July 31, 2025 ⢠21 mins
We made it, friends! đ In this Year End Review Of Our Homeschool, Iâm reflecting on what mightâve been our most unpredictableâand most meaningfulâyear yet. Life got messy, but homeschool let us breathe through the chaos and come out stronger.
This episode dives into:
đ What actually worked (and what totally didnât)
đ How flexibility carried us through the hard stuff
đż The real-life lessons we didnât plan for
đĄ Why Iâm feeling hopeful and already dreaming about next year
If youâve ever wondered what itâs really like to homeschool through a hard season and still find growth and joy on the other sideâthis oneâs for you.
⨠Whether youâre planning, pivoting, or just survivingâyou are not alone. Letâs wrap up the year with honesty, gratitude, and a little bit of magic.
đŹ What did you learn this homeschool year? Come share your wins and lessons with me!
#YearEndReviewOfOurHomeschool #MakingEverydayMagic #HomeschoolReflection #EndOfHomeschoolYear #FlexibleHomeschooling #SecularHomeschool #HomeschoolWins #HomeschoolMomLife #RealLifeHomeschool #HomeschoolReviewÂ
Â
-đShanna
Just a mama making magic!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It is finally that time of year
and I can honestly sayI had never been so happy to have a year
in the rearview mirroras I have been this homeschool year.
Rightnow, let's talk about our end of year
recap for the 2024 2025 school year.
(00:22):
Let's go!
Before we go any further, guys,we scroll down
and hit the big red subscribe button
and turn on the bell for notificationsand give this video a thumbs up.
As always, you can find me right on downin the comments
or over on Instagramat Making Everyday Magic.
Everything that we have used this year,
(00:42):
everything that I'm going to talk aboutis linked.
Over on my website,
I have a favorites page and everythingyou could possibly want is over there.
If you have questions abouta specific item that I am talking about,
you can either ask down in the
in the comment section or you cansearch it out here on this channel,
because I'm still certainthat every single thing
(01:04):
I'm going to talk abouthas a dedicated video.
Now that we are likeat the end of the year. So
I am filming,in a corner of my living room.
The lighting is not great.
But I've got kids downstairsof playing video games,
and I've got dad upstairs on a meeting,so we are just making it work
because I really need
to get this, that kind of doneand in and filmed and ready to go
(01:29):
because we're in a weird stage of,like, wrapping up the year, and,
my daughter's in a show,so it's tech week,
but we're also as soon as she standsat the on vacation.
And so it's like just trying to kind ofget ahead and get everything done.
So we are actually officiallylike two days from
finishing our, our homeschool year,but pretty much everything has wrapped up.
(01:52):
So I feel pretty confidentgiving you my end of year thoughts. So,
yes, we
also have things coming into our homeas far as things for next year,
for the 2025 2026school year, we've been planning
and sharing and ordering and budgeting,and now I am ready to like, turn it over.
So I feel like there's just kind oflike a natural order to things.
(02:13):
In this process that we do every year.
And so, I need to filmthese kind of closing thoughts
and then I'll be ready
to I've already filmed in boxing,and then I'll be ready to kind of like
pull everything out,sort of turn over our homeschool space.
And this will be the first time doing thatin our new,
even smaller, homeschool space.
(02:34):
But I need to get the things outthat we're done with
that are going to go to a brand new,loving home.
And I want to get these things put in.
But as I'm pulling the other things out,I want to be collecting
everything that we've doneas like a grade on it.
Because I think you will actually see itafter this video, but record keeping,
I need to get on it for the yearbecause I haven't done anything.
(02:57):
So, as I'm pulling things out,I'll be sorting them out,
knowing what I need to keep a hold ofto put into my records.
It's like a wholethis just this one needs to come now.
So that's why we're doing that right now.
So it is, for us.
I like to school, like, through
the beginning of May, like very early May.
(03:18):
And I like to be done so,
yeah, this year has been a doozy.
We have moved.
We started the year,
having people come inand doing a bunch of repairs
on our housesbecause we'd had, like, a massive leak.
We got way off track, with the mentionedkids activities over the Christmas season.
So it has been again,I've never looked forward
(03:42):
to a homeschool yearcoming to an end more than this one.
I need a fresh start.
I need a hard clothes.
I need the door to slam.
I needed to be done.
I needed to be done.
So yeah, that might be partof my motivation, honestly.
And I'm in this right nowinstead of waiting.
Is that, I needed to be done.
I needed to be done.
