Our Family

Our Family

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

8th and 9th Grade Curriculum Choices for the 2020-2021 School Year




We have made our decisions on homeschool curriculum for next year!  Our start date will be August 24th.  We will follow a 4 day a week schedule and continue to take Fridays off.  Christian will be in 8th grade this year, and Anthony will be in 9th.  Some of the classes they are taking will be together and others will be on their own.



Christian 8th Grade

Bible-continue with reading through the New Testament
History- The Mystery of History Vol II
Language Arts-Essentials in Writing (this will be new to them)
Literature- Memoria Press
Spelling- All About Spelling Level 7 (they have a few lessons to finish up)
Latin- Visual Latin
Art- ARTistic Pursuits
Art History- HiGASFY


Math- Teaching Textbooks
Science- Apologia General Science



Anthony will be starting 9th grade which means it's time to start counting credits and keeping a transcript.  We follow along with the guidelines set by our local public school and complete at least 7 credits per year.


Anthony 9th Grade

Bible-continue with reading through the New Testament
History- The Mystery of History Vol II
Language Arts-Essentials in Writing (this will be new to them)
Literature- Memoria Press
Spelling- All About Spelling Level 7 (they have a few lessons to finish up)
Latin- Visual Latin
Art- ARTistic Pursuits


Math- Math U See Algebra I
Science- Apologia Physical Science
Coding- Computer Science


It's going to be a great year!

Happy Homeschooling!

Monday, July 20, 2020

4th and 6th Grade Curriculum Choices for the 2020-2021 School Year



My 4th and 6th grade girls will be using a lot of the same materials this year with different levels when appropriate such as language arts, math. and handwriting.  We will be using some curriculum that is familiar to us and some that will be brand new.  We are excited to see what the year will bring!

One of my goals for Emmie (4th grade) is to get her writing more.  We will be working on simple papers in language arts and keeping a notebook of sorts for history/geography that she will have to write the answers to questions in .  She wanted to learn more cursive writing (she knows some of the basics) so I bought a cursive handwriting book for her.  Also last year she struggled with some of our art lessons because she did not think she did them well enough.  This year I would like to see her confidence grow a bit more in that area so we will switch from just a drawing program to doing a variety of art projects.

Lily is very artistic but strongly dislikes math and has struggled with it.  We switched to a different math curriculum this year after the children requested something new that will hopefully help her.  She is a very good natural speller so she does not have a spelling curriculum that she uses.  She loves to read, write, and draw, and make any kind of crafts.

I am waiting for a few things to arrive in the mail and one to be released from the company.  Our expected start date is August 24th.

Our choices for the 2020-2021 school year include:


Bible: We will continue reading from the New Testament
Math: Teaching Textbooks
History/Geography: Notgrass Our 50 States (this is brand new from Notgrass and recommended for grades 1-4 but I really think Lily will enjoy it too.  They also will be listening in on the readings from The Mystery of History Vol II from Bright Ideas Press
Science: Master Books Elementary Zoology 
Language Arts: Lightning Literature

Art: ARTistic Pursuits
Art History: HiGASFY 

Latin: Visual Latin from Compass Classroom

Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting


Spelling/Reading (Emmie): All About Reading/Spelling






Happy Homeschooling!

Sunday, July 19, 2020

Our Weeks in Review (July 6-19th) Camping, Quilting, and Graduation!

Last week our camper repair was finished up and we went camping again!  It was wonderful to be back at the lake.  It was very hot!! We spent the mornings and evenings outside and watched a movie in the afternoon when it was the hottest part of the day.  Nick and Alex had to work part of the time so they were not able to be out there with us the whole time but we were close enough that they could get back and forth to work easily and take care of the animals.

The girls were so cute.  There was a strip of land across from where we were.  They packed a picnic lunch, put it in a Walmart sack, and swam it across on their tubes do they could have their own picnic.  They saw several different  kinds of birds, a family of rabbits, deer, and a turtle nest. We also saw our baby geese that we have been watching over the last few months all grown up.  It was very exciting!









