This year we have a 6th grader, a 4th grader, and a 1st grader. (Plus one graduate, one child with special needs, and one toddler.)
We are currently four months into our school year. With the insane heat levels here in Arizona, I have made it our practice to start our school year the first week in May, when the nasty heat really starts, and we take our times off during the nicer parts of the year (a longer break at Christmas, a six-week "summer" break in March-April, and one week off per seven weeks throughout the year). It works well for us.
My current goals are to eliminate all non-essentials, and to simplify wherever possible - whether with school work, our schedule, housework, meals, etc. Having experienced full-blown homeschool burnout at least twice, going in for round #3 is not on my things-to-do list. With that in mind, here's what we're doing this year:
Family Time
* Our morning time includes the following:
- Bible reading
- Weekly Catechism + one Bible verse for memorizing
- A weekly poem and coloring sheet to go along with it
- Great sources for poems include Poems Every Child Should Know by Joseph Pearce, and The Harp and Laurel Wreath by Laura Berquist. We also use poems found in our English curriculum (The Good and the Beautiful), books of poems, and poems that we find in our read-aloud books.
- History
- We listen to a chapter of Story of the World and discuss it, and I provide loads of library books on the topics covered.
- We listen to a saint story - currently we are using Journeys With the Saints.
- We also listen to one episode of The Saints podcast from The Merry Beggars - this is something new this year that has been a wonderful blessing - the children love this show. Our current saint is Maximilian Kolbe, the martyr-saint of Auschwitz.
- Singing time, which usually includes one of each of the following:
- Hymn
- Christmas song - there are too many Christmas songs to complete during Christmas only!
- Folk song
- And sometimes a round - we're working on "Dona Nobis Pacem" right now. A great source for family singing is the Appendix in "Around the Year With the Trapp Family" by Maria Trapp.
- History video time
- I choose YouTube videos (preferably of live performances) of one hymn or sacred piece, one classical piece, and one folk song. We watch them once a day until we get tired of them, which is usually about two weeks. I then add the songs to a playlist, and at the end of the year we have a lovely music compilation. I use these playlists as ambient music during free parts of our day so that we can continue to learn and enjoy the songs.
- To see an example of a year's compilation, here is last year's: 2023-2024 Music Playlist
- Read-aloud time of a novel
- Recent read-alouds include: Snow Treasure, The Five Little Peppers, Anne of Green Gables, The Island of Adventure, and The Children of Noisy Village.
- We also have read-alouds in the morning with my husband reading (favorites have included the Boxcar Children series, the Grandma's Attic series, and the Trixie Belden series), and in the afternoon with me reading.
Individual Work
6th Grade
Language Arts - The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts (Grade 6) + The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting (Grade 6)
Math - Christian Light Math (Grade 5) - Why Grade 5? See comment below under Curriculum Notes: Math
Science - Seton Science (Grade 6), which includes Earth Science and Space Science
History - Story of the World, Year 1: Ancient History
4th Grade
Language Arts - The Good and the Beautiful (Grade 4) + The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting (Grade 6)
Math - Christian Light Math (Grade 4)
Science - Seton Science (Grade 4)
History - Story of the World, Year 1: Ancient History
1st Grade
Language Arts - The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts (Grade 1), plus supplemental learning-to-read work with Rocket Phonics + The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting (Grade 1)
Math - Christian Light Math (Grade 1, second half)*
History - Story of the World, Year 1: Ancient History
* Christian Light does not have a Kindergarten math level, so we split their Grade 1 math into two years - half for Kindergarten, and half for first grade. This gives us the ability to have a more relaxed pace (half a lesson per day) in Kindergarten, and also slows the pace a bit, as Christian Light's 1st grade math is a rather long course.
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Notes on Curriculum Choices
Note: I have long had a policy of not writing any negatives about curriculum that I review. However, I have come to realize that a curriculum review cannot be honest and balanced unless I list what I liked and what I didn't like. Thus, with these reviews, I will cautiously note things about a curriculum that I did not care for. However, I hope to do so in a spirit of charity.
Language Arts
Christian Light Language Arts, Christian Light Reading
For many years, we used and loved Christian Light's Language Arts program (which covers grammar, spelling, and a bit of composition) and Christian Light's Reading program (which covers literature and literary analysis).
For the sake of brevity, I will refer to the two of these two programs together as Christian Light's Language Arts program. Usually parents will want to include both of these programs together for their children, as they cover different facets of English/Language Arts.
