a wrench in everybody's plans. Even homeschoolers couldn't do the things they normally would, library visits, field trips, and such. Then we roll into 2021 and life still hasn't returned to "normal". Partly, because of the pandemic and more likely because I really enjoy the "not going" and just staying home. The pandemic turned me into a hermit!

This school year my daughter is in her second year in high school! We arrived way too fast for my liking. She's a beautiful, sweet girl who truly loves Jesus. I think back over the years and I tend to focus on all the things I think I messed up because she was the first student I ever homeschooled. She was my learning curve. Leaning on Jesus and trusting her path to Him I've come to realize my "feelings" don't line up with the picture presented. My oldest loves to read, she is organized, knows how to prioritize, and is an independent learner. She isn't sure what she wants to do for a "career" yet, but her plan is to start off in business until she finds her way. Although her road has been a bit of a zigzag getting here, I'm pleased with where she's headed. 

My youngest is smack dab in the middle of middle school. He turned 13 this school year and I'm so thankful that neither of my teens experienced any of the teenage angst I went through. He is a serious young man, a thinker who likes to crack a joke every now and again (he's getting better at it!) I thought my experience with his older sister would serve him well when he arrived at the same grade levels but I quickly found out that they have different learning styles. Planning and scheduling aren't natural for him. So, we are focusing on using a planner and being more independent this year and so far, it's been going really well. He joined Civil Air Patrol over the summer and has decided after high school he will join the Air Force. We'll see, a lot can change in those 5 years. 

The biggest change for me is that I stopped using my yearly planner. It was getting redundant copying everything out of my oldest's planner and then writing everything twice in mine and my son's for his work. I generally grade all my son's work in the morning and write his assignments for the day in his binder. (Oh, that will make a good freebie!) Then I grade my daughter's "writing" work that needs a teacher score. She grades her math and everything else that has an "actual" answer she can compare to. She follows a schedule and then "logs" her work into her planner. So instead of all that writing, I went to a digital grade book. It helps with tracking weighted grades, transcripts, reading lists, and attendance. There was a learning curve but I love it! You can find the free one that I use here at Five J's. 

7th grade

Bible

• Journey through the Bible, Bk. 1, Benz, Pentateuch and Historical books 
• Boyhood and Beyond, Schultz
• From Boy to Man, Queen
• What is God’s Design for My Body? Horner

History

• From Adam to Us, Notgrass
• A Single Shard, Park (12th Century Korea)
• Don Quixote, Baldwin (17th Century Spanish Literary Character)

Language Arts

• English PACEs, ACE Ministries
• Jump In!, Middle School Composition, Watson

Math

• Math Foundations, Miller

Science

• Chemistry, Sabbath Mood Homeschool, Williams

10th Grade

Bible

• Bible Study Course-Old Testament, Dallas High Schools
• Know Why You Believe, Little

History

• Early Modern World History
• TruthQuest
• Story of Liberty, Coffin
• Sweet Land of Liberty, Coffin
• Story of the Renaissance & Reformation, Miller

Language Arts

• Easy Grammar Ultimate Series
• Composition I, Christian Light Education
• Introduction to Literature, Christian Light Education

Math

• Algebra IB, Christian Light Eductation

Science

• Chemistry, Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum
• Chemistry 101 DVD
• MicroChem Kit for labs

Electives

Geography

• High School Geography & Cultures
• World Geography, Endeavor Learning Lab

Philosophy

• Introduction to Logic: Informal Fallacies, MasterBooks

Career Preparedness II

• Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers
• Money Matters for Teens, Burkett

Foreign Language

• Spanish I, Endeavor Learning Lab

Time to Catch Up!!

 WOWZERS!!

Life has been crazy insane. I haven't posted in 3 years? I have since graduated my oldest, my next child is a rising sophomore and now we have added one more to our home! I will make some updates and share what I've been doing over the past few years during the upcoming week. See ya soon!!

2020-2021 Pandemic Schooling

 I couldn't have ever imagined the ways in which the pandemic would affect our homeschool. There weren't the usual trips to the library, meet up days at the park, field trips to museums, only day in and day out school work. 

We ended up changing the curriculum around March when my niece came to stay with us temporarily. Our school days needed a more "parent-free" curriculum. So we decided on Accelerated Christian Education ministries curriculum. They've been around 50 years, speak directly to the student and focus on Christian character development. We continued to use Angela O'Dell's The World's Story for history and added in living books where we could. 

As time passed my niece went back home and we continued on with the PACE work. It has definitely made it easier for my high schooler to be an independent learner. 

My 6th grader:

Bible: 

We were using a Bible study from "Not Consumed" but it was a short study. I'm still on the hunt for a good "Bible" program for him. I haven't really looked into PACEs because I want him to have some variety from them. Right now, he reads a devotional in that time slot. 

History:

He is reading through The World's Story, Volume 1. It's from Creation to the Roman Empire. I've only had him doing some of the worksheets, alternating with narrations. He has really enjoyed it. 

Geography:

We were doing our own Countries and Cultures study but it ended up being delayed until next year. We made it all the way through Europe though and we will pick up with Asia next year. 

Language Arts:

We started using ACE ministries PACES for English/Literature & Creative Writing/Word Building while my niece was here. It kept things simple for my son to stay on top of his own work and surprisingly the Word Building has really improved his spelling. I'm not pleased with the Literature choices and have been giving some thought to changing that portion. The English grammar portion has worked out fantastic as well. We will stick with that for sure. 