We came home on Sunday.  Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Lily had a 4 H Quilt Workshop!  It was her first 4 H activity since March (Christian went to the very first activity since March a few days before, a Wildlife Workshop.)  There were 6 girls participating.  They set up sewing stations more then 6 feet apart, took everyone's temperatures on the way in and asked that if you were going to be close to someone that you wear a mask.  They made their quilt tops and back pieces and after the quilts are back from being quilted they will meet again to put the bindings on the quilt.




I stayed with Lily each day even though she didn't need me she wanted me to stay.  I embroidered names on aprons for another workshop to pass the time.



The girls had their music lesson on Tuesday.  They recorded This is the Day for today's Offertory to be played over the radio.


Wednesday afternoon we picked up our new Netherland Dwarf rabbits.  We got a senior buck and a junior doe.  We have another senior doe coming but she had just miscarried and could not be transported for a few weeks. 



We had the babies on Thursday while Chelsea went to the airport to pick up my mom. She flew in for Nick's graduation and was here three days.  Chelsea, Liam, and Willow flew back with her to spend a week visiting my mom and dad in Florida.






My friend Julie made this little friends for the babies to take on their trip.  They LOVE them!  Liam told me he has a new friend and his name is Groot and sissy has one too!

Friday was graduation day.  This was one of those weird things to me.  Don't get me wrong, I am very glad he was able to have a graduation ceremony.  But, we are bombarded with the idea that being close to people is bad, being in groups in worse, and being in large groups is horrible right now.  But, we were allowed to have an indoor graduation ceremony with 100 graduates, each allowed to bring 8 people with no "social distancing" for those in the stands. The graduates were 6 feet apart.  We all were required to wear a mask and everyone was given hand sanitizer so I guess that meant that we were all safe from the virus.

Anyway ... it was a nice ceremony.  It wasn't until 8 o clock at night and because of the limitations of guests we left all of the children at home and only took the adults. I wanted to get a family picture before we left, but the girls were playing with water balloons and were soaking wet. Nick does not love pictures but I did get a few.








And back to the mask thing...... I do not believe that masks do anything to help prevent the spread of this illness.  I have not seen any science to prove that masks prevent the spread of this illness.  I have read several things to the contrary.  I also don't think that healthy people are responsible for the spread of this illness. Our governor passed a state wide mask mandate that begins tomorrow after first saying that local governments could decide whether or not to mandate masks (our decided against.) We now have no choice but to wear masks, which I strongly disagree with (and no that doesn't make me insensitive or uncaring.) The graduation was the first time I had to wear one and I did notice a few things.  First I could not breathe properly with it on covering my mouth and nose in an airconditioned building (I feel for those working outside that will be required to wear them) I had to have my nose peaking out.  I wasn't the only one doing this, half of the people in the arena were wearing theirs the same way.  Also, when people were speaking to each other they moved the mask down off of their mouth to talk.  And I touched my face more trying to get the mask in a comfortable position throughout the night then I would ever normally do.  I am very prone to headaches anyway and had a raging one by the time we could leave and I could remove the mask.     I saw a graphic today showing people how and why to convince their small children to wear masks and it made me incredibly sad.....I wonder when all of this will end????  We just have to accept these things as our new normal? I am praying daily for those that are sick and everyone that is working in the healthcare industry and everyone who has been affected by this pandemic and hope that it will come to an end soon.  I am thankful that we homeschool and my younger children will not have to be masked in a classroom all day.  My older boys will have to wear them at work and at the college and Art's job has mandated that starting Monday they must wear them all day even if they are the only ones in their office. 

Nick moves into his dorm in three weeks. They have delayed the start of public school two weeks but the colleges are starting a week early.  I am not sure yet when we will start at home.  I have one or two things left to order and then will start making some final plans.

My mom and Chelsea and the children landed safely in Florida.  I hope they have a great trip!

I hope you had a great week!

Happy Homeschooling!

Monday, July 6, 2020

Questions About Homeschooling: What About High School?

Homeschooling High School tends to make people nervous. Parents who feel capable teaching their children in the younger years start to worry about what will happen when their children are old enough to go to High School. Fears about teaching upper level classes, how to track credits and grades, how to prepare for standardized testing, diplomas, and getting into college are all issues parents with upcoming high schoolers deal with. You are just as much in control of your child's high school homeschool curriculum as you were in elementary and middle school.

How Do I Teach Something I Don't Know?