These programs are incredibly well-written and edited, and if you want a solid Language Arts curriculum, you can't do better. Here are some of things that we love about Christian Light Language Arts:
- It is thoroughly Christian and teaches a Christian worldview, Christian ethics, and positive and healthy family values.
- The artwork is gentle, beautiful, and incredibly well-done.
- The monochromatic color scheme (i.e. just one color) feels calming and enables a student to focus, rather than being distracted by a bunch of bright flashy colors.
- Christian Light goes deeply into grammar, enabling a deep understanding of the English language (and allowing me to correct the myriad of deficiencies of my own public school education).
- The lessons are not super-long - they are totally doable without discouraging a child with the length of time it takes to complete a lesson.
- Because Christian Light is a well-established curriculum that has been extensively reviewed and has published several editions, the end-result is flawless in its composition (unlike many newer or self-published curricula).
However, last year we made the decision to stop using Christian Light Language Arts. This was primarily a philosophical-theological motivation. Christian Light is a Mennonite company, meaning that it promotes an Anabaptist theology, ethic, and view of history. The material promotes the Anabaptist view of history, which is that the Anabaptists were correct against all of the other forms of Christianity during the Reformation and after (i.e. Catholics and Reformers), who are shown to be wrong, misguided, and sometimes evil. Our family simply does not support this view.
Secondly, Anabaptists are passionate pacifists and non-participationists. They believe that it is morally wrong to serve in the military, fight in a war (even in a righteous cause or in a war of self-defense), defend oneself, prosecute a crime or help to bring criminals to justice, vote, or hold public office. Our family disagrees passionately with each and every one of these distinctives. And when we used this curriculum (both Language Arts and Reading curriculum) with our eldest, I had to constantly stop and say, "Okay, this story is teaching pacifism or Anabaptist worldview in such-and-such a way. Look at the way this story is crafted to promote this worldview.") In a way, this had a very happy ending, because our eldest is now a passionate anti-pacifist who can spot pacifist propaganda a mile away. But I did not feel like going through this over and over again with each of our children.
On a practical level, Christian Light Language Arts tends to be overly heavy on grammar - and I say this as a joyful grammar nerd who would happily spend the rest of her life diagramming sentences - and overly light on writing. If you select Christian Light, you may want to add a writing curriculum alongside it, at least in the K-8 years. (You could go either way.)
On a minor note, I also found that Christian Light's Reading program (separate from their Language Arts program, and which covers K-8th grade), which is in general an excellent program (besides the pacifist issue), tended toward moralistic tales (i.e. "Little Johnny learns not to hit his sister") rather than truly excellent classic literature. I appreciate moral tales, and we all need them - goodness knows, my children do - but I do not believe that this should come at the expense of reading really amazing classic literature.
In short, if you want a Language Arts curriculum (or Reading curriculum), you cannot do better than Christian Light. If you are already an Anabaptist or a Christian with pacifist leanings, the material will pose no worldview problems for you. If, however, you are a non-pacifist Christian, you will have a lot of 'splainin' to do. You will have to judge if you want to choose that path.
The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts
I have known about The Good and the Beautiful curriculum for many years, and have wanted to try it out. When we decided that we needed a new Language Arts curriculum, The Good and the Beautiful (GAB) was a natural choice.
The Good and the Beautiful is written by an LDS mom and her team. However, it is not an LDS curriculum. GAB curriculum is written to be accessible by anyone claiming the title of Christian - all (or at least a majority) spiritual and ethical values are going to be cross-denominational. There are no doctrinal distinctives - no saints or Eucharist for Catholics, no Joseph Smith for Mormons, no Calvinist doctrine for Reformers. It basically follows a "read your Bible, follow Jesus, obey Christian ethical principles" mantra. If anything, it follows what would be considered a non-denom Baptist ethos ("give your heart to Jesus and read your Bible a lot!"). But whatever type of Christian you consider yourself, you will most likely not have a problem with GAB curriculum (unless you are seriously hardcore about your curriculum promoting your particular doctrinal distinctives, in which case GAB may not be for you).
Last year, we used GAB Language Arts for grades K, 3, and 5. Here are the things that we loved:
- The Good and the Beautiful promotes a Christian worldview and Christian ethics. It is also very pointed about promoting literature that is "good and beautiful," and not consuming books or media that will poison or corrupt our souls or morals. Bravo, Good and Beautiful staff.
- GAB Language Arts contains all of the Language Arts subjects (grammar, spelling, composition, reading skills, literature), so you will not need to add spelling or writing curriculum (a prospect that, with other curricula, has always horrified me - you mean there's another thing that we have to do???). The only English subject that is not covered is penmanship, which you can easily add by adding a GAB handwriting book into the mix (available by graded levels from their website).
