I have reached the apex of homeschooling where my kids are pretty much independent learners!

I highly recommend the books by Louise Bates Ames. A good guide to follow are the What Your ?-Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

I don’t have little kids anymore!

More and more, I just stand back in awe and watch them create and perform.

We love learning and exploring together!

My eldest daughter is 18 and beginning her first official year of college! She has a part time job as a bank teller.

My middle girls are doing 8th grade work.

Tori is 13 and doing Greek 2 and Katie is 12 and is continuing German.

We’re looking into private art lessons for Katie. She does fall soccer. She loves to cook and draw and create.

Tori practices weekly aerial arts at a local gym.

• Apologia Biology and journals
• finishing Singapore Math: New Elementary Math Syllabus D, Level 1
• maybe Singapore Math: New Elementary Math Syllabus D, Level 2
• VideoText Algebra
• Spelling Workout H
• Life of Fred: Fractions, then Decimals and Percents

My son is doing 5th grade work.

Alex is 9 and does fall and spring baseball and weekly ninja classes. He won 3rd place recently in a ninja competition!

• Apologia Anatomy and journal
• Singapore Math 5
• Life of Fred: Fractions, then Decimals and Percents
• Spelling Workout C
• Studying God’s Word E
• Latina Christiana I

We’re in year 4 of our history cycle.

We still do lots of morning read alouds together for Bible, church history, natural history, Life of Fred, world and American history, and literature.

I can’t believe how time has flown!

I have homeschooled since 2005.

It’s been a wild journey and I have learned so much about myself as a mom and teacher over the years.

You can see how we began with our first and second years.

Here’s how I plan a homeschool year.

You can scroll through all the curricula we’ve used over the years for various levels.

I also created these pages of homeschooling topics and to help answer questions.

This year, I’m only homeschooling 3 kids!

We’re still finishing up some maths, science, and history…but we should have about a month off from academics. We typically school year round with lots of breaks for holidays, resting, and travel.

My eldest is dual enrolled at a local university, and has all but completed her high school work of French and history.

We continue to use our core curriculum of Tapestry of Grace for history, geography, literature, art, music, and church history.

We use Memoria Press for Latin. My son is finishing up Prima Latina and the girls are doing Latina Christiana. We also learn modern languages.

We’ll take local weekly art classes again since we love the teacher.

My middle girls are 11 and 12 years old. We don’t really do grade levels, but I guess they’re in about 7th.

Katie is trying soccer again.

Tori loves being outdoors and walks, runs, bikes, rollerblades all the time.

This year, they’re studying:

• Beauty in the Heart Bible study
• Spelling Workout Level H
• New Elementary Maths 1
• Apologia Physical Science and notebook

My son is 8 years old. He is in about 4th grade.

Alex loves baseball and will play fall ball and spring league again this year.

He is studying:

Apologia Chemistry and Physics to coincide with his sisters’ physical science.

A winter Astronomy Unit

• Stargazer’s Guide
• Apologia Astronomy and notebook
• The Astronomy Book
• journals
• various library books
• telescope

• Christian Liberty Nature Reader 3
• Studying God’s Word Book D
• Primary Maths 4
• Spelling Workout Level B

Some of this curriculum is no longer printed or has updated to new editions. I’ve had these books for years and if it ain’t broke…

What are you studying in your homeschool this year?

It seems like summer has flown by for us this year!

We moved from Germany to Ohio and spent lots of time getting settled and dealing with reverse culture shock.

We’re pretty relaxed and spend most mornings reading and completing the lessons so our afternoons are free to play, explore, create, bake, watch videos, or ride bikes.

I’m not worried about schedules or how long it takes to complete a book. Some days, we don’t get to math. We do science only a couple times a week. We read every day.

Our curriculum this year:

We still use Tapestry of Grace as our base. I like their book lists and activities. I print Notebooking Pages every week to coincide with our history and literature studies.

We don’t really label with grade levels, so here’s what my son will be working through so far this year. He’s 7 years old.

He also listens and participates in history and literature read-alouds with his sisters.

• Christian Liberty Nature Reader
• Life of Fred
• Singapore Math 3
• Spelling Workout A
• Apologia Who is God?
• Apologia Land Animals

My middle girls are 10 and 11 years old and here are their core texts. They’re also enjoying Bible studies from Time-Warp Wife.

• The Story of the World
• Elementary Greek
• First Start French
• Singapore Math 6
• Spelling Workout G
• Apologia General Science

My eldest daughter is almost 17 and will be attending a local university part-time for dual enrollment.

