Well, here we are – homeschooling (formally) for the first time! I homeschooled R for (Pre)Preschool a few years back using the Peaceful Press and we loved it. We thrived being out in nature together, learning together, cooking together and cultivating intentional moments together. My work was also greatly impacted during this time because as we were studying classic art together – my eyes were being trained towards what is beautiful. It was a good year.
Fast forward, once S came home from India, R went to a school so that I could have one on one time with S. These were high transition months for our family and I knew that I needed to learn how to not only be “R and S’s” mom but also their mom separately. The Lord was so gracious to our family during this time. I am overwhelmed with how He led us during those months and I can see the fruit of what that year produced in hindsight.
With that being said, through evident circumstances this year, we knew the Lord was leading us towards homeschooling both girls this year for different reasons. Just like He always does, He has made great provisions for us in material ways and in community ways (which is the biggest gift). We joined a co-op that many of our friends from life and church attend, as well as my sister and her children. If you have been around for a minute or two you know that our kids do life together on an almost daily basis, so this was so exciting for them!
Our first week starting school back was rough. I had many moments of “what did I sign up for?!” That is to be expected, though. We have all had to begin figuring out our new routine and what works for us. Our Indian princess also started therapy, so this was another new normal in our ever changing routine. Today, though, I felt we like we hit a breakthrough when R exclaimed, “I love doing school.” We are finally getting somewhere.
I wanted to share what homeschooling curriculum we are using this year :
- Beautiful Feet Seasons Nature Study (Science)
- Handwriting by Good and Beautiful
- Language Arts by Good and Beautiful
- Math by Good and Beautiful
- Letters and Sounds by Abeka
- Peaceful Press
Curriculum can be daunting. I took the pressure off myself, talked to many of my friend/homeschooling moms, researched as best as I could and went for it. I reminded myself that we CAN change something if we need to. That’s the beauty of doing school at home this year! We are also reading a lot of living books. One of our favorite things to do together each week is to go to the library. We pick up books I’ve already reserved and the girls get to choose a few of their own.
Here are a few books we will be reading this year (some we have already read just in the past couple of weeks). This is not a comprehensive list but a few worthy of naming :
- The Ology (Morning devotions)
- Seven Silly Eaters (Highly recommended but not a favorite so far.)
- Storm Book
- Pond
- Abe Lincoln, The boy who loved books (5 stars)
- Our 50 States (This has been neat even for me to read!)
- Roxaboxen (The girls and I loved Miss Rumphius!)
- Because of an Acorn
- Little House in the Big Woods (We are listening to the audiobook!)
- Slow Down
- The Discovery of the Americas
- Jamestown
- Geography from A to Z
- A seed is sleepy
- Courage of Sarah Noble
- Fall Walk
- When I was young in the mountains
- Brambly Hedge (A favorite, favorite, favorite.)
- Charlotte’s Web (We are listening to this on an audiobook, as well.)
- Seeds and trees
- Squanto’s Journey
- Ox Cart Man (A favorite of ours too!)
- Home in the woods
- George Washington
- Trees, Leaves and Bark
- Winter at Valley Forge
- Snowflake Bentley
- Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree
- Owl Moon
- Holly and Ivy
- Box Car Children
- Annie and the wild animals
- Benjamin Franklin
- Now We Are Six
- Building Our House
- Paddle To The Sea
- How Do Apples Grow
- The Runaway Bunny (For S, but we all love reading this classic.)
- Blueberries for Sal (Another one of our tried and true favorites!)
These books will begin introducing the girls to important people, places and things even before their formal education covers them.
My goal for this year is to be outside in nature as much as possible, dig deep into community (co-op will be great for this) and enjoy learning together.
I think every parent who decides to pursue homeschooling encounters the question of, “Will you homeschool forever?” We have no clue. I have come to realize that I want to have open hands in every area of my life and see the season that we are in presently as a gift. I will never get this time back with our girls so today, I thank Jesus that He is allowing us for this year to press into education together. I want to follow Jesus in how He leads our family. He has the best in mind for our girls, so whatever that looks like, I want to be obedient to it. He has us at home this year – so I am all in.
We are going to have fun with it! We have already been camping since starting school and all thrived doing school on the picnic table at our campsite. We love being in nature as a family. I have noticed that it brings a sense of peace to anything we are doing. We have also already had a school day at the beach which was rewarding for us all, too!
I have high hopes for this year which the Lord is constantly showing me will only come by first being brought to be knees.
So, here we go!
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