This summer came and went so fast. This year has felt incredibly busy for our family. And I am really hoping for some “normal” soon! Summer in our “schoolhouse” is always a little different because…well, it’s summer. But the older two have more activities and camps now and so people are going different directions. We are evolving and that’s okay.
We were able to get a decent amount of school done. Everyone always has lots of questions about what our year-round schooling looks like. When the kids were younger, and our lives weren’t as busy, this meant fun little unit studies. Now, it is finishing up whatever we didn’t in the other seasons, which gives us a “lighter” season to work through. The goal is to finish up our levels (unless they are working at a level at the pace that works best for them academically, in which case, I don’t push it). So that looks a little different for each kiddo.
But I will say, for the first time in years, this felt like a genuinely LIGHTER summer load and that was welcomed by all!
CLICK HERE for all of the information on our school year, subjects, and curriculum choices.
Family
Come Follow Me
I have loved the Old Testament this year in a way that I never have before. It’s been wonderful to study individually and as a family. Our summer bullet points of goodness are:
- I can hear and obey the voice of the Lord.
- “The Lord looketh on the heart.”
- With the help of the Lord, I can overcome any challenge.
- The Lord can help me make good choices when I am tempted to sin.
- An invitation to sacrifice is an opportunity to exercise my faith in Jesus Christ.
- “They that be with us are more than they that be with them.”
- I can stay true to the Lord when my faith is challenged.
- In difficult times, I can turn to God and His prophets.
- God has an important work for me to do.
- The Lord puts me in situations where I can bless others.
- “When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
Extra Resources: Come Follow Me – For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026 // The Red Headed Hostess Guided Studies
History
Our final history unit this summer covered a lot of various topics. But the main parts were – HISTORY OF UNITED STATES EDUCATION & WORLD WAR I THROUGH THE GREAT DEPRESSION. This was our last unit all together (insert some tears here), because Jacob will be all independent this autumn. I tried hard to savor it. I think the highlights were making a periscope and some food from World War I – potted cheese (Jacob loved this!). Topics we learned about were:
- Education in Early America: A Foundation on Christ
- Noah Webster
- William McGuffey
- Henry Ford
- World War I: The Causes
- World War I: Weapons & Technology
- World War I: Life on the Home Front
- World War 1: Stories of Heroism
- World War I: The United States Enters the War
- The End of World War I
- The Roaring ‘20s
- Causes of the Great Depression
- The Great Depression
- The Dust Bowl
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful History Year 2
Science
This summer we also finished our CHEMISTRY unit with Jacob and Sarah. I had been so intimidated by this unit FOR YEARS, but it was pretty great. Jacob and Sarah both really loved it and luckily for all of us, they could go to their Dad with any of their big questions that I couldn’t answer. The topics we covered this summer were:
- Identifying Chemical Changes
- Elements and the Periodic Table
- The Atom
- Molecules, Compounds, and Chemical Bonding
- Conservation of Mass
- Mixtures and Pure Substances
- Properties of Water
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Science: Chemistry
World Watch News
A family favorite! Highly recommend it!
JACOB – Eighth Grade
Pre-Algebra
Jacob definitely had the lightest work load this summer – but that is good because he has picked a pretty hefty freshman year coming up. He finished his pre-algebra course. This summer, he studied:
- Box Plots
- Scatter Plots
- Line of Best Fit
- Frequency Tables and Histograms
- Two-Way Tables
- Data and Surveys
- Pascal’s Triangle
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Pre-Algebra
Piano
Jacob is doing so well in piano and wants to continue on! He did beautifully in our summer piano recital.
Resource: Faber Piano Adventures: Level 3B
Creative Writing
Jacob finished up his creative writing. He really enjoys writing and even likes to do it in his spare time. His descriptions are my favorite parts.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Creative Writing Notebook 2
SARAH – Fifth Grade
Language Arts
Sarah only had the tiniest little bit left in her language arts this summer. She finished! This summer she studied:
- Proverbs & Adages
- Family in Literature
And she wrote a family newsletter!
