2020-2021 Curriculum Recap

I know many of you plan your upcoming school year over summer like me. When I was looking back over older blog posts here, I realized that I didn't post our 2020-2021 curriculum preview, so instead I will do a recap, partly to give you ideas for future planning and partly as a record of our homeschool when I look back. I'm going to add all three kids in one post (Year 2, 10, and 11) so I apologize for the length in advance. Grab your latte, kick back, and enjoy! Here goes...

Year 11

Bible & Character 

Riley continued to work through Ambleside Online's Bible Reading Plan. She also completed SCM's Life in the Word, which received groans when I originally assigned it, but turned out to be a great study. This guide leads you through seven different ways to study the bible and Riley really enjoyed it. She also read Charlotte Mason's Vol. 4, Ourselves, Book II as part of her bible and character study. 

History & Geography

Riley began working through Beautiful Feet's US & World History study. Back in the day, it was originally a two year study, but recently, it was revised to be completed in one year. However, because it's such a rich and important time in our history, especially in light of current events, we still opted to spread it over two years and added a few extra books and resources to boot. In addition to the assigned BF books, Riley read from and used the following resources...

Prescripts Cursive Passages and Illuminations: American Documents - this was continued from Year 10 and finished in Year 11

Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers by Jean Fritz

The Federalist Papers by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay

Unconditional Surrender by Albert Marrin

The Story of Liberty by Charles Coffin - You may remember from previous posts that Riley has been working through two streams of history throughout her high school years. This year, her second stream of history covered the Middle Ages/Renaissance/Reformation. Riley was originally scheduled to read The Book of the Middle Ages by Dorothy Mills. However, with two online courses, work, and her other studies, she was not able to complete it, which was very well because she did an in depth study of the Middle Ages back in 8th grade (Term 1, Term 2, and Term 3) and remembered a great deal. I scheduled her too heavily this year and gave grace when needed. With that said, she did complete Coffin's book and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Riley has also been keeping a Book of Centuries since Year 7.

Government & Political Philosophy

Riley took an online Vita Beata course using several Memoria Press books for a credit in Political Philosophy. The books included:

The Republic and The Laws by Cicero

On Obligations by Cicero

City of God by St. Augustine

Riley also completed Exploring Government by Ray Notgrass, as well as the literature below...

Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough

The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge

Born Again by Charles Colson

God and Reagan by Paul Kengor

I like to teach high school government during an election year. We traditionally watch the debates, attend rallies, and keep up with current events to enrich our government study. And WOW!...this election cycle was definitely a real learning experience for better or worse!! 

Science & Health

Guest Hollow Chemistry - This was our first year using a Guest Hollow course as written. I have pulled books from other Guest Hollow courses in the past, but I bought the full Chemistry plan this year. One caution I have if you use Guest Hollow Chemistry is to cull down. This was a great plan, but there are way too many books/videos/projects scheduled for a one year course of study....especially if you are taking a literature approach in other subjects. Riley had already read a few of the assigned books in former years, which allowed her to focus her time and energy on more of the videos and projects. She also notebooked through the course. In an effort to conserve words here, I plan to write a separate post about her overall Chemistry credit on the blog at some point. In addition to the Guest Hollow Chemistry, Riley read the following science and health books this year...

The Structure of Matter

Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry

Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman

Crucibles: The Story of Chemistry by Bernard Jaffe

Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif 

Total Health: Choices for a Winning Lifestyle

Nature Study

English 11

We take a literature approach to our learning in most subjects so Riley completed several books this year in other subjects like history, government, and science. In addition, she read and used the following books and resources toward her English credit...

Sir Gawain & the Green Knight by  J.R.R. Tolkien

The Divine Comedy by Dante - online Vita Beata Literature class

Beowulf by Seamus Heaney

Joan of Arc by Mark Twain

Idylls of the King by Tennyson

Fierce Wars & Faithful Loves  Edmund Spencer's Book I of the Faerie Queen

Poetry by Czeslaw, Milosz, and Edna St. Vincent Millay

Written narration, notebooking, and composition

Invitation to the Classics by Cowan and Gunness - continued from previous years - finished

IEW's Phonetic Zoo - continued from previous years - finished

Math

Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2

Overall, Riley had a great year! She also kept and harvested a garden, milked cows on an organic dairy farm, helped homeschool Levi, took an art class outside the home, and played volleyball. As you can see, she kept very busy! I can't believe she's already heading into Year 12 this fall. Time goes so fast!

