Since I never got around to posting our plans or even finishing my normal homeschool planning in the summer due to life happenings, I decided to list out the major things accomplished and books read instead of my usual recap and review post.
Our homeschool theme this year could be described as non-coercive. I have always been very influenced by unschooling but Charlotte Mason's writings had previously reined in those tendencies. This year, I doubled down on my vision of the adults I'm trying to raise (self-motivated lifelong learners) and stopped pushing. I can see many ways that this has worked well for us. But this looked like getting rid of many practices that have born wonderful fruit in years past.
What I've learned from this year will influence my plans for next year. But always, it is trying to meet the children where they are at given my abilities that will play the biggest factor.
Here is a fairly good picture of what Peter learned, read, and experienced this year.
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History / Social Studies
Ireland
The first half of the year was dominated by Peter planning and preparing for a weeklong trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland in late November. To prepare, he
- Read Ireland: Our Island Story by Vincent McDonnell [bought Kindle version for $2.69 after promo credit]
- Read Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti [bought used at a book sale for $1.25]
- Used Lonely Planet Ireland 14 [bought used for $8.69 from Thriftbooks] to plan out the majority of his itinerary.
- Watched several travel and nature documentaries about Ireland.
He and his father flew to Dublin, rented a car, and toured around the northern half of the island, visiting the Titanic Belfast Museum, the Giant's Causeway, and the Cliffs of Moher. They spent nights in Sligo, Ennis, and Cork and kissed the Blarney Stone before heading back to Dublin. There, they visited Trinity College to see The Book of Kells, the National Gallery including a special Turner exhibit, and Kilmainham Gaol. They had an amazing time!
This trip was made possible by finding cheap (less than $400) flights to Ireland thanks to Going (affiliate link) formerly called Scott's Cheap Flights. I can't recommend this service enough. For $49/year, it saved me so much stress, hassle, and money. And they have a free trial and a free level of membership.
History
After returning from Ireland, he continued to study the 1700s in America with the rest of us including reading the following history books. All were his selections from a large list of nonfiction options across multiple subjects, plus 1 historical fiction:
- The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano, adapted by Ann Cameron [$6.79 from Thriftbooks]
- Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whaleship Essex by Nathanial Philbrick [library]
- Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence: The Story of New York's African Burial Ground by Joyce Hansen [$4.79 from Thriftbooks]
- Black Hands, White Sails: The Story Of African American Whalers by Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick McKissack [$4.19 from Thriftbooks]
- A Young People's History of the United States, Chap 3-6 Only by Howard Zinn to be continued next year [$10.59 used from Amazon and purchased with a gift card]
- Very, Very, Very Dreadful: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 by Albert Marrin [Libby]
- The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson [Libby]
- Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel (Libby)
- Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (historical fiction) [library]
We also read the following history books as part of our family morning time:
- The Skull in the Rock: How a Scientist, a Boy, and Google Earth, Opened a New Window on Human Origins by Lee R. Berger and Marc Aronson
- Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling
- The French and Indian War: 1660-1763 by Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier
- Fort Mose: And the Story of the Man who Built the First Free Black Settlement in Colonial America by Glennette Tilley Turner
- The Story of Britain from the Norman Conquest to the European Union by Patrick Dillon (1700s)
- Bound for America: The Forced Migration of Africans to the New World by James Haskins and Kathleen Benson
- Never Forgotten by Patricia C. McKissack
- A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
- Building a New Land: African Americans in Colonial America by James Haskins and Kathleen Benson
- Famous Men of Modern Times, Louis XIV-Kosciusko by John H. Haaren and A.B. Poland
- All Times, All People: A World History of Slavery by Milton Meltzer [on archive.org]
- The Secret Soldier: The Story of Deborah Sampson by Ann McGovern
- The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth Speare
- No More! Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance (first half) by Doreen Rappaport
- Horses of Long Ago by Dahlov Ipcar
- Washington at Valley Forge by Russell Freedman
- Famous Men of Greece, chap 11-end by John Haaren
- George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster
- Marco Polo by Manuel Komroff
We also visited some history museums and events including:
- French and Indian War Muster, Fort Frederick State Park
- National Mall Monuments
- National Museum of the American Indian
Geography
Peter continues to enjoy learning about geography. He read Across This Land: A Regional Geography of the United States by John C. Hudson, which I paired with about 100 videos. I really want to share this video list soon as I know this book is used by the Alveary's curriculum. It was a very detailed, but accessible book, and I know both of us learned a lot by reading it.
English Language Arts
Grammar
During morning time we completed Mad Libs together as well as worked through the first half of Intermediate Language Lessons by Emma Serl [already owned $4.69 from Thriftbooks], which was a review for Peter but new for his siblings.
Composition
Peter authored many written narrations on his personal blog, including a very long narration about his trip to Ireland. He recently started authoring a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, which he hopes to play with his father and brother when it is done.
Poetry
We focused on a different poet each term reading works by Helen Hunt Jackson, Langston Hughes (using the book The Dream Keeper And Other Poems [$4.19 from Thriftbooks]), and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. I chose the majority of our poems from Ambleside's collection.