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts: Level 5
Math
Sarah continued to plug along with her math. This summer, she studied:
- Canceling Before Multiplying Fractions
- Surface Area of Geometric Solids
- Ratios
- Graphing and Transformations
- Using Zeros to Subtract Decimal Numbers
- Using the Distributive Property
- Multiplying and Dividing Decimal Numbers by Powers of 10
- Multiplying Decimal Numbers
- Elapsed Time
- Dividing by Unit Fractions Using Pictures
- Math Puzzles
- Converting Units of Capacity
- Converting Between Decimal Numbers and Percents
- Reciprocals
- Dividing Fractions Using Reciprocals
- Circles
- Circumference and Area of Circles
- Tessellations
- Dividing Decimal Numbers by Whole Numbers
- Division with Terminating and Repeating Decimals
- Finding Averages with Remainders
- Number Categories
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Math 5
Read Alouds and Handwriting
Sarah finished her handwriting course for the year and her cursive is beautiful. We also read The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald – and we liked it so much we read the sequel, The Princess and Curdie as well.
Resource: The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting: Level 5
Piano
Sarah also continues to progress with her piano and wants to continue. She did a beautiful job in our summer recital.
Resource: Faber Paino Adventures: Level 2B
Creative Writing
Sarah finished her creative writing course and did such an excellent job. She wrote a poem about books and learning. And then she did several exercises, brainstorming possible plots and then developing those plots. She is a great writer!
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Creative Writing Notebook 1
BENJAMIN – Third Grade
Language Arts
Benjamin is working so hard with his schoolwork. We’ve had to slow down a little bit this spring and summer, but he keeps pushing through and I am very proud of him. This summer, he studied:
- CI Words
- Possessive Nouns
- Irregular Plural Nouns
- GN, IGN, AUGH Words
- OR and IR Words
- Sight Words
- Sensory Language
- Decoding
- AR and IR Words
In geography, he studied natural resources. And he did a big research project on a place of his choosing – he chose New Zealand! He made a great poster and presented it to the family.
And for writing, he made an About Me Booklet that was so sweet.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Level 2
Math
Benjamin is plugging away at his math. It is definitely getting a little more complicated, but he is getting there! This summer, he studied:
- Time: Half- and Quarter-Hour Intervals
- Estimating Distance in Miles and Kilometers
- Measuring to the Half Inch
- Elapsed Time
- Writing Numbers to the Hundred Thousands
- Gallons, Quarts, Pints, and Cups
- Rounding to the Nearest Dollar
- Fractions: Unit Fractions
- Elapsed Time and Estimated Time
- Reading a Pictograph and Tally Chart
- Liters and Milliliters
- Adding and Subtracting Rounded Amounts of Money
- Metric Length Conversions
- Using a Thermometer
- Tables and Bar Graphs
- Reflectional Symmetry
- Fractions: Identifying and Generating Halves
- Converting Between Inches, Feet, and Yards
- Creating More Bar Graphs
- Fractions Equal to 1 and Naming Fractions
- Adding and Subtracting Inches and Feet
- Venn Diagrams
- Counting and Adding Money and Making Change
- Time: 5- and 10-Minute Intervals
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Math 3
Read Alouds and Handwriting
Benjamin has done so well this year learning cursive. This summer we read Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham. It was both of our first time reading it and it was so good!
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting Level 3
Spelling
We put more of a focus on spelling this summer. We are hoping to be even more intentional with this this upcoming year.
Curriculum: All About Spelling Level 1: Zip into Spelling
Piano
Benjamin worked so hard and finished his first year of piano AND did beautifully in our summer piano recital. He has decided he doesn’t want to continue on with it – but we are proud of him for giving it a whole year. He loves music and is excited to explore other ways of engaging in it.
Resource: Faber Piano Adventures Level Primer
LYDIA – First Grade
All Aboard the Animal Train
Sarah (and I am pretty confident Lydie, too) LOVED doing school together! They were so sweet every day together. So much so that we are making it an official elective for Sarah to do part of Lydie’s school next year. They are so excited!
They finished their animal train!
Curriculum: My Father’s World: All Aboard the Animal Train
Therapies
Therapies are going well! Lydia continues to do Physical, Speech, Occupational, Music, and Massage therapies. It keeps her busy! Her music and physical therapists left and so we had to get new ones of those, which is always an adjustment. But Lydie is pretty good at making friends so I am sure it will all work out.
Final Thoughts
As we enter our small summer break, it makes me excited to start a fresh new year and I am proud of all that we were able to accomplish this year. Time just keeps flying by and I am so grateful that we have this time to learn together, through all the seasons!
