This week was really good. I’m so thankful we are finally in our routine. I’m also really glad we started in early August so we could take the time we needed to really get ourselves into a groove. It takes time every year, but this year was longer. Our 6-weeks-of-school, 1-week-off pattern is working out beautifully this year!
Beth: 8th grade
Part of our daily schedule is music practice. All of the girls started by the time they were 4-years-old with piano lessons…but then that is what happens when your mom is your piano teacher! My kids are 3 of my 22 piano students and I love watching them grow. Sometimes it would be easier for someone else to teach them, but most of the time it’s a beautiful blessing. You can see the camera on the piano. I’m teaching the majority of my lessons virtually and that camera is for my hands for demonstration. This year is so weird in so many ways.
Rose: 10th Grade
Rose worked very hard and saved up money this year to help pay for a Chromebook. As she’s progressing in high school we all realized it would be helpful for her to have her own device. The younger two still share a laptop…which I also have to share for teaching piano lessons now. One of my favorite courses she is taking this year is an apologetics course on World Religions from Master Books. It is so wide-ranging and a great way for her to understand the various belief systems and how they differ from the truth found in Scripture. She’s enjoying it as well which is important.
My kids are pretty easy learners. What I mean by that is they rarely complain about a particular curriculum. They do sometimes complain about the amount or ask for a day off, but they generally just accept the curriculum I put in front of them. I try to pick the best I can and if I get something that isn’t a good fit, I listen to them and we look for something better if possible. Sometimes it isn’t possible, but I do try. Don’t get me wrong, we are not curriculum hoppers! I just try to assess my kids’ learning styles and pick something that will fit that. I love to reuse curriculum, but sometimes that isn’t what is best for the next kiddo. Math is a great example of that. Each of my girls is using a different curriculum brand for math and that is perfectly okay!!! Tailoring their education to meet specific needs may be the best aspect of homeschooling.
Grace: 5th Grade
Grace is doing almost exclusively 6th grade work except for math where she is right on grade level. She is one of those kids with a late fall birthday and was absolutely ready to start learning earlier than the traditional-school guidelines. I really love this flexibility in learning.
One of her big changes this year was using notebooking pages with Heart of Dakota. I love that the company is now offering them for younger guides as well, but we were one guide ahead as each new notebooking set came out! If you are just starting out with Heart of Dakota I would strongly recommend doing the notebooking with the younger guides. It’s a beautiful way to prepare them for the higher ones. It was a big jump for Grace, but she’s doing so well now! She loves the timeline she’s creating as well as the research she does.
There is a little peek at our learning week. We also celebrated Grace’s 11th birthday on Sunday!!!! It is so hard to realize she really is growing up. She’s so full of energy and love and is still full of sweet innocence. She’s such a bright light in our family and we had so much fun celebrating her!
I was able to get some scrapbooking in as well! Here is my favorite page I completed. You can click to see all 6 of my completed pages for the week! I feel like I’m back on track!
gracefilledwriter.com 