- GAB Language Arts also covers a number of other subjects, including geography, art, art history, and art appreciation. What, you mean they're saving me time in not having to teach those other subjects too? Yes, please!
- The classic artwork included in GAB Language Arts is insanely beautiful, and at the same time highly educational. I love-love-love the art component of GAB curriculum.
- The illustrations done by GAB staff are also beautiful and fun (their illustrations can sometimes veer into cartoonish, but usually they are quite good).
- The kindergarten curriculum comes with fun "school-time" art/grammar projects that require zero prep work and usually not more than a glue stick and a pair of scissors. This has really helped cut down on my "my child is missing so much by not being in school" guilt.
- The literature selections are, on the whole, excellent (see below for a comment on that). Books that we have loved so far are "Chico of the Andes," "Lost at Sea," "The Belgian Twins," and "Marjorie."
- A BIG plus is that the Good and the Beautiful uses a 120-day year, which is much less than the 160-180-day years that many curricula use. As a homeschooler for many years, I can say with confidence that education is not just about sitting and doing lessons. While doing lessons is important, days of field trips, travel, ministry, and support-group outings are just as important - possibly more important - and it is wonderful to be able to have a shorter, more workable school year that doesn't penalize families for having outside-the-home school days, or create the "I'd like to go on such-and-such a field trip, but that would put us another day behind with lessons" quandary, or the misery of "We're so behind, and we'll never-ever-ever be able to catch up." (I've been in both positions.)
- Because Christian Light is such an amazing teacher of grammar, and I have learned from them for something like fifteen years, I often prefer Christian Light's methods of teaching grammar, which are often clearer and easier to learn. I find myself often saying "the directions say such-and-such, but I am changing that to such-and-such."
- The art projects have written directions, and I think that they would do better with video directions - which, I realize, would take considerably more time and money to produce. Good and Beautiful staff, an idea for the future?
- GAB Language Arts curriculum utilizes both classic literature selections and staff-written readers. We infinitely prefer the classic literature selections (with the exception of "Timothy of the Tenth Floor," which my 9yo and I both enjoyed). We would prefer that GAB staff utilize classic literature (like those books mentioned above) instead of in-house material.
- To do the lessons completely, you will need an iPad or some type of touch screen that can handle an app. At first, I was quite frustrated about this, as I am an anti-screen Luddite who really prefers no extras with her curricula. However, I was pleasantly surprised - the GAB app is really excellent, and I have enjoyed using it. As our iPad is currently broken, we are having to forego the app for a few months, and the curriculum is doable (though incomplete) without the app.
- However, the use of a portable screen comes with the usual problems. "Hmm, I sent Child A to listen to the Letter Sounds app, and I haven't seen him since. Oh, that's because he watched the Letter Sounds app and then transitioned into watching an hour of Dude Perfect while I was distracted. Argh." So if you're going to use the app, make sure that you have screen safety software installed, and that screens are used in a public area where you won't forget about them like I do.
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| All but the cardinal painting are Good and Beautiful Language Arts art assignments, completed by our nine- and twelve-year-olds. |
Phonics (Learning-to-Read Curriculum)
For many years, we have taught our children to read using Rocket Phonics. (I tried Christian Light's Learning to Read program once, and did not care for it - it was excellent, but extremely time-consuming.) This past year, we used The Good and the Beautiful's phonics program contained in its kindergarten Language Arts. It is quite good. However, about halfway through the year, I decided to go back to Rocket Phonics, because I just love it so very much. (Despite its unpleasant artwork.) Thus, we are using Rocket Phonics alongside The Good and the Beautiful's Language Arts, and it has been a happy melding.
Math
Christian Light Math
For the first two years of our homeschool journey, we used a math-curriculum-which-shall-not-be-named - and which I still remember with the utmost loathing. I say no more.
After those two miserable years, I switched to Christian Light math, and have been happy ever since. Christian Light has an amazing math program that is truly top-notch. I have no reservations in saying that it is the best math curriculum that I have ever seen, and I recommend it with my whole heart.
Additionally, Christian Light math has none of the worldview issues (i.e. Anabaptist theology & pacifism) that caused us to abandon their Language Arts and Reading curriculum.
Here are some things that we love about Christian Light math:
- Monochromatic color scheme (which, as mentioned above, is calming and encourages focus)
- Lessons written simply and clearly
- Lessons are incremental - one tiny new fact is introduced with each lesson, but often it is something really easy and simple, that makes forward progress easy rather than lessons in which one has to make huge jumps.