So I want it to be donewhen we go on vacation and get it, like,
(04:03):
nice and, like, wrapped up and allfinished and, like, move on with life.
So that is the goal.That is the intent. That is the dream.
I do have, our flows from this.
If you are curious, I am sitting onan Ottoman, literally in a corner.
There's a light switch right here.
I'm next to the TV, sitting in awell lit corner.
We can separate my own lighting.
(04:24):
Okay, so I have our flows from there,and I'm just going to run
down them and we'll discuss,
kind of the bits and pieces.
So you guys know, we do what I like to do.
I like to homeschool four days a week.
I usually plan about 34, 36 weeks,
to devote to school,but usually only about 30, 32 weeks
worth of material in those twoto allow it to be a little flexi.
(04:46):
This past year we had a third graderand a seventh grader, and this coming year
we'll have a fourth graderand an eighth grader.
I like to homeschool four days a week
because there's always something funand exciting to do that is not school.
And I like to start our weekswhatever the first day is with something
I like to call Mom and me Monday,which is where we kind of do
the bulk of the things thatwe need to do together on their front.
(05:07):
And so I like to front loadour week with, things we do together,
because I like to combineas much as possible.
So science, chemistry, history,all of that.
I like to get it in together on MommyMondays.
I have art history on here,but we never actually got around to it
and I am planning to do it for next year,which is the crash course art history.
We did do a high gas fee, if I remember.
I'll print the screen
because everybody always asksthat it's have I got a story for you?
(05:31):
And we did the, the Impressionist series.
This year we will have, you know,
I actually need to look at thatdigital download.
We will do the, Post-Impressionist seriesfor next year, which is again,
the have I got a story for youhigh Gas me a video series.
It's like 12 videos.
Comeswith our temperature tool for my youngest.
(05:53):
So high gas,
high gas fee is very well produced.
Our little videos, there's likea little cartoon paint drop that helps Mr.
Math explain the historyand the techniques and several artists.
Every level covers three artists that itkind of follows and tells you about.
It is a relatively high price point,especially
(06:14):
because I don't feel like a lot of peoplereally value art.
And so for an art study in art history,
it is like $150 for the series.
We like it very much.
I have no shame investing in thatbecause my kids do quite enjoy
it and I have found the value there.
So for us, I think it's very good.
Something that we did this yearis diagnose 101 through Coursera platform.
(06:38):
And it is actually a class hostedby the University of Alberta, Canada.
And it's a college level course.
You can pay to have it Transcriptive,
which I did not do,but we did it together as a family.
It was really fun.
I've been Dino Loverand that is what she chose to do.
So I'm so glad we did that.
It was a really good experience and II really enjoyed being able
to take that hard,deep dive for her for Texas history.
(07:00):
We started out with the free fun Texashistory, but it quickly, quickly, quickly
morphed into uskind of doing our own thing.
So I did dedicate quite,quite a bit of time to,
native peoples, First peoples,indigenous peoples in respect to Texas.
We did discuss quite a bit the missions,and we had the opportunity
to visit the missions and the Alamo.
(07:21):
We still would like to go into earlysummer, visit the San Jacinto Monument,
and actually later this weekfor learning something else.
We will be taking a field trip
to Taste of Texas, which is an Austinsteakhouse here in Houston.
And, the owners are very,very proud Texans.
They, have a wonderful collection of,
(07:42):
Texas memorabilia,
some amazing,amazing things to see in their restaurant.
But one of the owners actually doesa history tour for kids in fourth grade.
And, you can reach out to themand they will help
you get that booked for your group.
So really amazing.
And that we will be doing that laterthis week.
It's so fun.
(08:02):
It's such a wonderfullittle fun thing to do.
We did do the ACAmiddle school chemistry again.
Even my third grader did it.
We did it as a group. It's free.
Completely free online historyor chemistry curriculum.
You just have to buy your supplies,which I do have a list on my Amazon
storefront where you can buyevery single little thing you need.
(08:22):
It was honestly, it'smy favorite science we've ever done.
It was so in-depth, so, so robust,so easy to use.
It really was my absolute favorite sciencethat we've ever done.
So I'm really pleased with that.
I'm hoping that this coming yearwill be my favorite science
we've ever done,but that's where we are now.
If you guys remember,we started with Tech Essentials.
(08:45):
A ruby piece from, Timber Doodle.
That is amazing.
It teaches your kidshow to, you know, understand
file storagebetween the different platforms and,
just so many important technological,techie things to do.
