For many, many years I have done a back to school post with details about our school plans and what we will be doing for our curriculum, co-ops, work, hobbies, habit training, and more. Those posts may be found in the archives–just search the Learning at Home category on the sidebar!

After a year of trying our hands at a private school, we have decided to return to homeschooling for the 2019-2020 year. I knew it my heart months ago that this would likely be our decision, but after much consideration and prayer we have made it official.

Year after year I continue to get many questions and inquiries about homeschooling. I spend lots of time counseling and encouraging other potential homeschool moms that they, too, can homeschool. A year or so ago, I finally put together a resource that helps others see if homeschooling is a good fit for their families. That resource may be found here.

After our homeschooling sabbatical, I was feeling a little rusty so I actually spent about half an hour and worked through the packet myself. In it I help you (and myself!!) discover your MOTIVATION for wanting to homeschool, your CONSIDERATIONS for homeschooling (such as family rhythms, priorities, and calendar), and finally help you with the MOBILIZATION of your endeavor.

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My motivation for choosing homeschooling again this year is the primary pursuit of time freedom, peace in our home, customization of our kids’ education to their abilities, skills, and interests, and alignment with our lifestyle and another upcoming PCS.

Knowing my motivation then helped move me toward some considerations for how we want our year to look, what is important to us, and how our time and planning aligns with our values.

Every homeschool year is different. Every child is different. Every place we live is different. I have looked into co-ops, researched Classical Conversations (yet again), and spoken with several other homeschool moms in the nearby area.

All things considered, I was able to move from this point to the “mobilization” part of my planning where I researched specific curricula and set my budget. Finally I was ready to order all of our materials. (The fun part!)

 

Without further ado, here is what we have on the agenda for 2019-2020 and we can’t wait.

 

Thomas (10th grade):

Teaching Textbooks Algebra II

Apologia Biology

Western Civilizations 101 (dual enrollment through Louisiana College)

Physical Education

Monarch Spanish II

English II:

Wordly Wise 10, Fix It! Grammar, IEW Excellence in World Literature

STEM: Eureka Crates from KiwiCo

 

Mae (8th grade):

Teaching Textbooks Algebra I

Apologia General Science

Notgrass History and Language Arts (Uncle Sam and You- civics focus)

Wordly Wise 8

Fix It! Grammar

Physical Education

French I

STEM: Tinker Crates from KiwiCo

 

Kate (6th grade):

Teaching Textbooks Math 6 (Fall)/ Math 7 (Spring)

Apologia Zoology Swimming Creatures

Notgrass History and Language Arts (America the Beautiful)

Wordly Wise 6

Fix It! Grammar

Physical Education

Typing Club

Art: Doodle Crates from KiwiCo

 

We will be back to our Morning Basket time and the girls will spend some time working on DuoLingo and Khan Academy for coding, STEM, and extra math practice.

There is a homeschool PE class on post Mae and Kate will attend and they will also be helping a few mornings each month by volunteering in watch care for MOPS and PWOC. They each have a few families who call on them to babysit occasionally and they are thrilled to have some early afternoon availability.

Thomas will earn his PE credit by going to the gym with Ryan three mornings each week for weight lifting and conditioning. He is planning to play flag football through CYS and is also pursuing a part time job (potentially as a youth league soccer referee).

All three kids are actively involved in the Youth of the Chapel each week and all three serve in various capacities on Sunday: the girls in children’s church and Thomas running tech.

Here’s what we have so far. Morning basket time is just a short 30ish minutes we spend together setting an intention/mood for our day of learning. We spend short 5-8 minute segments covering a variety of subjects and content. The point is that over an entire school year, we will all have had lots of exposure to many things. Nothing in the basket is graded. It’s mostly just for fun and exploration of new ideas.

 

I am beyond excited to get back to this rich, rigorous, and veritable feast of education!