Is it just me or did this autumn go by in a BLINK! I can’t believe we are already a quarter of the way through our school year. It’s been a busy season with our family trip to Missouri and Iowa and Jacob’s solo trip her took with Mark to Disneyland. Then add on a birthday and some holidays and we’ve had plenty of interruptions. But it has been wonderful and we have loved the time together learning and living life!
CLICK HERE for all of the information on our school year, subjects, and curriculum choices.
Family
Come Follow Me
I can’t believe we are just about done studying the Doctrine and Covenants. It has been such a wonderful year looking back on all that has been restored and the joy and tragedy that came along the way. Here are our bullet points of goodness for the autumn:
- The temple is the house of the Lord.
- My trials can work together for my good.
- Blessings come after trials of faith.
- The Lord supports me when He calls me to serve.
- The Lord offers me rich blessings through temple covenants.
- The Lord will lead me as I humbly seek His will.
- My tithing helps build the kingdom of God.
- True power and influence are based on “the principles of righteousness.”
- The Lord can guide me through my patriarchal blessing.
- The salvation of my ancestors is essential to my salvation.
- Heavenly Father made it possible for families to be eternal.
- I can prepare now for the Savior’s Second Coming.
- Joseph Smith was a prophet and witness of Jesus Christ.
Extra Resources: Come Follow Me – For Home and Church: Doctrine and Covenants 2025 // The Red Headed Hostess Guided Studies
History
After some discussion, we decided to pause history this season. We are awaiting some new curriculum and so we doubled down on science this fall and then in will be all history this winter.
Science
It was the season of science! We finished WEATHER AND WATER! Topics we learned about were:
- The Water Cycle
- Clouds and Weather Fronts
- Rain and Rainbows
- Snow, Sleet, Hail, and Freezing Rain
- Thunder and Lightning
- Severe Weather: Tornadoes and Tropical Cyclones
- Weather Forecasting
- The Beauty and Power of Water
We also did a unit on BOTANY! Topics we learned about were:
- Introduction to Botany
- The Life Cycle of a Plant
- Parts of a Plant
- Seeds
- LOTS on Flowers
- Leaves
- Photosynthesis
- Plant Cells
- Plant Classification
- Growing Plants
- Trees
- Carnivorous and Poisonous Plants
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Science: Weather and Water // The Good and the Beautiful Science: Botany
World Watch News
We have absolutely fell in LOVE with World Watch News. All of us really enjoy it (even Mark watches it with us!). It is such a great balance of news.
JACOB – Eighth Grade
Language Arts
This year is a bit of a relaxed year for Jacob with language arts. This year he is doing some book studies, which still give him work on all the areas in language arts, but it is centered on a book and more relaxed than his typical curriculum. He is happy about the break before he gears up for high school next year (I am in disbelief that we are almost there!).