Material does get more advanced when your children get older, but just because you haven't done any Algebra since high school or never took a foreign language does not mean you can't homeschool a high schooler.  There are many, many resources available for high school.  Many types of curricula are self directed meaning that they are set up so that the student can complete everything on their own.  Curriculum companies can answer questions for you if the child gets stuck.  My son had some questions about a lesson in PreCalculus and the very helpful people at Math U See walked us through it and helped solve his issue.  Online classes are also an option.  You can choose self paced or in person classes that are taught through the computer.  There are options for you to grade your child's classes or ones that the work will be graded for you.

But what about counting credits?


Some states do have guidelines in place and I urge you to check into your states homeschool laws and find out what guidelines you need to follow. If you are in a state that does not have specific guidelines (like me) there still is a lot of information out there on counting credit hours and how many credits your high schooler needs in order to graduate.

 As a general rule, most courses that the textbook takes a whole year to complete in the main subject areas (math, science, english, foreign language, history) will equal one credit hour. Elective courses that only take half of a year to complete receive 1/2 credit. Another way to figure out how much a course is worth would be to figure out the number of hours your child has worked in a particular subject area. This way if you are using several sources or unit studies and not a traditional "text book" you will know how much credit to give. 120-180 hours is worth one credit. Many traditional text book course take about 150 hours (50 min/day, 5 days/week, 36 weeks.) Courses with labs may take closer to 180 hours and electives will be in the 60-75 hour range.

 Now that we know how many hours equal one credit, how many credits and in what areas does your child need? As I stated above, my state does not require anything specific for homeschool high school graduates. I go by the guidelines suggested by the Education Alliance for college bound high school students.  You could also look at what your local public school requires and base your classes off of their requirements.


Subject Suggested Credits Possible Courses

English 4 credits Composition, American Lit, British Lit, World Lit, Rhetoric, Creative Writing, Speech/Communication, Journalism, Debate; also consider AP courses

Math 4+ credits Algebra 1 &; 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, AP Calculus 

History 3-4 credits ESSENTIALS: World History, American History, American Government. CONSIDER: Economics, Geography, Constitutional Law and AP courses

Science 3-4 credits Physical Science, General Science, Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. CONSIDER: AP courses

 Foreign Language 2-4 credits French, Spanish, Latin, German, Russian, etc. (2 years same language preferred)

 Physical Education 1-2 credits Many options available

 Fine Arts 1-2 credits Art, Music, Drama, Photography, etc.

 Electives 5 credits Practical Arts, Life Skills, Home Economics, Bible, Computer Skills, etc.

 Total Credits: 23-27 credits

We complete 7 credit hours a year to graduate with 28 credit hours.

What About Transcripts?

Making transcripts is very easy.  Keep track of what classes your child is taking each year and at the end of the year you can either make your own transcript or have one made for you.  The HSLDA has a transcript making service, The Education Alliance in Arkansas will make one for any donation amount.  These are professional looking documents that colleges will accept.  If you choose to have a transcript made for you, make sure it is correct when you receive it and the proper amount of credit is issued.

What About Graduation?

Many states offer homeschool graduation ceremonies and issue diplomas.  In Arkansas you can order a professional diploma from the Education Alliance.  There are also places to order diplomas online.

What About Getting into College?

Colleges have no problem accepting homeschoolers and homeschool credits.  They will need a transcript  but the biggest thing they look at right now is ACT scores.  Neither of my graduates had any trouble getting accepted into college. 

You can successfully homeschool your child through the high school years!

Happy Homeschooling!

Our Week in Review: June 29th-July 5th

It has been such a strange couple of months.  June is gone and here we are into July.  Part of me wants the days to fly by so maybe we can get past some of the strangeness that has come as a result of Covid 19, the other part wants time to slow down and not have the summer days be gone so quickly, especially with the uncertainty of what the fall will bring. 


It was so hot this week!  Heat indexes went up to 110 a couple of days.  Wednesday was one of those days, so we did not make it to the park for our normal walk.  With the extra chores from sickly goats we could not get going early enough while it would still be cool enough to walk and not melt.  Chelsea brought the babies over to the house instead.





