This felt like the busiest spring of our lives! Wow. We were on the move non-stop! So much traveling – between our England trip and trips to Utah and Idaho for weddings we were on the move this whole spring. So many good things are happening. I was a little worried about how we would be doing school wise and I am happy to report that somehow, we managed to juggle things pretty okay! I am feeling so grateful for the opportunity homeschooling gives us to do life together so closely.
We are wrapping up our school year this summer and getting prepped for a new year. Jacob will be in HIGH SCHOOL (I am in denial), Sarah will be starting middle school, and Benjamin and Lydie will be in elementary. It will be a busy prepping summer. Sarah and Benjamin will also be taking their standardized test and so that will be another summer learning event.
We are also excited because for the first time IN YEARS we will actually have a lighter summer which I think we are all looking forward to!
CLICK HERE for all of the information on our school year, subjects, and curriculum choices.
Family
Come Follow Me
The Old Testament has come alive for me this year. I am appreciating it in a whole new way and we have loved studying it as a family. Our spring bullet points of goodness are:
- The covenants of the Lord’s house bring God’s power into my life.
- With the Lord’s help, I can flee temptation.
- Forgiveness brings healing.
- I can show reverence for holy things and places.
- Jesus Christ offers me peace and joy.
- Jesus Christ can save me because of His Atonement.
- The Lord offers me daily spiritual nourishment.
- Obedience to God’s commandments brings blessings.
- The Lord wants me to become holy.
- If I look to Jesus Christ in faith, He can heal me spiritually.
- “Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart.”
- The word of God can make my way prosperous.
- I can inspire others to have faith in the Lord.
Extra Resources: Come Follow Me – For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026 // The Red Headed Hostess Guided Studies
History
We had such a great unit in history this spring – COLONIAL AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. My Mom even helped teach some lessons while we were in England because she is so passionate about this topic. Topics we learned about were:
- Jamestown, John Smith, and Pocahontas
- LOTS about the Pilgrims
- Henry Hudson and the Dutch Colonies
- The Puritans
- Roger Williams and Thomas Hooker
- William Penn and James Oglethorpe
- LOTS about Daily Life in Colonial Times
- The 13 Colonies
- LOTS about Benjamin Franklin
- The Coming Forth of the Constitution
- Basics of the Constitution
- The Blessings of a Constitutional Democratic Republic
- The Global Impact of the American Revolution
- President George Washington
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful History Year 2
Science
This spring we finished up our SAFETY unit that we started in the winter. This was a great unit – and the last half of the unit were topics that I felt were good even (if not especially) for my older kids. The topics we covered this spring were:
- God Gave Me a Body
- Safe at Home Alone
- Kitchen Safety
- Technology, Media, and Peer Pressure
- Gun Safety
We also started a unit just for Jacob and Sarah (Benjamin and Lydie are enjoying the extra play time!). It is CHEMISTRY. I will be honest; I have been putting off this unit year after year because it totally intimidated me. But it has actually gone really well and they both LOVE it. I can’t answer all their questions (chemistry is not my thing) but we try and find the answers together and Mark has been a big help. We are about halfway through our unit, and the topics we’ve learned about so far are:
- Introduction to Chemistry
- The Scientific Method
- Scientific Measurement
- States of Matter
- Phase Transitions
- Elements, Atoms, and Molecules
- Chemical and Physical Properties
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Science: Safety // The Good and the Beautiful Science: Chemistry
World Watch News
Our whole family LOVES World Watch! Highly recommend!
JACOB – Eighth Grade
Language Arts
Jacob finished his last book study this spring on Wild Like the Foxes by Anauta Ford Blackmore. These book studies were easy peasy for Jacob and we knew they would be going in. I don’t know if I will go that route in the future, but it was okay for Jacob. He is ready to dive into high school level in the autumn!
