November Homeschool Update II One LAST Curriculum Switch!!
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- November has been another challenging month of homeschooling! I chat about it in this video ... along with all the things that went well :) How has homeschool been going for you?
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You are so smart to relax about your young 4th grader! I was a 17yo graduate in 1993- public school. My parents just did what the school said to do, and i struggled so much academically and socially bc i was so much younger than my peers. Looking back my parents would have held me back a year. Im glad you see the wisdom in slowing down and going at her pace instead of dragging her along and making her hate school 💕
I’m a summer baby. My parents put me in kindergarten as a young 5. Thanks to a bunch of international military moves, I ended up being held back a grade and did ninth grade twice (the reasons given for not accepting my high school credits from England were insanely stupid, but the effect was rather glorious, so it worked out in the end…). Repeating that grade put me at the older end of my new grade and oh my goodness it was incredible just how much more self confident I was in my new grade and how much easier it was to fit in socially (yeah, academically repeating it was so tedious, since I’ve always been very academically capable, but the social aspects far outweighed the tediousness). To this day, I still say that the gift of time I was given that day that I was held back was the greatest gift I could have been given as a high schooler.
I LOVE hearing that, thank you both for sharing!
Friend, youve got to protect your mental health at all costs! Last year, I was so burned out by the time Christmas was over, I felt like good riddance 🙁 i dont want to feel that way again. There was a combination of health and some new extended family needs that cropped up on my plate, and trying to take on too much. Im only doing, Bible, reading and math from Monday before thanksgiving until the week after Christmas. That way we can read Christmas books, watch classic Christmas movies, and have a bit of margin for important conversations going into holidays💕 im glad you aren't afraid to adjust when things feel wonky! Thank you for the recommendations!
I love that plan, good job protecting your time and mental health!
Thanks for your honesty and transparency! You are not alone! We did not finish this semester strong. And my dyslexic child is always helping me learn to be more flexible than I want to be too! Thanks for your feedback on LA stuff. I feel like that's always where I waver between lots of different things too.
Thanks for sharing your daughter’s journey with math. My 5th grade daughter struggles with math as well. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had to pause our math lessons over the years to review multiplication facts over and over again. I love your tips on adding in weekly review days!
Glad I'm not the only one :)
Really hoping the changes and the December break revive you. Thank you for always sharing the realities of homeschool both good and bad. ❤ 🌲
I hope so too!
Thank you for being raw and sharing your November. It's refreshing to know that this journey is not walked alone. 🎄
I LOVED liberty kids as a kid, can’t wait to watch them all with my kids!
I always approach the “grade” as your age determines it not your level of work. When I taught public school I never had a classroom of kiddos at grade level. I had some above and below. So for my kiddos you’re in your age grade but work at the level that’s right for you at that time. We roll in and out of levels mid year often and just keep going where they are. At the end of the year we move up a grade like normal.
To me that’s the beauty of homeschooling - meeting kids where they are as opposed to where they “should” be. You’re doing a great job and supporting them exactly as they need it!
Love that perspective!
This is what we do as well! I was an elementary teacher for years and the vast majority of kids weren’t “at grade level.”
I actually took a year off to work on fact practice with my dyslexic child, and it has helped her advance in the long run bc she couldn't have solved more difficult problems if she had to struggle to come up with the basic facts in top of learning new concepts. 😅 Great job knowing your kids and applying that knowledge to tailor their learning!!
Thank you, that is really encouraging to hear!
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. This was really helpful to me.
Always enjoy your videos! Thanks for sharing how you're doing :)
Angie, Honestly I don’t think you’re getting annoyed because you need a break (although you probably do need a break) you’re getting annoyed because you are a seasoned homeschool teacher and you have taught those programs before and you know what your students need and how they need it. Simple. You know what to do, so you do it. You don’t need so much hand holding anymore! I love these videos where you think through some of these things. It inspires me to think through some of the things I’m doing and using myself! 🎄
Ahh, thank you ... you are probably right! Thanks for the encouragement!
