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Fearful of school? This can help.

August 12, 2020 by Tasha Hackett Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Fearful of school? Here’s what worked for Tasha, and it’s beautiful advice!

Fearful of school? This can help.

by Tasha Hackett

Pushing Back Fear

I’ve found many helpful things to push back fear. Practical, tangible, concrete ways to stay grounded are so helpful for me. Fear can keep us from doing anything and everything. Niggling doubts and insecurities have a way of sucking the joy out of what could have been an amazing adventure. When we’re faced with making a decision the fear of picking the wrong one can keep us from picking at all until we’re out of time and are stuck to simply go with the default or what may appear to be the easiest.

Write Down Specific Fears

When I was overwhelmed with making the decision to homeschool my oldest I did not know if I was doing the right thing. I would make a decision in my mind and immediately question my choice, therefore I would flip the other way. A pros and cons list never helps me. Maybe because I’m a wordplayer and can manipulate anything to sound the way I want it to. What I finally ended up doing changed everything. 

 

baby announcement

How was I ever going to do this with another baby on the way?

I started writing down every doubt and fear and question I had about homeschooling. In my heart it’s what I knew I wanted to do–I just didn’t want to do it. Essentially, it became a page of fear questions. And it looked something like this:

What if he misses his friends? Will I lose my temper too often and yell at him? I’m going to be too tired when the new baby is born? Wouldn’t it be better for him to be in school when there’s a newborn at home? What if his siblings are jealous of the extra attention he demands? Can I teach him everything he needs to know? What if the school thinks I’m weird because Ben is still teaching there? Is it weird for a family who works at a school to homeschool their own kids? Isn’t that sort of hypocritical? What if I never have time to pursue my own interests again? What if my family doesn’t support me? Is Ben be willing to pick up the slack around the house? What if I completely botch the whole thing and have to send him back to school next year and he’s behind? 

After the Fears Came the Truths

homeschool siblings

When my fears filled most of a page I started a clean one to answer all my questions. This became my page of truths. And it looked something like this:

We can schedule meet-ups with his school friends and will make more friends through the homeschool group. I will probably lose my temper some, but this is a personal problem that needs to be addressed whether or not I’m homeschooling. I will be tired with the new baby, but how wonderful for him to get to experience his baby brother. Loving and caring for a newborn is more important than anything I could teach him through books. I will have fun toys and games to play with the little ones while he does his school. Kids are only here for a few short years, there will be plenty of time to pursue my interests, also I can involve them in my life, that’s part of the joy of homeschooling. My family does support me. Ben is always helpful when I ask him to help with chores around the house. I’m not going to botch the whole thing, and if something happens and I have to put him back in school, that would be embarrassing, but nothing that I couldn’t move on from. 

Through the next week, I added more fears and more truths. Eventually, I was able to pinpoint a few main things I was most worried about and a beautiful thing happened: I was able to practically set aside the emotion connected with all those would-be fears and look at the situation logically. When I took away the strong emotion connected with it, it was a simple decision. If I wasn’t afraid, I wanted to bring him home. And that’s what I did. I didn’t pull him out or even start homeschooling. What I did was bring him home and it was the absolute best thing. 

I Started With Nothing

homeschool siblings

I had no curriculum or lesson plans, or year overview. I simply asked him, “What would you like to learn about?” And he said, “crocodiles.” We checked out every book the library had about crocodiles which launched our two-month study on crocodiles and learned loads of new vocabulary, geography, science, math, some paleontology, and archeology. Because we drew pictures of them, saw them at the zoo, and watched videos about them, they came to life in so many ways. Did you know a healthy crocodile can live up to two years without eating? Do you know what an osteoderm is? Did you know crocodiles communicate with each other over distances by the distinct way they splash their torso in the water? Did you know mama crocodiles will sometimes take turns watching the babies? Our studies naturally led to Ancient Egypt and we studied the culture and geography of Egypt, and how and why they built the pyramids. I learned SO MUCH with him during those first few months of school and the younger siblings were there for all of it.

lego pyramid

Their toys took on new roles after studying the Egyptians

Interestingly, we almost never used a table or desk because we were reading books on the couch or building things on the ground. The second semester I bought a full curriculum and as valuable as it was, I missed those early months of school with him.

block pyramids

This pyramid building project lasted for days.

I Know You’ve Made a Difficult Decision

If you have kids at home, you have made decisions regarding their school. I don’t want to talk you into homeschooling. By this time, you’ve decided where your kids will be going this fall. But I don’t want you to enter into homeschooling with fear–or send your kids to school in fear. Whatever you have settled on for this school year, I want you to be at peace! You know what’s best for you, for them, and for your family! You’ve looked through the options, you weighed the merits of each side, and you’ve made, or will soon make a decision. And then in three months, everything might flip over on its head and you are allowed to change your mind! 

Signing up for school

How parents feel signing their kids up for school Fall 2020

You are not Ariel! As funny as that picture is, it’s just not true! Yes, you want to be consistent, but if the finality of the decision is bothering you, realize you have not signed your soul to the follow-through of either one. (But I would suggest not telling that to your kids, as they may not put their best foot forward.)

Fear Did Not Influence My Decision to Homeschool

When I brought my oldest home from first grade, it was not an easy decision. There were family reasons that influenced my choice to bring him home, not a pandemic, but I still agonized over it. I was full of doubt for many months leading up to it. baby holding

Fear is real, and too much is not healthy. The scriptures are loaded with encouraging passages reminding us to “fear not” and that “perfect love drives out fear” and to “cast your anxiety,” etc. God really wants us to live at peace in him and let him guide us. But practically, what does that mean? What does that look like from day to day? How can we lean on him and simply fear not? Are we not still responsible for evaluating the options and making an educated decision and when both options have their pros and cons and neither answer is perfect and we have friends on both ends who are perfectly happy and what if we screw it all up and pick the wrong one and ruin everyone’s life forever!? You get me? I know I am not alone in this struggle with anxiety and fear and trying to hold everything together. The best answer I can give you to push back fear is to actively push back the fear… make sense? 