Year 10

Ruben had a pretty unconventional year. He worked many long hours outside the home in the fall and spring operating heavy equipment to pump pits, which was a learning experience in and of itself. The focus of his traditional academic subjects was completed in the winter months and continues over summer. His subjects of study have been...

Bible - Ruben is reading select assigned passages.

World History & Geography - Middle Ages/Renaissance/Reformation - Ruben is currently reading When Knights Were Bold by Eva March Tappan and then will read The Story of Liberty by Charles Coffin. Ruben also completed an in depth study of this time period back in Year 7 so the goal this year was simply a recap, as he heads toward a World History credit. He is working through Memoria Press's Geography I course as well, which covers The Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. 

Biology - Ruben did a great deal toward his Biology credit in Year 9. However, I want him to finish up the Sabbath Mood Homeschool study using Men, Microscopes, and Living Things by Katherine Shippen. 

Math - Ruben is working through a set of math skills and concepts pulled from a variety of resources rather than a traditional text. 

English - He re-read The Hobbit  by J.R.R. Tolkien this year and has been reading through The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien, as well as other misc. books including....

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

The Yearling by Marjorie Rawlings

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

In addition, throughout the year, Ruben has taught himself  to weld, strengthened his abilities in auto mechanics, and engineered various small engine machines, such as repurposing a non-functioning pressure washer into a lawn mower, and combining a 4-wheeler and a mini bike into some type of ridable non-traditional looking machine. He also resurrected an old snowmobile from the 1970's and keeps all our vehicles on the road. Ruben is constantly building, tearing apart, and rebuilding any machinery he can get his hands on. He watches numerous YouTube videos and then spends hours outside and in his shop constructing and configuring. This is all part of his education! 

Year 2/3

Levi made great gains in his reading this year!! He has a summer birthday and bordered between 2nd and 3rd grade. Grades are a measure of public school standard. When home educating, we teach to the child, not any one particular grade. His books and resources were consistent with his age of 8 and included the following...

Bible & Character 

Assorted Old Testament passages from The Children's Bible. 

The Golden Bible Atlas

Oral Narration

History 

A Child's History of the World by Virgil M. Hillyer - will continue next school year

Kingfisher History Encyclopedia - excerpts

Usborne Pharaohs & Pyramids by Tony Allan and Philippa Wingate - excerpts

Seeker of Knowledge by James Rumsford

Tut's Mummy Lost...and Found by Judy Donnelly

Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharaohs: A Book About Ancient Egypt by Gail Gibbons

Growing Up In Ancient Egypt by Rosalie David

The Trojan Horse by Emily Little

Hidden Army: Clay Soldiers of Ancient China by Jane O'Connor

The Secrets of Alexander's Horse by Tony Palazzo

Cleopatra by Diane Stanley

Pompeii: Buried Alive by Edith Kunhardt

Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall - will continue next school year

Sword in the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla

Marguerite Makes a Book by Bruce Robertson

Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans by Edward Eggleston

Oral Narration

Levi completed notebooking pages to correspond with this Bible and History study. Riley helped him compose a sentence or two from his oral narration to summarize each reading. Levi would then copy the sentence(s) and illustrate them in a notebook. I used this method with Riley when she was young and it turned out to be the start of a great thing, as her notebook pages have evolved over the years into beautiful scrapbooks of her education. You can read more about our notebook keeping here. 

Geography

Under the Home - Where We Live: A Home Geography, Part II

Notebooking pages

Science & Health

The Great Dinosaur Mystery & the Bible by Paul S. Taylor

Under the Home - Animal Nature Study

Notebooking pages

Naturalist Kids Podcast

Wild Kratts on PBS Kids

Oral Narration

Language Arts

Prairie School by AVI & Memoria Press Lit Guide

Animal Folk Tales of America by Tony Palazzo & Memoria Press Lit Guide

All About Reading 2

Core Skills Phonics 3

McGuffey Pictorial Eclectic Primer with The Lesson Book

Memoria Press Grade 2 Literature

A Child's Book of Poems by Gyo Fujikawa

Animals Animals by Eric Carle

Copywork

Oral Narration

Math

Rod & Staff Arithmetic 2

Fine Arts

Memoria Press Music Enrichment

Memoria Press Art Cards

Under the Home Studio Art - Drawing 2D and 3D Shapes

Levi also attended an art class outside the home. 

