Thoughts this Summer
Our summer schoolhouse embraced a “school-lite” atmosphere and it was really great (for the most part). I needed a wee bit of a break. The very first week of June we received Jacob’s diagnosis and I have spent a ridiculous amount of time filling out paperwork and being on the phone working out insurance things, medications, and all sorts of stuff. Plus, it’s just pushed us headfirst into some pretty major life discussions and all of that emotional stuff going on meant that I needed a little bit of a break.
With that said though, I learned a while back that my kiddos thrive on structure. Let me just say, I don’t have every moment planned out for them. I definitely don’t have time for that! But, having entire DAYS upon days at home, without some structure, leaves us all feeling a little crazy! So doing some school during summer is helpful and keeps us all in a good groove.
I spent a whole lot of time prepping for the upcoming year and I’ll just say – WE ARE READY TO SWING INTO FALL!
FAMILY
Come Follow Me
One thing that we never take a “break” from is our Come Follow Me. We love it. It is incredible and we all notice when days have been skipped.
This summer we continued our study of The Book of Mormon and spent most of our time in the books of Alma and Helaman.
Here are our bullet points of goodness:
- I can gain my own testimony through the Holy Ghost.
- The Savior took upon Himself my sins, pains, and afflictions.
- The path back to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is straight.
- I can share the gospel.
- I can be a good friend.
- After death, I will be resurrected.
- The priesthood helps me come unto Christ.
- Heavenly Father strengthens me according to my faith.
- I am blessed when I follow the prophet.
- I can share the gospel with others.
- I can help others come unto Christ by showing my love for them.
- I am blessed when I keep my promises.
- The gospel brings me joy, and I can share this joy with others.
- I can help my friends live the gospel.
- All things testify of God.
- The word of God is powerful.
- Heavenly Father hears my prayers.
- I can help my faith in Jesus Christ grow.
- Heavenly Father hears me when I pray.
- Repentance brings my joy.
- “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.”
- The scriptures can help us every day.
- I can be a good example.
- Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can help me correct my mistakes.
- I will be resurrected.
- I can find spiritual protection in the gospel.
- I can faithful like Captain Moroni.
- I can be faithful to God like the stripling warriors.
- When I am worried, I can trust God.
- I can build my foundation on Jesus Christ.
- The Holy Ghost whispers with a still, small voice.
- The Lord wants me to remember Him.
- Prophets testify of Jesus Christ.
- I will obey Heavenly Father.
Science
At the beginning of summer, we finished our Arthropods unit. Jacob and I had so much fun with this and it was a great unit to do in spring/summer. Jacob did a presentation on termites and we learned about bees and wasps, butterflies, ants, insect defenses, arachnids, crustaceans, and the entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre. You can find our review of the unit HERE.
We have started our new year of school and Sarah is JOINING US! Yay! She is so excited to “officially” be a part of our science lessons. We are beginning the year with a unit all about water! This is Jacob and I’s second time doing this unit and it’s a blast. We are loving it! We have talked all about water and the states of water. We can’t wait for more!
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Science: Arthropods; The Good and the Beautiful Science: Water and Our World
Art
Friday is our FUN day and that means art (which feels really silly to say because the kiddos are doing art ALL.THE.TIME). We started with (what I thought was going to be) a fun project: Kaleidoscope Rocks.
It was a total fail. There is nothing else to be said. Jacob and I laughed it off – Sarah was convinced we could save it, but it couldn’t be done. Hopefully, more “beautiful” art is made in the future!
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Creative Arts and Crafts
JACOB (2nd Grade / 3rd Grade)
Language Arts
Jacob took a nice break from formal language arts lessons all summer. He continued to do loads of reading but it was nice to take a breather from it.
Now that we have dived into his third grade year though we have started back up! We have had lessons covering TION, CIAN, SION, OOR, and the subject of a sentence. His lessons are organized a little different this year but we are LOVING the change. And it gives a little more accountability on Jacob which I think is awesome. It is giving him some ownership for his learning which is pretty great!