Be in the Scriptures

Wait, come back! Okay, Jesus is the answer to everything, right? I almost didn’t add this Jesus paragraph because I don’t want to suggest some cliché solution or to make it one-stop in a lineup of others. God isn’t the priority that you can check off and then move on to the next thing, rather he’s the center that permeates out into everything. Considering this, please understand that though the above suggestions are concrete solutions, tangible, they are done with a calm mind and the comfort of knowing God’s love is greater and bigger than anything this physical world can throw at you. Being daily in the scriptures and finding ways to connect with the Holy Spirit through study and worship will calm your mind in more ways than you or I will ever know.

Remember You’re Not Alone

Be sure to check out the abundance of resources Laura has already provided here. You don’t have to reinvent anything! I’ve written about Beautiful Feet Books curriculum, and a step by step guide to start homeschooling. Laura has shared about how she makes the start of school special each year, and how this year is going to look different. And we have a whole section of homeschool resources included in your membership!

What is helping you launch this school year? How have you handled the doubts surrounding this year?

May your school year be blessed with peace and joy and lots and lots of smiles. 

Tasha


homeschool momTasha Hackett is a friend of Laura who likes to encourage mamas and write about money and school and Christmas. When she’s not forgetting to water her pot of flowers or pick the zucchini she can be found reading books to her four children, launching new business ideas with her public-school-teaching husband or serving a dry crust of bread to her family. Laura is still here and @heavenlyhomemaker, she just let’s Tasha play on the blog a couple times a month. For more homeschool shenanigans you can find Tasha personally on her Instagram account @HackettAcademy. 

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Back to School Routines – How to Make them FUN this year!

August 2, 2020 by Laura 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Whatever school looks like for you this year, might I suggest that you continue some of your normal back to school routines? You can most definitely still have a lot of fun with this. Here are some ideas!

This post contains pictures of my grown-up kids back when they were little. Remember these guys?!

We’re starting our 18th year of homeschooling. Every year before we officially begin a new school year we:

  1. Order books and basically have an unboxing party when they come in! (Read: excitedly spread books and materials ALL OVER THE FLOOR. This is one mess that mom doesn’t care about and most certainly contributes to.)
  2. Make school supply lists for each kid and go shopping together – and yes. I make them pose in the school supply aisle for our annual picture. Then we go out for a fun lunch. (Said lunch used to include free kids meals which made the final bill very small. Now? I don’t want to talk about it.)
  3. Have a special prayer time the night before our first school day.

Numbers 1 and 3 can easily be accomplished even with COVID. We’ll have to get creative about accomplishing #2 – but WE WILL DO THIS IN SOME FORM. I love this family tradition too much to nix it.

Back to School Routines – How to Make them FUN this year!

Consider what your family typically does in the weeks before a new school year starts. While some of you may be distance learning or homeschooling for the first time this year – if at all possible, still do your traditional back to school “things.” I’m guessing your kids are longing for some sort of “normal” and most certainly they need something to look forward to if you’ve all been stuck at home for months and months. Here are some ideas:

Shop for clothes.

Even if your kids don’t need as many school clothes this year. Even if you can’t actually go to the store. Online shopping works. New shirts are fun. And the excitement of picking out some new items as a fresh school year begins may be a nice pick-me-up for your kids!

What about picking out new school supplies?

A new school year means new pencils. Folders. Notebooks. Make a list of what each child needs, even if the list is minimal, and let them be a part of choosing their new items if possible. Perhaps find a fun basket or tray to house all of their supplies. Maybe set up an inviting schooling area in your home.

Something for lunches?

If your kids are used to packing a lunch every day for school, but will instead be eating lunch every day at home, I think it’s a nice idea to allow them to suggest some fun lunch items they might like as a new school year begins. Hopefully, this will double as a win for the parents who likely need some easy lunch foods ready to grab out of the fridge as you all settle into a new routine!

Ah, the extracurriculars…

Many of them are canceled for the fall. So is there a way you might be able to organize something active and safe for the kids in your neighborhood? Or at the very least, make a plan for your family to do something active and creative together in the afternoons or evenings. If your kids are into music or drama – come up with says to sing and act. Make videos. Play charades. Be intentional. Have fun.

The last hurrah

Our family has had this tradition for 17+ years and by golly, I’m going to figure out how to keep it going this year too. (Why yes I do plan to make Asa drive from out of town to meet us for this. Even though he’s done with college. Even though he’s fully adulting with a full time job and a retirement plan. I’ll buy him something for his work or for his house?? Whatever gets him here.) :)

As I mentioned above, our tradition is that every year we make a list of school supplies we need, go shopping together, then eat lunch at Runza, our local favorite fast food restaurant. Since we almost never eat out, this is always a huge treat.

It’s worth noting that our years of school supply shopping have gone from crayons and glue sticks to college dorm rugs and trashcans and…back to crayons and glue sticks. This year we’ll be shopping for both (school kids 1st grade through college senior!!).

Can we actually make this last hurrah happen? Taking our huge tribe to the store for shopping together this year may not be an option. So I’m brainstorming for how we can still shop together somehow. Runza is a given, because at the very least we can go to the drive thru and eat our food together at home. Hmmm….

That little baby looking at his kindergarten school list is heading to college in one week.
I’m not crying. You’re crying.

Start a new tradition!

So this year is different. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. Be an example to your kids by letting them know how excited you are about some of the fun changes this year brings! Brainstorm with your family for ways to celebrate this new school year – different though it may be. Ice cream for dinner the night before school starts? Popcorn and prayer time as you head into a new year? New pajamas for everyone for the first day of homeschool? Vote on a homeschool mascot? Be creative – have fun!

Here’s to a great new school year!

God is biggest. And because of this, we can count on many great blessings as we head back to school!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

How Do I Start a Homeschool?

July 26, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

So you think you can start a homeschool? Enjoy this article from Tasha!

How to Start a Homeschool

By Tasha Hackett

Going back to school looks different this year. In light of everything going on in the world, many are choosing to homeschool. You may be sick of hearing about it! What are schools going to do with the COVID situation? Do we homeschool because we want more protection in the school or because we want everything to go back to normal? Even parents who never wanted to homeschool their kids, ever, are looking into homeschool. If you’re a seasoned homeschooling family, go ahead and forward this article to someone needing encouragement. 

Where Do I Begin for Homeschool?

So let’s say, hypothetically, that you wanted to homeschool your kids this year. You may be asking, “How do I even start? Where should I begin? What do I do first?” 

There are amazing resources everywhere and I know it can be overwhelming. I’ll break down the essentials of homeschooling for you in a few simple steps. 

