Homeschool Journal (April 2025- 7th & 5th grades) + Q&A

I really mean to do these more often that I do because somehow it’s been a full year since I last posted about our homeschool journey. See all my homeschool journal entries here.

And a lot has changed. The girls are a year older, yes. 13 and 10 as I write this, but also our rhythms and so much more have evolved as well. Since my last homeschool journal we sold our home, moved in with mom for a few months, finished building our home, moved in, joined a new co-op, and have been on a mission to find and create a community in our new home in South Carolina.

It’s been an exciting year and a lot was learned beyond the books that we read. We’ve learned to embrace uncertainty, boredom at times, overwhelm at times, new challenges, and to become more resilient. It’s been a year of growth for us all and I’m so proud of our progress. 

As the trees buds emerge, we also feel like we are blooming in our new setting. We certainly don’t have it all figured out yet, but we are making strides in creating friendships, knowing our way around, and discovering what commitments are working for us and which need tweaking.  So while this is a homeschool-focused update, it does encompass a lot of general life aspects because that’s the beauty of homeschool- it’s all largely intertwined. 

What’s Working in our Homeschool

Charlotte Mason Principles

CM is one of those things I’ve dabbled with but also wish I would have understood more about 8 years ago when we started. A core CM belief is that “We spread an abundant and delicate feast in the programmes and each small guest assimilates what he can” (A Philosophy of Education, p. 183) and that one just sticks with me. We’ve done more of that this year through our schedule of more “subjects” with shorter lesson times and brain breaks between the harder ones. Doing this has allowed us to expand our learning to include things like art study, nature study, composer study, bible study, poetry memorization, and handicrafts. I’ve been pleased with how much we all enjoy this feast approach.

Saxon Math with Nicole the Math Lady

I am still singing the praises of Nicole the Math Lady (read my full review here). Both girls are thriving in math with her teaching. We upgraded to online grading this year and while it’s not perfect (won’t give you the correct answer to a missed problem for example), it is a timesaver for me. I’m still largely present and plugged in with them during math to help out (and review the concepts myself, ha), but it’s such a gift to have support in math in this way. It is a lot of work involved in each lesson (fast facts, warm up, lesson practice, mixed practice) and we’ve been doing it all, so we’ve been slow to move through the lessons due to this spiral method. We’re determined to finish these books by May though so we can advance to the next ones.

Starting at 9:00/9:15 AM

I’ve played around with an earlier start, but honestly this is just working for us. If it’s not broke, right? This gives the girls time to get up, make breakfast, and be dressed and ready to go by the time we meet in the homeschool room. It also gives me time to blog, walk Finley, make breakfast, and be dressed as well. 

More Classic Literature (and Shakespeare)

I’ve really enjoyed experiencing more classic literature with the girls this year. We’ve read Anne of Green Gables (LOVED), Little Women (really enjoyed), and Pollyanna (just OK to us). The girls typically read/listen to whatever books interest them on their own, so it’s been nice having these more classic books that stretch the brain a bit more to read and discuss together. I plan on reading The Hobbit with them next. We are such Harry Potter fans that I’m hoping the fantastical world element will translate and have us all engaged. We’ve also been studying Shakespeare in partnership with our co-op and I’m surprised at how much we’ve enjoyed it (Julius Caesar and As You Like It).

This is so helpful to have for math work, spelling practice, etc. It makes it more fun for them!

MEL Science Kits and our next Beautiful Feet History unit ready to go.

Cursive for Kids workbook and Cursive for Teens workbook have been great for us.

What We’re Switching Up in our Homeschool

Doing the Bulk of Language Arts Together

This may sound funny because of the 2 1/2 year age gap but I’ve really noticed that the kids have so much more fun when we do the subjects together. I think it’s their competitive nature, but they are engaged and energized whether it’s above or below what their regular level would be. We run through phonemes together with All About Spelling, review basic concepts in First Language Lessons, and take turns correcting and labeling in Fix it Grammar. Writing is separate, but it’s also been a bit different for us this year as we took a break from IEW this spring. Hailey worked on finishing her short novel and is currently illustrating it for us to format and print. Kaitlyn will start on IEW’s Structure and Style in the fall. It was a great fit for Hailey, but I’m not sure Kaitlyn will take to it as well. We shall see!

Switching Co-ops

We have really loved the community at the co-op we joined when we moved here. The people are the kindest and the heart they pour into the co-op is unmatched. What doesn’t work for me is taking on a teaching role. I found myself spending Wednesdays preparing lessons for Thursday’s co-ops, which made me less available/engaged with our own homeschool on Wednesdays, and as a result I felt we were missing a whole day Wednesday, full throttle on Thursday, and exhausted by Friday. In short, it is too much on my plate and though it was hard to come to grips with that reality, I’ve accepted the fact that at my girls’ ages (not young elementary anymore- sniffle), I need to be able to focus solely on their educational journeys. I don’t have the bandwidth to be taking on teaching lessons outside of that. We’ve found a Charlotte Mason style co-op for next year that isn’t parent-led. The girls and I are of course a little nervous about it and truly hope to stay plugged in socially with our current co-op, but I’m hopeful it will be a good fit for us in this new age/stage.