This autumn he read The Touch of Magic by Lorena A. Hickok and The Story of My Life by Helen Keller. He only has two more lessons and then he will be done! Here is what he worked on this autumn:
- Biographies and Autobiographies
- Spelling
- Homophones
- Vocabulary
- Editing
- Handwriting
- Literary Devices (Similes, Metaphors, Foreshadowing, Imagery, Onomatopoeia, Hyperbole)
- Writing Short Answer Responses
- Comparisons
- Challenging Pronunciation Vocabulary
- Irregular Comparisons
- Commonly Confused Words
- Apostrophes
- Avoiding Faulty Comparisons
- Avoiding Shifts in Person, Voice, and Number
For art, he did a couple projects:
- Lilac Colored Pencils
- Drawing a Cottage with Colored Pencils
- Color Bird with Colored Pencils
- Used Colored Pencils to Draw a Calm Lake
- Used Colored Pencils to Draw Something with Farm Life
- Draw Snowflakes
He also learned about the following artists:
- Adolf Lins
- Horse Art by Lucy Kemp-Welch
In literature, he studied:
- Poetry by John Greenleaf Whittier
- Dr. Alexander Graham Bell Biography
In geography, Jacob studied:
- Puerto Rico
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Book Studies: The Touch of Magic and the Story of My Life
Pre-Algebra
Jacob is excelling in Pre-Algebra. He has such a great “math mind”. He finished his first unit and is going strong in his second. This autumn he studied:
- Place Value and Estimation
- Decimals and Fractions
- Addition and Subtraction with Integers
- Addition and Subtraction with Fractions and Decimals
- Division with Integers, Fractions, and Decimals
- Properties of Real Numbers
- Exponents
- Factors and Multiples
- Order of Operations
- Combining Like Terms
- Exponent Rules
- Square and Cube Roots
- Estimating Roots
- Number Sets
- Negative Exponents
- Operations with Roots
- Simplifying Complex Expressions
- Introduction to Scientific Notation
- Adding and Subtracting in Scientific Notation
- Multiplying and Dividing in Scientific Notation
- Writing Expressions , Equations, and Inequalities
- Solving One-Step Equations
- Solving Two-Step Equations
- Repeating Decimals
- Solving Multi-Step Equations
- Modeling Real-World Situations with Equations
- Solving for a Specific Variable
- The coordinate Plane
- Relations and Functions
- Domain and Range
- Graphing Relations and Functions
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Pre-Algebra
Typing
This is Jacob’s last year doing typing as an elective. I can’t believe how well he types with this program. We love it.
Resource: Typing Club
Watercolor Pencils
Jacob continues to be our art loving guy. He is enjoying his watercolor art course. I love how it combines teaching, art appreciation and history, and individual projects. This autumn he focused on:
- Primary Colors
- Secondary Colors
Resource: Artistic Pursuits Art Core 2: Painting with Watercolor Pencils
Piano
Jacob continues to progress and play so well. I am proud of him for his dedication to piano. He is busy preparing for his Christmas recital piece.
Resource: Faber Piano Adventures: Level 3A
Music Appreciation
Jacob just couldn’t say no to adding this elective this year. The Good and the Beautiful recently released this new course and he is LOVING it. I love how it dives into the composers, beautiful music, and the history of hymns as well. This autumn he studied:
- The Power and Wonder of Music
- “Amazing Grace”
- Music of the Ancient World
- Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Eras
- The Baroque Era: An Oddly Shaped Pearl
- Music from the Classical Era
- The Romantic and Modern Musical Eras
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Music Appreciation 1
Creative Writing
Jacob continues to plug away at his creative writing course. He started it last year and will finish it up this year. His writing is beautiful and he has learned a lot from this course.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Creative Writing Notebook 2
SARAH – Fifth Grade
Language Arts
Sarah is FLYING through her language arts! She is learning and progressing and doing wonderfully! She has already gone through two units! This autumn she studied:
- Sentence Dictation
- Homophones
- Pronouns
- Capitalization
- Independent Clauses
- Editing
- Abstract and Concrete Nouns
- Poetry Terms
- Words That Can Be Nouns or Verbs
- Antecedents
- Compound Subjects and Verbs
- Vocabulary and Context Clues
- Listening Comprehension
- Possessive Nouns
- Prepositional Phrases and Commas
- Compound Direct Objects
- Run-On Sentences
- Comma Splices
There is a big focus on spelling and writing at this level. In spelling, she studied:
- Words with GEN
- Spelling Rule: 1-1-1- Rule
- Challenging Spelling Words
- Commonly Confused Words
- Contractions
- Plural Nouns: F and FE
- Suffix – cy
- Spelling Rule: Using DGE
- Vowel and Consonant Suffixes
- Silent Letter: H
- Words with EI
- Silent T
- Spelling Rule: Plural Nouns
- Spelling Rule: Using CH or TCH
In writing, she wrote:
- Writing about Spectacled Bears
- Personification
- Simile
- Writing about Patagonia
- Alliteration
- Using Strong Verbs
- Writing about the Galapagos Islands
- Interjection
- Comparing and Contrasting
- Sensory Language
- Wrote a Comparative Essay
In geography, she studied:
- Ecuador
- South America
- The Incredible Andes
- The Iguazu Falls
- The Amazon River
- Plant Life in the Amazon Rainforest
- Brilliant Brazil
Sarah also read Chico of the Andes by Christine Von Hagen and Gabriel and the Hour Book by Evaleen Stein. She also read a biography on Evaleen Stein.