- Each lesson book has a theme, such as "Life in Ireland," "Life in Romania," "Running a Sewing Shop," "Running a landscape business." Each lesson and word problem is centered around the book's theme, and there is often a lot of great information learned besides math!
- The curriculum (in its written sections and word problems) has an intense focus on healthy Christian family life and good Christian ethics.
- Because this is a non-screen subject, it keeps kids off the computer. Huzzah!
- The lessons are often - in my opinion - too long, and this is a problem that gets worse with each grade level. I would prefer shorter lessons. Christian Light staff, if you're listening - shorter lessons, please!
- Children often need a lot of help with lessons, and there is also the correcting of the lessons, which, as this is not a computer program, has to be done either by the parent (more work!) or by the student (in which case the parent has to check up on the student, which means, again, more work). In short, there can be a lot of work involved.
- Christian Light has a 170-day school year. In my mind, this is entirely too long. (I know that they do this because Christian Light curricula is used by many Christian schools, who have to have enough lessons to follow state standards.) By cutting out the one obviously non-essential lesson at the back of each book, you can cut it down to 160 days. By cutting out quizzes (2 per book), you can lower it to 140 days. This is still too long, to my mind, but is a bit more doable. (You could cut it to 130 days by cutting out the end-of-book tests, but those tests are useful assessments, so I hesitate to do that.)
Teaching Textbooks Math
After many years of using Christian Light math, we had a two-year hiatus. One year of using a really crummy math curriculum (it's a long story - I'll tell it sometime), and one year of Teaching Textbooks. I switched to Teaching Textbooks because I was stressed and overwhelmed with the non-stop responsibilities of homeschooling, and needed the computer to take over some of the responsibilities. Teaching Textbooks is an excellent program, and is probably the most popular homeschool math curriculum at present. It is available for third grade through Algebra 2.
Here are a few things that we loved about Teaching Textbooks:
- Teaching Textbooks teaches the lessons, sets the problems, and does all of the grading and record-keeping. SCORE.
- TT does a great job of teaching. It's a great curriculum, and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
- Because the kids are on the computer, there is a greater possibility for dishonesty (hello, online calculator). I am embarrassed to say that I have had a bit of this in our family. If you use TT, you still need to keep an eye on your kids.
- Ditto with the issue of being on the computer enabling "wandering" - i.e. Child A is supposed to be doing math, but is really watching YouTube videos. (And a note, YouTube is not a safe place for children to wander.) If you use TT, it is wise to turn off your internet (TT always has the ability to work offline for a couple of lessons before needing internet enabled), or to block sites like YouTube or whatever other sites are a temptation for your child.
- Because I never remember to do any of the above, a pen-and-paper curriculum is probably better for us.
- Because the computer is doing the teaching, a homeschool mom does not learn alongside her child. If your math skills are weak, you may not be able to help your child when he/she needs help - which does still happen.
- TT is a secular curriculum, meaning that there are no positive family values or Christian ethics taught with the lessons.
- The one serious criticism that I have heard leveled against Teaching Textbooks is that it is not as rigorous as other curricula, and possibly not rigorous enough to produce students who are able to handle college math. I do not know for sure if this is true, but there may be some truth to the accusation. (See my additional comment below.) However, I do not consider this a serious problem, as most people do not need hardcore upper math skills - what they need are the basics, well-learned. For myself, I went through college maths, but have never used anything beyond elementary algebra and/or geometry skills in real life. This does not mean that higher level math is useless, because it teaches two essential skills: (1) abstract reasoning, and (2) self-discipline. But I think that Teaching Textbooks is a fine curriculum for any student, with the exception perhaps of students who may be heading into math-heavy careers.
Science
Seton Homeschool Science
We have used a lot of really bad science curricula - a boring-to-tears workbook curriculum, a hyper-pious Baptist curriculum, and an I-can't-believe-how-bad-this-is online curriculum.
For the first time in our fifteen year homeschool journey, I have found an excellent science curriculum that I love - Seton Homeschool science.
Here's what I love about Seton science:
- The books are well-written, well laid-out, and excellently illustrated.
- The Christian faith is excellently incorporated, while avoiding the sappy corniness that a lot of Baptist curricula fall into.
- The sections are a reasonable length and don't take that long to complete (perhaps 20 minutes a day).
- Our two students, one of whom is a natural academic and one who finds school quite difficult, have both been able to handle doing the lessons independently with occasional help from me.
History
A Casual Approach to History with Story of the World
We are doing history casually this year. I read the Bible as part of our morning time (and the Bible is an excellent history text), and we listen to one section of Story of the World. (We are doing Ancients this year - Year 1 - and we are using an audiobook version. This has lifted a bit of the reading burden from me, and allows me to clean the kitchen while we listen.)