Legal Steps to Take Before You Start a Homeschool

First, make sure you’re going about it legally. You are not allowed to simply buy a few books and tell your friends you’re homeschooling. Your kid will be just fine, but the government frowns upon that and you could get into trouble. (Most likely your local school will call you and find out what’s going on, and then they will tell you to do what you should have done and say, “Tisk Tisk.” But let’s avoid that.)

Go to hslda.org/legal (Home School Legal Defense Association) and find out what specific laws are required in your state. Some states require yearly testing, others just want a signature. For Nebraska, we signed a form, named our school, and filled out another form with our local school–including putting birth certificates on file. You can have fun with this and name it something creative and inspiring like, “Sunshine Unicorn Lollipop and Rainbows Happy Homeschool” or “Hackett Academy” or you can move right along and be amazingly simple: “Coppinger Homeschool.” This is not a game-changer and the government doesn’t care. 

Promise me you will not freak out when the form asks you complicated questions and use fancy words like “the scope and sequence” of your curriculum (don’t make this answer complicated) and ask you to “provide instruction in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and health.” I’m telling you not to be threatened by this type of chatter.

What they want to know is simple: Are you going to teach your kids and take them outside and go for walks and let them know what’s going on in the world? Yes? Good. Next. Play around on the HSLDA website, there are lots of goodies there that are helpful for beginners. Just don’t get lost in the weeds. 

So we’ve covered the legal aspect of homeschooling, now what? 

Now the real Homeschool fun begins: Curriculum!

This is where every family has their own opinion and some will fight to the death for Saxon Math and A Beka Language Arts. We love the curriculum book packs from Beautiful Feet Books and Sonlight. But we also use a hodgepodge of other resources. For Preschool/Kindergarten, Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve is a golden standard.

For peace of mind, you can purchase an all-inclusive curriculum pack from a huge variety of Homeschool publishers. This is a great option if you are nervous and want to make sure you have everything covered. But seasoned homeschoolers may tell you this is unnecessary. 

Essentially: Pick something and run with it and then be flexible. You’re allowed to change your mind if you hate it. But you might love it. 

Homeschooling a Kindergartener 

Just have fun! This is the year they should learn to love learning and love school. This isn’t the time to bog them down with busy-work (unless they really love worksheets, and some children do.) I would not recommend an expensive math curriculum for Kindergarten or 1st grade. Kindergarten math means counting and shapes and patterns, learning the days of the week and months of the year. Kids do not have to learn how to read in Kindergarten unless they are inclined to. 

homeschool activities

Laura Ingalls paper dolls.

Multiple studies have proven that accelerated learning in the early years (before seven) DOES NOT increase reading ability, grades, or advanced placement in the later years, and can in fact have the opposite result. (Read any of the homeschooling books by Dr. Raymond Moore for more information on this.)

Legal boxes checked and homeschool books picked out, now what?

You will have to decide what works best for your own homeschool. No one is an expert in your kids the way you are. My habit is to set aside time each morning for school, Laura does much of hers in the afternoon. 

Protect your mornings (or whatever time you have set aside for school). Set aside certain hours for school work and protect that time. Don’t answer the phone, don’t play on social media. Turn off the TV. Don’t schedule dentist appointments or random park dates or lessons during your school hours, within reason. (Remember how we’re still being firm… but flexible?)

Make a plan and be consistent, but relax if things need to change. If mama is stressed, everybody is stressed. Protecting your mornings doesn’t mean you must be a rigid taskmaster. 

homeschool schedule

A Sample Homeschool Schedule to Start With

Our homeschool day will look something like this but yours may be entirely different: 

6:00 AM Mom awake and prepare for the day. 

7:00 AM Kids wake up. (We have a rule they may not come out of their rooms until 7 AM)

7-8:00 AM Dad off to work. Breakfast for all. Daily chores and general clean up.

8-9:00 AM Morning Time (We start our homeschool day all together, with the baby on my lap and the others sitting on the couch with me. Memory work, poetry, singing, check calendar to what’s happening the rest of the week.)

9-11:00 AM Other book subjects. Language, Math, Reading, (Baby will have a morning quiet time in crib from 9-10, toddler will play. Small snack at 10.) 

11 – 1:00 PM Free play for kids. Lunch. More play and chores if needed. 

1-3:00 PM Quiet Time. (May play quietly alone. Read, write, draw, etc. This is life for a family with littles home together all day.) 

3 – 5:00 PM Snack and then outside play. 

5 – 7:00 PM Dinner and Chores.

7-8:00 PM Bedtime routine with Dad

8 – 10:00 PM Mom and Dad hang out.

You Can Start a Homeschool! You Got This! 

book activities

When I first started, even though I was homeschooled as a kid, I felt lost trying to figure it all out as a parent. But really, you’ll be okay! Fill out the legal forms, choose a few basic books/curriculum, and arrange a generic daily schedule. Boom. Done. 

You’re Not Alone

We have many resources available right here on this site. You’d be surprised how much support there is for homeschooling once you start looking! If you’re feeling lost and afraid, remember that there are thousands of others faced with making the same decision you are. Chin up!

Be sure to share this article for all your friends who are struggling with this same decision; a basic step-by-step plan is a great way to calm your nerves.

Subscribe for more homeschool, homemaking, and simple meals encouragement.

Blessings on your new homeschooling adventure!


homeschool momTasha Hackett, friend of Laura, is a second generation homeschool mom x4 living in the heart of Nebraska. She spends her free time, (haha, she has no free time), reading and writing Christian Romance novels, and DIYing anything that needs done. She’s a huge promoter of being debt free. Laura is still here! Tasha is only a contributing author a few times a month. You can find Tasha @hackettacademy and on Laura’s IG account @heavenlyhomemaker. 

 

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

How I’m Organizing our Homeschool Days

July 22, 2020 by Laura 6 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I’ll share today about how I’m organizing our homeschool days. But if I’ve learned anything during the past 18 years of homeschooling, it’s that flexibility is key!

In many ways, as I sat down to write this post I wondered if someone else could write it for me. :) How exactly am I supposed to organize our homeschool days? Our high school sophomore can do most of his work on his own (if I help him stay organized with these planners). But our first grader needs almost constant direction. Meanwhile, our babies have turned toddler and well, they are busy.