In art, Sarah studied:
- Edward Fanshawe
- Watercolored a Spectacled Bear
- Color Theory
- Watercolored a Color Wheel
- Painting by Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller
- Watercolored a Llama Scene
- Watercolored an Illuminated Letter
- Giotto
- Raphael
- Watercolored an Illuminated Letter “X”
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts: Level 5
Math
Sarah is HIGHLY motivated to move through her math. It is proving to be a little tricky for her but she is doing well. Math definitely gets intense fast! This autumn she studied:
- Long Division
- Geometric Transformations
- Rotations
- Adding and Subtracting Fractions
- Reducing Fractions
- Perimeter and Area
- Geometric Solids
- Volume: Rectangular Prisms
- Converting Mixed Numbers to Improper Fractions
- Decimals
- Radius and Diameter
- Roman Numerals
- Decimals and Fractions
- Long Division: Zero in the Quotient
- Distributive Property
- Length: US Customary System
- Length: Metric System
- Division with Remainders
- Tessellations
- Mixed Numbers and Division
- Two-Digit Multiplication
- Advanced Patterns
- Adding and Subtracting Decimals
- Naming Geometric Figures
- Positive and Negative Numbers
- Rounding Decimals
- Comparing and Ordering Decimals
- Comparing Positive and Negative Numbers
- Multiplication: Three-Digit by Two-Digit
- Adding and Subtracting Mixed Numbers
- Long Division: Dividing by 10
- Fractions of a Set
- Fractions, Mixed Numbers, and Decimals
- Long Division: Multiples of 10
- Weight: US Customary System
- Decimal Numbers: Multiplication and Division
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Math 4
Read Alouds and Handwriting
This was the only subject where we didn’t get as far as we had hoped. But Sarah continues to work on her cursive and is enjoying listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix by J.K. Rowling.
Resource: The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting: Level 5
Typing
Sarah continues to love her typing elective and uses the same program as Jacob.
Resource: Typing Club
Drawing
Another subject Sarah is FLYING through is her drawing elective. She is over half way through already!
Resource: Draw Vintage Images: Level Five
Piano
Sarah just finished a level in her piano and she is so excited! She is learning and playing beautifully as well.
Resource: Faber Piano Adventures: Level 2A // Faber Piano Adventures: Level 2B
Music Appreciation
Just like Jacob, Sarah did NOT want to pass on this new music appreciation. She is really enjoying it. While her and Jacob are working on the same course, they are doing their own work separately on it. This autumn Sarah studied:
- The Power and Wonder of Music
- “Amazing Grace”
- Music of the Ancient World
- Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Eras
- The Baroque Era: An Oddly Shaped Pearl
- Music from the Classical Era
- The Romantic and Modern Musical Eras
- “’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”
- Hadyn and the Surprise Sympohny
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Music Appreciation 1
Creative Writing
Another new elective for Sarah this year was creative writing. This is her first time with this and she is doing well and seems to be enjoying it. This autumn she did a lot of practice on descriptive writing.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Creative Writing Notebook 1
BENJAMIN – Third Grade
Language Arts
I am especially proud of this little guy. He is working so hard and he is starting to see the fruits of his work. His reading is really improving, and I love to see his confidence grow. His pace is quickening with his lessons and that has been such a mood booster for him. He finally finished Level 1 and it was a proud moment for both of us. This autumn he studied:
- Soft C and G
- Prefixes
- Sight Words
- Adjectives
- Root Words and Base Words
- Verb Tenses
- OA and OE
- Irregular Past Tense
- OW Can Make the Long O Sound
- Synonyms and Antonyms
- Commas
- Other Sounds of EA
- Reading Words with QU
- Homophones
- Spelling Words with QU and AY
- Closed Syllables
- Open Syllables
- Spelling Rule: Caboose E
- Decoding
- Reading Words with KN
- Spelling Words with Sneaky E
