Year in review
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After the workbooks have been put away and the last answer sheet has been bubbled in, I like to sit with a cup of coffee and reflect on the past school year. What worked? What didn’t? The years struggles and successes are fresh in my mind. Our end of the year test has been completed and even though we haven’t received the official scores, I have a pretty good idea of their strengths and weaknesses.
School Year in Review
Math
We started the year with both kids using Khan Academy as their main math curriculum. We had moderate success with it the year before, so we used it for the first few months of this school year. It didn’t last long though. I decided that this was no longer working for Hannah first.
Math has never been her favorite subject, but now she was breaking down into tears daily. Khan Academy shows what percentage of the curriculum you have mastered. If you get an answer incorrect, that percentage drops. This can be intimidating for a perfectionist, and Hannah found it incredibly stressful. One of the reasons we love homeschooling is that it gives us total control over curriculum choices, so it seemed silly to make her use a program that she so obviously hated.
We switched to Math Mammoth solely because I could download a copy the night I gave up on Khan Academy and we could start using it the next morning.
Related: Math Mammoth Review
She still doesn’t love math time, but it doesn’t cause anxiety anymore.
I pulled Ben off of Khan Academy when I realized it was artificially inflating his grade level. He would correctly answer a few very easy multiplication problems (1×4, 2×3, etc.) and Khan Academy accepted that as proof he had mastered multiplication. Nope. Not even close.
I switched him to a math workbook that I ordered from Amazon. It is nothing fancy, but covers all the areas of a second grade math curriculum. Ben has always been a natural mathematician, so I just needed something to let him practice skills he already had and show me weak areas so I could teach them differently.
I’m still debating which math curriculum we will use next year.
History
We used Story of the World 1 and 2 this year. We did not cover every single chapter, but did read the majority of the two books. We read two to three chapters a week. I felt like this didn’t let us dive as deeply as I would have liked so next year we will only be using Story of the World 3. The chapters were well written though and the activities in the workbook added a lot to the stories.
Pinterest is full of activities that coordinate with the chapters. Story of the World was a win, win, win – the lessons were easy to plan, the kids had fun, and they retained the main points of the lessons.
Science
To save time during the day, I wanted to teach the same science curriculum to both Hannah and Ben, if at all possible. NOEO Chemistry II enabled me to do just that. I love that they send you a box that includes the teacher guide, the books, and the experiments. That made planning much easier.
We read the same books, watched the same videos, and did the same experiments. I just required more writing from Hannah than Ben, and this 4th – 6th grade curriculum was perfectly adapted for him. By the way, I highly recommend the online quick-links on each page of the Usborne science books.
My only complaint with NOEO is that one of the books was on back order from the publisher. I ordered the set in July and did not finally receive the last book until October. We are considering using NOEO Biology II next year, so I will be sure to order it soon.
Reading
We don’t use a set reading curriculum, but that is working well for us. I chose about 10 books for Hannah to read this year. We discussed them as she was reading and also did activities related to the stories. I love being able to custom build a reading plan for her. Hannah is a fast reader, though, so next year I need to plan for more books.
Ben came a long way in reading this year. We read together daily, and he is reading well on his own. Reading is definitely his hardest subject, but he is rapidly improving. One thing that has helped is a subscription to Readinga-z.com and Raz-kids.com. I use Readinga-z.com to quickly source good-quality leveled readers. I used this website when I taught in public school and again when Hannah was learning to read. I highly recommend it. Raz-kids.com is very similar, but doesn’t require me to sit with Ben while he is reading.
I can work one-on-one with Hannah while Ben reads to the computer. The website records him reading so I can listen to it later. I am definitely keeping the subscriptions for him for next year.
Grammar
I have yet to find a grammar program we love. We tried both the Grammar Ace curriculum and Scholastic grammar workbooks available on Amazon. Both kids seemed to grasp concepts and rules as they were taught, but their end-of-the-year tests showed me that they didn’t remember much of it. We will continue to search for something else.
Related: Unconventional Grammar Choices Under $50
Spelling
Both kids used Spelling Workout this year. I like that each week has activities like crossword puzzles with the spelling words. Ultimately though, this curriculum hasn’t been wildly successful for us. The kids are not remembering the spellings long term. I’m not sure if I will add something else in conjunction with Spelling Workout or if I will switch to something else entirely.
Update: This spelling curriculum did not work for us. We switched to All About Spelling and never looked back.
Writing
I am a huge Brave Writer fan. I fell in love with this curriculum when I heard Julie Bogart speak at a VA Homeschoolers conference a few years ago. Project-based learning is great because it is fun and can be tailored to the children’s interests. I am a big proponent of free-write Fridays and Tuesdays with tea and poetry. This works very well for us, and we will definitely be continuing next year.
This school year was our craziest yet. We moved twice between September and May. We had to learn what opportunities are available for homeschoolers in our new town. Our curriculum has changed a bit throughout the year, and some of it will stick around for next year. It was a good year, though. We all grew a little by stepping out of our comfort zones.
Update: While I love the focus that Brave Writer places on setting the right environment, my children’s writing did not improve. We switched to WriteShop and have been very happy.
Related Posts: Homeschool Curriculum Reviews