I considered doing all of Brayden’s school work with him during the babies’ afternoon nap. But I need part of their naptime to:

  1. Do my blog work.
  2. Breathe and have a little downtime after a very full morning.

I prayed about this quite a bit, because who’s better to offer direction on what seems to have no solution but the One who gave us all these kids in the first place? So here’s what we’re looking at for our 2020-21 school year:

How I’m Organizing our Homeschool Days

1. Kid Folder Solutions

I created a very simple but brilliant folder solution for both Brayden and Malachi. Before a new week begins, I’ll fill the boys’ folders with work for the week ahead. This means that if it’s a printable, I’ll print it and put it into the folder. If it’s from a workbook, I’ll tear it out and put it into a folder. Instead of asking Brayden to “go get your math book” then “go get your handwriting book” then… I’ll simply have him get out the days’ folder and everything we need will be in one easy place.

(Club Members will find this printable pack of resources in both the “Printables Collection” section and the “eCurriculum” section of the membership site. Come and get it! Get yourself organized. Work yourself out of a job.)

Also – I’m using the Homeschool Planners here for both Malachi (10th grade) and for myself. He needs a list to work off of to help him stay focused. And I need plans out of my brain and onto paper. These planners reallllly help us both!

I actually experimented with this idea during the summer before officially beginning our new school year, just to see how it would work for all of us. BRILLIANT!!! I’m loving this so far!

Which leads me to…

2. Printables and workbook pages are working for us.

They haven’t always, because my boys all tend to prefer hands-on learning. But I’ve found that it’s working well right now to have simple math, handwriting, and enrichment pages ready to pull out of each day’s folder (fresh pages go in the right pocket, completed pages in the left).

Brayden and I work on these at the kitchen counter in the mornings after the babies have had their breakfast and are content to play (and make a monster mess) in the living room while we work. I can watch babies and help Brayden at the same time, mostly. This is actually helping Brayden learn to already become an independent learner, which is very good for him.

(You can read more info about all of the printables and worksheets we have here.)

Once the babies are bored with playing in the living room and Brayden has worked his way through as much as possible…

3. Brayden takes a worksheet break and we move on to free play.

Since the weather is so nice, we use this time to take long walks. The babies love strolling with us and are content for at least an hour! So they stroll while Brayden and I walk and learn. We’ve discovered new kinds of flowers, caterpillars in cacoons, varieties of train cars, food people have growing in their gardens, construction workers and machines — everything can be educational! And while we’re walking, we are talking (non-stop, ehem) and learning.

Once winter hits, these times of walking-and-learning will end. But we’ll find new ways to explore and learn, no doubt!

Smoothies for the road are highly recommended. :)

We play more, we have lunch, we check on how Malachi is doing with school work and video editing work (he is working remotely for Asa!)

4. After the babies go down for a nap in the afternoon…

Brayden and I sit and read. History books, read-alouds, and Bible. This takes about 45 minutes, then Brayden has some screen time while I get some blog work done (and drink coffee, obviously).

Our little experiment has worked well so far, and hopefully this will be our basic structure for the upcoming school year. But again – flexibility is key. We have no idea what this school year will bring. So we’ll make adaptations as needed.

What is your upcoming school year looking like at this point? Know that I am praying for all of us as we head into many unknowns this school year. :)

P.S. If you haven’t yet, please consider joining us here. You will love the useful resources!!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Back to School Looks Different. Might this help?

July 20, 2020 by Laura 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

To say that “back to school looks different” this year is kind of an understatement. Even for those of us who have homeschooled for a very long time, it looks different. Will there even be field trips, co-op days, our regular P.E. group days, etc? :(

But for some of you, the changes surrounding the upcoming school year are even more difficult. For those of you who never intended to homeschool and have chosen it for this season. Or those who are planning to do distance learning at home through your local school. Or those who are cautiously sending your kids to the school building knowing that things will look much different than normal. I’m proud of all of you for choosing what is best for your family during this season.

And teachers?

Oh, teachers. Those who love their classroom because of the dear students who fill it and learn inside its walls. I am really sad for you as you’ve endured so many changes in both your career and in your life. And I admire you. You’ve had to make so many adaptations and have worked harder than most of us realize. YOU HAVE ROCKED THIS. I’m amazed at you.

I have a hunch that classroom teachers long for normalcy more than the rest of us – and that’s saying something. Well anyway, this post is intended to be one of encouragement and hopefully lots of help too! Let me head in that direction now, but I couldn’t do that without first acknowledging the pain and challenges that put us all here in the first place.

“Back to School” Looks Different

While none of us are walking the exact same path (and aren’t we glad that God has different and perfect plans for each of us!!) – what I’ve seen for almost everyone is that our plates are all just a bit more full than they used to be.

It’s funny, isn’t it? There are fewer places to go and perhaps not as many outside commitments with so many activities and events canceled. But at home? Well, the cancelation of outside events means that we are all home more, which can make our work at home much bigger than it used to be in some ways.

For instance, if everyone is now working from home and schooling from home, the house gets messier and more meals and snacks need to be made. Take it from a long-time work-from-home-and-school-the-kids-from-home mom. The messes are real and frequent and the hunger is real and constant!

If you’re used to grabbing lunch at a restaurant during a lunch hour and counting on your kids to eat at the school cafeteria – suddenly you need to figure out lunches at home. If snacks used to be eaten in the car on the way to sports practice after school – suddenly snacks are requested every afternoon just about the time you thought you’d catch a five-minute breather.

Thanks for the encouragement, Laura.

Hmmm. I told you this post was intended to encourage, but here I am pointing out more changes and harder work!

But wait. I do have encouragement and help and resources! I have so much encouragement you won’t even believe it. (Really, I do.)

First of all, there’s this:  While almost everything around us has changed, GOD HASN’T GONE ANYWHERE. He knew this was coming, He has been at work all along, and because He is a God of good plans for all of His people, He is constantly at work to teach us more about who He is and how He loves us. God is bringing so much good to all of us during this time! Do you see it? Do you recognize it? Just think about all the good God has done during these past months of change and trial. HE IS SO GOOD.

(And yes, even if we’ve experienced extreme hardship during this time, He is still good, still at work, and still working out His good plans. Hardship is how we learn more about who He is. I know this. I’ve experienced this.)

Here’s where I’m hoping to help.