Secondarily, I order all of the library books that I can find to go along with what we're listening to - and I have found that if one does this, children are basically self-educating maniacs. They spend most of their time coming up to me and saying, "Hey, Mom! Did you know that the Ancient Egyptians...." etc. It's really wonderful.
We are not using any of the extras with Story of the World this year - the coloring sheets, the comprehension questions, or the extra projects. I did all of those with our eldest the first round through the Story of the World four-book cycle, but it was - to be quite frank - a pain in the neck. And since we have enough of those types of things elsewhere in our curricula, I do not feel any need to add them in at this time. Basic instruction + non-stop reading books does a fine job.
(Please be cautious with library books - there are a lot of modern children's books out there that have inappropriate or downright evil material in them. Pre-read always.)
We also include saint biography stories in our homeschool history - see the intro to this article for references and links.
Extracurriculars
Our family activities outside of lessons include the following:
- Sunday church and Sunday school
- Mid-week church
- Our church's kids' group
- Altar server training group (for our boys)
- Clogging (for all above the age of 9)
- Ballet (for our daughter)
- Baseball (seasonal, for one of sons)
- Piano lessons (for two of our children)
- Children's choir (for three of our children - this one is tentative)
- Historical reenactment work, as well as attendance at community dances, with a local group
- Field trips, park days, seasonal events, and Mom's Nights Out with our church homeschooling group and two local homeschooling groups.
I find that extracurriculars always have hidden costs:
Firstly, extracurriculars always have jobs for mum and dad to do at home. (I do extracurriculars in order to outsource, but the extracurriculars always throw more work back at me. Blast.) Sunday school and our church's children's group have homework and memory work. Ballet has practice exercises to do at home. Piano lessons have practice sessions to supervise. (And oh, am I being rewarded in spades for my own childhood unwillingness to practice!) Dance groups have costumes to launder and prepare, and all groups have paperwork and correspondence to take care of.
Secondly, all extracurriculars come with extra stress - getting the family ready, in the car, out and back, etc. Disrupted schedules. Rushing. Stress. Less time at home. Irritable husbands. More messes. Less free time.
Thus, if any extracurricular is going to find a place in our home, it really has to be worth the cost.
We've made the over-extracurriculars mistake many times, and have had to pare back. It seems to be a cyclical thing.
This year, for the sake of sheer amusement, I decided to keep a partial list of the homeschool extracurriculars that I wish we could do but can't (and the guilt of which keeps me awake at night - I am no stranger to homeschool guilt). Here they are:
- Serious ballet for our daughter
- Orchestra
- Musical instrument lessons (other instruments)
- All-day co-op
- Another weekly co-op
- Yet another co-op
- Archery
- Theatre
- Sewing classes
- Speech and Debate
- Science co-op
- Martial arts
- Fencing
- Serious children's choir
- American Heritage Girls
- Trail Life USA
- Our church's girls' and boys' group
I should add that in our family, my husband is the night-time running-kids-to-activities man. If it was all up to me, I would not be able to maintain as many extracurriculars as we do. In fact, I have had life-long issues with energy and stamina, besides being an introvert, and have had to accept that I have less energy and social stamina than most women. So our extracurricular list is much lower than many women I know (I know a lot of amazing women).
My Personal Life This Year
My non-school personal projects this year include the following:
- Working on the spiritual virtue of contentment. This one has always been very difficult for me, but I think I am making progress - though lots more is needed.
- I am working on a graded read-in-order Literature & History booklist. I am just shy of finishing the list through the eighth grade, and when I do, I'll publish the preliminary version here - hopefully by Christmas (at the rate of 5-10 minutes per day, on a good day, which is almost never, the project is moving at a snail's pace).
- I continue always my love of voracious reading and in publishing brief book reviews to this blog.
Concluding Thoughts
I'm not sure how long we've been homeschooling - well over ten years, and probably close to fifteen (I'll have to count it up sometime). Regardless of the exact numbers, it's been a long time. During that time, I've learned important lessons - primarily, that mothering and homeschooling are hard. If you're a homeschooler, be kind to yourself. Give yourself grace. And take care of yourself. The rates of homeschool burn-out and homeschool jumping ship are astronomically high. (I've been down both roads a number of times.) Don't feel badly if it happens to you, too. But to the best of your ability, take care of yourself. It's better to be behind than burned-out.
Readers, pray for me this homeschool year - and I'll be praying for you!
I am, as always, happy to answer questions!
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