Whether you are just starting your first week of homeschool this week or this is your child’s third week of school, I’m sure you are as blown away as I am at how the summer feels suddenly behind you. It is weird. It is still so hot out, yet today as I write this in September looking back at our first week of school in August, I am floored at how quickly the night is coming again and I can finally put my kids to bed at an appropriate time again! The sun just gradually kept setting earlier, and so getting up earlier for school has just naturally begun to get better.
I had not planned to “ease” into my homeschooling as much as I ended up doing. But am I ever glad that I accidentally did! This year has been so enjoyable! Previously, I wrote how “enjoying” is my theme for the year. My goals began simply for us to understand that we wake early so that we can enjoy the day rather than rushing. That we need to understand math is not an enemy, but is a cool way to make life easier.
So, on our first day of school, this is how our day unfolded:
*Scavenger Hunt
*Devotions
*History – Charlemagne
*Cursive – Letters A-F
*History Sentence Week 1 Copywork
*Go to Library
For me, the most exciting part of the day was to see how much quality time was spent on such few things and how great an impact it made rather than rushing through review.
For my daughter, she was thrilled about having the scavenger hunt and that we went to the library and found a book about rocks and inside was a picture of rocks forming the word “JOY” (Yes! She totally saw my theme about enjoying! Double Bonus: I didn’t see it as a coincidence that we just learned about glorifying God and here, normally silent rocks, are in a book shouting “joy” to us just like in Luke 19:40 when Jesus spoke, “I tell you, if these [people] be silent, the stones will cry out!”)
Also cool, is that we will be learning about birds this year. And in another book she found at the library, she found a book about a thrasher bird and we were able to go right to our materials and find out more about the bird right then and there.
But let’s be real here. All of the day was awesome., but ice cream always seals the deal for a back-to-school celebration! I had energy and was not stressed out. So much so, we all went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and then had Graeter’s ice cream for dessert. It was y-u-m-m-y and a day I will never forget. 
The most common question I get asked is, what curriculum am I using at home and what am I doing that can be done to supplement a child who already attends school. While I don’t know how to answer the second question just yet, I have listed below a condensed version of my books for the year. Have something you’re thrilled with that helps your kids learn? Leave a comment and let me know!
Language Arts:
Grammar School Grammar – An Analytical Approach to English Grammar
PreScripts Cursive Words and Drawing
PreScripts Cursive Sentences and Art Lessons
The Original McGuffey’s Eclectic First and Second Readers
The Original McGuffey’s Eclectic Progressive Spelling Book
The Writing Road to Reading and Thinking by Myrna McCulloch
Rod and Staff Bible Nurture and Reader Series, Grade 2 and Reading Workbooks
McCall-Crabbs: Standard Test Lessons in Reading, A & B
Age and skill appropriate readers
Geography:
Classical Conversations Geography
Geography Songs Sing Around the World by Kathy Troxel
History:
Story of the World, The Middle Ages, Volume II
Classical Conversations History
RightsofthePeople.com: Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
Related readers and projects aka “living” books
Government:
Age appropriate library books including How the US Government Works by Syl Sobel
Mathematics:
RightStart™ Mathematics Level B
Math-U-See Alpha
Singapore Math
Spectrum Math
Related activities and math games
Science:
God’s Design for Life science curriculum World of Plants and World of Animals Classical Conversations science curriculum including science experiments
Apologia Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology
Health:
Age appropriate books and activities related to nutrition and self care. Cooking projects.
Physical Ed.:
Tennis
Running
Dance
Swimming
Cycling
Geopalz Fitness Tracking
Other formal and informal sports and games
Fine Arts:
Classical Conversations fine arts curriculum which includes famous artist study, art
projects, basic music theory, and basic music appreciation.
Discovering Great Artists: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters
The Art Chest Teacher’s Manual. Televised Art and Craft Lessons by Dan Mihuta.
Piano Lessons
Violin Lessons
First Aid, Safety, Fire Prevention:!
Age appropriate library books including Fireboy to the Rescue! by Edward Miller and Home Safety by Lucia Raatma
Fire station field trip