All I’ve been able to think about recently is how I can help and what I can offer. I have 12+ years of resources here at Heavenly Homemakers, and I put the best of them all in our Heavenly Homemaker’s Membership Club site. But I kept thinking that I needed to add more. More to help us all as we figure out more meals at home, more snacks at home, perhaps more about schooling at home, and all the planning and organizing that comes with this new journey we’re all on (different as it may be for each of us).

First, let’s talk about Menu Planning.

What I felt was the biggest need for most of us is figuring out food (or maybe that’s simply where my brain always goes because I love everything about food). How can we all feed our families well without having to:

  • reinvent the wheel
  • spend more time than necessary
  • or work harder at something that we don’t all love to do?

Our membership site already offers an entire year’s worth of Simple Meals packets ($52 value). But I knew we needed more. So the packets are still there, but instead of leaving the section as it was, only offering pre-made menu plans and grocery lists, I exchanged this section:

With THIS:

It’s an entire page filled with Menu Planning Resources now!!!!!

It includes:

  • 52 weeks worth of Simple Meals planning packets (like it always did) and also…
  • Our exclusive Recipe Search Bar – so you can type in any ingredients you want to use and find recipes that work with those very ingredients – incredible!
  • A brand new packet of printable and practical Menu Planners for you to fill in and use in any way that works for YOU.
  • Cheat Sheets!! (These are my favorite new resources!!) These cheat sheets are filled with lists and links that include 100’s of ideas for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks! So instead of thinking on your own and spending a lot of time scrolling and reading and brainstorming, you can simply pull up these Cheat Sheets and skim them to get all kinds of wonderful, simple, tasty, real food ideas!

And here’s a little peek at a few of our new printable menu planners. Some of them allow you to only plan meals and snacks, like a regular menu planner. Others give you the option to plan your entire day – with appointments and to-do lists and oh yeah, your menu plan too! That’s my favorite planning page – so I can plan my entire day from school to appointments to meals all on one page!

And what else did we add to the Heavenly Homemakers Membership Site?

More Homeschool Resources

While we already offered an entire section of Homeschool Encouragement articles:

And we already included a huge selection of homeschool curriculum and printables and materials:

But we just added more. And we had in mind everyone from veteran homeschoolers to new homeschoolers to online distance learners and classroom teachers!

Here’s what’s new:

We created over 50 printable enrichment pages.

While I love our Sonlight curriculum, I always also have files on my computer full of activities and worksheets and printable books I can use to encourage further learning and fun for my kids. The goal for these sheets, also, is to give my kids activities that they can work on in their own time, without much help from me – hopefully!

These printables cover subjects from math to science, to English, to reading, to social studies, to brain stimulation.

Homeschool Planners

We also created and added a packet of Homeschool Planners to our Club Membership site. This includes planners for both students AND parents!

Here’s a little sample of what some of the planners look like:

And the simplest but perhaps my favorite…

Kid Folder Solutions

This is how I’ll be organizing our boys’ school work for this year. The idea is simple and that’s what I love about it. This will help them (from 1st grade to 10th grade this year!) be more independent plus it will keep all of their work in one place. I love this! Club Members, check out Kid Folder Solutions in both the “Family Learning Printables” section and the “eCurriculum Collection.”

$50 added to our $1,000+ worth of resources!

So in summary, while our Club Membership site already includes well over $1,000 worth of helpful resources, we just added over $50 more! Club members enjoy:

  • all of our eBooks and eCurriculum
  • our beautifully organized recipe section,
  • a page full of Kitchen Tips
  • a page full of Family Tips
  • a page full of Homemaking Tips
  • loads of Homeschool Encouragement
  • and now a fantastic new Menu Planning Resources page!
  • Plus we’re slowly adding articles to our Foster Care and Adoption Journal if you’d like to follow along. :)

Join our Heavenly Homemakers Club!

We’d love for you to enjoy all of these resources and more. :)

Already a member? Go check out all the new resources we added!! Read to join?

 

Get even more details about what our Heavenly Homemakers Membership Site offers here.

 

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Laura’s Favorite Books for Homeschool (and how I feel about starting over)

July 17, 2020 by Laura 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

If you’ve been reading here long, you already know my favorite books for homeschool. But who doesn’t love talking about books? So I thought I’d share again and talk a little bit about what our school year might look like.

Do you like how I said, “…what our school year MIGHT look like”?? I’ve been homeschooling for many years (18!) and if I’ve learned anything about homeschooling or about life in general it’s that one should not make firm plans. Instead, one should try to be fairly organized, but be willing and open to changes that are sure to be necessary!

What? Life is uncertain?

Yes, just a little bit. I’m looking at you, COVID. But on a personal level, I will share this example:

Malachi is a sophomore in high school this year. (Asa has graduated from college, Justus will be a college senior, and Elias a college freshman/sophomore.) We had planned to homeschool for just three more years and then tra-la-la right out of this homeschool life that we’ve loved so much.

Then two years ago God (long story short) said, “You know how you got rid of all your elementary school books? Well, here are some more kids for you to raise and teach. Indeed, you are starting right over again. Go ahead and order all the books again.” If this hasn’t been the biggest lesson in not making plans, I don’t know what is.

It’s also been the most beautiful lesson.

So here I am, with my adult and college sons out of the house. And my sophomore “baby” who has now become the oldest of four boys at home, hahahaha.

What might school look like this year?

Malachi will be finishing most of his high-school-only classes this year and begin taking college classes for dual credit for the rest of his high school years. You can read here about how we do this for our family.

Brayden is a 1st grader this year, and I need to tell you this:

We have truly loved homeschooling our older kids. But I was tired and truly ok with and even excited about being finished three years from now. When God gave us more babes, I actually had to grieve a little (more than a little). I thought I was done raising kids and teaching and training and chasing. I was ready to move on, and I might have already danced a jig on the biology book I thought I would never have to teach from again.

While I was so grateful and amazed and excited that God was adding to our family, I simultaneously grieved the loss of what I thought my life would be at this point. It’s hard to explain, but my feelings were big and intense.

What if homeschooling wasn’t the answer?

We considered public or private school for our new guys. It’s not that we’ve been opposed to the school system anyway, especially in our area. Homeschool is simply what we believe God led us to with our older four sons. So sending our new ones to school when the time came…might that be what this new season would bring for us?