And they have so many coffee Scholar,which is the company
(09:07):
that puts it out, has so many programslike How to Code with Python,
how to code with JavaScript,so many amazing things.
And we started outwe were in Fast and Furious.
It was great.
We weren't going as fast as we neededto, apparently.
And that was one of the things thatwhen we got so off the rails in January,
we really, really,really needed to correct the ship.
(09:27):
And it was,
well, it
was one of the thingsthat went by the wayside, actually,
it may have been the only thing that wentby the wayside, which I honestly do.
I don't think that's too bad.
But it was, Yeah, it went, it went.
So we did not ever finish it.
And that is just, it is what it just is.
So tech essential is really great.
It's very specific.It it's something that you need.
(09:49):
We just we just we just cut it.We just cut it.
We were done.
Film school for teens.
So my girls again worked on it together.
Absolutely amazing.
Absolutely amazing program.
I do wish that my kids, even
my oldest, would have been a little older,
so that it could have beenthe film making.
(10:12):
Because you basically make a film,they give you a script,
you make a film to submit to,like a film festival.
That aspect would have been so much easierif my kids were older.
But the rest of it,they were able to do 100% on their own.
But it was that like organizingand getting all the film stuff
together that, had they been a littleolder, would have been a bit smoother.
But being able to watch
(10:35):
things like The Outsidersand The Help and Blind Side
and then they chose for their their oneoptional with Some Like It hot
being able to disguise so many layers.
So many of the things that came along,the big, big,
big meaty topics that came along with thisfilm study was amazing.
I'm so thankful for it.
(10:55):
I loved it as our family.It was really good.
Now you guys knowwe started the year with the,
principles of secondary mathematicsfor algebra one and
jumped ship part,jumped ship hard and settled on Denison.
Denison has been an amazing, amazing fit
for, for my seventh grader this year.
(11:16):
She's got it.
I mean they they now that is where I willstart, especially for upper level math.
So my youngest will probably go throughZeta,
the last kind of lowerlevel of math, you see.
And then even for even for pre-algebra,we'll switch her probably and try Denison.
Denison is amazing for upper level math,I love it, I love the format.
(11:37):
I love the way it works.
I like everything about it.
I feel like the cast is good, the videos,she's getting so much out of it.
It's explained really nicely.
So that that is,
I mean, night and day,absolute night and day.
My younger one did this year was Division.
So in math, you see,if you don't know, it's mastery based.
(11:58):
And so it was like all additions,all subtraction, all multiplication.
And this year was all division.
And I am talking like three digit numbersinto five and six digit numbers.
Some really meaty stuff.
She, they really just naildown on the Roman numerals,
which is really coolbecause I don't know a lot of people
who know that even grownups, even myself,I'm like, okay, having to like,
relearn it to like, know about it,which was kind of cool,
(12:22):
but very, very great.
Love it. Love the program.
We will use it, next year for Epsilonwhich is fractions.
And then after that would be zetawhich is decimals.
And then we'll move on to something elsefor the upper level math.
So I think that's the rightkind of sweet spot for us.
Okay.
Her thinking we actually dida couple of books with her this year.
(12:42):
We started out,
with what was included in our
timber doodle cat, and she changed hermind and didn't want to do that one.
And so we did it.
Move on to another book.
I think it's from Evan Moore,which we also added
for late season edition
as a kind of a review piecewith the animals
from addedmore brand new release to series,
(13:02):
and we've already bought that onefor next year because she went through it
so that she loved that animalsWord books so much.
As far as thinking goes,she will move on to Myrtle
Junior next yearbecause she wants to be like her sister.
Okay, so she also my younger one
also did all about spelling level fourand we have a video about it.
(13:22):
We kind of did Frank and spelling,where we did the, the color work,
but because I love the workbooks thatcome with the all about learning programs,
and then used it withthe original teachers instructions for All
About Spelling level four.
She is.
And I think it's that more solidfoundation and sonograms
from the All About Reading platform,because she just had so much
more exposure to it than her sister did.
Her spelling is much more on point.
(13:43):
So we are going to transition awayfrom a dedicated spelling curriculum.
I know,
into next year, we'll talk about next yeara little bit more here in just a minute.
So all about spelling level fourwent great, Frank and spelling went great.
I like having a little activities,you know,
I didn't know exactly how to use thembecause I didn't buy the right,
the rightworkbook, the right teacher guide.
But I'm okay with that.
(14:04):
She also did
the at more, skill, sharpness, geography.
