Search Results for: homeschool plans

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that we have been homeschoolers since the very beginning of our children’s school years.  A few years back, I started writing down our homeschool plans since I would have friends and readers ask me what we used each year.  If you care to look back, you can see what we used in the 2015-2016 year here or in the 2016-2017 school year here. 2017-2018 can be found here. 2018-2019 can be found here, 2019-2020 can be found here, and 2020-2021.

This year, we have kids in 9th, 6th, 5th, and Kindergarten and we are switching it up a bit.  Since we graduated our oldest this past year and our youngest is officially school age, we’ve decided to make some changes.  My youngest 2 will be going to a local hybrid homeschool/private school a couple times a week.  They will be doing all their subjects there and then have homework to work on the other days.  My husband or I will be assisting them with their homework on their off days.

The older two are going to be going to a one day a week program that covers English, History, Logic, and a few other subjects.  Below, I’ll share a little of what we will be doing at home.

Math:

We are continuing with XtraMath.org for my 5th and 6th graders.  It’s a completely free way to make sure your kids understand all of their math facts.  As a mom, I can login and see how they are doing as well and what needs improvement.

For my oldest student, he will start his high school with Math-U-See for Algebra 1.  6th grader will start another year of Horizons Math.  The other 2 will do math with their school and are using Saxon.

Bible:

As a family, we are going to be working through Who is God? And How Can I Really Know Him? from Apologia.

Extracurriculars:

Everyone will be continuing with American Heritage Girls and Trail Life, and of course youth group activities.

Hope you all have a great school year!  I’m looking forward to having a lighter load this year and outsourcing more.  Plus, if you missed this on a previous post, I’ll be returning to work after 18 years at home!  So excited about that!

We are most definitely homeschooling again this year.  I had some thoughts before all the craziness happened of sending a couple to school, but we are back to homeschool now.  I plan to start some of our school next week and ease back into it.  It’s been so hot lately so it’s time to go ahead and get started.

If you care to look back, you can see what we used in the 2015-2016 year here or in the 2016-2017 school year here. 2017-2018 can be found here. 2018-2019 can be found here. Last year 2019-2020 can be found here.

This upcoming school year, I will have an 11th/12th grader, 8th grader, 5th grader, 4th grader and a pre-K/Kindergartener.  When I mention half grades, it’s because they are smack dab in the middle of the two.  That is the joy of homeschooling.  We can speed up or slow down as needed depending on schedules, learning styles, etc.  My oldest has an early August birthday so if she were in public school, she could be either the oldest or youngest of her grade, depending on how we moved forward.  I think we aim to graduate her in December of 2021 so she will be 18 at graduation.

My youngest has an early September birthday.  Many pre-K things are too young for him, but some Kindergarten things are too advanced.  He’s right smack in the middle.  We are going to proceed forward with him but will back off as needed throughout the year.

Math:

All 3 middle kids are going to use an online program, Teaching Textbooks this year.  Honestly, it’s not one of my favorite curriculums, but it’s needed this year since I will have my hands full teaching my youngest to read.  This program automatically teaches math skills and grades instantly.  I will be supplementing them with a program called Prodigy.  They absolutely love this game. They complete math questions in order to gain items and fight evil in the imaginary world.

My youngest will probably start Horizons Math later this year depending on how school is going for him.  All of my kids have started off using Horizons Math.

We are also continuing with XtraMath.org for the 4th and 5th graders.  I can’t say enough great things about this website!  It’s a completely free way to make sure your kids understand all of their math facts.  As a mom, I can login and see how they are doing as well and what needs improvement.

For my oldest, we will continue with Math-U-See to finish Algebra 2 and then she will be moving on to Stewardship.  That is a consumer math program.

Language Arts:

We are continuing Building Spelling Skills for the middle 3 to work on spelling.

My youngest will continue with Explode the Code.

My youngest will also continue Reading Kingdom about 2-3 times a week.  You can get a FREE month here. We tried it out for a review and several of my other kids have completed this program in previous years.

We will be using A Reason For Handwriting (various levels) with the younger three kids as well.

Easy Grammar will be used with most of the kids to cover Grammar topics.

Bible:

As a family, we are going to be working through Who is My Neighbor? from Apologia.  My middle 3 will have workbooks to go along with the program.  From the website, this textbook focuses on the questions:

• Does Anyone Really Need Me?
• How Can I make a Difference?
• Who is my Neighbor?
• Why did God Make Families?
• What Can I Do for my Country?
• Why Can’t we all just Get Along?
• Who is God’s Family?
• Why Does the Church Need Me?