But God said no to that option, at least for now. We prayed for months over this, and we only had peace about homeschooling. Brayden especially needed the stability and daily consistency that homeschooling would provide. So I said, “God, if you want us to homeschool these babes, please, please make me want it.”

And He did.

Only after experiencing such hard emotions over what this new life brought could I experience the big joy over what God said yes to. He truly made me want to do this again. It is all Him.

God does not give us these challenging gifts with a pat on the head and a “go get ’em!” No, He gives us these gifts and He says, “I will provide you with everything you need to serve me in the ways I’ve asked you to.”

God absolutely made me want to – and even excited about – homeschooling all over again. I might even be more excited than I was when I homeschooled “Round One” because I know more now than I did when I first started out 18 years ago. Our God is good, big, faithful, and the best provider there is. I love how He works, and I love experiencing His goodness in these brand new ways.

There are no words for the beauty of this life with Bigs and Littles.

So we ordered this years’ books, and I cried.

Why? Because seeing the books and remembering the beauty of my time with our Bigs back when they were my Littles has been precious. And thinking about how much I love our new Littles and how I can’t imagine life without them now, and realizing that I get to live this life with them and enjoy these books and times of learning with them – well. I cried.

I GET TO DO THIS ALL OVER AGAIN!!!

I snapped this picture when our box of Sonlight books came in and sent it to our Bigs saying, “Remember unboxing day?!” They had a variety of fun responses. Yep, they remember!

Brayden is excited to be considered a first-grader this year. He’s a bit behind in a few academic areas, so we’ll be working through the Sonlight’s Kindergarten history, readers, and literature books. We’ll give him a mixture of K-1 math lessons from a variety of sources. He’ll do grade 1 handwriting (Getty-Dubay). We’ll get books from the library to learn about whatever he is interested in. We’ll do lots of enrichment activities (more about this soon!).

I started with Sonlight 18 years ago and while there are many more options now, I still always go back to Sonlight. Part of this is because it’s familiar and comfortable. But it’s also awesome, so why change what’s working for us, right?

My Favorite Books for Homeschool

My favorite thing about Sonlight curriculum is how there are no textbooks involved. We read awesome literature together, learning history and science in a more natural (and more fun!) way. Not only that, the history and the reading options almost always sync up. So when we are learning American History, the readers are from that time period too. Or if we’re studying World History, the readers go along with that era. And they are age/grade appropriate. I just love this!

So that’s a bit about our upcoming school year. Though I have more to share about how I’m trying to organize our days to actually make school happen since we are also chasing around two busy toddlers while keeping up with a high schooler and a college community. So stay tuned for that post!

Tell me what your upcoming school year is looking like! So many are choosing to homeschool this year because of the changes COVID has brought to us all. Have any questions? I don’t know everything, but I do have many years of experience and can answer what I can!

 

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Tasha’s New Favorite Books for Homeschool

July 12, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I’ll take my turn to share my favorite books for homeschool too! For today, check out Tasha’s excitement, experience, and enjoy her encouragement!

Tasha’s New Favorite Books for Homeschool

by Tasha Hackett

I’ve just stumbled upon an amazing homeschool resource! Beautiful Feet Books is my new favorite. Is it weird that I’m already looking forward to the next nine years with my firstborn so I can read more of these books for homeschool?

Do you ever look at a homeschool mom and wonder, “Wow. How does she do it?” Or maybe it’s cringe-worthy and you think, “Jeez, why would someone choose to hang out with their kids all day?”

I get it. Maybe it’s not for everyone. But boy, when all the pieces line up and you get to see the one-year-old crawl into the eight-year-old’s lap for a book and a snuggle and the three and five-year-old are busy cutting paper for a project they’re developing on their own… that’s where the magic happens. I homeschool for a variety of reasons, but one is the gift of learning with them through the reading of great books.

Round two looking for homeschool books

Second generation homeschooling mom here. I always knew that I would homeschool my kids before I even had them. Today, I can tell you, I’m in it for the long haul! This year I have a 3rd grader, a Kindergartener, and an almost four-year-old that doesn’t want to be left out. (Oh! And the one year old will be getting into everything in the meantime.) But things haven’t gone as smoothly as I’d hoped.

My firstborn went to Kindergarten and fall semester of First Grade at the public school before I committed (again, for real this time) to homeschooling. It’s been a journey, to say the least. But I am beyond excited for school to start this year. Only five weeks left! I’m just waiting on one more order of books to arrive from Beautiful Feet Books and then I’ll have everything in place. Am I organized this year or what!?

You’ve Got This

If you are jumping into homeschooling, whether by choice or necessity, just breathe. And smile. You will be amazing! Your kids will think they have the very best mom who loves them so much. Just think, you get to be the one to witness the  “ah-ha!” moment when it just clicks.

When  “Just carry the one!” finally makes sense, you get to be there to celebrate with him. You get to have slow mornings and hot chocolate whenever you want. Imagine taking the time to snuggle for a picture book at 10:30 am. You also get to sit side by side with your older ones and dig into Algebra again, but You Can Do This!

You’ll be great. Especially with all the great resources available to us now. (Keep reading for a promo code to my new favorite bookstore!)

kids watching printer

This is how homeschool kids have fun. Haha, just kidding!

Thanks, Mom!

My mom, bless her heart, did the best she could with what she had, ya know? When she started homeschooling me, she had not been dreaming of it for years like I’ve been doing; there was no internet or Facebook homeschool groups. She had a daughter who was struggling, picked on by teachers, physically sick, and shy to the point of anxiety. (Hey! That was me. I’ve overcome mountains of insecurities. Thanks Mom for doing what was best for me.)

Point is… she had a paper curriculum catalog, and a once-a-year book fair. She figured it out on the fly mid-year with three girls under eight. (I turned out great by the way.)

Now I’m planning my kid’s school-year and I have the entire world’s resources available to me and sometimes it’s just too much. I know about Charlotte Mason, and Classical Conversations, and Montessori, and Waldorf, and Unschooling, and Wild and Free, and Traditional, … and wait a minute! You mean you can’t just get History, Math, Language Arts, and Science textbooks and just go with it anymore?

looking at books

Textbooks are out, living books for homeschool are in.

