Wow, blogging about homeschooling…something I thought I’d never hear myself say. It’s amazing how God works isn’t it? You spend your life saying you’re not going to do something, and God laughs and says, “We’ll see about that.” Through much prayer over the last several years, God has slowly turned our hearts toward homeschooling. We know that for us, it’s the best way we can develop their character and lead them to become strong men and women of faith. We also know that we know our children best. We know their strengths and their weaknesses, and since we know them so well, we will be able to mold and develop them intellectually better than if they were in a classroom with 20-30 other students. We also have come to realize that our children learn the best through hands-on learning and play, and with homeschooling being so flexible we will be able to incorporate so much of that and be able to let our children be just that, children. No, homeschooling is not for everyone and you should definitely not do it if it’s not something He’s calling you to. I also want to be sure I’m clear that I am not against other forms of education, in fact, I was homeschooled, christian schooled, and and public schooled, so I’ve experienced it all, and I know from experience that they all have their positives and negatives.
So, here we are, about to start our first year of homeschool with a 2nd grader, a 4-Ker, and a 1 year old. Jesus take the wheel! But seriously, Lord, please take it! If I told you I know I’m going to be so good at this, and that I’m not scared one bit, I’d be telling a BIG. OLE. FAT. LIE. The truth is, I’m nauseous as I type this from extreme nervousness and maybe a little panic! I have no idea how this year is going to go. I’m straight terrified, if I’m being totally honest with you. Will I be able to teach them anything? Will I have the patience? Will I hate it? Will they hate it? Will I be smart enough? Will I miss all the free time I used to have? Will we regret this? Will they listen to me? Will I be enough? Will they resent me for this one day? It’s true, I may hate it, the kids may hate it, we may have a lot of bad days that make me want to throw in the towel, we may end up doing public school in the future, but even with all those unknowns, fears and concerns, one thing I am certain of: GOD BROUGHT US HERE. And one thing I know of God is that He is faithful to His promisses and I also know that He is faithful to those who obey Him. When He calls us to something, H
e not only equips us to accomplish it, but He also gives us the grace to get through it. So, if you’re in the same boat as me, scared, nervous, but stepping out in faith and being obedient to where God is calling you, or maybe you’re not even sure if He’s calling you to this. Maybe you’re just doing this because of COVID, you don’t have any other options. Whatever your reason, trust in the knowledge that God is good, and He is faithful, and He will be with you every step of the way! You have everything you need to be good at this, mama. Ask God to help you, and trust that He will do just that.
Now, let’s get to it. Our curriculum…
So, I have to first say that most of what we’re going with we decided on after talking to many different homeschool moms who have done this for years and took their advice on what was best. If you’re just starting out with homeschool and maybe you don’t have anyone to ask for advice and aren’t sure where to start, I have two recommendations for you as far as curriculum.
1. If you can afford the
Abeka curriculum I feel it is excellent and well worth every penny. It is all inclusive and everything is already pre-planned for you. It’s wonderful and your children will get a great, well-rounded education.
2. However, if money is a concern for you, I would highly recommend going with one of Rainbow Resource’s
Starter Packages. They have compiled the curriculum they feel is the best mixture per grade, and from what I looked at, it looks like they chose well. It’s also really affordable!
Here’s what we are using for our 2nd grader:
Math:
We chose Bob Jones curriculum for math because it’s very in depth, includes a Christian worldview, helps them develop their critical thinking skills, has less homework, and has an amazing manipulatives packet that goes with it.
Here’s what we bought (or was given to us by my awesome sis):
Student workbook
Teacher guide
Math manipulatives
Tests
Tests answer key
These
Unifix cubes will come in handy too.
I was able to find several of these books unused on
www.homeschoolclassifieds.com which is a great resource for buying used for previously owned new homeschool books.
Language Arts:
We have decided to go with Christian Light curriculum for this. I love how everything is all-inclusive with this curriculum as opposed to others we looked at. It’s language arts, spelling, and handwriting all together in one workboook, so that makes my life so much easier. I love that it includes a Biblical worldview and the lessons are taught in bite-size increments for better mastery. It’s very easy to use and beautifully done.
Here’s what we bought:
light unit sets
teacher guide.
The
phonics cards are also very helpful.
Reading:
Gabe doesn’t love reading yet, and I really hope to change that this year, so instead of following a strict curriculum with boring reading, I’ve decided to hand pick books for Gabe that I think he will enjoy as well as classics that I want him to be emerged in. Here are a few from my list:
*We will have a weekly reading log (included in my student record planner – see below) as well as a
reading comprehension sheet he must fill out after each reading session
White Fang
Tom Sawyer
Treasure Island
Call of the wild
Charlotte’s Web
The boy who Saved Baseball
Christopher Columbus
Black Beauty
The
Blaze books have been highly recommended so I grabbed a few of those. They encourage morals and values.
