I’m almost two weeks into my younger kids’ school year, and one week into the older ones’ year, and yet I’m just now posting my plans! Sorry to be so behind on posting. Life is whizzing by, that’s for sure. We are starting a lot earlier than public school, mostly because the heat has been severe. We can’t be outdoors, so we might as well be doing something profitable inside. Also, I enjoy having some wiggle room in case of illness or an unexpected trip.

After much prayer, planning and internet scouring, I’ve developed the following for our children’s homeschooling:

Laci, K5:
Abeka phonics, handwriting, math and art.

Leslie, 2nd Grade:
Reading, spelling & language – Abeka
Math: Life of Fred (may supplement other materials as the year progresses).
Handwriting: Draw Write Now
Art: Draw Write Now (love those combination books!)

Mitchell, 5th Grade:
Reading: Abeka
Math: Saxon 6/5
Grammar: Easy Grammar 5 and Daily Grams 5
Writing: Journal entries and selections from Story Starters 
History: Christian Liberty Press
Science: Christian Liberty Nature Reader 5, and living books on scientific topics.
Spelling: Christian Liberty Press Book 5
Geography: Maps, Charts & Graphs Book E

Lauren, 8th Grade:
Literature: Abeka, and many other living books. (She loves literature!)
Math: Life of Fred (part of the year, maybe all year.) Saxon (if we don’t use Fred all year).
Grammar: Easy Grammar Grade 8
Writing: Journal entries and selections from Story Starters
History: Streams of Civilization Vol. 1, focusing on ancient history. Other books: Tales from Ancient Egypt, The Golden Goblet, Augustus Caesar’s World, Archimedes and the Door of Science, and The Children’s Homer. I had to design my own questions for each chapter of Streams of Civilization. I was unaware that there were not any included in the text. This took extra time, but I think it will pay off later.
Science: Apologia General Science, lab kit from Home Science Tools
Spelling: Christian Liberty Press
Geography: Maps, Charts & Graphs Book G

For Bible this year, we combined health and Bible time using Prudence and the Millers. We also have family devotions and memorize verses then. That’s the plan, anyway. If life proves that this won’t work for us, I’ll find some Bible courses somewhere for them to complete. I’m always ready to “go with the flow” and make homeschooling work for us, not the other way around.

Story Starters, Mitchell’s history, and other sundry books were given to me. I had purchased all the aids and visuals for K5 and 2nd grade years ago to use with my older children, so I only needed to purchase new workbooks. I acquired several of Lauren’s history books through paperbackswap.com or bought the e-version for my Kindle for only a few dollars. The most expensive items were the Saxon set for my son (bought on sale) and the Apologia set for my oldest daughter. Many books I purchased used from homeschoolclassifieds.com. I also bought things new using cash from the sales of my old homeschooling materials on Ebay. All told, I ended up spending less than $400 to educate four children. That’s a record for me! 🙂


I hope to post about our first days of homeschooling soon – there’s never a dull moment, that’s for sure! 🙂 Thanks for hanging with me, friends. I hope your summer is going well.