Tag Archives: homeschooling

Our Homeschool Day -2022

Here is a look into my day of homeschooling 10th, 5th, and 2nd grade. I have five kids but 4 are doing the same grade as a sibling 😉

My boys have been starting school before my girls for a while now but since I switched my twins to the Teaching Textbooks app they have been starting early also!

My twins take turns eating so while one is eating breakfast and getting ready the other usually starts her math for the day.

I have really liked our switch to Teaching Textbooks for my twins so far! It has basically helped me keep my sanity, for the most part.

The first things my boys work on are their dual enrollment classes through a local college.

They are taking physics and composition this semester through them. There have been some hiccups that made me question all my life choices but they are doing well. I just realize that I don’t like working around other people’s time tables. Ha

After eating and morning chores are done we usually go for a walk, I had one that was tired this day so we opted for just playing outside (she also did not want to be in any pictures so one is missing from our day).

Posers…

After our outside break my youngest starts on her books. One on phonics and one that helps with switching B’s and D’s. While my twins finish up math and if they are being fast they will start on their folder work, phonics and handwriting.

Next they eat lunch while watching an educational video or a cooking video(which I still call educational) and do quiet time. Sometimes the girls will read or they listen to an audiobook during quiet time. The boys do the same. I hide in my room…

After quiet time it can get a bit crazy as I try to work with my youngest on her math and my twins usually need help with their folder work. No one is allowed to ask me for help if I am helping someone else which has really helped with me feeling overwhelmed.

Next up is reading, all three of my youngest kids read aloud to me everyday.

My twins are currently reading “Heroes in Black History” by Dave and Neta Jackson for their history. They were reading aloud an abeka science before this.

I like to sneak history and science in with their reading, audiobook listening or our nightly read alouds instead of trying to do a specific curriculum for those things.

This is the end of our school day.

We are usually done by 2pm.

My boys are pretty much independent except for me checking over history assignments and making sure they are getting their work done.

I really enjoy looking over how our day has changed over the years!

Here is the last one I did in 2018! Our Homeschool Day ~2018

I had planned to do one of these so many times over the last several years but every time it ended up being a REALLY rough day! This day was not super easy but I decided done was better than perfect! Ha

Switching from RightStart to McRuffy

After using Right Start Math for over 7yrs I am trying something different for my twins!!!

I am trying out McRuffy Color Math Grade 2.

I love how hands on Right Start is and that part works really well for them but it is a little advanced and it is very teacher intensive.

Which is hard to work around when I am teaching it twice a day and have other kids that need my help at all!

We tried out the sample first before Christmas break and decided to give it a try on the full curriculum.

I liked that the sample included 10 lessons for the worksheet and the teachers manual.

It really gave me a chance to try it out.

It does seem more worksheet based then Right Start but also encourages a lot of hands on tools and I am using all that I have learned through the years of using Right Start (still love using an abacus).

The manipulatives are so similar to Right Start in fact that we did not even buy the ones that go with this curriculum.

We are just using the ones that came with our Right Start curriculum.

So far my girls are liking it but it is pretty easy right now since we started in the front of the book and it is 2nd grade.

I am hoping to get a really good feel for the differences between the two curriculums and let you know what I think in a few months!

Check out a look inside the curriculum on my youtube channel.

Anyone else make drastic changes to their homeschool mid-year?

I have liked Right Start so long that it feels disloyal to switch!

HA

What works for Language Arts 2nd/3rd Grade

My twins have some special learning needs.

What does this mean for how I teach?

It means I have not found one language arts program that works for them yet.

They need A LOT of repetition and learn at a different pace than most curriculums.

We have been working slowly through First Language Lessons Level 1(grammar).

This plus All About Spelling(it teaches phonics rules) with easy readers was all the language arts my boys needed but I am finding that it is leaving gaps with my girls.

I tried out Brave Writer with them but quickly realized they were not ready for the 1st/2nd grade program yet.

The copywork and dictation was lost on them.

I was a little disappointed because I have loved this program for the boys but I will try again next year.

As of right now I have settled on buying several different readers in the same level. Plus doing All About Spelling, First Language Lessons, and The Good and the Beautiful.

The Good and the Beautiful Level One Reader, plus Abeka 1st grade readers.

This might be a bit redundant but they are getting a lot more repetition.

I have them on a Mon-Wed-Fri for language arts with reading on the off days.

What I have come to realize this year is that we can do what we can on those Mon-Wed-Fri days but if we don’t get something done I can just pick it up on Tue-Thur.

This might seem simple to you but I kept thinking of Tue-Thurs as our History/Science days and would not do the extra Language Arts on those days.

But we kept getting behind because my girls have good days and bad days so it can throw the whole week off.

Now we pick up where we left off.

Usually I do The Good and the Beautiful and First Language Lessons then leave spelling for the next day if needed. But The Good and the Beautiful’s lesson was long yesterday so I pushed First Language Lessons back also.

This is helping us keep moving forward and the pressure is off a bit on those harder days.

Do you have a child that needs more repetition than most curriculum’s give?