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts: Level 3
Read Aloud
This summer, Jacob and I finished his first Harry Potter book! Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling was a great end-of-the-year read. We read from the illustrated edition and it was awesome to just snuggle up (I love that he still snuggles with me) and immerse ourselves in the book.
Once we were finished, Jacob had a special movie night with Mark and I to watch the movie. He was so excited!
We took a break from read alouds once we finished Harry Potter until we started back school. We are now into our first read aloud: The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White. It’s a classic and we love it.
Handwriting
Jacob also took a nice long break from his handwriting for the summer. This last week we started things back up with the new year and he is THRILLED because he is learning cursive! I love how excited he is about it. Also, it is making me want to do it with him. I’ve always wished my cursive was better (could be that I never write in it?) so I might have to get a workbook of my own and do it with him!
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting: Level 3
Math
Math was the one subject that we steadily worked on throughout the summer. Jacob finished his second unit – REGROUPING! We covered adding two-digit numbers, introduced regrouping, , adding centimetres, adding inches and feet, skip counting by 7s, adding money, read and spelling up to 100, graphs of data up to 100, time to the minute, and story problems. We also reviewed angles and shapes and finding the difference.
Jacob also completed a map project! And we covered another mathematician – Sophie Germain!
Now, we are into our third unit – NUMBERS UP TO 1,000! So far we have covered numbers up to 1,000, place value up to 1,000, greater than/less than to 1,000, numbers, digits, evens, odds, skip counting by 8s, adding/subtracting tens and hundreds, three-digit addition, regrouping with money, adding three two-digit numbers, mosaics, comparing money and double-digit subtraction.
And our mathematician was Pierre de Fermat.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Math Level 2
History
At the beginning of the summer, we wrapped up our study of WWI through the Great Depression. As we studied World War I we learned about life in the trenches, weapons and technology, life in the United States, and read stories of true heroism. We also learned about the roaring 20’s, the Great Depression, and the dust bowl. It was amazing. Full review of it HERE.
We read The Story of Edith Cavell by Iris Vinton and it was incredible. Highly recommend it.
History is a subject where it is just going to continue being Jacob and I this year (Sarah will “officially” join in next year). We are kicking the year off by learning about Ancient Mesopotamia. So far we have covered Mesopotamia and the Babylonians and the Assyrians.
We are reading The Golden Bull: A Mesopotamian Adventure by Marjorie Cowley to accompany our unit. It is pulling us in already!
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful History: Year 2; The Good and the Beautiful History: Year 3
Typing
Jacob’s in his second year of typing – we both mutually LOVE it! He is very self-motivated to learn how to type and really enjoys doing it. And I love it because it is so HANDS OFF. I truly don’t have to do anything for it and so it’s pretty great!
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Typing: Level 2
Drawing
A new thing we added this year was DRAWING. Jacob has developed a love of all things ART. So I got some step-by-step drawing books and Jacob has really enjoyed it. It’s pretty quick – and I have NO DOUBT he would do more if I let him – but he does one picture a day in his art journal. So far he has done a basket of apples. bird house, boat, and bottle.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Drawing: Level 1
Piano
We have continued our piano lessons throughout the summer, but have probably moved at a slower pace. And our lessons haven’t always been on a consistent day but I will just call that a homeschool perk. We get to make our own schedule!
I feel like Jacob’s confidence is growing with piano and his overall attitude is getting better – and I think he and I are BOTH pretty happy about that!
Curriculum: Faber Piano Adventures: Level 1
SARAH – (Preschool / Kindergarten)
Language Arts
Sarah is such a JOY to teach. She has always had a thirst for learning and I just want to give her a shout out for her amazing attitude. It has been wonderful having her a more active member of our school day. She lifts us all and I am just so grateful for her.
