While many of you are preparing for summer days spent outside, we are entering our winter season here in the southern hemisphere. That also marks the half way point for our school year! Time has flown by, and this might be my favorite homeschool year yet.
As we close out the first half of our school year, I wanted to share an update on all that we’ve been learning and doing.
School Rhythms
4 Day School Schedule
This has been the perfect fit for our family. I do our regular school routine with the kids 3 days each week. Daddy takes one school day where he leads school and does Bible (Not Consumed: Keep Thy Heart), Science (Journey Homeschool Academy: Physical Science), and Logic (Fallacy Detective). Daddy Day is also music day where Eden and Knox do their piano lesson, and Knox has a violin lesson. That leaves Fridays open. Every other week, we meet with a homeschool group for a few co-op style lessons. The other Fridays are family days. We love to hit the road and go hiking in the mountains, swimming at the beach, exploring at the zoo, or on a low-key day, playing games at home and going to library storytime.
Daily Rhythm
We have found a flow to our homeschool days that is the perfect fit for this season of life.
7:00am- Kids wake up and do their morning routines (make bed, get dressed, do devotions, put away dishes in dishwasher)
7:30am- Breakfast together (We share what we learned in our devotions. I love this time together!)
8:15-8:45- Independent Work
8:45-9:45 Math
9:45-10:30am- Rotation Subject (Currently History and Writing with IEW)
10:30-11:00am- Outside/Free time
11:00-11:30- Morning Moments (more on that here)
11:30-12:30- My older two take turns rotating between piano practice and Language Arts
12:30- Tidy up the house
12:45- Lunch
After lunch, we transition into our afternoon quiet time. (Hear more on establishing a daily quiet time on the podcast)
Time blocking gives me a mental gameplan and helps me keep the day moving foward.
Read-Alouds
- Little House on the Prarie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The Green Ember by S. D. Smith
- Ember Falls by S. D. Smith
Math
We have used The Good and The Beautiful Math from the beginning of our homeschool journey, and it’s been a great choice for our family. In this video, I share what we love about TGATB Math.
Eden is really enjoying the video lessons that accompany her Math 5 lessons. These are a brief 10 minute lesson introducing the new concept each day. They are fun and engaging! It also allows me extra time to work with the younger children.
Knox is half way through his Math 3 book. I find that the jump from TGATB Math 2 to Math 3 is challenging, but he has worked hard to take it in stride and learn new concepts.
Ivy finished her Math K! We started this last year, and she has been flying through it. We will start the second semester with a quick unit on Australian money and then dive into Math 1.
History
We decided to try the new History curriculum from The Good and The Beautiful this year: History 1. There are many aspects of this curriculum that we are enjoying such as the accompanying storybook and the beautiful Maps & Images book. I am still forming a full review of the course, but I do feel like the muddy the divide between Christianity and Catholicism in the sections on the spread of Christianity in early Britian and Ireland. There have been a few times where advancements to the Christian faith were attributed to Catholic influence. We believe that true believers in Jesus Christ have never been a part of the Catholic church. It’s not been enough to turn me off from the curriculum, but I have had some clarifying conversations with my kids.
Beside the Middle Ages, we learned about early Biblical history, ancient Egypt, and America’s fight for independence.
Rotation Subjects
Term 1: Shakespeare
Learning Shakespeare together has been a highlight of this school year. I share all the details of how we jumped into this study on my blog: Introducing Your Children to Shakespeare.
Term 2: Writing and Composition with IEW
Eden is using IEW’s Structure and Style Level A. We did begin this a few years ago, but were never able to finish. It has been good to begin again as her writing abilities have significantly increased. We do this once a week, and she loves watching the class with Mr. Pudewa. He is such a fun teacher!
I found that Structure and Style was too advanced for Knox’s writing abilities, so we are using IEW’s People and Places in Our Community. He has been learning about writing key word outlines, using -ly adverbs, and the mechanics of proper writing.
Morning Moments
I shared a glimpse into our Morning Moments time on YouTube (check that out here), but these are some things we’ve been working on this year.
Poetry Memorization
- How Doth the Busy Little Bee by Isaac Watts
- I See My Lord in the Bible by Author Unknown
- Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
Scripture Memory
- Colossians 1:15-23
- Review Passages: Genesis 1:1-5, John 14:1-6; Luke 2:8-14; Psalm 1, 23, 24, 100; Matthew 5:13-16; 22:36-39
Flags of the World
- 39 African Countries
- 11 South American Countries
Composer Study
- January: Brahms
- February: Mozart
- March: Tchaikovsky
- April: Vivaldi
- May: Beethoven
Artist Study
- January: Claude Monet
- February: Mary Cassatt
- March: Edgar Degas
- April: Rembrandt
- May: Michaelangelo
Hymn Study
- January: Tell Me the Story of Jesus
- February: Here is Love
- March: Trust and Obey
- April: The Old Rugged Cross
- May: What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Language Arts
The core of our Lanuage Arts curriculum comes from IEW (grammar) and Spell to Write and Read (spelling). I also have each child read selected matieral for 30 minutes every day (biography and reading comprehension assignments). This is separate from their pleasure reading each day. The older two are also doing Handwriting from TGATB.
Term 1 Biography
- Eden: Florence Young
- Knox: Douglas MacArthur
Term 2 Biography
- Eden: Betty Greene
- Knox: David Livingstone
Read a more detailed description of our 2026 curriculum choices on the blog: 2026 Curriculum Choices
We are wrapping up a great first semester. The second semester will be it’s own unique expereince as we’ll be adding another baby to the family. I’ll be homeschooling 3 with a 4 year old, 2 year old, and newborn in tow. Sounds like many wild adventures are in store for us!