Overall, Levi had a great year! As mentioned before, he made tremendous progress in reading, as well as math. Due to me working outside the home, Riley guided him through most of his lessons. I chose the books/resources and created the schedule that she implemented. Some of his lessons had audio books/story components so Riley would set it up and Levi would listen, while she worked on her own lessons. Then they worked together on other subjects. Riley and Levi have very similar personalities and many common interests. She is nine years older than him, very mature, and kind, but firm so he respects her. 

I am very proud of all three kids and their accomplishments this year! It's been a little difficult to balance work with homeschooling, but they persevered and we have all been blessed by the fruit of our labor. 

I do plan to post a few follow-up blogs to showcase some of the new curricula and resources we used this year, namely Guest Hollow Chemistry, Under the Home, and McGuffey readers with The Lesson Book. These were all new to us and ended in success so I can't wait to share!

This post contains some, but not all, affiliate links. Proceeds from the links allow me to continue homeschooling and adding future content to this blog.  

A Review of Form III-IV Science Using Ambleside Online

RileyAnn has officially completed AO Year 7 and AO Year 8 Science. I highly recommend it!! The Ambleside Advisory did a tremendous job of choosing a variety of living books and piecing together a wonderful introductory and preparatory science study for the upper years. Because Riley completed the study in her Year 8 & 9, I did make a few minor modifications and additions for high school, but nothing major. I'm not going to spend too much time on AO Year 7 because I did a reflection of that here, which also includes some of my thoughts on scientific literacy. Rather, I will share the books Riley's covered over the past two years, as well as samples of her notebooking pages to hopefully give you ideas.

Riley's Year 8 Book List Based off AO Year 7

Eric Sloane's Weather Book by Eric Sloane
Social Life in the Insect World by Jean Henri Fabre - (A book I substituted for AO's The Life of the Spider)
Secrets of the Universe: Discovering the Universal Laws of Science by Paul Fleisher - (This book has been reprinted by Living Book Press in 5 separate books.)
The Wonder Book of Chemistry by Jean Henri Fabre
First Studies of Plant Life by George Francis Atkinson
Adventures with a Microscope by Richard Headstrom
Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy by Jay Ryan

Great Astronomers by R.S. Ball - (I highly recommend the linked edition!! It is a well done reprint with original illustrations.)

Lay of the Land by Dallas Lore Sharp

Riley's Year 9 Book List Book Based off AO Year 8

First Studies of Plant Life by George Francis Atkinson - continued

Napoleon's Buttons: 17 Molecules That Changed History by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson

Adventures with a Microscope by Richard Headstrom - continued

Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy by Jay Ryan - continued

Great Astronomers by R.S. Ball - continued

The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday - (Be sure to add the free online videos linked at AO)

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman
A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking 
The Microbe Hunters by Paul DeKruif

Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper

For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin - (I added with Sabbath Mood Homeschool guide.)

Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel - (I added.)

Overall, Riley enjoyed her study. She felt there was a nice variety of the sciences represented and she said she learned a little from each book. Her least favorites were those by Fabre, A Briefer History of Time, and The Chemical History of the Candle because the writing and subject matter was not as interesting to her. 

Like last year, the schedule was such that Riley read from two books per day, four days per week, and then completed one notebooking page per day from the book of her choice. Here is a sample of her work....

I realize this is a lot of pages to showcase, but my hope is to allow you to see the variation of knowledge gleaned by this study throughout the year. I love the way AO mixed sciences in these years using living books. However, I will admit, initially, I was a bit skeptical, but after doing a variety of research a couple years ago, I realized the US is one of the few countries that segregates the sciences. Also, Charlotte Mason did not separate them, as she taught the various branches of science concurrently. 

In addition, I was very pleased with Riley's standardized test results this spring, which clearly showed she had mastered the different streams of science well enough to beat the test. This was especially interesting since the test was based on current common core standards, to which we have never adhered in our homeschool. 

In closing, I want to highly recommend the AO Science we used! I'm so glad we chose this route and hope to continue with a mix of science streams each year throughout high school. To those that worry about using old books that may be outdated, I say stop worrying. You can always Google updated information if you feel it necessary...we did not. Also remember, scientific literacy should be the goal. If you have a budding scientist, they will narrow their field and specialize in college, not middle and high school. Right now, providing a feast and allowing adequate time and space for your student to digest it should be your main concern. The AO Science choices afford you the opportunity to do just that.



