Bible Study – Design For Discipleship- books 5-8
Math – Saxon Algebra I
Language Arts – Learning Language Arts Through Literature – Grey Book
Writing – The Write Stuff Adventure
Geography – Around the World in 180 Days (with our homeschool co-op)
Science – Choosing Good Health (A Beka) + The Body Book (basic anatomy) (fall sem.)
Exploring Creation Through General Science (Apologia -2nd half of book)
Logic – Traditional Logic (2nd half of book)
Latin – Henle (looking for a new textbook here!)
Greek – Elementary Greek Year 2 (Open Texture)
Typing – Typing For Business Plus (CD-Rom)
Piano – weekly lesson
Football – practice 2x a week, 2 games per weekend through Oct.

And Cooper is in the 6th grade this year. He started a couple of new activities this year that really seem to be niches for him – tennis and guitar. He is a natural at both! These are his current subjects:

Bible Study – Early History of Israel: Exodus Through Joshua (Bible Discovery Workbook)
Math – Saxon 7/6
Language Arts – Learning Language Arts Through Literature – Purple Book
Writing – The Write Stuff Adventure
Geography – Around the World in 180 Days (with our homeschool co-op)
Science – Choosing Good Health (A Beka) + The Body Book (basic anatomy) (fall sem.)
Investigating God’s World (A Beka – 2nd half of book in 2nd semester)
Typing – Typing For Business Plus (On CD-R0m)
Tennis – weekly lesson
Guitar – bi-weekly lesson (and he’s begging for more!)

Kayla is a 3rd grader this year, so…. cursive, multiplication, and the whole bit! She could not wait for school to start, and is an all-around good student! Kayla’s subjects are:

Bible Study – Old Testament Overview (Bible Discovery Workbook)
Science – Choosing Good Health (A Beka) + The Body Book (basic anatomy) (fall sem.)
Kayla also participates in a weekly science co-op/class with kids her age every Tues.
Math – Saxon 3
Language Arts – Learning Language Arts Through Literature – Yellow Book
Latin – Prima Latina (Memoria Press)
Handwriting – A Reason For Handwriting – Cursive
Geography – Around the World in 180 Days (with homeschool co-op)
Typing – Mavis Beacon Typing
Piano – weekly lesson
Ice Skating – weekly lesson

I made a few changes from our regular curricula this year. Instead of doing separate spelling and grammar curricula, I switched to Learning Language Arts Through Literature which incorporates both, but in the context of passages from good literature, or from the reading/studying of whole books. For example, Kory has been taking dictation from A Man Called Peter and The Gift of the Magi, and studying things like verb tense, capitalization rules, and personal and possessive pronouns. Cooper started the year by reading Farmer Boy, answering comprehension and thought questions after every 3-5 chapters, working on sequencing events from the book, and looking up vocabulary words. I am really enjoying the structure this book provides! We are still doing a separate writing curriculum (The Write Stuff Adventure), as I feel we are weak in this area. I love to write, but I have a hard time teaching it to the kids, and motivating them to love it as much as me! This book gives a short writing exercise for each day. Also, I’m continuing Latin and Greek with Kory, even though I said I wouldn’t at the end of last year. It is very hard for me to keep up with these languages enough to check Kory’s work and help him through each chapter. Drew encouraged me to press on, as Kory has been studying Latin since the third grade. Being able to read the classics in their original languages is a reward after so much study, so on we go – though we are looking into tutors and a more appealing textbook! (Apologies to Mr. Henle.)

We’re going through a health book and an anatomy book as a family this semester as we’ve never formally studied these things, but everyone will return to individual science courses in the spring.

It definitely has its difficult days, but I still love homeschooling! The opportunity to teach, disciple, and learn alongside each of my kids is a true blessing.

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9