Last year, before covid shut everything down, we decided to try public school again. For two weeks the kids went to school and then covid closed everything down. We tried to do zoom school but it just does not work for our family.
So we decided to get new school books and get back at it. We have tried a lot of different curriculum; Abeka, Memoria Press, Masterbooks, Easy Peasy and much more.
I loved the look of Masterbooks and was so excited to try it, but .... sadly after having used Abeka (which is a bit advanced) I was pretty disappointed because I wanted it to work. But then we started working in it and every single thing had a huge reading passage in it for the parents to read to the kids (even the math) so by the time we were to the work they had to do they were already feeling done because they just could not get interested in the stories. Also the amount of work the kids had to do was not enough for them to actually learn what they were doing. They needed more repetition than Masterbooks offered. Easy Peasy is nice and free but I did not like having to be on the computer with it all the time and having to click on links. There is a lot you can download or you have the option of buying books but then you are kind of missing the whole point in it being free. Simply Classical with Memoria Press was nice, however they did not have the dvd option for all the subjects like I could use with Abeka so it is fully parent led. With several kids with special needs it was overwhelming to not have any extra help. Abeka, because it has the dvds, gives me that extra bit of help so I am not feeling overwhelmed with trying to teach all the kids at the same time.
I hate switching between curriculum because when you switch you create learning gaps since not all curriculum do the same things. For this reason we decided that we were going to spend the rest of the year working on a few things, brushing up in certain areas, and finishing off the rest of this school year working in Abeka books. Then when we start our new 2021 school year we will going back to Abeka and will be doing the Abeka Academy with the DVDs and workbooks. I can not begin to tell you how excited I am about that!! I have loved Abeka for years and years and it was the homeschool curriculum we used for our oldest kids.
April 2021:
We started Abeka with the dvds back in early February after I wrote the post above. We are currently on day 65 of Abeka. Some wonderful things we have seen is an explosion on reading and math. All the kids are learning cursive! For our kids who struggle with fine motor they are doing the K4/K5 cursive, and for our new cursive learners who have no fine motor struggles they are doing 1st grade cursive.
I love watching all the learning happening and seeing as they discover new things. We have been Base Ten Towers and it has really helped with addition and subtraction.
The kids are doing amazingly well learning their bible verses and learning about the world around them.
So what do our lives look like currently? Currently we are breezing through school and moving very quickly and will be finished with this grade by the end of summer. School is going wonderfully.
Life wise things have changed a lot. We are doing a lot of family game nights and we have been staying close to home since not all of our kids can wear a mask. We did get to enjoy a wonderful little road trip and a stay at an air B&B in the country so that was really nice but other than local hikes and walking we have not done much outside the house. This summer we are going camping and can hardly wait! We already have the tent and air mattresses all ready.
learning to use the stove and make scrambled eggs
working with patterns to make designs and pictures
We love puzzles! They are so good for focus.
learning cursive handwriting
phonics worksheet
Working on phonics
saying the pledge
cursive
Handbook for Reading phonics book
working on spelling words
learning to sew a pillow
drawing fun
making a pillow
for our kids who have vision issues I made a special chart that helps by having each row a different color and highlights the 5s/10s
when you wonder if all the work you are doing is sinking in and you look over and your child has done this in their free time!
doing math with her base ten towers and numicon board that her dad made
May Update
I am blown away by how well the kids are doing. In the past I said we would work on something until it was fully mastered. We stayed on things and worked on things a long time.
This year I finally decided that we were going to move forward even if we were not at 100% mastery. (such as memorizing math facts) Well, we have done exactly that. We have continued on in hopes that the learning would not become stagnate. Indeed it has not. Since February the kids have read 3 reading books each with over 100 pages! Their vocabulary has increased, they have learned bible verses, some math facts are sinking in and they are memorizing those math facts but to me the most important thing is that they know HOW to figure out the answers even if they dont have it memorized yet. We are currently on day 84 and it is only May 4th! We should be finished with this grade by August, only 86 lessons to go! We have been homeschooling 7 days per week and the progress the kids are making in all areas is blowing me away.
Our daughter Veronika and son Gavyn are learning to read with expression because of Abeka. Willow's cursive handwriting is coming along so beautifully, Alina is gaining confidence because it is pretty easy for her right now but she is learning and growing through being a "teacher's helper", and Ellie has surprised us all by memorizing a few of her addition facts!
Stay tuned to hear about all our exciting summer plans and our road trip adventures we will be going on this summer!!