You’re doing great! Your videos are always inspiring to me. 🎄
Ahh, thank you!!
Yes! I’m so type A I struggle without being flexible but I’m workin on it!! Thank you for sharing
🎄Merry Christmas! You're a great mama!
Hi Angie, My 6 year old and 9 year old have recently begun to watch Liberty’s Kids on UA-cam, also! My oldest loves history and my youngest follows along. They both go out in our yard and reenact the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Spanish American War, etc. I wonder what the neighbors think! My oldest will shout, “Remember the Alamo!” at the top of his lungs and they practice their version of military marches. It is funny and I love how they’ve brought history to life for themselves. I so enjoy your channel and am interested in several of the books you showed us. We live in Maine and I think my children will like “The Sign of the Beaver.” They are quite sensitive so I have to be fairly selective in choosing prospective books and I believe you’ve mentioned that your children are also sensitive people. Christmas is both stressful and enjoyable for me - mainly the figuring out what to get people aspect. I enjoy the loights and music and like to focus on the things that bring me joy at this season and that helps to lessen the burdensome feelings. Take care! Merry Christmas! 🎄
We switched to All About Spelling from LOE for the same reason and we have been really happy. My student is thriving because of the foundation that LOE instilled and we are not as burnt out while trying to incorporate the writing curriculum that does take a priority at this age.
It's been a really good switch so far!
I appreciate the updates. We are currently using LOE Foundations (last book) and I’m not sure if we will continue into Essentials (mainly for spelling) or go with AAS so I enjoy hearing about the similarities and differences. I hear great things about Essentials like you said….but that level of thoroughness can also feel like a lot. 😅 Hope you have a Merry Christmas and relaxing holiday season!
I get our Sonlight programs done in a year, but like you are saying with Saxon, we just take it day by day. I think that’s the best way to go with math. If I see a struggle area, we pause and have a review day or two, and I select questions with the same lesson parentheses over a span of lessons, and I’ll do these as often as needed. The same goes with grammar, we just roll over and different start and end dates, but Sonlight HBL, science and it’s la, we keep to that year only.
I like that approach to math!
Spelling. Normal spelling lists still give me hives from my struggles 😅
I wish you both all the success!
I find with my daughter after she got to a certain point in her phonics that she knew a lot of stuff already from just reading. And she didn't even get to those phonic rules yet. Like we recently did the silent k words like know. She already knows how to read the work. But knowing the rules does help for spelling though.
I feel like with my daughter's school work, I'm not as flexible eithet just like you. I'm trying to go at her pace but at the same time have the stuff she is learning challenging enough but still her level of that makes any sense.
I had to change my language arts for my 6th, 7th and 10th graders. I always feel guilt as well and have a husband who assures me that I need to do what’s best for the kids and he trusts me. ❤
Husbands are the best!
what did you end up going with?
@@MicheleAnastasio-b5b I switched them to Essentials in Writing. We are only 2 weeks in, but we all 3 are liking it so far. The short lessons are effective and it pairs well with Sonlight. It keeps our days from being too long.
@@Grace_Filled_Homeschool Is that just writing?
@ the first half of each level is grammar that half is writing.
We are trying to keep things simple for December homeschool. We will still move through Sonlight E this month but at a slower pace. We are reading Jotham’s Journey in the mornings and are reading through Luke as a family in the evenings. Other than that, we are just plugging away at all the regular things. 🎄🎄
We really enjoyed Jothams Journey!!
I agree on Abeka being too much. I didn't do the spelling or the workbook or even all the LA teacher's guide. We solidified longand short vowels and used the first few 1st grade readers and then moved on to sonlight la 2 readers with abeka special sounds review and explode the code. We both are enjoying LA again!
Love that plan!
My son turned 10 during the summer. He’s always been about a semester behind in some subjects. I hold his graduation year loosely because of health problems in both of us. But the other day he told the dentist when she asked what grade he was in, “My mom can’t decide if I’m in 4th or 5th grade.”