Here is what he worked on this spring:
- Adjectives
- Common Confused Words
- Quotation Punctuations
- Vocabulary
- Spelling
- Challenging Pronunciation Vocabulary
- Plural Nouns
- Similes
- Adverbs
In writing, he worked on:
- Editing
- Dynamic vs Static Characters
- Writing Summaries
In art, Jacob studies:
- Painted a Canadian map
- Watercolored an Aurora Borealis
- Artist: Franklin Carmichael
- Art by Franklin Carmichael
In geography, he studied:
- Inuit Terms
- Canada – The Great White North
- The Butchart Gardens
- Canadian Provinces
- The Arctic
- Aurora Borealis
- Political Divisions of Canada
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Baffin Island
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Book Studies: Wild Like the Foxes
Pre-Algebra
This kid is ROCKING math. I am truly impressed with his abilities. He is totally independent in this and does so well. He should finish up the beginning of summer. This winter he studied:
- Drawings and Constructions
- Circles, Circumference, and Perimeter
- Arcs, Sectors, and Angles in a Circle
- Area of Polygons and Circles
- Area of Composite Figures
- Surface Area of Polyhedra
- Surface Area of Other Solids
- Voume of Prisms and Cylinders
- Volume of Pyramids, Cones, and Spheres
- Volume of Composite Solids
- Solving One-Step and Two-Step Inequalities
- Tessellations
- Advanced Inequalities
- Graphing Linear Inequalities
- Types of Solutions
- Systems of Equations
- Solving Systems by Substitution
- Solving Systems by Elimination
- Practice Solving Systems
- Translations on the Coordinate Plane
- Reflections on the Coordinate Plane
- Rotations on the Coordinate Plane
- Dilations
- Transformations
- Polynomials
- Multiplying Polynomials
- Diving Polynomials
- Factoring
- Visual Representations of Data
- Measures of Central Tendency
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Pre-Algebra
Typing
Jacob’s typing elective is going well. He is very motivated and has become a great typist!
Resource: Typing Club
Watercolor Pencils
Jacob finished his elective on watercolor pencils and seemed to enjoy it. I thought this was a good resource for art-loving kiddos (it was really expensive though).
Resource: Artistic Pursuits Art Core 2: Painting with Watercolor Pencils
Piano
Jacob continues to flourish in piano. He is so driven in everything he does academically – and he includes piano in that. He moved up a level which was VERY exciting for him. He is excited for their spring recital coming up!
Resource: Faber Piano Adventures: Level 3A // Faber Piano Adventures: Level 3B
Music Appreciation
Jacob also finished his music appreciation elective. He really liked this a lot. We love the combination of composers, beautiful music, and the history of hymns. This spring he studied:
- The Schumanns: Scenes from Childhood
- “Sunshine in My Soul”
- Brahms: A Musical Craftsman
- Brahms and the Clarinet
- “I Need Thee Every Hour”
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Music Appreciation 1
Creative Writing
This is the one area where Jacob is not quite where he wants to be. But he should finish it this summer. His writing is very good!
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Creative Writing Notebook 2
SARAH – Fifth Grade
Language Arts
Sarah is also such a motivated student. She is two lessons away from her final exam in language arts this year! She can’t wait for the break. I think her favorite thing this spring was making Black Forest Cupcakes! This spring she studied:
- Diagramming Commands
- Homophones
- Parts of Speech
- Poetry: Meter and Rhythm
- Linking Verbs
- Helping Verbs
- Alliteration in Poetry
- Rhyming in Poetry
- Subjects
- Predicates
- Mood and Tone in Poetry
- Verb Phrases
- Diagramming Verb Phrases
- Sentence Structures
- Nature Poems
- Tone and Family in Literature
- Verb Tenses
- Metaphors
- Correlative Conjunctions
- Context
- Strengthening Family Relationships
- Idioms
- Connecting to Your Family History
- Point of View
- Diagramming Commands
- Genres
In spelling, she studied:
- Contractions
- Words with EI
- Commonly Confused Words
- Challenging Spelling Words
- Changing Y to I
- Words with QU
- Singular Words that End with S
- Irregular Simple Past Tense
- Suffix – CY
- Words that End with VE or UE
- Plural Nouns
- Number Prefixes
- They’re / Their / There
- 1-1-1 Rule
- Words with AL
- Using DGE
- Drop the E
- F and FE
- Silent T
- Using CH or TCH
- Consonant + LE
- Vowel and Consonant Suffixes
- Silent H
- IE Words
- Words with Silent U
In writing, she worked on:
- Editing the Story
- Essay Writing
- Optimism Essay
- Well-Chosen Verbs
- Writing Nature Poetry Inspired by the Black Forest
- Avoiding Shifts in Verb Tense
- Well-Written Literature
- Main Ideas
- Varying First Words in a Paragraph
- Using Sensory Language
- Writing Nonfiction Paragraphs