Dear fellow mothers, I am bursting with excitement. I want to tell you ALL THE THINGS about homeschooling, but I really need to focus here. Just the facts, ma’am. I was homeschooled with textbooks. I sat at the table (or the couch, or my bed, or the car) and I read my textbook, I took the quiz, I took the tests.

What if I told you there’s a better way?

I’ve found some of the true joys of homeschooling with the Charlotte Mason idea of using “Living Books” for much of my curriculum. A well-written biography of George Washington that reads like a novel is going to leave a longer-lasting impression than a chapter on George Washington in a History textbook.

I have researched and researched and researched such books and finally stumbled upon Beautiful Feet Books. They sell “curriculum” packs that are not textbooks, but a collection of books in a theme at varied grade levels. For this fall, I ordered the EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY PRIMARY JUMBO PACK: over 20 books for only $210. Believe me when I tell you this is the cheapest price you will find for these books. I price checked the individual books at three other sites. (And you know I did. I spent two hours price checking. So… you’re welcome.)

kids playing together

Spend less time researching books and more time playing in the sprinkler this summer.

You can customize your pack.

Beautiful Feet Books allows you to adjust your book packs. If you already own a few of the books in the pack, or (like me) you don’t want to bother with the lesson book that accompanies because you already have a separate curriculum you’re using, it’s no problem, just click the option “Customize your pack.”

Or, you have the option of purchasing the books individually. You get the idea. We are focusing on American History this year, so I was glad to find a ready-made pack of American History stories for K-3rd. It will fit into our year perfectly.

What if I told you the books are already homeschool mom approved?

I let my order sit in the cart for three days deliberating if I should place the order or not! In the end, I went for it after reading at least thirty reviews from other homeschool moms. Being able to pick a book out of a stack and know that it’s preapproved, at grade-level, interesting, historically accurate, and appropriate is a huge weight off my shoulders.

Later this month I’ll tell you more about what I’m planning for Hackett Academy this year. For now I’m working on getting the papers and binders and pencils all in their places. Five weeks is plenty of time… but I’m doing my best to start out on the right foot.

Homeschool = Flexibility

One of the joys of homeschooling is how easily it adapts to your life. I had a baby last year. We spent more time loving on a newborn than we did learning about George Washington, and I have no regrets about that. With so many little ones who aren’t strong readers, trying to juggle multiple subjects in multiple grades would be impossible, I’m looking forward to learning with my kids all about our country’s history, and doing it all together. I’m beyond grateful someone else took the time to find these amazing books and put them in a collection for me. Now all I have to do is open it up!

Want to check out Beautiful Feet Books?

Beautiful Feet Books is a digital storefront that sells living books in all grade levels, from the illustrated Leif the Lucky to Beowulf. Purchases can be made individually or in a curriculum pack with a teacher’s guide (or customize your pack by removing the books you don’t need). Have a look and tell me what you think! Use the code BFB2020 for free shipping during the month of July.

Are you a homeschool family? What are you excited about this year?

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Help Your Kids Learn About America and the Election

May 17, 2020 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

This is a valuable tool we can use to teach our kids about America and the upcoming election. I just bought it and wanted to highlight this package for you before the deal expires!

American Studies Bundle

Yeah, I know. I already bought my discounted books from Build Your Bundle. ;) (See what I already got here!)

But then, this afternoon I went back and looked again since the sale ends tomorrow. I ended up buying and downloading this American Studies bundle and the very intriguing Mystery Bundle (more on that below).

I am so glad I went back and looked so I didn’t miss out on this. I’m not sure how I missed it before! It’s going to make teaching our kids about the upcoming election and about how our government works so much easier. Plus Brayden now has some great new resources for learning the basics about the 50 states!

Here’s what this particular packet of American Studies digital books includes:

  • Drawing Around the World: USA
  • 50 States Notebooking Pages
  • Across the USA
  • “28 Great Quotes from US Presidents” Cursive Penmanship
  • Hands on Presidents
  • Presidential Election Fact Pack
  • US Geography Sorting Mats: All 50 States
  • An Early Learners Introduction to the 50 States
  • U.S. President’s Emergent Readers
  • Celebrate! Patriotic Songs of the USA

ALL of those books only cost me a total $19.95!! They can store be stored on the computer to print and use as needed – forever!

Then, I couldn’t resist getting this year’s Mystery Bundle. I can’t tell you specifically what’s in it, but it’s great for all elementary ages, and I’m very happy that I took a chance and grabbed it too. It includes:

  • History resources
  • Science resources
  • Math resource
  • Language arts resources
  • Writing resources
  • AND MORE!

This is such a fun sale!! Having all of these great learning tools makes me so excited! Getting them for such a low price makes it even better. ;)

This all ends Monday, May 18 so this is the last chance to take advantage until this sale comes back again next year.

Why I love digital books

I have shelves and shelves of “actual” books and I love those too for different reasons! But here’s why I love digital books too:

  1. I don’t have to dust them.
  2. I keep them all in a folder in my computer for easy access.
  3. All the ones I get include printable pages so I can print the ones I need, for any of my kids, however many times I need them.
  4. They save money because for all my kids, I’d have to buy multiple “consumable” books. But this way, I just print as needed.
  5. These particular digital books are at least 75% off or even more right now!!!

Go see what you can use and grab them before the sale ends. Books, books, discounted books! So fantastic!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Affordable Printable Curriculum for Families

August 8, 2019 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

We’ve been working hard this summer to put together more awesome, affordable, printable curriculum for families. You’ve seen some of these before. But look at all that’s new! Even if you don’t homeschool, you may want to use these for your family.

There’s so much for our kids to learn, but we believe in learning with a purpose. While reading, math, and geography are very important, nothing is more important than teaching our kids about our Creator and how to love and serve Him and others.

That’s why we continue to create simple, inexpensive printable curriculum options for our family and for yours. Learn academic basics together with a Kingdom focus!

It all started with our Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve Pre-K curriculum. We taught our kids the alphabet and letter sounds by helping them learn to think of others and serve others. (Bake brownies for Bob on Bb week, etc!) The idea was so successful that we put it all into a huge, wonderful curriculum kit for you!

Then came some books that helped teach your kids to cook…

Then Learn Your Numbers, Learn to Serve and Learn Your Colors, Learn to Serve appeared:

Somewhere in there, we put together a super fun supplement to Charlotte’s Web (and this summer we recreated it to make it beautiful!!):

Along the way, we’ve put together many wonderful free and super inexpensive printable packets!

