Simplifying Homeschool

 Our homeschool journey the last 5 years has been an interesting one.  

I started off thinking I could completely school our children through high school for free.   

                    I still mostly agree with that,  but you have to accept whatever curriculum is out there for                             free.   There are some things I'm not willing to compromise on (like science).   

Then we heard a sermon that convinced us we needed to invest what we could in our kid's school.  Pick a curriculum and make it work for us.  

                        Again,  yes-partially,  The more we invest in their education the better it will be.  But not                         just monetarily-we (more me, because I'm mom and teacher, but hubby has been a                                     HUGE help this year with fractions and science).  We stopped Abeka after 1st grade                                 because the math drove our older son crazy with the spiral method.  We stopped Abeka                         with our oldest daughter in the middle of first grade because she wasn't understanding                           phonics and English.  They have both thrived in A.C.E. PACES for the past years.  

Last year I let our two oldest pick their sciences.. both of which subjects got us away from PACES a little bit.  Our son chose anatomy.. I went through Answers in Genesis and found an awesome study published by Master Books he is absolutely enjoying.  Our daughter chose animals.... Now, we wanted her to get a good foundation in animals, as Christians that means she needs to learn what evolution is and says and why God says it's wrong.  We went through Institute for Creation Research.  Now, these are awesome books, with great information-but they are definitely not written for any kind of textbook style-more like a parent read to children, or for teenagers or adults.   But that's ok, because we are making she understands it.  

Throughout the year, I have been blessed with mommas (and other homeschool parents) who take their hard work making workbooks for their kids and giving them away whether through their websites or as part of massive giveaways that happen a few times throughout the year.  

I have been realizing this year with the financial hardships that have come with the rest of the craziness, that we need to have school TEXTBOOKS that are more sustainable that the common workbooks.  Yes, workbooks are SO MUCH EASIER.  They can just write in them and be done.  I'm going to miss that.  But, we have 6 children.  Only 4 of which are in school... There are still two more that will need school.  We need something sustainable.  So, we are getting more sustainable school resources.  Whether it's through a digital file we can then reprint, through a textbook we can reuse, or through a workbook used as a textbook (yes, I understand it's frowned upon in the publisher world, I'm doing the best I can).  

So how are we simplifying?  

English.  McGuffey's Readers for English/Literature/Spelling/Cursive/Phonics-everything under the English label can be found in those wonderful old books.  We also have other novels and books we can use for literature and if we need help with reading comprehension, then I can read the book and make a study guide if there isn't one available.  I'm also saving ALL of the rules from the English PACES my son is doing so I have them-English rules are not my strong point.  

Math. We already have a ton of math books (what can I say? my husband and I are a bit on the nerdy side).   We just have to bridge a few gaps with awesome worksheets from Math Drills.  It's also great if somebody is having problems grasping a concept, then we can stop, print off some extra work until it's mastered.  

Science.  Honestly,  this was one of the hardest.  We have a ton of books-but they are all evolution based.. And while these books will be awesome once they get established in why God says evolution is wrong... For now, we can't use them.  But, we have an awesome basic anatomy study I have pieced together through so many different giveaways, I also have a coloring book I can print off to teach them the different organs and bones and such.  We now have a bit more advanced anatomy book that teaches in depth in the respiratory, circulatory and nervous systems.  I have discovered Science Shepherd this past year thanks to their generosity through a giveaway.   This can replace the books I purchased from ICR.  Also, if we like them (which I think we will), they have courses all the way through high school for a very affordable price.  

Bible Reading... For the kids (and me), I have been enjoying the PACE Bible workbooks.  My husband reminded me we have the ability to teach them the same thing-we just have to trust God to give us the words.... I don't know if I can do this-BUT GOD CAN!!!! 

Social Studies.... Alright... so Social Studies/history..  WHAT is it called now?  Well, for the older kids, we were, again, blessed with an entire 120 year span of modern history curriculum through a giveaway and the hard work of Bonnie Rose at Write Bonnie Rose.   Our 2nd grader will get state history and geography through worksheets and a book we have the shelf (garage sales are awesome).  I'm still debating a world geography study for the bigger kids.   Again-we have a book-and a globe for that!  And workbooks I can piece together through different giveaways.

Cursive.. This is one of those subjects we were adamant our kids would learn. We've been using Abeka..  but this year, I'm making my own worksheets and teaching our will be 5 year old.  (Pray for me).  I know there are a ton of cursive generators on the web and I might just end up doing that.  I haven't really decided.  But she is adamant she will learn to read and to write cursive next year.  😂😂  

I would ABSOLUTELY love to get fun books to go along with some of these from Dover Pulications or Critical Thinking Co..  But that honestly depends on the funds available.  (Critical Thinking does actually have their own curriculum sets if you are interested.) 

While that doesn't sound like much simplifying-especially since the majority of it means I get to print, laminate covers, and then bind... Not to mention come up with a way to keep track of grades and so on and so forth...  It will be simplifying for our budget.  And from what I've seen from what I bound today (some math, the history from Write Bonnie Rose and Introductory Science from Science Shepherd), the kids should be able to do the majority on their own...  The McGuffeys readers, to move on the next lesson, they need to master spelling and the reading of the lesson... in older grades part of the mastery is correct inflection and voice so all of that work is read aloud. They will all learn and be reinforced in taking turns. 

Again, I don't know if I can do this-but God can!!! 

So.. here's looking to next school year (2021-2022) with a 5th grader, 4th grader, 2nd grader, K5er, 3 year old and 1 year old along for ride!!! 

~Tabitha