- Writing a Book Review
In geography, she studied:
- Map Reading: Germany
- Native American Pottery
- The Cherokee Syllabary
- Native American Basket Weaving
Sarah read:
- The Clockmaker’s Son by Jenny Phillips
- Captured Words by Frances Williams Browin
In art, Sarah studied:
- Watercolored Black Forest Mushrooms
- Watercolored a Cuckoo Bird
- Watercolored a Black Forest Cake
- Watercolored Native American Pottery
- Native American Art
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts: Level 5
Math
This spring in math has challenged Sarah in news ways. Math has always come a little easy for her, but it is definitely getting harder and harder. But she is sticking with it! This spring, she studied:
- Naming Geometric Figures
- Measuring and Drawing Angles
- Geometric Solids
- Similar and Congruent Geometric Figures
- Reading Scales and Using a Ruler
- Converting Units of Weight
- Symmetry and Transformations
- Comparing Fractions Using One-Half and Pictures
- Number Lines with Fractions and Mixed Numbers
- Quadrilateral Classification
- Perimeter and Area of Irregular Shapes
- Triangles
- Numbers in the Billions and Ordinal Numbers
- Quotients as Mixed Numbers
- Adding and Subtracting with Common Denominators
- Fractions and One Whole
- Fahrenheit and Celsius
- Mixed Numbers and Whole Numbers Greater Than 1
- Place Value with Decimals
- Reading and Writing Decimal Numbers
- Decimal Numbers on a Number Line
- Equivalent Decimal Numbers
- Adding and Subtracting Decimal Numbers
- Rounding Decimal Numbers
- Comparing / Ordering Decimal Numbers Through the Ten Thousandths Place
- Reducing Fractions
- Converting Decimals and Percents to Fractions
- Probability
- Multiplying Fractions by Fractions
- Equivalent Fractions
- Converting Improper Fractions to Whole or Mixed Numbers
- Greatest Common Factor
- Using the LCM to Find Common Denominators
- Converting Mixed Numbers to Improper Fractions
- Converting Fractions to Percents
- Rounding Fractions and Mixed Numbers to the Nearest Whole Number
- Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Math 5
Read Alouds and Handwriting
Sarah has beautiful cursive – still trying to convince her to use that as her “normal” handwriting. We finished The King’s Fifth by Scott O’Dell which was a perfect companion to our history unit that we did on exploration and the conquistadors this year. We both really liked it. We are now almost done reading The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald.
Resource: The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting: Level 5
Piano
Sarah’s piano is beautiful. She is progressively wonderfully and also preparing for our spring recital.
Resource: Faber Piano Adventures: Level 2B
Music Appreciation
Sarah finished her music appreciation elective and also loved it (it was the same one Jacob was doing). This spring, Sarah studied:
- Brahms: A Musical Craftsman
- Brahms and the Clarinet
- “I Need Thee Every Hour”
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Music Appreciation 1
Creative Writing
Sarah is cruising through her creative writing. She continued working on some story starter exercises but mostly spent this spring in poetry. She wrote four poems, one on family, animals, trees, and a poem inspired from a painting. She is now working on a poem about books and learning.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Creative Writing Notebook 1
BENJAMIN – Third Grade
Language Arts
Benjamin continues to work really hard with his language arts. I’m very proud of him and all that he has accomplished this year with that. We did have to slow down a little this spring on some concepts, but he is doing his best and that is all we want. One big change we made toward the end of this season was cutting out all the spelling included in this language arts program. We are now solely focused on spelling in his separate program, and I think that is helping everything. This spring, he studied:
- Plural Nouns
- Messages in Books
- Sentence Diagramming
- Sir Isaac Newton and His Dog, Diamond
- Reader’s Theater
- Three Things a Sentence Must Have
- Commas in a Series
- MB and Articles
- Adjectives
- DGE
- Verb Tenses
- Decoding
- EIGH
- Root Words
- Reading Comprehension
- Synonyms and Antonyms
- IE
- Compound Words
- OUR and OUGH
- Commas in Dates and Greetings
- Silent Letters
- Subject/Verb Agreement
- TI Can Say /sh/
- Special Needs Around the World
- AIR
In writing, Ben:
- Personal Narrative
- Short Story
In geography, he studied:
- The Amazing Nomads of Mongolia
- The Poles
- North America
- Oceans
- Ohara Koson
- Maps
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Level 2
Math
Benjamin had a BIG accomplishment and completed his level in math! He did great and was very excited! He is now on level 3 in math – which will be the last level he does with me.