Love that! Glad I’m not the only one holding it loosely, that is the beauty of homeschooling!
How go you fit it all in?! Enrichment school has thrown us for a loop in getting stuff done and we’re barely getting math and language arts done
Haha, it does take some adjusting to having only 4 days at home for school work!
We just use the special sounds flashcards and the readers for Abeka phonics. Explode the code as a workbook slows it all down
Hello, i loved your honesty and if you don't mind sharing, what autoimmune do you have? I get a chronic pain and feel invisible at times bc i can still do some things, just not too much to overtax my body. We've made few friends so far but my kid needs consistent weekly meetup that i can't provide and feel at times that I'm failing 😢 I'm glad to hear that you're tweaking and adding curriculum to suit your kids! I'm doing that as well except we'll be changing spelling and wanted to see lesson with us type of video for all about spelling? I've heard that it's great but very parent intensive which I'm not sure i can do with toddler around 🤔 I've never used Abeka but looked into it to use when my daughter is ready for actual lesson and Abeka's teacher's guide sounds alot like math with confidence guide 😂 and that was one reason i stopped using it 😅 Sorry, my comment got too long lol
Hi! It’s a blistering disease of the mucosal membranes - so also invisible at times and it just fatigues me more than I like! Be kind to yourself, you are doing great mama!
@sciencemama thank you! You too 😆
Hi Angie! I was just wondering what Standardized testing you use for your kiddos? Thank you for this update!
We like the CAT test - it’s really straightforward forward and we take it during the last couple weeks every year. It’s a really helpful tool!
@sciencemama thank you so much! Your thoughts about the CAT test and how you go about administering it would be SUCH a helpful video for the future! ✨📝
I never understood why people care if you switch curriculums. You’re teaching writing, not brave writer, or you’re teaching American History, not Sonlight, etc. Use the curriculums as tools to teach the subjects 😊
I completely agree!
So true!! I had that realization as I struggled picking math curriculum. I decided to just use two curriculum as I like, teaching my child what she needs, not religiously choosing one math.
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I am struggling mentally this year. My son is in Grade 6 and we use TGTB for Math and LA. Math is great with TGTB, LA is NOT. We have been using it for 2 years. My son hates LA no matter what I do he doesnt like anything. He is not a good speller at all. We tried Masterbooks in which I like the puzzles they give and he spells alot better with that but the grammar and such is just not enough. His attention in LA is next to none. I am so overwhelmed Ive thought about sending him back to school but I know it would be a disaster. I am not sure what to do with him for LA. He hates writing, he cant think of things on the spot to write so I help him because he will just shut down. So I need help lol
Language arts is so hard to nail down!
@@sciencemama any suggestions? Should I literally stop all the things and start from scratch? I am not sure that will help or hurt? I just want him to know how to write a complete sentence and when to use proper capital letters, commas and such. I have been taught workbooks arent enough but could they be for a struggling child with LA? I am so overwhelmed I feel like I am failing him rather then helping
@@MicheleAnastasio-b5b That is a such a hard situation! I would first say to lean into your instincts about what he needs bc you know him better than anyone. Have you tried IEW - its is a very structured writing program that doesn’t ask the kids to come up with their own ideas for what to write about. In my head I have always viewed learning to read as well as to write as the most important LA subjects and spelling, grammar, vocabulary are just supporting the writing.
@@sciencemama I have looked into it but I was told I had to but the book or something in order for me to teach it? I know he needs to go to basics and I think all these curriculums are just not working. I love TGTB for me and he doesnt hate it but rather hates LA if that makes sense
@ We used the online component and man who created the curriculum teaches it, my son thought he was funny (my son is in 5th). It’s not a cheap program but it is mostly independent, you would just have to be his editor. I know Brave Writer is also an amazing program for a reluctant writer but that one is definitely teacher intensive 🤷🏼♀️
Do you ever feel like Sonlight is random? I am just starting homeschooling my preschooler and the language arts K just feels like reading random books with little structure
It feels that way at the lower grades!
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