Note: Ambleside Online is a FREE Charlotte Mason inspired curriculum. They offer schedules for Year 0-12, as well as a variety of resources to help parents educate their children. All opinions are my own and I am not being compensated by AO in any way. However, the books in my lists are linked to my Amazon affiliate account. I appreciate your consideration in clicking the links. By doing so and making a purchase, you are supporting my efforts here on this blog and in our homeschool. Thanks!

Spring Term 2018-2019 Wrap-Up

Much like the slow spring season this year, our 2018-2019 academic year limped to a close. We got'er done, but it wasn't pretty. Today, I'll share with you what we did and didn't do.

First, here are the lists of resources I had planned at the beginning of the year when things were shiny and new....

Year One
Year Eight
Year Nine
Morning Time

Next, you can find our Fall Term Wrap-Up here and our Winter Term Wrap-Up here.

Finally, here is a list of resources we used in Term 3 to end our year....

Morning Time

Bible: DK Children's Bible - we finished the Old Testament
Citizenship: Ourselves by Charlotte Mason - we finished Book I - Self Knowledge
Economics/Government: Whatever Happened to Justice? by Richard Maybury - finished
Literature: The Holy War by John Bunyan - finished
Tales: 50 Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin - we only got about 2/3 of the way through. I'm undecided if we will pick this up again.
Poetry: When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne - finished
Natural History: The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson, adapted by Terry Ann White - finished
Music: Classics for Children - audio CD; Peter and the Wolf; The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Nancy Willard - finished
Art: The Story of Painting by H.W. Janson - skipped
Artist Study: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artist: Paul Cezanne - finished

All three kids also participated in our local homeschool choir, as well as art classes outside the home this spring. Therefore, I dropped the Folk Song and Hymn study this term. In addition, they each memorized multiple poems this year for Recitation. They practiced them during our Morning Time.

Overall, I would say MT was a slog this year. I saw value in the books we read and yet, there wasn't much enjoyment. Many days were like pulling teeth. Sometimes, this is OK...and actually necessary. However, in the case of MT, if truth, beauty, and goodness are the goal, there must be some enjoyment or else it's hard to see the beauty and goodness of it. I will definitely be reassessing MT for fall.

Year 9

Bible

Riley finished the AO Year 8 Bible Reading Plan and continued to copy Psalms in Do You Journible?, which she finished at the end of Term 3.

History

A History of the American People by Paul Johnson - finished reading Parts 1 and 2 this year.

Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie Bober - finished

John Adams by David McCullough - finishing over summer

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis - finishing over summer

George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster - finished

The Book of the Ancient Greeks by Dorothy Mills - along with A Mind in the Light study - finished

The Children's Plutarch: The Tales of the Greeks by F. J. Gould - finished

Book of Centuries - ongoing

Literature

English Literature for Boys & Girls by H. E. Marshall - finished

Invitation to the Classics by Cowan and Guiness - finished assigned excerpts

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - finishing over summer

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - finished

True Grit by Charles Portis - finished

Spelling

IEW's Phonetic Zoo Level B - finished

Math

Introductory Algebra by Margaret Lial - My Homeschool Math Class - finished

Science/Natural History

Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper - finished spring reading

Napoleon's Buttons by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson - finished

For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin - Sabbath Mood Homeschool Part 1 - finished

A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking - finished

First Studies of Plant Life by George Francis Atkinson - finished

Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif - finished assigned reading 

Great Astronomers by Robert Stawell Ball - finished assigned reading

Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel - finished

Signs and Seasons by Jay Ryan - finished

You can see a full review with sample notebooking pages of Riley's science year here. 

Riley also finished up her participation in our local High School Community. I will post more about that in the future. 

Overall, Riley finished well! She has a couple books that she'll be working on completing over summer. She met both goals I set for her at the beginning of the year, which were: to participate in a High School Community and to begin formal composition. Her two favorite subjects this year were History and Literature. Some of her favorite books were The Last of the Mohicans, The Betrothed, The Tale of Two Cities, and she is also loving The Count of Monte Cristo, even though she's not quite finished yet. A few books Riley didn't care for this year were A Briefer History of Time, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and she is struggling to finish Founding Brothers, not because of difficult content or reading level, but rather interest level. All in all, Riley had a great year and finished strong.