Literature
Besides reading for pleasure, Peter read nonfiction and historical fiction books as well as the majority of the Odyssey. We also read aloud two of Shakespeare's plays as a family: A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet, and were so happy to see a touring production of Julius Caesar and a community theater production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
We also listened to the following read-alouds or audiobooks as a family:
Cottage on Bantry Bay by Hilda von Stockum [Kindle version for $2.05 after promo]
Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat[Free from Project Gutenburg]
Children of the Longhouse by Joseph Bruhac [$4.77 from Amazon after discount]
Flight of the Doves by Walter Macken
Peppermints in the Parlour by Barbara Brooks Wallace
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry
The Faithless Lollybird by Joan Aiken
Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer [Free borrow on Archive.org]
The Children of Noisy Villiage by Astrid Lindgren
The Magic City by Edith Nesbit
Sarah Bishop by Scott O'Dell
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Five Little Peppers and How The Grew by Margaret Sidney
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Saint George and the Dragon Retold by Margaret Hodges
The Red Cross Knight from Stories from the Faerie Queen by Mary MacLeod
The Best Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson
Homer's Odyssey: A Retelling of One of the Greatest Epics Ever Written retold by Jaroslave Hulak
The Aeneid for Boys and Girls by A.J. Church
Mathematics
Peter's school year began while he was at Bard Math Circle's Creative and Analytical Math Program (CAMP), a 1-week, non-residential math enrichment program at Bard College. He applied and received generous financial aid to enable him to attend. His dad camped with him and his brother at a nearby state park to make this possible. It was a wonderful opportunity to play with math with his peers and be inspired to continue learning throughout the year on his own.
When it came time to start regular lesson time, I thought he would finish the second half of AOPS Algebra [$45 used from homeschool Facebook group] that he had started in sixth grade. And while he did begin working on the book, he was very uninterested in it.
Because I know that he is still on track to get through Calculus in high school I was able to chill out and let him pursue a deep dive into Number Theory, mastering all the concepts included in ALCUMUS. He tried to solve the problems on his own and used the AOPS Introduction to Number Theory as needed [$20 used from homeschool Facebook group].
This provided him a great opportunity to gain more confidence in his ability to self-study and pursue his interests. He has a high aptitude for math and I never want to turn it into a dreaded slog. That being said, I have signed him up for a 16-week AOPS class starting next August to help him complete the remainder of the Algebra course so he can move on to other topics.
He also spent a few weeks in December working on a test and application for a 4-week residential math program for middle schoolers. We found out in March that he was accepted with a significant financial aid award. He is thrilled to be going away this summer to study math and have fun with other kids who love math as much as he does!
In April, he joined an 8-week online Global Math Circle on quadratic equations, thanks again to a partial scholarship. He is getting practice talking about math in a small group and I know it will help prepare him for talking about math at his summer program. He is also learning to find quadratic equations a bit more interesting. Win-win!
He also read Math Without Numbers by Milo Beckman, watched videos on TED-Ed about mathematics, and frequently played All Ten, a daily math game by Beast Academy.
As a family, we read the following math-related books at morning time:
- Zero is Something by Marnie Luce
- Infinity: What is it? By Marnie Luce and A.B. Lerner
- Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford
- Blockhead: the life of Fibonacci by Joseph D'Agnese [archive.org]
Coding
Peter worked through Teach Your Kids to Code: A Parent-Friendly Guide to Python Programming by Bryson Payne. He also worked on various projects using Scratch.
Science
Biology and Geology
Peter completed Sabbath Mood Homeschool's Anatomy, part 1 using The Body by Bill Bryson [$11.32 after multi-buy discount] and Sabbath Mood Homeschool's Earth Science: Geology using Aerial Geology by Mary Caperton Morton [$17.54 used on Amazon].
Other Science Books
Peter read the following books on his own:
- The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean [Libby]
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot [Libby]
- The tale of the dueling neurosurgeons : the history of the human brain as revealed by true stories of trauma, madness, and recovery by Sam Kean [archive.org]
We also read or listened to the following books as a family (most were from the library or can be found online my Best Free Nature Lore Books list):
- The Backyard Bug Book for Kids by Lauren Davidson
- Thunder wings; the story of a ruffed grouse written and illustrated by Olive L. Earle
- The Tarantula in My Purse and 172 Other Wild Pets by Jean Craighead George
- Crickets by Olive L. Earle
- Weeds by Dorothy Hogner
- Extinct Underwater Creatures and Those in Danger of Extinction by Philip Steele
- The Moon of the Fox Pups by Jean Craighead George
- The Story of Salt by Mark Kurlansky [archive.org]
- Biography of an Octopus by Alice Hopf
- White Patch: A City Sparrow by Olive Earle
- Red Knot: A Shorebird's Incredible Journey by Nancy Carol Willis
- One Day in the Alpine Meadow by Jean Craighead George
- More Than Just a Vegetable Garden by Dwight Kuhn
- One Day in the Tropical Rainforest by Jean Craighead George
- Starlings by Wilfrid Swancourt Bronson
- The Flower Hunter: William Bartram, America's First Naturalist by Deborah Kogan Ray
- The Naked Mole-Rat Mystery: Scientific Sleuths at Work by Gail Jarrow and Paul Sherman
- Twin Tales: The Magic and Mystery of Multiple Birth by Donna M. Jackson
- The Moon of the Alligators by Jean Craighead George
- Flute's Journey: The Life of a Wood Thrush by Lynne Cherry
- Paisano the Roadrunner by Jennifer Owings Dewey
- Dear Benjamin Banneker by Andrea Davis Pinkney
- On the Forest Edge by Carol Lerner
- Over and Under the Rainforest by Kate Messner with art by Christopher Silas Neal
- Birds in Their Homes Pictures by Sabra Mallett Kimbal and text by Addison Webb
- Over and Under the Waves by Kate Messner with art by Christopher Silas Neal
- Over and Under the Canyon by Kate Messner with art by Christopher Silas Neal
- The First Book of Plants by Alice Dickinson
- Your Rabbit: A Kid's Guide to Raising and Showing by Nancy Searle
- Long Spikes by Jim Arnosky
- What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe
- What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe
- How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems by Randall Munroe
Science Experiences
In August, Peter submitted a nature journal to a county fair as his 4-H project. He was excited to win 2nd place.