We absolutely love itteaches them just one page today.
It's so easy to use again.
Are you invested in it for next yearand then the Zener
blazer cursive I love this in our blazer.
Handwriting books. They're so good.
I just get them on Amazonand just very easy to use now.
(14:26):
Michael Klay Thompson for my youngest win,
was the level one, which, if you've beenhere for any period of time,
you know that I bought all digital booksand it was not good.
It was the very first level that I use,and I didn't like it.
But we kind of figured out what we couldchange when the first time I used it.
(14:47):
And so in using it this time, it'smy second time
using it for my second kiddo.
And it has been so good.
I absolutely love the MangoKlay Thompson program.
And it was
it was so
nice because she's had the very index
history with this.
So she's gone through the poodle seriesa couple of times.
And so thismy having already taught this level
(15:11):
and figuring out what didn't work for me
as a teacher, was wildly helpful,I think, in our pursuit
of, Michael Thompson level onethe second time around.
It's so good, so nice, so good.
And so that is that.
Now, if you are wondering howI stick my kiddo into some of this stuff,
it is like the Steph is, you know,middle school chemistry and college
(15:34):
level dinosaurs.
I just don't expect the same outputfrom her.
So yeah, you can probably use the notes
to find answers to multiple choicequestions in the college level course.
Or you can answer
multiple choice questions in chemistry,but I'm not asking her to do
open ended questions, completesentences, essays, anything like that,
because it's just notdevelopmentally appropriate.
So if you're wonderinghow I'm combining these two
(15:56):
and they are four gradelevels apart, that's how now in my,
in my seventh grade specific
courses, her thinking this yearshe did choose to do Myrtle.
She loves it.
It's like logic games and thinking games.
You're solving some sort of course.
And it's likelike some sort of exam crime.
You're being like a detective.She loves it.
We did start out. Really? Really? She did.
(16:19):
I say probably 90% of the year with worldhistory detective, where you're reading,
you know, a 2 or 3 page spread
about a specific point in world history,and then you are answering questions.
And the way that you're asked to answerthe questions is like it's
multiple choice.
And then it's like, okay, but like whichpage, which sentence did you find this on?
So it's asking you to kind of like
make a point that you can citewhere the answer was found.
(16:41):
And we did do this for quite a while,
honestly,just up until probably the last month.
She did not finish it.
And that is because we're kindof taking precedent with some of the other
bigger things that we doreally, really need to get done.
So we are kind of showing that
for now.
So that is where we are for now.
(17:02):
And again, I'm going to talk aboutnext year here in just a minute.
Now, I already talkedabout the algebra shift for her.
So thankful. So goodMichael Klay Thompson.
So Michael Thompson this is level four.
So the classic literature not level
and practice sentences were great.
Vocabulary is great.
Writing got a little hinkyas far as it's a lot to cover.
(17:25):
And we did it the whole year.
I've got videos dedicated videos on this.
If you want to see any of this.
But it definitelywas that shift into like, this is getting
real, this getting harder,and we're expecting a lot more out of you.
And so that shift was something else.
The grammar. Easy peasy.
Practice sentences. Easy peasy.
Getting the reading done also kepta little bit, more focus on that.
(17:49):
So we we're going to pivothow we're doing some things next year.
And I think that's everythingthat I wanted to talk about specifically
and dedicated for that for this year.
But because of the waythat this year has gone,
it really has allowed meto see what matters,
what is important, and thingsI'm going to do differently in the future.
(18:10):
So we have always, every year been able todo, you know, whatever we want.
We don't have any what is it reallythat we have to adhere to here in Texas
beyond using a bona fide curriculumand teaching, you know, arithmetic,
language arts, you know, science,
like just little checkboxesthat there's no oversight, there's
no recordkeeping, there'sno testing, there's no any of that.
(18:33):
You don't have to use approved curriculum,any of that.
So because of that,we've had a lot of freedom.
And for us, what that's usually looks likeis we usually do a great job
of staying on trackand we get it all in and it's mostly fun.
But now we're getting into thosemore serious grade levels.
And also my kidsinterests are getting more serious
and our time commitmentsare getting more serious.
(18:55):
So this year has taught me so many lessonsabout
actual homeschool flexibility
and grace in practicewhen no other year has like this year.
And because of that, I'm going to carry itforward.
We're going to be using,
less and trying to get more out of it.
So we will not have a dedicatedspelling program.
(19:16):
We're going to use our vocabularyfor Michael Klay Thompson.