Year 8

Character

Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz - finished

History

Rainbow Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers - finished

What in the World?, Vol. 3 by Dianna Waring- finishing over summer

Literature

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith - finished

Little Britches by Ralph Moody - finished

True Grit by Charles Portis - finished

The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien - 2nd time reading - finishing over summer

Science/Natural History

The Lay of the Land by Dallas Lore Sharp - finished

Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather by Eric Sloane - Sabbath Mood Homeschool - finished

Math

RightStart Mathematics - switched mid term to MCP Mathematics and began tutoring at local Christian School - will continue over summer

Ruben had a very difficult winter and spring after his farm accident last November! He was laid up for several months, really until April, and had many doctor appointments to attend. Through it all he was a real champ and made tremendous progress in his academics. He also met each goal that I set for him at the beginning of the school year: 1) increase science; 2) focus on math; and 3) increase independent study. Ruben completed three different Sabbath Mood Homeschool science studies this year and he read most of his books independently, creating notebooking pages or giving an oral narration after each reading. We started the Fall Term very strong with math, but that is one subject that fell by the wayside after his injury. However, in April, we picked back up again with a tutor. She helped Ruben to gain some ground that he lost over the Winter Term. Math is an area we will continue to focus on in the upcoming year. Ruben LOVED his all his Literature books this year, in particular, Rifles for Watie was a favorite and seemed to leave a lasting impression. He highly recommends it!

Year 1

Phonics & Reading 

First Start Reading by Cheryl Lowe/Memoria Press - continuing

Literature

Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne - finished

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater - finished

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White - continuing over summer

Math

Rod & Staff Beginning Arithmetic 1 - continuing

History/Science & Enrichment

A Mind in the Light Natural Worlds 1 - finished parts and pieces

Memoria Press's Kindergarten and First Grade Enrichment - continuing

Levi was such a trooper this year! He started the year very excited about "school". Unfortunately, things faded after the First Term when Ruben had his accident. Being completely dependent on my teaching, his academics took a sabbatical while I tended his brother. We did pick back up in the Third Term with some sense of regularity. However, we have taken a break now in June. I do plan to begin again with him over summer to make up for lost time, but it will be light as I do want him and I to have some free time to recoup and refresh before fall. Levi did meet the goals I had set for him at the beginning of the year to start formal academics and begin reading instruction. I feel like we finally have a great phonics and reading program in place and it will be easier to carry on. 

If I focus too much on my beginning plans, I feel a little deflated that I wasn't able to carry them out. However, when I look at the big picture, I see so much positive! My children are alive and well. Each and every one of them met the academic goals I set. They all showed tremendous growth, not only academically, but physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I am so thankful the 2018-2019 academic year is behind us....and, I am looking forward to planning the new year. My biggest takeaway this year is that sometimes God's plan isn't my plan. :)

This post does contain affiliate links. 

Winter Term 2018-2019 Wrap-Up...

As the grass begins to green outside my window, I can look back at this photo from mid February and see the beauty. However, setting an all time record snow total of 54" for the month of February was not beautiful at the time. As a matter of fact, many days were just pure survival mode. More than 30 cows freshening throughout a month of subsequent blizzards was interesting to say the least. We even ended up with a couple calves in the basement for a short period of time. It was a 6-year old's delight! There were many snow forts and tunnels to be had.

But, this was absolutely not the case for anyone able to shovel.

Then, the week before the Vernal Equinox, the barn that stood for a century, fell under the weight of the rain. Coupled with existing ice and snow, it was just too much to bear. Fortunately, no one was injured and nothing of great value destroyed in the collapse.

All of the weather phenomena, along with Ruben continuing to recover from his accident, made for an interesting Winter Term. In spite of it all, we did persevere with academics and we did manage to finish some books.

First, here is a preview of the resources I had scheduled....

Year One
Year Eight
Year Nine
Morning Time

Next, you can find our Fall Term Wrap-Up here, which will give you some perspective on how we proceeded with the Winter Term.

Morning Time

For the most part, our Morning Time moved forward as planned. One change was that we did Morning Time in the evening. There is much darkness here in WI in the winter months. My people love the daylight and need daylight to do chores. There was not only the shoveling I referred to above, but checking and feeding cattle, making sure we had ample firewood, and I needed to have plenty of food ready to feed these working people. Evenings were our down time when we would gather round. It was much easier for the kids to focus on the readings and the atmosphere felt more relaxed at that time. More often than not, we headed off to bed after great reading and thoughtful discussion. It was a good way to end the day.