End of Year Testing

We’ve always done our end of year testing through a local friend who proctored the Woodcock Johnson Exam. Well, we’ve both moved away at this point so now I’m left scratching my head wondering what kind of end of year testing we should do. Find a new person that proctors in Greenville? Try a different test? If you homeschool, what do you do?

Q&A

I but a question box on Instagram and here are a few of the questions I received:

I’m having a hard time finding a co-op; any advice?

When we knew we were moving, I started joining every Facebook homeschool group near our new town. If I found a thread of interest, I’d pull on it and see where it led. That meant direct messaging someone who seemed to be plugged in or asking someone that was part of a group I was interested in for more details. I wish I would have done better about asking to do a visitation on a day they had co-op because I feel like that’s the best way to get a good feel for what the group is like. 

Also, it’s good to know exactly what you’re looking for to help narrow the search. Religious or secular? Parent-led or drop off? Core classes (science, literature, etc) or more extra curricular (art, PE, etc)? 

How do you pack everything up at the end of the day to avoid visual clutter?

We designed this house with a large room to serve as a playroom/homeschool room so most of the time I shut the door because it isn’t necessarily put back to perfection each afternoon. But even with that, supplies end up all over the house because we don’t always stay in one spot. For my sanity, I need a clean kitchen area, so anything left on the kitchen island/area at the end of the day get’s moved near the stairs and the girls have to take up whatever is theirs and find it a home. Other areas, it’s a compromise. I feel like if I have my tidy kitchen I can embrace that in this season, there’s going to be graph paper and colored pencils in the living room and books piled on the floor. I’m OK with that; just little reminders that we’re living life in this home. 

My daughter rushes to be done and I know she could put in more effort. Tips?

We’ve been there! Do you know why she is rushing? Is she bored? Is it too challenging? For us, it was just sometimes too drawn out and tedious so they wanted to just get it over with.I learned that rushed work leads to reduced comprehension and less retention of material so I changed course.

For us, breaking lessons into smaller chunks, using a visual timer, and focusing on narration at the end of the lesson helped a lot! I adjusted my expectations from getting through an entire lesson just to check a box to really gauging whether they were understanding. My kids both responded well to knowing we’d only do XYZ for 20/25 minutes as long as they were focused and putting forth effort. At the end of the lesson I’d have them narrate (repeat back to me in their own words) what they took away from the lesson and if it met my expectation, then we could move on.

What things do the girls do independently at these ages? Which do you teach/oversee?

Math is largely on their own, though I bounce a lot between them to help with tough problems. When Hailey did IEW, that was largely on her own, but we shifted this year for her to creative writing which called for more mom involvement. Hailey also does some of her current science for co-op reading and note taking on her own. Other than that, I’m largely involved with most of it at the moment. 

Doing most of our homeschool family style (together) lends itself well to my involvement and I’m actually really enjoying most of it. They are at awesome ages for discussing history, geography, and science. 

Do you think you will homeschool through high school?

I do! But that doesn’t mean I’ll be teaching calculus. Homeschooling can be completely parent led, but I’ve also learned it can be more of a customized private education. There are so many options for high school from co-ops that cover most of your needs in two days a week to one off classes for homeschoolers (like math or science labs) you can sign up for to dual enrollment. I don’t know exactly which path we’ll take yet, but it’s nice to know there is so much support and so many options available.

Thoughts about kids being in high school and not separated from you socially?

The socialization thing is always a hot topic and I get it; it was one of my first concerns when we considered homeschooling Hailey for kindergarten. Having lived this lifestyle for 8 years now, I have zero concerns about “socialization.” My kids are out and about all the time and I think interacting with different ages in real life scenarios is a great way to learn to navigate the real world.

They aren’t always with me; I think that’s a common misconception. Don’t get me wrong, one of my favorite things about homeschooling is the extra time we have together, but at the same time, they are off playing with friends most afternoons, they go to youth group, they do sports and other activities, they have co-op with other kids and teachers. Also, there are so many opportunities for homeschoolers now like proms and clubs and competitive sports opportunities. 

How much time do you spend per subject?

It really depends on the day! A rough estimate is 30-40 minutes for math, 30-40 minutes for language arts, 30-40 minutes for geography, science, or history. Then add in the extra stuff, and you probably have about an additional hour or so. 

How to homeschool two kids and balance it with other responsibilities?

Some weeks I feel like I’m rocking it and others I feel like a chicken with my head cut off. I remind myself that every day being balanced is an illusion, and instead strive for balance over the week (or sometimes the month). I have shifting priorities each day to line up with the greatest needs of that day. 

Find all my homeschool related posts here!