We’ve wrapped up our second year of homeschool back in May, so the kids will officially be going into 2nd grade and kindergarten this fall!

I wanted to share a handful of our favorite resources we came across in this year of homeschooling.

Simply Charlotte Mason Bible/History/Geography

This was my favorite “curriculum” we used, hands down. It’s 3 subjects – history, Bible, & geography – all in one class, and it teaches each subject more effectively than I’ve ever seen. If you follow the program all 12 years of schooling, you go through the history of the world in chronological order twice – a 6 year cycle from 1-6 grade, and then repeat the cycle from 7-12 grade.

I also love that the curriculum is written for the whole family – the bulk of the assignments are for the Family to do together, and then it also gives recommended reading divided up by grade, (1-3 grade, 4-6 grade, 7-12 grade) to enhance the experience for different age levels.

This year we did their Ancient Egypt + Genesis-Deuteronomy + Africa. I loved how the subjects were taught together, it made so much sense that way. I learned more than I ever have about that portion of the Bible (even after Christian college Bible classes), and the kids loved it too. It was fun to see how world history overlapped & intertwined with Bible history as well, and then the geography was of Africa, because of Egypt’s location in Northern Africa.

Next year we are doing Ancient Greece + Joshua-Malachi. I’m looking forward to it!

Handwriting without tears

Kaden and I both highly preferred Handwriting Without Tears over the writing program we used last year. A couple of weeks ago I ordered Alia their kindergarten writing book for next year and she’s been begging me to start it since. HWT has a great iPad app that the kids love too.

Poetry Tea Time

I’ve never thought I enjoyed poetry very much, but reading poetry with the kids has been just one of the most pleasant things we’ve done this year. We make it extra special with Poetry Tea Time and the kids love it. They’ve memorized a few favorites which has been fun too. We’ve been reading out of Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses, and I think he is just the greatest. We read a biography on him, Robert Louis Stevenson: Storyteller and Adventurer, and really enjoyed it – Kaden said that was his favorite thing we did all year. It was really fun to get some background information in Stevenson’s life while enjoying his poems.

Bedtime Math

The free “Bedtime Math” app is something the kids ask to do daily. It’s a great way to get them thinking through real life math problems in a really fun way.

Read Aloud Revival

This has been my biggest influence on our schooling this year, it has shifted my viewpoints and priorities in the greatest way. Definitely listen to her first podcast here & see what it’s all about. Then you can jump around to any other podcast that interests you, I’ve enjoyed and learned from every one I’ve listened to – and not just in a that was nice sort of way, in a I think about the information I heard and it impacts my life every day kind of way.

Her book Teaching from Rest is one of the best things I’ve read as well, I highly highly recommend if you’re a homeschooling mom.

Simply Charlotte Mason encouragement conference

Landon and I went to a Simply Charlotte Mason encouragement conference last fall, and it was really incredible. Sonya Shafer does a phenomenal job, and it was so great for Landon & I to get on the same page with where we’re driving this whole homeschooling/parenting/life thing, we had a great time, learned a ton, and would love to do it again!

Pre-K

Alia was “Pre-K” last year, which we take very chill in this house. Mostly we just read and play, and she learned everything she needed to know, just the way Kaden did with Pre-K at home as well. We did this workbook, because she really wanted something to do while Kaden did his handwriting book and a friend recommended it.

A couple of my favorite books for Pre-K age are 1 is One by Tasha Tudor – I love this because unlike most counting books that go to 10, this one goes all the way up to 20, and in such beautiful words and illustrations, it’s just a pleasure to read together and occasionally count the items in the pictures when she’s interested. She learned to count to 20 this way, and after that figured out the rest all the way up to 100 by playing with the abacus.

I also love Poems to Read to the Very Young, poetry again, but it’s just the sweetest collection of poems about the simple joys of childhood, we love reading it together, I think it’s a must have in any child’s library.

Those are some of our highlights from the past year! Overall homeschooling is getting easier as we go on, I can definitely see how you do a lot of trial & error in the beginning, but we’re getting in to more of a grove & finding what works for us. I really love it, and am extremely grateful to have this opportunity to learn with my kids at home ❤️