These Tuttle Twin books have also been recommended . I love that they introduce young readers to economics, politics, and civic principles.
I’m also a BIG fan of
Great Illustrated Classics as they transformed my reading as a child and really helped me learn to love reading.
This is a great reading comprehension journal.
History, science, health, bible, and foreign language will also be part of our curriculum, but we are taking a more relaxed approach with these subjects instead of sticking to a strict curriculum. I want to really make these subjects fun for them, and I also don’t want to overwhelm myself.
Science:
We are using a mixture of a few things:
1.) Books from the library.
2.)
This experiment kit – it includes 21 experiments and includes all of the items needed for each. SO EASY!
3.) This apologia set:
Flying Creatures, Swimming creatures, Land animals
4.)
Exploring Nature
5.)
Elementary Chemistry with
Teacher’s manual
I also bought this Abeka book as a filler workbook for these subjects:
History, Science, & Health: Abeka – Activity Book
Teacher Key
History:
We are using a mixture of a few things:
1.
American History
2. We will be reusing
this book from last year.
3.
This series has been highly recommended to me. I’m hoping to ask for it for the boys for Christmas from the grandparents. These books we can use year after year and would make a great addition to our homeschool library.
Bible:
We plan on using a mixture of different bible books and devotionals (I’ve found a bunch of free ones on Pinterest) and will have our Bible time during our morning time (see more about morning time in
this blog post.
The biggest story
Doodle devotions
The Jesus storybook bible
Laugh and Learn Bible for Kids
I’ve also found some really good devotions on Etsy.
Geography Resources We’re Using:
Children’s world atlas
Trail Guide to World Geography and
CD-ROM
Galloping the Globe
We also LOVE our
smart globe! for my geography loving 7 year old, this has been a dream for him, and I love that it has levels, so we can use it all the way through high school. It also opens up and you can learn about the earth’s core and the solar system too. SO COOL!
Health:
I’m going to read
this book with them as well as use some worksheets from the Abeka history, science and health book.
For our 4 year old, here’s what we’re doing:
I’m not stressing about his curriculum this year. Again, I’m trying to take this slow and not overwhelm myself in the first year. I plan to work with him for a few hours (if that) each day and that’s it. His attention span is not mature enough to handle a full day of school yet. He also learns best with hands-on activities, so I’ve set up a whole “center” area for him with learning toys. You can learn more about that from
this blog post.
We will be using education.com for a lot of his worksheets and games. I love education.com for it’s huge array of subjects and information. You get printable workbooks, worksheets, lesson plans, as well as hundreds of games. I only paid $47 for a year, which is a little less than $4 a month, and we use it during summer too, so it’s a great investment. What I love the most about it is all the educational games. I can assign what I want each child to play/complete and when they open up the app on their iPad they know what they can do/play that day. It’s so cool! I get about 50% of Landon’s worksheets for the year from this site.
We also love this
wipe clean workbook for practicing letters and numbers and have used it for years (used with both boys) and it’s holding up great!
Another great book is the large
Pre-K workbook. Sometimes Costco carries a HUGE workbook around July/August, so I plan to snag one of those for his grade level for him as well.
*
This flash card organizer is life and you need one!
Other classroom helps:
These posters have been a huge help especially for our preschooler. They help with telling time, days of the week, numbers 1-100, counting, shapes, colors, and so on.
These are great to help them build early shape, color, and number recognition skills.
We also use a ton of
flash cards (mostly from the Target dollar spot or Walmart) with him.
Teacher resources I’m using:
Not Consumed Student Record Planner this has been a great help in getting me organized. It will serve as my weekly lesson planner as well as my record keeper for the year.
I just finished
this book and it is AMAZING! If you’re just starting your homeschool journey (even if you’re not) I highly recommend it! It really gave me peace of mind and helped me realize what I need to focus on and what is and is not important with homeschooling. There’s an audible version too!
Other Resources:
We will be reading this
Shakespeare book during our morning time
As part of our morning time, I plan to use
this book to help teach manners.
This cute clock! It will come in handy to know how many more hours until my husband comes home and also to help teach telling time haha!
I think that’s everything. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I’m not an expert, at all, on any of this, but I just wanted to share what we’re doing in hopes that it might help and inspire you. Happy homeschooling, mamas!