Math:

We are using ACE PACES for math as well and LOVE it. Its a mastery program and it speaks to the child. My son is learning and retaining and we will likely stick with this all the way to graduation!

Science:

Well, Science gets the job done in PACEs. I can't say that he is really enjoying it or even that he's retaining all the fill in the blanks. He likes it because he can get it done faster but I want it to be richer. I think we will flip back to Sabbath Mood Homeschool Sciences next year. 

My 9th grader:

Bible:

We used Heart of Dakota's "Comparative Religions" course in their World Geography bundle. It was AMAZING! My daughter loved it and learned so much about world religions from within a Biblical worldview. 

She also read Be Your Own Selfish Pig by Susan Schaffer Macaulay, and The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. 

History

Because my daughter so loved Angela O'Dell's America's Story in younger grades we went ahead and beefed up O'Dell's middle school program for Olivia to take "Introduction to Ancient and Medieval Studies" using Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the The World's Story. She has learned a lot through just Angela's books but we also added Primary Sources and a whole slew of living books and biographies. 

Geography

As you know our Countries and Cultures study was delayed but my high schooler did continue with her Current Events studies which included mapping. So, we were able to incorporate map work through events and her historical reading. 

Math

Math has been a struggle, only because I kept changing curriculum. She has used ACE all year filling in gaps and hopefully this summer will actually start Algebra I. Our goal is for her to be in geometry before her sophomore year is up, we will see. 

Science

We used Biology PACES from ACE ministries this year. She took a biology "lab" course at the beginning of the year so that fulfilled the lab component. She also watched the lab videos and filled out the lab sheets as she completed her course work. Biology isn't a favorite of hers. I'm not sure if its because of the subject matter or the course work. In anycase, we are switching back to Sabbath Mood for her next year too. 

Electives

Electives have been hit and miss this year. 

Health-she read select chapters from ABEKA and also completed Georgia Virtual's course online

Driver's Ed- she's still working on

Computer Literacy- she's also still working on. We found a great site, GCFGlobal, that offers free tutorials and typing lessons. She hasn't been very consistent up to this point but she does like the course work. 

World War II Movies

As we cover WWII in these final days of our school year I wanted to add some movies for us to watch as a family. The kids already watched "The Diary of Anne Frank" and weren't impressed. I wish I had pre-screened the version we chose, there are so many options. Anyway, I'm adding these others for our family movie night.

Auschwitz
Amazon Prime/Rent

American/Japanese Perspectives
Pearl Harbor
Amazon Prime/Rent

     

Germany
Amazon Prime/Rent

Poland
Amazon Prime/Rent

Battle of Midway
Amazon Prime/Rent

British schoolboy in China
Amazon Prime

Denmark
Amazon Prime

2020-2021 General Scope and Sequence

I've been talking things over with the kids to see what they've really enjoyed about our unforeseeable changes this past school year and what they have missed. I was pleasantly surprised by their responses.

They didn't enjoy drawing as much as they did singing the folksongs and hymns. They want to do personal devotions and Bible studies. They want to do another Shakespeare play!

We are continuing our eclectic style this year to meet our students where they are. This year we will be using curriculum for History, High School Literature, Language Arts, Science and Math. We will round these subjects out with biographies, historical fiction, literature selections, and nature lore because we love offering a literature rich education to the children. We will also utilize movies, special projects, and field trips just to change up the pace a bit.

Following is a brief outline to help me stay on track and not forget any of the subjects to address. I did that one year totally forgetting to cover history for the first few weeks!

Bible
· Old Testament
· New Testament

History
· World
· biographies
· Timeline

Geography
· reader
· map skills
· physical

Citizenship

Current Events

Literature
· Curriculum
· Mythology
· Classics/Tales
· Poetry
· Shakespeare

Language Arts
· Grammar
· Copywork
· Narration

Natural History/Sciences
· Science
· Nature Lore
· Nature Study
· Biographies

Maths

Enrichment Studies
· Singing
· Drawing

Physical Education

Planning for a High Schooler

It's hard to believe that in 25 days I will be the parent of a high schooler!!! We gave her the choice to attend the local high school but she's pretty adamant she isn't going that route again. Personally, I didn't think her first four years (pre-K - 3rd) were all that bad. Our decision to homeschool wasn't really based on any one precedent. Over the past five years though, we've seen some things that made us glad we were led to home educate our children.

So, in 25 days we will have a freshman and 6th grader under our roof. I'm comfortable planning for my youngest since this will be my second time through 6th grade. My high schooler? I'm not so sure. She's bright, a self starter who loves to read and "do" school. My worry is transcripts and college, making sure she takes all the appropriate readiness exams, experiences prom and learns how to drive.

If I had to pick my biggest fear, it would be teaching her to drive. Not the teaching part, but the letting her go part. I've let myself daydream a bit about letting her take the keys and drive herself to church or into town. We don't live far from either, its not a particularly dangerous drive, at most 7 miles on a small town road. But the what if's and not knowing parts get me every time. I've already started praying that I'm not going to be a horrid empty nester.

Now is a good time to start considering next year's plan. I feel like it's a whole new ball game with a high schooler. The rules are changing and I have to actually keep up with what I'm teaching her; course titles, descriptions, work load, credits and grades. So, my next few posts will be about planning for high school and sharing all the great resources I've found to help us along. If you have any suggestions or great resources leave me a comment!