We've taken a long and unexpected break from our homeschool. We started back today - very slowly. I'm currently working on revamping our homeschool and figuring out what's working and, more importantly, what is not.
The biggest thing that is changing is our math. I've been a long time fan of Math-U-See and loved how it works. However, one thing I've come to realize is that in our relaxed style of homeschooling it doesn't work. I've never worried if we haven't finished a book a year. However, now I have a ninth grader who is not yet ready to do Algebra. Some would argue that is his where he is and that's okay. I agree with that. However, I also need to prepare him for life outside the home and, hopefully, college. I'm also having similar issues with my younger boys. As a result I will be switching them to Rod & Staff. They will be all working slightly below grade level for now as it's a pretty intense program. More so than they are used to. It's also much more textbook than I typically use. However, the price is fantastic and I was able to get most of what I needed used. The only thing I purchased new were the workbooks for first grade. Only first and second grade have workbooks. After that there are non-consumable textbooks for each grade. I also plan to purchase their "bookkeeping" program for my oldest to complete later this year or next year. For now we'll be brushing up on the basics.
We'll also be implementing Institute for Excellence in Writing. I was given this as a TOS Crew review product last year and loved it but we didn't get far with it. My goal is to make my boys better writers. It's a great skill to have but I'm finding it harder to teach then math and that's saying something!
For history I'm not sure yet what we'll be using. I did buy The Teaching Company's high school American history program and want him to go through that. I may have the two younger ones tag along and we'll flesh it out as needed.
I have more planned, but right now we'll just keep plugging away. I do love this time of year. It's a great time to revamp and re-evaluate and plan for next year. It helps to get over the "winter blues."