- Spelling Rule: S, F, L, or Z
- OR can Say /er/
In writing, Ben:
- Narrated a Short Story
- Wrote Thank You Notes
- Gratitude Journal
- Writing Sentences
In geography, he studied:
- India and Folktales
- God’s Plan for the World
And to top it all off, we ended our level with a reader’s theater of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. It was so fun.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Level 1 // The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Level 2
Math
Ben is plugging along nicely with his math. This autumn, he learned:
- Time
- Calendar Work
- Counting Coins
- Rounding to the Nearest 10
- Dozen, Half Dozen
- One More and One Less
- Add and Subtract 10 and 100
- Expanded Form to the Hundreds
- Inches, Feet, and Yards
- Commutative Property
- Adding Numbers with Three or More Digits
- Adding Dollars and Cents
- Fact Families
- Spelling 16 to 19
- Measuring
- Subtraction with Money
- Fractions
- Addition: Regrouping Ones and Tens
- Association Property and Adding 3 One-Digit Numbers
- Counting Dollars and Coins
- Thermometers
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Math 2
Read Alouds and Handwriting
Ben was THRILLED this fall to read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. We are also in the middle of reading Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight. Ben also began learning cursive this fall and is really enjoying that.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting Level 3
Spelling
An unexpected subject that Ben and I decided to add this fall was spelling. His language arts already includes spelling, but it is something that is extra difficult for Ben and we both felt like some added help might be a good idea. So I found JUST a spelling program that we use to supplement his language arts. I can’t think of how to describe it compared to The Good and the Beautiful, but it is just a little more direct and repetitive that I think it works better for Ben. He seems to be enjoying it and his spelling does seem like it is improving, so those are both wins for us!
Curriculum: All About Spelling Level 1
Drawing
Benjamin is also doing well with his drawing elective.
Resource: Draw Vintage Images: Level Three
Piano
In the spirit of honesty, piano has been a struggle for Ben and me. We have decided to push through and at least finish this first level and then we will decide if he wants to continue. He is very excited to be able to participate in his first piano recital for Christmas though!
Resource: Faber Piano Adventures Level Primer
Cooking
Jacob and Sarah are very jealous of Ben’s cooking elective. This is one that he and I came up with where he helps me specifically in the kitchen at least once a week. It’s been a really good bonding experience for both of us.
Poetry
Another fun elective for Ben is poetry. We’ve been reading poems about ladybugs and fireflies. We even made a ladybug puppet and ladybug fruit cookies. It’s relaxed and perfect for us.
Resource: The Good and the Beautiful Poetry Parties for Littles: Insects and Spiders
LYDIA – First Grade
All Aboard the Animal Train
This little lady is just a joy. We are still trying to be more consistent with her “book learning” but mostly we just include her and she seems to just love being with all of us. This autumn we talked about cats and lions, kindness and sharing, and purple and green.
Curriculum: My Father’s World: All Aboard the Animal Train
Koala Crates
We have almost finished all of Lydie’s Koala Crates and while we have enjoyed them I am not sure if we will get more of them.
Therapies
Lydie continues forward with all her therapies – Physical, Speech, Occupational, Music, Horse, and Massage. One big win that we had this fall was that we were able to get her started with a new physical therapist and we really like her and feel like she is a much better fit that who we’ve been working with previously. Lydie works so hard and I am proud of her resilience.
Final Thoughts
Just as I said in the beginning, this was the FASTEST season. I can’t believe we are already here! But I am so proud of the kids and the personal responsibility that they take on to learn. They are pretty incredible.