Throughout the summer she worked on her Level K Primer book (or as she liked to call it, her “kangaroo book”). This saw her reading her FIRST book (insert tears here) and she has done so well. Once she finished her primer book, I had her do some work in the Primer Supplement. She didn’t need more work, but with Jacob I found, especially at this young age, that consistently working on stuff goes A LONG WAY. She would have probably done the whole book in two or three days if I had let her, but she did a couple pages on days when we were home and it was great to keep things fresh for her.
Now that Sarah is a full-fledged KINDERGARTNER she is loving all of her big girl things. One of which is her new language arts. So far we are just getting solid with one- and two-letter words.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts: Level K Primer; The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts: Level K
Read Alouds
Sarah is also LOVING her own read aloud time. I might have to add to my original list because we are BLAZING through right now. In one week we have already read three books but we’ve loved them all!
- Anna, Grandpa, and the Big Storm by Carla Stevens: This is a simple read – only took us two days. But it is a sweet story about a Grandpa who is visiting his family in the city. He is a little grumpy to start out but through some service, his attitude changes.
- Booker T. Washington by Thomas Amper: We finished this book in a single day. It is an easy biography about Booker T. Washington, focusing on his childhood. This is a great intro to civil rights AND about being grateful for education.
- David and the Seagulls by Marion Downer: Another quick read – two days! This was a really sweet story about a young boy who spends the summer on a small island in Maine. It tells his story about finding different seagulls and helping them get well and healthy again. It is a great story about kindness.
Handwriting
Sarah finished up her doodles handwriting book early on in the summer. This book is SO GOOD for little hands and has a very gentle way of approaching handwriting. Full review of it HERE.
With our new year, she is now starting her new handwriting. This is practice with tracing letters and numbers, and writing her first name.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting: Doodles and Pre-Writing for Littles; The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting: Level K
Math
Miss Sarah also started her first math book. She is already zipping through everything – but just loves everything about school! She begs for MORE every day!
Her first unit is all about NUMBER SENSE 0-10. We’ve talked about numbers 1-10 and done practice with them.
Curriculum: The Good and the Beautiful Math: Level K
Piano
About half way through the summer, Sarah decided she wanted to learn how to play the piano. So she sat down and she did it. That is exactly how Sarah is – and I love that about her. She’s been teaching herself piano for about a month, probably “practicing” for about an hour a day. Finally, this last week, I gave her her first “official” lesson. She is eating it up and I just can’t wait to see what our “go-getter” girl will do next.
Curriculum: Faber Piano Adventures: Primer Level
BENJAMIN (Preschool)
All Aboard the Animal Train
Love / Rabbit / Red
Benjamin began his FIRST year of school! YAY! I wasn’t sure how he was going to be with school. He has never shown interest in school (unlike Jacob and Sarah) and so I was a little uncertain. But he has LOVED it and is always so excited when his turn comes up.
The curriculum that we use for our first year of preschool has twelve different units. Each unit is supposed to last three weeks and covers a virtue, an animal, and a color. So we are all about BUNNIES right now! Ben is loving all of the coloring and activities – but mostly the snuggling on the couch reading!
I am *thinking* I will do an overview of what we did in each unit when we finish the unit. Then I will list on all of the book and activities we did!
Curriculum: My Father’s World: All Aboard the Animal Train
Final Thoughts
As much as I mentally needed a little bit of a break this summer, I am so excited to cannon-ball into this fall! I have been, again, reminded of how grateful I am that we chose to homeschool several years ago. This year has dealt a lot of confusion for many and I am grateful that, in this way, we were spared.
For anyone that may be reading that is new to homeschooling, I hope you find this space encouraging. Homeschooling was something I never ever thought I would be doing. But I cannot imagine life without it now. It’s funny how we are all brought to this decision differently and how we all choose to stay for different reasons. But it’s a wonderful option and one that I am grateful for. Please never hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or are in need of some encouragement.
As always,Ii am amazed at what they are learning. Thumbs up!
Thank you!