I felt that this year was a great year to cover loving our neighbors.

Social Studies:

We will continue to pull from Allinonehomeschool.com for the middle three and of course the vast variety of books at the library.

Science:

I will be using Apologia’s Anatomy with the middle three.  I really like Apologia’s sciences!  We had a lot of fun with their Zoology last year.

Electives and Extracurriculars:

My 8th grader is going to get a jump start on his high school courses by starting Apologia’s Health and Nutrition course.  We used this with my oldest and we liked how it flowed.

Other than that we are going to work on some online drawing classes and develop some hobbies this year instead of doing a lot of activities outside the house.  It will be a little bit crazy around here now that we will have FIVE students this year!!

Final Thoughts:  

If you are new to homeschooling this year, know that it is doable!  If cost is prohibitive for your family, consider Allinonehomeschool.com, which is a completely FREE homeschool curriculum!  Have a great year!

I’m so not ready this year!  It’s going too fast and I want time to slow down and summer to stay a bit longer.  Time to face the facts that school is upon us!

If you care to look back, you can see what we used in the 2015-2016 year here or in the 2016-2017 school year here. 2017-2018 can be found here.  Last year’s 2018-2019 can be found here. Some of it is the same and some has changed.

This upcoming school year, I will have an 11th grader, 7th grader, 4th grader, 3rd grader and a preschooler.  That sounds crazy that we are so far along in our homeschool life now.  The past 2 years my older two have done the majority of their school work with a local homeschool co-op, however with budget changes due to medical bills, we are bringing it back home this year.  I’m definitely nervous about taking everything on again.

Math:

Math, we are once again using Horizons Math, but only for my 3rd and 4th graders. For my oldest, we will continue with Math-U-See and she will be moving on to Algebra 2.  My 7th grader will be using Teaching Textbooks this year.

We are also continuing with XtraMath.org for the 3rd and 4th graders.  I can’t say enough great things about this website!  It’s a completely free way to make sure your kids understand all of their math facts.  As a mom, I can login and see how they are doing as well and what needs improvement.  We actually bribe the kids and each day they get a green light, meaning that they did well, they get a piece of candy.  Once they completely finish a chart, they earn $1  Usually it takes many months for them to complete the chart, but that’s okay!

We will also be continuing to use Whizz.com to supplement in our math. I feel it’s well worth the investment.

Language Arts:

My 3rd and 4th graders will continue through on Saxon Grammar and Writing.  I have been pleased with this program.

We are continuing Building Spelling Skills for the middle 3 to work on spelling.

My preschooler will begin with Explode the Code.

We are continuing Reading Kingdom with our 3rd and 4th gardens, as they are both almost finished with the programs.  I feel it’s been very thorough and has been teaching typing along with reading.  You can get a FREE month here. We tried it out for a review and loved it. When he’s old enough, we will add our preschooler.

My middle schooler is going to continue working through Jump In!, which he started this summer for a review.  I also purchased their high school version to use with my oldest.

We are going to be pulling more stuff for them from All in One Homeschool this year.

Bible:

We are going to work more on Catechism questions this year and reading together as a family.  I am still researching Bible curriculums and haven’t decided if we will do one or not.

Social Studies:

History we will continue to pull from Allinonehomeschool.com for the little girls and of course the vast variety of books at the library.

My 11th grader will be beginning Government and Economics using Allinonehomeschool.com.

My 7th grader will be using Memoria Press’s The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic and 200 Questions about American History.

Science:

Science we will be using Apologia’s Zoology with the middle 3 kids.

We will also continue to pull from Allinonehomeschool.com, enjoy homeschool day at Sandy Creek, and of course the library as well.

My 11th grader will be doing Apologia’s Physical Science this year and my 7th grader will be using Apologia’s General Science.

Electives and Extracurriculars:

My 11th Grader is going to be taking Psychology and Sociology.  She’s super excited about that!

My 7th Grader isn’t taking any extras but he will continue in the local Trail Life Troop.

My 4th and 3rd graders are hoping to take trapeze this year!

The preschooler is hoping to just be outside and play 😉

When it comes time to order our homeschool materials, I always turn to ChristianBook.com because their prices are typically far better than other websites, including curriculum sites.  Currently you can save up to 50% on select curriculum & resources! They are also offering FREE U.S. shipping on orders over $35 with code HSFBJULY20.  

I just finished purchasing the final things that we needed for our school year.  If you’re curious what we are using, you can find that information here.