Regarding books used in Morning Time, I ended up swapping The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos for DK The Children's Illustrated Bible by Selina Hastings, which is a Veritas Press recommendation. We will pick up the Vos bible again in the fall. In addition, we finished In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. Other books listed under the Morning Time link above were continued into Spring Term.

Year 9 - RileyAnn

RileyAnn continued to move forward with her plan. She finished reading The World of Captain John Smith and picked up George Washington's World, both by Genevieve Foster. In addition, she began reading Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie Bober and John Adams by David McCullough. For science in the Winter Term, Riley finished The Chemical History of the Candle by Michael Faraday with lectures and Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. She also completed The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper and Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen as part of her High School Community.

Year 8 - Ruben 

Ruben also made progress in his plan while recovering. The first six weeks of the Term were hard! Initially, Ruben had tremendous pain and was unable to focus. In addition, he had so many appointments that it was difficult to find time for academics. Once healing began and he could concentrate for periods of time, Ruben really took off on his reading. He managed to complete The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis & Clark by Gail Langer Karwoski, The Boy of the Alamo by Margaret Cousins, Riders of the Pony Express by Ralph Moody, and the Landmark book Gettysburg by MacKinlay Kantor during the Winter Term. Ruben and I worked together to finish Secrets of the Universe by Paul Fleisher along with the Sabbath Mood Homeschool Physics Study Guide.

One area we fell short was math. His RightStart Mathematics lessons were intermittent and we didn't make as much progress as scheduled. I will explain more about where we landed with math at the end of our Term Three Wrap-Up, once we finish our school year.

Year 1 - Levi

Oh my dear Levi! I ended up shuffling his books yet again in the second term. Due to the care and appointments needed after Ruben's accident, my time was even more limited than before. I had to find something that I could put on autopilot in order to ensure it would get done. In my Fall Term Wrap-Up post, I mentioned switching to RightStart Math and Alpha-Phonics. They are both excellent programs, but because there is no lesson plan, you just do what comes next. This made it very hard for others besides me to implement if I was gone. Therefore, somewhere around Week 22, toward the end of our Winter Term, I switched to Memoria Press's First Start Reading and I LOVE it!! I already had the Teacher Guide, which I found at a thrift sale for 25-cents so just needed the Student Workbooks. It's straight up phonics with a plan. :)

I actually went back to the Kindergarten level because I wanted Levi to start from the beginning. I also felt their reading lessons were a bit advanced, especially since we chose not to do Kindergarten at age five, but rather, waited to begin formal lessons until age six. I bought the Curriculum Guide, which is amazing and was worth the money to me. As a matter of fact, I purchased the K, 1st, and 2nd grade Curriculum Guides so I could see the progression of the program. I had been using some of Memoria Press's Art, Music, and Enrichment anyway. The Curriculum Guides also lays out a plan for teaching those subjects.

We have since changed math to Rod & Staff Beginning Arithmetic 1, which is also recommended by Memoria Press, and Levi loves it! It's funny how each kid learns so differently, even when birthed from the same womb. Ruben struggled so much with workbooks due to dyslexia, that it prompted me to find another way. This is what led me more toward Charlotte Mason's methods. However, Levi really likes workbooks and doesn't care for manipulating objects. I have always been intrigued by Rod & Staff math. I think it's because it's the way I was taught math and I feel it worked. The sequential mastery approach is very appealing to me.

For now, Levi's math comes in fits and spurts, which I am not worried about. After reading the Benezet experiment, along with other delayed formal math research, I'm OK with waiting on math until the child is developmentally ready. It's a subject that's easy for Levi at this time so we do it more for fun than academic reasons. He also plays with math in the day to day and gains much of his math knowledge that way.

After beginning the Beautiful Feet Books Early American History Primary level, it was soon apparent that Levi wasn't quite ready. I used this study with Riley and Ruben when they were 3rd and 4th grade, which I feel is a much more appropriate age, even though Beautiful Feet recommends it for Kindergarten - 3rd grade. The D'Aulaire books are amazing at any age, but I feel it's better to wait until the student can fully grasp the stories presented in them in order to better appreciate them. Also, Levi is a young 1st grader, with a summer birthday so the writing/notebooking proved to be too much. Instead, we have read many picture books together on a variety of topics, including science and history.

For now, my focus with Levi is phonics and reading. He continues to participate in Morning Time. We also finished reading Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, and began Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater in the way of chapter books this term.  Overall, the changes made have been working and academics are actually getting done!