I had been contemplating homeschooling for quite awhile now – talking with friends and learning all I could about curriculum, but we hadn’t planned on starting till after our next PCS (move) in December 2020. However, with with the Spring 2020 school year ending so oddly (thanks to COVID-19, quarantine and social distancing) we actually decided to start right away.
We’ve been lucky to be surrounded by so many friends here that homeschool and it was so helpful to just sit and talk with them, browse through curriculum they used and learn what worked (and didn’t) from their own experiences.
In addition to friends, the book, Call of the Wild and Free, was a great resource for determining what style of homeschool I wanted to do. I also found Confessions of a Homeschooler to provide a ton of information, but I especially enjoyed her podcast. And as homeschool laws vary from state to state, the Time 4 Learning site was very informative.
Lots of local friends participate in Classical Conversations and I was fortunate enough to attend one of their presentations at the local library (before quarantine began) that was very helpful. In the end I decided to go the “eclectic homeschool route” and pick and choose individual curriculum per subject based on my children’s needs and interests.
With Nathan going into the 7th grade, we chose to use the following:
- Math: Saxon 8/7 (with an online subscription to Nicole the Math Lady for additional tutorials)
- Science: Apologia General Science (we ordered Nature’s Workshop Lab Kit to correspond with the textbook). **Apologia offers a military, ministry and missionary discount.
- History: Notgrass Uncle Sam and You (chosen because it’s an election year, and both kids will do this subject together)
- Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing Structure & Style, Year 1, Level B (which includes Fix It Grammar: Frog Prince, or Just Deserts)
- Vocabulary: Wordly Wise, Book 7 (I purchased the student edition book, key and tests – no need for the teacher’s guide).
- Bible: morning devotions led by dad and Story of the World, Vol. 1 (both kids will do this subject together).
- Extras: Dave Ramsey Foundations in Finance Middle School, Fallacy Detective, Lego Education SPIKE, Snap Circuits, Golf lessons
With Ali starting 5th grade, we chose to use the following:
- Math: Saxon 6/5 (with an online subscription to Nicole the Math Lady for additional tutorials)
- Science: Apologia Chemistry & Physics (we ordered Nature’s Workshop Lab Kit to correspond with the textbook). **Apologia offers a military, ministry and missionary discount.
- History: Notgrass Uncle Sam and You
- Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing Structure & Style, Year 1, Level A (which includes Fix It Grammar: The Nose Tree)
- Vocabulary: Wordly Wise, Book 5 (I purchased the student edition book, key and tests – no need for the teacher’s guide).
- Bible: morning devotions led by dad and Story of the World, Vol. 1
- Extras: Lego Education SPIKE, Snap Circuits, Piano lessons, Art lessons, Golf lessons
And as I’m a huge planner, it took me quite awhile to figure out how to plan our homeschool year. There are tons of options out there but I knew I wanted to do something digitally, that I could share with my kids (they both have iPads) and fell in love with the free task-manager program, Trello. It took quite awhile to get set up (mostly because I watched a ton of YouTube videos to learn how to use it). I first set up a master homeschool board to serve as my weekly template.
And then entered in all their subjects (per child) for the whole year. Note that each subject has it’s own color. This was the most time consuming part, but thank goodness for the “copy board” feature. Most curriculum include 4 or 5 days of instruction per week, and last anywhere from 24-33 weeks.
Then on a weekly basis it takes me about 15 minutes (usually done on Friday afternoon once all their weekly assignments are completed) to clear out the old assignements and set up next week’s board.
As my kids are a little older, much of their work is task-oriented and self-directed. Trello allows them to move assignments around and do them in whatever order they want. It’s also helpful when we have appointments or lessons during the day that upset our typical day at home.