And last summer, we rolled out our Family Scripture Printables Pack:

THIS YEAR we’ve been working on several more brand new curriculum options that we want to use for our family and make available for yours too! Check out all that’s NEW!!

30 Journal Page Prompts

Have kids of all ages? This will work for all of you!! (See details here.)

Farming Fun Unit Studies

This one is geared toward kids in Pre-K through 1st grade, but as we all know, you can get older kids involved in discussion and research as your younger kids work through the simple and fun activities. (See details here.)

Travel the World, Experience the Creator

Your entire family can use this packet in some way as your younger students learn the basics and your older students go more in-depth. ALL of you can enjoy learning more about what scripture says about God’s wonderful earth and His plan for creation! (See details here.)

Fall Family Fun

Parents and kids of all ages get to enjoy this one together! Fall Family Fun is a printable book full of 40 pages worth of fall recipes, activities, games, and ways to serve. Study scriptures with a harvest focus, eat apple nachos, bake chocolate chip pumpkin bread, gather mittens for the homeless – you will love working through all these great ideas together!

Below you’ll find all of our wonderful curriculum options, and you can bet that we’ll keep adding as we keep creating!

Save 50%!

While our curriculum is already super affordable, for one week we’re going to give you a coupon worth 50% off if your order is $20 or more!

Buy any of the products below, and if your subtotal is $20 or more, you’ll receive 50% off when you use the code FAMILYLEARNING.

Don’t forget to grab the Dollar Deals and other great discounts in there while you’re at it!

Affordable Printable Curriculum for Families

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The coupon FAMILYLEARNING is good only on the products on this page. Happy shopping and learning!

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Our Kindergarten Through College Curriculum Plan for 2019

August 6, 2019 by Laura 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Every year it’s fun to talk through upcoming school plans! We’ve got our hands full this year with a kindergartener, a 9th grader, a 12th grader, and one in college. (We’ve got a college graduate and a baby boy too, but woohoo, they aren’t studying for tests this year. Our graduate is beyond happy about this.) Here’s our kindergarten through college curriculum plan for 2019!

Our Kindergarten through College Curriculum Plan

Bonus Boy and I have already started several of his books, simply because he was excited and he likes to stay busy. Who am I to argue with someone who wants to have a reading lesson? Meanwhile, our high schoolers are trying not to think about school starting yet. I don’t blame them. Summer break is bliss.

Here’s the rundown of our curriculum plan!

Bonus Boy, grade K:

  1. We will be using our Learn to Serve Complete Curriculum Package as a primary focus. Serve and learn, learn and serve!
  2. We’ll work our way through at least the beginning of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. (Once he gets the gist of reading, we’ll move on to Bob Books and other easy readers.) (Oh, I just ordered these – SO CUTE!!)
  3. We’ll follow many of (but not all of) Sonlight’s kindergarten suggestions for Read-Alouds, History, and Science.
  4. We’ll use the fantastic downloads we got last spring during the Build Your Bundle Sale. (*SEE NOTE BELOW!!)
  5. We’ll use Explode the Code, Italic Handwriting, and Miquon Math workbooks.
  6. We’ll use several of the curriculum packets I’ve created to meet his specific needs. I’ll share more about these soon!
  7. He’ll receive speech and language services from our public school once each week. I am SO GRATEFUL that they are so supportive of our plan to homeschool while still working with him to improve his speech and language skills. I’ll be a part of these sessions so that we can be more aware of what we’ll need to continue working on at home with him.
  8. We’ll read, read, read, read, and read! Library here we come!
  9. We’ll play, play, play! This boy loves to be on the go, explore, and be with friends. Never a dull moment, we’ll be involved in many activities that keep him interacting and active!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*The Build Your Bundle folks are offering a flash sale today through noon on Thursday, August 8! Look through all the digital curriculum offered at up to 92% off and take advantage of this surprise offer. Bonus Boy and I are LOVING all we bought from this sale a few weeks ago. These books are all wonderful supplements to our regular curriculum!

Build Your Bundle - The Biggest Homeschool Curriculum Sale of the Year

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Malachi, grade 9:

  1. He will be taking Chamber Singers (choir) and Strength Training (weight lifting) at our public high school so that he will qualify to play tennis and soccer with the public school team.
  2. He will finish Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 and begin Algebra 2.
  3. He will work on Wordly Wise and Grammar books, and read many of Sonlight’s suggested English and Literature options for 9th grade.
  4. We will read and work through Apologia Physical Science together.
  5. We will read through many of Sonlight’s Church History suggestions.
  6. He and Bonus Boy will work through Travel the World, Experience the Creator together (with Malachi doing the entire book and Bonus Boy only doing the parts he is ready for).

I’ll share in more detail soon, but check out one of our newest curriculum creations!

Elias, grade 12:

Boy #3 has become a senior this year! I’d say I blinked and here we are. But yeah right. We worked hard and here we are. Heh. :)

Elias is mostly finished with his regular high school credits, so he’ll be doing mostly college-level work this year.

  1. He will be taking Chamber Singers (choir) and Strength Training (weight lifting) at our public high school so that he will qualify to play soccer with the public school team.
  2. He will be taking classes at York College: College Algebra, College Speech, College Intro to Business, College American History, and one other college class to be determined. These will be divided between two semesters and will give him both high school and college credits.
  3. At the end of this year, Elias will graduate from high school with 30 college credits (he started taking college-level classes as a high school sophomore) so he will begin college next year as a college sophomore!

In case you’re wondering about our other boys…

Asa graduated from college in May and is working toward a full-time career in Videography. He is incredibly gifted in this field and has used his summer to work on several video projects for clients.

Justus is starting his second year at York College (though technically now he is a college junior). He is pursuing a degree in Vocal Performance and wants to have a career in Music Production. He is in choir, student government, and helps with the men’s soccer team.

And because he shouldn’t be left out, our foster Boy Babe is 8 months old and learning how to stay away from the stairs and electrical outlets. He gets an extraordinary amount kisses from the seven of us every day, so we’re pretty sure that’s why he’s so roly-poly.

I’d love to hear more about your upcoming school plans (public, private, or homeschool)! And stay tuned because we have some fun curriculum creations we’re about to reveal. Psst, some are FREE!

 

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