10th Grade Homeschool Recap

Peter's birthday is right before mothers day, so every year I remember that first mothers day when he was a newborn and I think: How can my little baby be this old?!?! This year he turned 16 and within days has a learners permit and a checking account. I watched a recorded presentation he was a part of recently for a state competition and I was blown away by how mature and grown up he seems.

Peter had a great homeschool year. There were a few bumps in the road that led to detours to plans but it all came out to be a wonderful learning journey for him this year. I'm delighted to see him growing more into himself and taking on tough challenges and excelling. He has high standards for himself and I have to remind him to be satisfied with good work. 

So let's take a look at what Peter worked on this year.

8th Grade Homeschool Recap, 2025-2026

Homeschooling John is such a pleasure these days. He is a hard worker and I can trust him to (usually) remember to do everything and stay on task. He took an online Spanish 1 class this year and I was so worried about having outside expectations and all the reading and writing and memorizing. And I had nothing to worry about. John did need some help with a fraction of assignments, but for the most part, he handled all the responsibility on his own and it was a great learning experience.

Moreover, he is an incredibly helpful and thoughtful child. He almost never complains when asked to help with something, whether physical help or his mechanical know how. He is also so open to trying new things and receptive to my advice. I know that some of that receptivity may change in the next few years and that is ok. I am raising adults after all. 

Here is what homeschooling looked like for John this year:

5th Grade Homeschool Recap, 2025-2026

My one and only daughter brings so much joy and creativity and caring into our lives. And she is the most different learner I have. I constantly feel like I am not doing the best to reach her and help her grow. But she continues to grow and learn regardless. 

This year she traveled to Italy, started the practice of written narration, learned to knit, and colored our lives with hundreds of beautiful works of handiwork.  Here is a snapshot of what her schoolwork looked like this year. 

2nd Grade Homeschool Recap, 2025-2026

Another year is in the books. Harry had a great year of learning and maturing. I finally have a verbose narrator and it is a lot of fun to hear his colorful descriptions and commentary on what he has read. He has gained so much confidence this year about trying new things and enjoying new experiences. 

Life is Busy Homeschooling Teens/Preteens/Little Kids but HRT Helps

I've been absent for so long. But I love it when my followed blogs of old post something so I am doing the same. 

Health 

I wouldn't exactly call 2020-2024 my years of thriving. The best thing to happen was George's birth in 2020 and I've made so many wonderful memories with the children. Unfortunately, undiagnosed hypothyroidism sidelined me for 1 year plus some. But after making lifestyle changes that helped and then starting synthetic thyroid hormone, I began feeling better. 

Then I feel like I had a midlife crisis. Just a small one to make me feel very restless in my life. Maybe it was also about not having a little baby anymore. And starting perimenopause symptoms. But in 2024 I took the kids on an amazing 18-day trip to visit the Great Lakes and tour Michigan's Upper Peninsula--tent camping in national, state, and municipal parks. And I did some more therapy, which seems not to help too much but I'm sure it helped some to figure out how I feel about some things.

And then I started to feel more settled again. Yay, midlife crisis over! And I planned a once in a lifetime solo trip to Denmark and Sweden. Yay again and a big deal for me who had never really traveled alone and who hadn't been in Europe for 25 years. 

9th Grade Homeschool Recap, 2024-2025

I have a high schooler! I'm not going to lie, it made me a little anxious this year. Peter has to earn credits. We can't just say, oh well, we are going to drop that and switch to something new. I mean, we can if we really have to, but he does need to earn a certain amount of credits. 

After I did a ton of research, we had a working lunch date in May of last year where I presented his options, answered his questions, and hammered out his first year of high school plans. And, although we did have to make some changes to our plans, everything has worked out very well.

Probably, the hardest part was that he had more hours of work per day than he was used to, but he adjusted to it and has grown up quite a bit this year. Here is a run down of his 9th grade coursework and credits.

7th Grade Homeschool Recap, 2024-2025

Homeschooling John is a lot of fun! Despite his love of sleeping in, he has become a very dedicated worker and handles all his school responsibilities with a great attitude. It is a joy to see his interests and aptitudes continue to develop. 

John went deeper into a lot of subjects and interests this year from battle bots to Magic the Gathering to programming to math. He is always open to try to new things and loves to be helpful, especially to his younger siblings and to his Grandma who lives down the street.

Here is what John worked on for his 7th grade year. 

4th Grade Homeschool Recap, 2024-2025

Sylvia is my only daughter and sometimes it feels like homeschooling her is unlike homeschooling my other children. Her talents and personality differ enough that I have had to be more flexible and take a slower path toward my educational vision. 

Like every year, this year Sylvia showed amazing growth both in her areas of greatest interest and her areas of greater challenge. She was able to read several of her own school books this year and be a lot more independent which works well for her. But she also seemed to enjoy our work time together more.

Here is what Sylvia accomplished for her fourth grade year.  

1st Grade Homeschool Recap, 2024-2025

Every year brings new excitement as we try new things and revisit some family favorites. But this year was extra exciting because it felt like homeschooling round two. My oldest son began 1st grade in 2016 and I added a child to our homeschool every two years as my three oldest children eased their way into our school routines. I learned on the fly while very busy with babies and toddlers. 

With Harry I got to do first grade again with the benefit of a little hindsight. But I also was managing three older homeschooling students and spending time with a preschooler. So it was both new and old.

Here is what we did this year for Harry's first grade year. 