That afternoon Alex and I had to run one of our baby goats to the vet.  We banded our boys a few weeks ago to turn them from bucks into wethers.  We discovered that the band was not constricting properly and an infection was starting.  The goat was acting like he was in pain and not eating as much as he normally would.  The vet fixed him right up in a matter of minutes.  Starbucks was happy to return home to his mama and a day after his minor surgery he was back to playing with the other baby goats.  We have noticed that the other male goat is having a similar issue though he is not in any pain.  He has an appointment to go to the vet this week.


Our anemic goat is not doing any better but is not any worse either.  We are continuing to give her vitamin B12 and Red Cell to try and boost her iron count.


The girls started working on This is the Day on hand bells and chimes.  They will be recording it for a church service soon.  Our church will not be reopening any time soon.

We did get to go to a pig show!  One of the strangest things about the changes because of Covid 19 is the things that are open or not open.  Our church has chosen to remain closed, swim beaches in our area remain closed, our local water park is still closed.  4 H is allowed to resume some activities this month with less then 10 people, social distancing, and masks required.  Our county fair is supposed to be going on in September but will only be a livestock show one species at a time with less then 50 people allowed at one time.  But, a jackpot pig show was scheduled about 30 minutes away and we loaded up the pigs.  Nick and Emmie were participating in the show and Lily went along for the ride.  Masks were not required, social distancing was recommended.  I did not post the pictures of the kids at the show on social media because I just didn't want to hear it from anyone that is so against not wearing masks in public (facebook can be an unhappy place these days.)  The show went really well.  There were tons of pigs there.  Neither one of the kids placed but it was a very good experience.  I was very proud of them!  It was a super late night. The show started at 8 (so it is cooler, pigs don't do well in extreme heat)  Emmie didn't even show until midnight.  We were very tired all day on Saturday. 






We usually go to the fireworks at the lake or set some off at home but we didn't do either this year.  Alex had to work all afternoon and the others were working on the camper trying to get it finished so we can go camping next week. 


I ordered some of my curriculum!  I read online today that some places are saying homeschool curriculum is selling out due more people deciding to homeschool this year because of the virus.  I did not have any problem ordering mine.

I hope you had a great week!

Happy Homeschooling!

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Questions About Homeschooling: What Curriculum Do I Use?

One of the first things people ask when they are deciding to homeschool is, "What curriculum should I use?"  This can be a very hard question to answer.  There is no one size fits all homeschool curriculum and there are many, many different options to choose from.  In this post I am going to talk a little but about how to narrow down the choices to help you get started with choosing a homeschool curriculum.

Cost of curriculum is a concern for a lot of people.  It is possible to homeschool for next to nothing.  A lot of effort, the internet, a library card, and a lot of life experiences can provide a very good education.  On the opposite side you can spend thousands of dollars each year buying from curriculum companies that will include every single thing you need down to the smallest detail.  There are a ton of options in between the two. More expensive does NOT mean it is better, just as homeschooling with little or no budget does not mean your child will get "less" of an education. Generally speaking, homeschooling can be less expensive in the younger grades and gets a little more costly into the high school grades, but even then there are many inexpensive and even free options you can utilize. Cost will factor into your decision on homeschool curriculum. You need to get an idea of what you can spend on your homeschool. I set aside a certain amount a money per month for expenses like field trips, art supplies, printer ink, etc..and an amount to buy curriculum with.

The amount of parental involvement that is needed is another concern people have.  You can buy curriculum that most children can complete fairly independently or you can choose curriculum that you have to be very involved in.  There are online academies you can enroll in that will give your child a teacher to report to who teaches the lessons and grades all of their work.  Many of these companies have live classes or self paced options that you can choose from.   An internet search should give the names of different companies that offer this service.

When choosing curriculum you should think about the child you are choosing for. How does your child learn best? What kind of learning style do they have? Some children do great with online stuff, others do not. Some students like to learn independently, others need you to be more involved (especially in the younger years!) Some are auditory learners who learn better by hearing, or kinesthetic learners who learn by doing. Some learn better by reading on their own. If you are homeschooling for the first time and panicking because you do not know how your child learns best, don't worry, you will.