This spring in level 2, he learned:
- Fractions
- Identifying and Writing Mixed Numbers
- Representing a Given Fraction
- Quadrilaterals
- Vertical and Horizontal Lines and Angles
- Symmetry
- Drawing Congruent Line Segments
- Congruent and Similar Shapes
- Geometric Solids
- Constructing and Deconstructing Geometric Shapes
- Identifying Transformations
- Perimeter
- Identifying Triangles
- Area
- Subtraction: Making Change
- Coordinate Graphs
In level 3, he studied:
- Numbers Through the Ten Thousands
- Addition with Regrouping
- Rounding to the Nearest Ten or Hundred
- Multiplication
- Subtraction with Regrouping
- Story Problems with Addition and Subtraction
- Two-Step Story Problems
- Telling Time to the Nearest Minute
- Measuring and Estimating Using Inches and Centimeters
- Measuring Length in Inches, Feet, Yards, and Miles
- Multiplying by 100, 1,000, and 10,000
- Introduction to Metric Units
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Math 2 // The Good and the Beautiful Math 3
Read Alouds and Handwriting
Ben continues to enjoy learning cursive and is my one kiddo that actually tries to do it in their regular writing. This spring we finished The Railway Children by E. Nesbit – a favorite! And we also read Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus which was a new one for me and we both really enjoyed that one as well. We are now reading Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham and liking it a lot. We seem to be on a sea theme lately!
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting Level 3
Spelling
We started spelling late in the autumn but then in the winter we got really hit or miss with it (mostly miss). I was debating whether or not he needed it, but this spring I really put a focus on it. We reworked our schedule and devoted daily time to it, and I think it is really good. So far, it is pretty easy, but I wanted to start at the basics to really help give him a solid foundation.
Curriculum: All About Spelling Level 1
Drawing
Not much to say about drawing other than it is coming along!
Resource: Draw Vintage Images: Level Three
Piano
Benjamin is coming along with his piano as well and is really improving and experiencing growth. He is preparing for our upcoming spring recital!
Resource: Faber Piano Adventures Level Primer
Cooking
We have been less consistent about cooking together this spring mostly because life has felt so hectic I just want to get dinner on the table – but we did enjoy our time together in the kitchen.
Poetry
Our electives did take a bit of a backseat this spring with Benjamin. But we did finish our poetry unit on spiders and flies and are now reading poetry about bees!
Resource: The Good and the Beautiful Poetry Parties for Littles: Insects and Spiders
LYDIA – First Grade
All Aboard the Animal Train
After Lydie’s school came to an almost halt in the winter due to sickness, this spring I wanted to change things up and it has been such a GOOD change. I talked with Sarah and she wanted to take over “Lydie’s education” – and yes, I did think of Little Women the whole time during that conversation. Sarah is so good with Lydie and is a natural teacher.
Sarah has really taken on the responsibility and loves to prepare her lesson and teach Lydie every day. They are so sweet together and have a great time. I am very grateful for their sweet relationship and this season that they can do this together.
Curriculum: My Father’s World: All Aboard the Animal Train
Therapies
Therapies are going well! Not much to say, just same old, same old. Lydie continues to do Physical, Speech, Occupational, Music, Horse, and Massage therapies. She is having two therapists leave (why is there so much turnover with therapists?!) so we will be switching those soon. Hoping everything continues to go well.
Final Thoughts
This was the craziest season, but I love the opportunity that homeschooling gives us to experience so much of life together. Busy seasons come and go, and they are fun in their own way. But this season also showed me how focused my kids are on their learning on a personal level. They really pushed through this season all on their own and showed me how much they value learning which makes me really happy and proud of them all. Here’s to hopefully having a lighter summer!