For Christmas, he and his brother received a MEL science chemistry subscription and have been working through the experiments.
Throughout the year, he participated as a subject in a scientific study through Penn State which required him to undergo testing and have two functional MRIs to study how puberty affects social development and the brain.
He took 3 4-week philosophy courses offered by PLATO on Zoom. This year the courses were free and all involved science topics:
- Animal Ethics
- Environmental Ethics
- Philosophy of Science
In May, Peter competed in an Envirothon competition which is a state competition about PA nature knowledge in the following areas: Forestry, Soils, Aquatics, and Wildlife. His junior high team came in 6th place in the overall regional competition and won a medal for first place in our county. He and his teammates worked hard throughout the year studying and going on several field trips including to a fishery, a wastewater treatment plant, and a presentation by a forester.
Finally, Peter was able to attend several events or museums about science including:
- Columbus Zoo
- Monarch Butterfly class
- Lecture about the James Webb Space Telescope
- Family night at an Observatory
- Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum
- National Zoo
- Smithsonian Natural History Museum
- U.S. Botanic Gardens
- Nature walk with a Naturalist
Art and Music
Composer Study
We studied the following composers using the guides from Tillberry Table, which I love and make composer study easy and enjoyable.
- Term 1: Scarlatti
- Term 2: Rachmaninoff
- Term 3: Wagner
We also had the opportunity to see Itzalk Perlman perform which was an amazing experience.
Artist Study
We studied the following composers:
- Term 1: Titian [using free guide from A Humble Place]
- Term 2: Joshua Johnson [using info and prints from Heritage Mom plus chapter from Six Black Masters of American Art]
- Term 3: Dega [using Dega, the Ballet, and Me by Tom van Beek and Thea Peters which I picked up at a used book sale for $1.25]
We were thrilled to finally make it to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. to see many familiar artists and works we have studied over the years. Peter saw even more when he visited the National Gallery of Ireland.
Folk Songs
We learned several new folk songs this year including The Wellerman (finally had to get on the bandwagon with this one loved by many of our friends), Waltzing Matilda, and The Mermaid. We also listened and sang along to a folk songs CD made by a friend who does Ambleside Online to practice old favorites and learn some new songs.
Handicrafts
Peter continues to enjoy baking and has made many delicious treats for the family this year. He also made a lovely Shutterfly album documenting his trip to Ireland.
Piano?
I could list many things that he/we dropped this year. The piano is the one that was hardest for me to see go. But as good as he was and as much as we loved to hear him play, it isn't going to be his life's work and he lost interest since Hoffman Academy stopped coming out with more advanced lessons. I could have hired a piano teacher, but the cost and time commitment seemed too high given the investments we want to make in his other areas of interest like math and science.
Physical Education
Although Peter did not participate in any organized sports this year, he did get into a daily exercise habit, choosing to bike, walk, or ride an exercise bike to stay active. He continues to enjoy hiking and although I don't get out with him as much as I would like, we have managed to schedule bigger hikes at least once a month. He also continues to attend our weekly, all-weather Wild + Free group where the kids love to play ga ga ball and tag, besides hiking and playing in the woods or by the pond.
Final Thoughts
Peter learned a lot this year. He got an email address and started using it. He became comfortable with taking zoom classes. He learned to be more comfortable expressing himself in class settings. We took hikes and played games. He read a lot of books and we read and listened to even more together. We had lots of interesting conversations. He played a fair bit of vintage video games and got into the Civilization franchise.
He could have memorized poetry or read original historical documents or created more art or learned a foreign language or continued with piano. But I didn't want to make him do those things. I can see that he learned and grew so much this year without pushing. In about 6-weeks, he will head off for his first big adventure without us. I'm so excited to see how he will continue to grow and learn.
What a truly amazing year! This kid is getting the richest education I can imagine!
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