April 2021 Homeschool Update

We are officially over the hump of Spring Break!

...which makes the rest of the year feel like a downhill slide...in a lot of ways. 

On the one hand, this is the point where I always start freaking out a little that we haven't gotten 'enough' done...but luckily it's also the time where the warmth of the sun and the gradual greening of the grass cheer me up, calm my heart, and remind me that they are also my kids' teachers. It's nice to have partners in this thing.

So as far as logistics, here is where we are at right now:

-We started the school year doing our 'one-subject-a-day' schedule (a daily deep dive into lessons/activities in one subject area--ie. 4 math lessons done in one day, plus some games and discussion). My kids recently asked for a change up, just for funsies, so we're back to doing a few subjects a day with one lesson each (the norm, v school like), and the kids are kind of obsessed. After months of settling into several lessons of math in one day, just doing one lesson and being DONE feels like they're getting away with murder. If the kids stop appreciating the daily bounce from subject to subject, then we'll likely go back to 'one subject a day' in September...but we'll feel it out as we go.

-The kids are still doing TGTB (The Good and The Beautiful) language arts and my oldest is still doing Teaching Textbooks Math, but my 10 year old boy switched from TT math lessons to Beast Academy for a bit and is loving it. It's surprisingly challenging with a heavy focus on critical thinking and problem solving. It's been a breath of fresh air for him and he says 'it doesn't feel like math, it feels like fun.' Ha!

-In science, we're deep into our Chemistry Intro through this fun experiments kit (just about done) and starting on the Energy unit as well for science.

-History is taking foreeevvvvver because we are taking our time meandering through the periods we're studying, but our favourite part by far has been eating up the historical fiction books that cover each era. 

-Read alouds we've been loving lately are the "Little Britches" series. It's basically a boy-protagonist version of the Little House on the Prairie books, an autobiographical series by Ralph Moody of the same time period.  My kids love them, especially how much he loves horses, and I always love reading books like these to my kids because they are awestruck at how much responsibility kids had in those days, how much hard work it took to work a farm and survive. I remind them of this every time they whine about unloading the dishwasher. Though...they all want to ride a horse now and grow all our own food...so thanks a lot, Ralph, I think you made it sound more fun than it actually is. 😂After the series, I'm starting in on The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich for an indigenous narrative from the same several decades. We're excited about that.

-My own books I've been reading lately are Half-Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Both beautiful reads with really different vibes, but I've loved them both for similar reasons, funny enough.

The next big homeschool update will likely be my end of the year reflection on what worked and what didn't. If you have any specific questions about this year of homeschool (specific or general), drop them in the comments below and I'll make sure to include my responses next time!

Love you, bye.