She’s looking for a part-time job too! It’s a bit discouraging how few jobs are available for a 16 yo and how potential employers talk to and treat her. She volunteered with the Red Cross for two years, but has no paid experience. And everything is online now, so she can’t charm anyone by walking in. There are no help wanted signs in windows anymore.

She is still finishing up French, year 3 history, and some literature. She has to review algebra and take a math entrance exam to enroll in college algebra spring semester.

The kids really work quite independently.

We do history and literature read alouds in the mornings, after breakfast.

The kids then work on their notebooking, Bible, vocabulary workbooks.

I assist Alex, which really just means I just watch him do his work. Every few days, I read a science chapter to Alex and he works through his science notebooking journal the other days.

I assist with and discuss science with the girls. Dad reviews science in the evenings and weekends and does some of the more extravagant experiments.

Dad does math with the girls in the evenings and weekends. We all like to listen to Life of Fred!

We’re usually finished with the bulk of school work by lunchtime.

Then the kids can read whatever they like, create art or crafts, play outside, rollerblade, scooter, ride bikes, wait for their public school friends to get home on the bus, play table games, iPads, Wii, watch Netflix, hike in the woods, bake something yummy, practice typing, research, nature journaling, or almost anything they want!

We take days off for field trips and other activities. Since we school year-round, we don’t stress. Evenso, we still often complete the year’s workbooks, journals, and other curricula by March!

What are you using this year?
What does your schedule look like?

I almost forget that it’s back to school time for many families.

Since we homeschool year round, we typically transition into our next levels around March or so.

This year, I actually held back the workbooks and we had some free time over the summer.

But the kids are chomping at the bit to get back into math, spelling, and Bible in addition to science and history!

We’ve pared down our homeschool materials, threw out all the printables, cleared away many manipulatives, and generally streamlined our approach to learning.

Our focused academic time is only a couple hours each day – for each child.

We learn all day, everyday – life skills, reading, playing, creating, exploring.

Our homeschool curriculum for the 2016-2017 school year:

Tapestry of Grace encompasses our literature, history, geography, arts, and worldview studies.

We’re already finished with Year 2 Unit 2 in Tapestry of Grace. We have two more units to complete in Year 2, then it’s Year 3!

We read Bible scripture every morning individually and every evening as a family with the Pray Now app and Book of Concord.

I’m focusing on penmanship through copywork, memorization, and organizing with my younger three this year.

We learn about artists and musicians along with our history schedule.

We use Notebooking Pages for the majority of our academic work and evaluations, especially with history and science.

2nd grade

Alex is only 6 but he begs to keep going, going, going with his studies – and he’s reading and writing so well and doing great in math! He can almost learn everything along with his middle sisters! I make sure he has plenty of play and exploring time. Honestly, I’m so glad we’re out of the preschool stage and I don’t feel any need to “keep him busy.” He’s quite a fluent reader and does well with writing. He doesn’t enjoy play time with his male peers, most of whom are too rough and tumble for him. I’m perfectly happy with my gentle boy.

• Journey Through the Bible New Testament
• All About Reading Level 4 (already almost completed!)
• Singapore Math 2
• Apologia Botany (almost completed!) and Flying Creatures with junior notebooking journals
• Daily journaling – art and writing

5th grade

Tori (10) and Katie (9) amaze me every day with their knowledge and interests. They’re pretty much doing dialectic work already, with help and a slower reading schedule. I’m working with Tori (per her request) to improve her reading and spelling with All About Spelling. This is a tough transition age. Academic work increases greatly in upper elementary and middle school and sometimes, we take longer on lessons, but we still maintain our play and exploring time each day.

• Studying God’s Word F
• Spelling Workout E
• Singapore Math 5
• Apologia Botany (almost completed!) and Flying Creatures with notebooking journals
• Daily journaling – art and writing
• Latina Christiana 2, Greek, and French 2

11th grade

Elizabeth turns 16 in October! She will finish up almost all her academics this year, completing some history and literature reading and writing her senior year along with more volunteering and possible dual enrollment or community college courses. She knows she wants to pursue a career in the medical field.

• The Case for Christ
• Writing, Government, and Philosophy through Tapestry of Grace
• College Psychology
• Videotext Geometry (already halfway completed!)
• Apologia Physics (already halfway completed!)
• SAT prep with Khan Academy
• Red Cross Volunteer at our local hospital two full days a week
• Civil Air Patrol weekly meetings
• French 2

We’re taking a break from organized sports and music lessons since they’ve been a less than stellar experience for us. It also saves money so we can travel!