6th Grade Homeschool Plans, 2023-2024

After last year's strengths-based approach, John is ready to take on a few more challenges, especially in terms of reading, spelling, and language mechanics. We've been easing into our new schedule and so far so good.

Here is what I've planned for John this year.

8th Grade Homeschool Plans, 2023-2024

Long gone are the days when I would have all my homeschool planning done at the beginning of summer and write these posts out way in advance. Haha! As the kids get older, our lives are so much fuller of activities and plans and travel and just talking to each other. 

I don't mind, really. It is good for me to embrace letting go of doing things perfectly. Or even doing things imperfectly but on my ideal schedule. 

But I thought I'd see just how quickly I could sketch out our homeschool plans for this year. First up, plans for Peter who is in 8th grade.

Second Grade Homeschool Snapshot, 2022-2023

Sylvia learns best when she learns on her own. I often wish she was more open to learning from me, but she has grown more open to it this year so progress is being made. I have gotten the best results by relaxing and encouraging her rather than trying to control her school day. 

I did require math and reading daily in small amounts, plus morning time. Before and after those were done Sylvia either played or crafted. Every day she would enroll her brothers in fort building, dress up, or some other kind of imaginative play for hours and hours inside and outside. When she tired of that, she worked on her many projects. 

Fifth Grade Homeschool Snapshot, 2022-2023

John loves to play and think and build. When he has the day to himself, he stays in bed until 9am or later daydreaming, plays with his younger siblings for several hours, then tinkers with his many projects while listening to fiction audiobooks.

He is a methodical thinker and likes to work at his own pace without rushing. This year, he took responsibility for a simple daily schedule that revolved around math, reading, and morning time plus his many projects and some audiobooks. Although the relaxed pace sometimes seemed too minimalistic, it provided a lot of space for the play and tinkering that he loves. 

Seventh Grade Homeschool Snapshot, 2022-2023

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.

Where I've been all these months...

It has been almost 8 months since I posted anything here. And it is the first time since beginning this blog in 2018 that I did not get around to posting our school plans which is one of my favorite posts because I get to share all the excitement of the wonderful books and resources I hope to use.

After my last post in May, we went full speed into fun spring/summer mode. We all went to visit my sister in Columbus, OH, and had a great time spending time with her and her friends and visiting the Columbus Zoo. We came home and hosted our first tie-dye party in several years which was so much fun after missing so much friend time over the previous 2 years. We spent a day at our much-loved local amusement park. And we were getting ready to go camping at a beach park in Deleware when we finally got COVID for the first time and had to cancel our plans. 

Recap and Review 1st/2nd Grade Charlotte Mason Homeschool Plans, 2021-2022

Sylvia started the year as a very young 2nd-grader who just turned 7 (the age I turned 3 months into my 1st-grade year). If I could go back in time, I would have given her a second year of kindergarten before starting 1st grade. But we did start early and so she thinks she just finished 2nd grade, but I feel like she did 1st-grade material. 

So I'll call this year we just finished 1st/2nd and next year 2nd/3rd and just see where she is at when its time to decide if she needs to take our state-required standardized tests for 3rd-graders. This year her reading took off in a big way so she may "catch up" in another year or so. Homeschooling is flexible which allows for that. On to the recap:

Recap and Review Fourth Grade Charlotte Mason Homeschool Plans 2021-2022

Another year is in the books for John! When I made this plan for him, I knew that I would have to be flexible and adapt depending on how his reading progressed. This year it feels so good to say that John is a reader. He can and does read recipes, instructions, signs, and even Shakespeare. But it isn't an effortless pleasure for him yet. 

So while my plans provided many opportunities for John to read, we didn't get to all of them this year. We also added some things that were a great fit even though I hadn't planned for them. I'm already thinking about how to provide the atmosphere and resources for John to continue to grow as a reader while supporting his interests in science and tinkering.

Recap and Review Sixth Grade Charlotte Mason Homeschool Plans 2021-2022

We have just wrapped up another fruitful year of homeschooling. My plans for Peter worked well, but of course, we all grew and changed throughout the year (including me) and so adjustments were made. I'm going to recap mostly what we did accomplish, but you can check out my original plans to compare all the things that we didn't get too this year!

Spring Update

 

To Spring by William Blake

O Thou with dewy locks, who lookest down

Through the clear windows of the morning, turn

Thine angel eyes upon our western isle,

Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring!

The hills tell one another, and the listening

Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turn'd

Up to thy bright pavilions: issue forth

And let thy holy feet visit our clime!

Come o'er the eastern hills, and let our winds

Kiss thy perfumed garments; let us taste

Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls

Upon our lovesick land that mourns for thee.

O deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour

Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put

Thy golden crown upon her languish'd head,

Whose modest tresses are bound up for thee.

It has been a long time since I gave any kind of update around here. This time of year has me raring to get started on too many projects! But first, a look back at the last few months:

Best Materials [Free or Low-Cost] for Teaching Shakespeare's Plays

We've been including Shakespeare in our homeschool since way back when my oldest son was in first grade. Back then, I only had little kids and we didn't read the full plays. 

Over time, one child and then another has gotten old enough to read the original plays and we love taking different parts and reading 1-2 scenes from our current play once or twice a week. 

Now, six years later, reading Shakespeare's plays is just a normal thing we do. Here are my favorite free and low-cost websites and books that help keep our Shakespeare studies easy and fun.