Back to (home)school 2021

We dove back into our homeschool routine this week! Hooray!

Actually, lest you are visualizing a graceful Olympic-worthy dive, let me freely admit that it was more of a stumble-trip-awkward-fall into the week, beginning with Middle Brother vomiting on his way downstairs on our very first morning. Let's start the new year off with a bang, shall we? However, despite the unexpected obstacles, unexpected sickness and (expected) discomfort of settling into a routine again, we persevered. We still have plenty of kinks to work out in our schedule, but we did some work each day so far and completed my goal of at least *trying* each subject in our hodge-podge, mix & match curriculum.

And what might that curriculum be? I'm glad you asked - read on to see our plan for this school year.

If you're wondering how I pick curriculum and plan a school year, check out this post from last year.

Big Brother, 3rd Grade

Reading: daily independent reading from chapter books that I choose

Math: Shiller Math again; we will do some review to finish up book 3 and then order Kit 2

Writing/Language Arts: Editor in Chief book 2, also Language Arts book 3 from The Good and The Beautiful

Handwriting: finish book 3 from The Good and The Beautiful, then start book 4

Music: weekly piano lessons

Bible: Apologia's Who Is God course

Science: Apologia's Zoology 1 course

History: Story of the World book 3

Maps/Geography: Pin It Maps

My goal: to strike that balance between helping him be more independent and learn how to learn on his own, while also giving him the attention and individual time he still needs.

Middle Brother, 1st Grade

Phonics/reading/spelling: continue on with Logic of English; finish book C and then start book D; supplement with other readers at his level

Math: continue on with Shiller Math, starting book 2 this year

Handwriting: finish the Rhythm of Handwriting, then start book 3 of The Good and The Beautiful's handwriting program (the level which begins teaching cursive - he's a bit young for it, but really really wants to learn cursive, so we will just take it slowly)

Music: weekly piano lessons

Bible: Apologia's Who Is God course

Science: Apologia's Zoology 1 course

History: Story of the World book 3

Maps/Geography: Pin It Maps

My goal: to find a subject or hobby that he really loves, just for himself - not one that he loves because his big brother does (ahem, geography).

Little Brother, Kindergarten

Phonics: continue on with Logic of English, starting book B this year

Math: start Shiller Math book 1

My goal: to keep his lessons short and fun so that school is a joy and he has plenty of time for play.

Baby Sister, Producer of Laughs and Destroyer of Plans

She will listen & join in when she can, play when she can't, distract us frequently, and help mom learn to be more patient and more flexible *wink wink*.

My goal: to read to her lots, include her as much as I can, and not forget that this is a short season - soon enough she'll be doing her own school work too.

You may have noticed that several of the 1st and 3rd grader's materials are the same; this is purposeful, as I literally do not have the time to be reading three different levels of history and science and such every week. We are striving to combine and do as much together in a group as we can.

Also, this is new for us this year, but we are joining a local Classical Conversations community! Every Wednesday will be our community day when we will spend the morning there, so for our home schedule I am having Wednesday be our "off" day when we won't do any other work. We are excited for this new experience, and I will probably write more about it later in the year after we've had some time to see how it works.

I am a little apprehensive of this coming year because I know it will likely be a bumpy ride for us all. Besides the normal chaos of trying to align schedules and plan subjects for four little people, I am feeling all of the third-trimester fatigue, aches, and pains, which sap my energy and limit what I can accomplish each day. This will only get worse until baby arrives in October! We are starting early (now) so that we can take a break when the baby is born, but I don't know yet how long that break will be or how we will all be feeling in November and December. Then, of course, once we start up again, we're back to homeschooling with a newborn around which can also be difficult!

However, one gift that 8.5 years of parenting has given us is that of perspective. We have learned that these extra-challenging seasons do not last forever, and soon enough we will be exhaling into a (slightly) calmer phase. It may take a while, but I will get my energy back, and we will find our footing in a new routine that includes the baby. I still don't know when that will happen, but at least I can look ahead (with a little more patience than I had a few years back) and know that it's coming. I also know that one rough year will not ruin our homeschool. Our children will survive, and probably learn a few things, and maybe gain some patience and resilience along the way!

And, as Sarah Mackenzie says in Teaching From Rest (a must-read, if you haven't yet),

"The best way to shed frustration and angst about the schedule is simply to remember that your time isn't yours to begin with - it's His. We may be bound by the constraints of the clock, but the God of the universe is not. Giving Him our days and our minutes will yield more fruit than we could ever hope to yield on our own."

One week down, many more to go. What a blessing it is to spend these messy, exhausting, beautifully ordinary days with my favorite little people! It's hard work but such good work.

We may or may not have celebrated this first week by devouring personalized sugar monstrosities. Kids were thrilled and I have no regrets. When in doubt, buy donuts!

Best wishes to all of you who have started or will be starting your own homeschool year sometime soon! May it be a year of growing in wisdom for both parents and children.