We will not have dedicated handwriting.
We're going to use our vocabularyfrom Michael Klay Thompson.
And we are going to go forward
keeping in mind that sometimesless is more and that simplicity is key.
So this year has taught us so many lessonswhen it comes to our homeschool journey.
(19:37):
And because of that, we're going to pivotand we're going to go forward
a little differentlybecause I do not have young kids any more.
Fourth grade is kind of oldwhen it comes to homeschool.
A lot of people will do it very earlyand really deck out,
like my middle school or my older onewho's last year is in middle school.
We're going to be really thinking aheadto high school and what that looks like.
So we do need to pivot.We do need to change.
(19:58):
I'm gonna bring you alongfor all of the things.
I cannot tell you how many peopleI have spoken with who all agree with me.
This has been the hardest year.
I don't know if it's globallyjust an energy shift.
Politically, I don't know what is goingon, but it has just been hard.
It has been, you know, running uphillthrough peanut butter.
(20:19):
It has been hard, hard, hard.
And I am excited to have it behind us.
I'm excited to enjoy the summerand I'm excited to start fresh.
I'm tired of trying to play catch up,and I really want to be intentional
in all of the things that we're doingand also simplifying,
intentionally simplifying our liveswhen it comes to homeschool.
So yes, it has
(20:40):
has been a doozy.
Hey guys, thank you so much.
For those of you who keep coming backwho are joining us
on this homeschool journey,
I feel like so many of our friendsfrom the past
few years have kind of dropped offand stopped sharing,
so I'm hoping that we canwe can continue to build a little network.
I've got some things and I'm hoping
to invest more energy on over this summerthat can help us do that.
But I'll let you know. I'll keepyou posted.
(21:00):
Be sure that you're signed upfor the newsletter.
Because there's a lot of stuff in there
that doesn'tget talked about anywhere else.
So I do have that link down belowa contact form.
Sign up for our monthly newsletterone month at a time.
And it just hasinformation kind of outside of the norm.
Information.
So yeah.
Guys, I hope that you found any of thishelpful, entertaining or informative.
(21:20):
If you did, please scroll down, hitthe big red subscribe button,
turn on that bell for notificationsand give this video a thumbs up.
As always, you can find meright on down in the comments
or an Instagram at Making Everyday Magic.
I think that's everything I. I.
It is finally that time of year
and I can honestly sayI had never been so happy to have a year
in the rearview mirroras I have been this homeschool year.
Rightnow, let's talk about our end of year
recap for the 2024 2025 school year.
(00:22):
Let's go!
Before we go any further, guys,we scroll down
and hit the big red subscribe button
and turn on the bell for notificationsand give this video a thumbs up.
As always, you can find me right on downin the comments
or over on Instagramat Making Everyday Magic.
Everything that we have used this year,
(00:42):
everything that I'm going to talk aboutis linked.
Over on my website,
I have a favorites page and everythingyou could possibly want is over there.
If you have questions abouta specific item that I am talking about,
you can either ask down in the
in the comment section or you cansearch it out here on this channel,
because I'm still certainthat every single thing
(01:04):
I'm going to talk abouthas a dedicated video.
Now that we are likeat the end of the year. So
I am filming,in a corner of my living room.
The lighting is not great.
But I've got kids downstairsof playing video games,
and I've got dad upstairs on a meeting,so we are just making it work
because I really need
to get this, that kind of doneand in and filmed and ready to go
(01:29):
because we're in a weird stage of,like, wrapping up the year, and,
my daughter's in a show,so it's tech week,
but we're also as soon as she standsat the on vacation.
And so it's like just trying to kind ofget ahead and get everything done.
So we are actually officiallylike two days from
finishing our, our homeschool year,but pretty much everything has wrapped up.
(01:52):
So I feel pretty confidentgiving you my end of year thoughts. So,
yes, we
also have things coming into our homeas far as things for next year,
for the 2025 2026school year, we've been planning
and sharing and ordering and budgeting,and now I am ready to like, turn it over.
So I feel like there's just kind oflike a natural order to things.
(02:13):
In this process that we do every year.
And so, I need to filmthese kind of closing thoughts
and then I'll be ready
to I've already filmed in boxing,and then I'll be ready to kind of like
pull everything out,sort of turn over our homeschool space.
And this will be the first time doing thatin our new,
even smaller, homeschool space.
(02:34):
But I need to get the things outthat we're done with
that are going to go to a brand new,loving home.
And I want to get these things put in.
