I don’t know about you, but I am welcoming this school year with wide, open arms! Last year was…a lot. You can tell how I felt about it by the amount of posts I made. It was trying on my mind, heart and soul, and I am so grateful for a fresh start. I know this year will not be completely normal, but I feel more hopeful and rejuvenated than this time last year, for sure.
My oldest son is going back to public school for high school starting this year, so that has been an adjustment! My mama heart has been both heavy and full with the weight of him getting older and more independent. I was not prepared for just how exhilarating and heartbreaking it is to watch my boy grow into a man. Time seems to tick so loudly now. Six solid years is what I’ve had with my son at home, and I will cherish those years for the rest of my life. But as I’ve gotten older, I have learned to lean fully into trusting my “gut” and discernment about things, and I know in my heart this is what is right for him.
My youngest is starting 3rd grade this year, which is my absolute favorite grade to teach. THRILLED is an understatement for how I feel about it! We moved over the summer to the east coast, and I wasn’t completely sure if I would homeschool him again this year or not, but as the summer progressed, I knew we would continue on schooling together for this year. Not only is COVID a high concern, but my son has ADHD, and I found last year that the one-on-one instruction was really been a game changer for him. So here we are!
New home means a school space, and I am SO grateful we actually have one here! We are in a townhouse now and our place is a bit tighter than our last home in CA, but we managed to snag one with a full space just for school! I’m still adjusting a few things, but here’s the gist:
What We Will Be Learning
We are “traveling” through the five regions of the US in a year-long unit that will integrate science, technology, and the arts. Integrated, project-based learning is my bread and butter, and I think we are going to have a blast!! It has been incredibly fun researching and preparing this unit from scratch, and I can’t wait to share with you what we do! A couple of musts for us is a great US Atlas and a blown up blank US map on foam board. We will use this board to write in landmarks we “travel” to, state capitals, etc.
We will also be using these US regions lapbooks by Jill Russ to keep track of what we learn. I used them when my oldest was in 3rd grade and loved them so much, I decided to use them again (with just a few tweaks)!
In addition to this integrated unit, I will be using Rooted in Reading literature units by Amy Lemons and Katie King for reading. Thanks to the STELLAR libraries we have here in Fairfax County, I am able to find most of the books I need for these units, which will save me a lot of $$! I have made sure to tie in these units to where we are “traveling” to as well, so I will be skipping around as we go because many of them line up with something that goes along with each region. Also in ELA we will be doing daily paragraph proofreading and reading chapter books starting with The Tale of Despereaux as my read aloud and my son will be reading to me chapter books on his instructional level.
For spelling, I have decided to go a different route this year. This is my son’s toughest subject area, and although I love Words Their Way and used it for many years in my own classroom, I just felt like he needed a different approach. So we are going to give All About Spelling a shot, which I’ve heard such great things about. I’ll be sure to post an update once we’ve used it for a bit!
For math, my son’s strongest subject, we will be using Beast Academy, the young version of Art of Problem Solving, the program my oldest son has used for the past four years. It is hands down the BEST math program I have found for kids advanced in math. So far, my son is LOVING Beast Academy and so am I! Very impressed! I will be sure to post an update later in the year with more details. We are also starting to dive into multiplication facts using Times Tales along with good ‘ol flashcards.
Wishing everyone a safe, joyful school year, whether you are teaching in the classroom or at home!
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