We get plenty of outside play time and nature study – almost every day.

We have more traveling planned this year to coincide with our studies and for fun. We’ll move back to the States next spring!

We have gotten to a really good place with our curriculum. We know what works and what we like. No fluff! We are streamlined. We prefer a literature and history-based homeschool with lots of books. The kids are at a great age to do their hands-on projects independently.

We’re done with preschool work and it’s so fascinating to me to have the girls reading fluently. Alex is also coming along nicely with reading and writing. He’s a whiz at math!

Our Curriculum Choices for the 2015-2016 School Year

The Boy

Alex is 5.

He is beginning 1st grade Singapore math. He loves Life of Fred and we’re reading Butterflies together.

We’re continuing with All About Reading Level 3. He has a manuscript writing workbook from A Beka that he loves.

He often listens in with our history and science reading, but I don’t make him do any work other than coloring pages. Tapestry of Grace has a new Primer program that is great for littles.

He likes Bible Treasures and it gives us a good overview and introduction.

Alex does fall soccer and baseball in the spring.

The Girls

Tori is 9 and Kate is 8.

They’re beginning 4th grade Singapore math. The girls are finishing up the elementary series of Life of Fred with Farming. We’re doing Apologia Astronomy and Botany this year.

I let the girls choose their schedule:

Monday: First Start French I, then Level II!

Tuesday: German for Children, then German Demystified

Wednesday: Guitar lesson for Tori and Piano lesson for Kate

Thursday: Song School Spanish…then I don’t know what.

Friday: Prima Latina, then Latina Christiana I

Weekly: Art and Nature Study

Kate does fall soccer. Tori does gymnastics in fall and winter and track in the spring.

The Teen

Liz will be 15 in October.

She is finishing up Videotext Algebra. The goal is to complete that program by Christmas and move on to Videotext Geometry.

We sat down and planned out the next school year and set goals. She’s finishing Second Form Latin by mid-September. She wants to switch to French, so we will do that as a family.

Apologia Biology should be completed by mid-September. Liz begged me to find a 2nd edition Chemistry by Dr. Jay Wile. There’s a new 3rd edition, but we weren’t impressed with the reviews. She will complete Chemistry, then move onto Physics (I’ve already purchased that in case it goes out of print too!).

She is excited to study homeschool Christian psychology this year.

She is ranking up in Civil Air Patrol and is excited about new leadership this year. She has to pass a physical training test every month.

See what our high school homeschool looks like so far.

The Whole Family

We are rotating back to Year 1 cycle in history with Ancient Studies in Tapestry of Grace.

We use the book lists and assignments in Tapestry of Grace Year 1 for Bible, literature, history, geography, writing, and art. We will have a whole Old and New Testament overview this year!

We supplement art studies with Artistic Pursuits.

We anticipate lots of traveling to see ancient sites this year! We’re traveling to Greece this fall and celebrating Christmas in Rome!

We’re working on time management skills with the girls having their own agendas that they check off every day.

When I started easing back into a full-time school routine, I worried we’d be “doing school” all day long. The first day was rather long. The second day, everyone had completed work by lunchtime!

We kinda finished our entire ancient history curriculum in one semester, including trips to Greece and Rome.

We’re spending a few weeks reviewing, notebooking, completing projects, and filling in the gaps of ancient history.

Elizabeth is beginning VideoText Geometry and finishing Apologia Chemistry. She has to complete some philosophy and government readings for history credits. She’s still enjoying Homeschool Christian Psychology. We’re finishing up with I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist. We’re having some amazing conversations between that and the psychology book. She’s performing in a local production of the musical Mary Poppins this winter.

Alex is starting All About Reading Level 4! I can’t believe how much he’s learned in so short a time. He’s excited to start Singapore Math 1B.

I’m beginning Apologia Botany with Alex, Tori, and Katie. This will be the first time he’s had a notebooking journal!

I’m reading Changes to Tori and Katie. They’re excited to start Singapore Math 4B and Latina Christiana 1. We’re also adding the Greek Alphabet.

I have spent some time considering what’s most important and removing the fluff from our school time…and our lives.

I’m still purging our home of stuff, cleaning and throwing away and donating. If we haven’t used those items for crafts this year, it’s tossed.

I have all these unit printables in files that the girls loved but Alex doesn’t. They’re gone.

The kids are mostly old enough to do arts and crafts unsupervised. I allow them the freedom to complete projects their own way – even if it’s messy and veers off in a different direction than I’d planned. I bought the girls watercolor calendars.