You also need to decide what subjects you want to teach and/or what your child want to learn. That will help you narrow down the choices. What are the regulations for homeschooling in your state? Are there subjects you are required to teach? Do you want a Christian curriculum? There are many that are not, so you need to be aware of the worldview of the company. Does your child have a particular interest in a topic of science or history? My first year of homeschooling, my oldest was going into 3rd grade. She LOVED the Little House on the Prairie Books. I found a unit study curriculum called the Prairie Primer that covered all subjects based on those books (I did use a separate Math curriculum ) We had a wonderful time learning through what she loved! When my next oldest was in Kindergarten, he was fascinated with Knights and Castles, so we spent a whole year learning about those.   If this is your first year I suggest starting with the three R's and then choosing other subjects.

If you are homeschooling more then one child, there are many subjects that you can work on together.  Subjects like Bible, history, geography, science, art, music, nature study, P.E., even foreign languages can be done together as a family.  If you have students in different grades that are very close academically you can even combine things like language arts and spelling.

My list of Do's and Dont's when buying curriculum

Do's

 1. If you can, go to a homeschooling convention so you can see things in person before buying.This has not been an option this year because of Covid 19.  Look at the samples that are offered online or sign up for free trials before committing to buy.
2. Request catalogs from homeschooling companies. Many offer their catalogs free. Sometimes looking at catalogs is easier than looking online.
3. Check out the return policy of the company. Many companies will allow for returns under certain conditions if you are not satisfied or the curriculum does not work for you.
4. Read reviews! There are a ton of them out there. When reading don't focus on whether someone did or didn't like a product but instead focus on what they did or did not like. If for instance someone loved a curriculum because of all of the hands on activities but didn't like it because of the long sections of reading and your child would rather do a lot of reading then activities it may be a good fit for you.
5. Ask opinions from homeschooling friends again paying attention to what they did/did not like. If you do not know a lot of homeschoolers you can find plenty online!
6. Set a budget based on what you can reasonably afford.
7. Watch for discounts and sales in the spring and early summer. Even free shipping discounts can save you a lot of money! Most curriculum companies end out an email newsletter you can sign up for an/or have a facebook page that they post sales and specials, helpful tips, and answer questions on.
8. If you choose to buy used, search for used curriculum to save money being mindful that it is something that is allowed to be resold (most computer software cannot), and paying attention to the condition of the product and the price. I have seen used curricula on Ebay go for more than you can buy it new! And never send money using Paypal's Friends/family to someone you are buying curriculum from unless you really know them.  Some people are dishonest and if you use this feature you have no recourse if they do not send the items.

Dont's 


1. Don't feel like you have to spend a lot of money to give your child a great education!
2. Don't think that because you have bought something you are stuck with it. If you or your child don't like it, you can switch to something else.
3. Don't fall into "the grass is greener" thought. If you like a curriculum and it is working for your child, don't feel like you have to change because someone else says something is better.
4. Don't buy too far ahead. I have known many people that bought enough curricula to last until their child graduates their first year homeschooling. That is usually not a good idea. You may change, you child may change, or other children in the family may have different learning styles and that curriculum won't work for them. Also, just because you really like one book in a series doesn't mean you will like them all. And, companies change/add to their curriculum all the time. Especially with the increasing number of digital products being developed, you may not want to buy curricula 18 years in advance!
6. Don't buy something just because it is a familiar name.  Their are companies that are well known because they supply Christian schools. Curriculum designed to be taught for 6 hours in a classroom setting may not work well for your homeschool.
5. Don't believe you have to do it all!


There are a ton of great curriculum companies out there!  If you are looking for a place to get started here are a few of my all time favorites!

 Regular Curriculum

Apologia-science, worldview, bible, homeschooling encouragement and resources
Bright Ideas Press- history (Mystery of History, All American History), science (Christian Kids Explore), geography (Wondermaps) and Illuminations
Math U See- K-12 math
All About Learning Press- the best spelling/reading programs!
Compass Classroom- economics, bible, latin, history
Handwriting Without Tears- handwriting
Classical Academic Press- latin, bible, logic, poetry, and more!
Institute For Excellence In Writing- language arts
Lightning Literature outstanding literature programs for all ages
MasterBooks.com- multiple subjects for all ages


Curriculum in a Box
 Sonlight
My Father's World 

 Have Fun!
Happy Homeschooling!


*Bright Ideas Press, Compass Classroom, All About Learning,  are my affiliate links. I only form affiliate relationships with companies whose products I actually use and can recommend.