But as I'm pulling the other things out,I want to be collecting
everything that we've doneas like a grade on it.
Because I think you will actually see itafter this video, but record keeping,
I need to get on it for the yearbecause I haven't done anything.
(02:57):
So, as I'm pulling things out,I'll be sorting them out,
knowing what I need to keep a hold ofto put into my records.
It's like a wholethis just this one needs to come now.
So that's why we're doing that right now.
So it is, for us.
I like to school, like, through
the beginning of May, like very early May.
(03:18):
And I like to be done so,
yeah, this year has been a doozy.
We have moved.
We started the year,
having people come inand doing a bunch of repairs
on our housesbecause we'd had, like, a massive leak.
We got way off track, with the mentionedkids activities over the Christmas season.
So it has been again,I've never looked forward
(03:42):
to a homeschool yearcoming to an end more than this one.
I need a fresh start.
I need a hard clothes.
I need the door to slam.
I needed to be done.
I needed to be done.
So yeah, that might be partof my motivation, honestly.
And I'm in this right nowinstead of waiting.
Is that, I needed to be done.
I needed to be done.
So I want it to be donewhen we go on vacation and get it, like,
(04:03):
nice and, like, wrapped up and allfinished and, like, move on with life.
So that is the goal.That is the intent. That is the dream.
I do have, our flows from this.
If you are curious, I am sitting onan Ottoman, literally in a corner.
There's a light switch right here.
I'm next to the TV, sitting in awell lit corner.
We can separate my own lighting.
(04:24):
Okay, so I have our flows from there,and I'm just going to run
down them and we'll discuss,
kind of the bits and pieces.
So you guys know, we do what I like to do.
I like to homeschool four days a week.
I usually plan about 34, 36 weeks,
to devote to school,but usually only about 30, 32 weeks
worth of material in those twoto allow it to be a little flexi.
(04:46):
This past year we had a third graderand a seventh grader, and this coming year
we'll have a fourth graderand an eighth grader.
I like to homeschool four days a week
because there's always something funand exciting to do that is not school.
And I like to start our weekswhatever the first day is with something
I like to call Mom and me Monday,which is where we kind of do
the bulk of the things thatwe need to do together on their front.
(05:07):
And so I like to front loadour week with, things we do together,
because I like to combineas much as possible.
So science, chemistry, history,all of that.
I like to get it in together on MommyMondays.
I have art history on here,but we never actually got around to it
and I am planning to do it for next year,which is the crash course art history.
We did do a high gas fee, if I remember.
I'll print the screen
because everybody always asksthat it's have I got a story for you?
(05:31):
And we did the, the Impressionist series.
This year we will have, you know,
I actually need to look at thatdigital download.
We will do the, Post-Impressionist seriesfor next year, which is again,
the have I got a story for youhigh Gas me a video series.
It's like 12 videos.
Comeswith our temperature tool for my youngest.
(05:53):
So high gas,
high gas fee is very well produced.
Our little videos, there's likea little cartoon paint drop that helps Mr.
Math explain the historyand the techniques and several artists.
Every level covers three artists that itkind of follows and tells you about.
It is a relatively high price point,especially
(06:14):
because I don't feel like a lot of peoplereally value art.
And so for an art study in art history,
it is like $150 for the series.
We like it very much.
I have no shame investing in thatbecause my kids do quite enjoy
it and I have found the value there.
So for us, I think it's very good.
Something that we did this yearis diagnose 101 through Coursera platform.
(06:38):
And it is actually a class hostedby the University of Alberta, Canada.
And it's a college level course.
You can pay to have it Transcriptive,
which I did not do,but we did it together as a family.
It was really fun.
I've been Dino Loverand that is what she chose to do.
So I'm so glad we did that.
It was a really good experience and II really enjoyed being able
to take that hard,deep dive for her for Texas history.
(07:00):
We started out with the free fun Texashistory, but it quickly, quickly, quickly
morphed into uskind of doing our own thing.
So I did dedicate quite,quite a bit of time to,
native peoples, First peoples,indigenous peoples in respect to Texas.
We did discuss quite a bit the missions,and we had the opportunity
to visit the missions and the Alamo.
(07:21):
We still would like to go into earlysummer, visit the San Jacinto Monument,
and actually later this weekfor learning something else.
We will be taking a field trip
to Taste of Texas, which is an Austinsteakhouse here in Houston.
And, the owners are very,very proud Texans.
They, have a wonderful collection of,
(07:42):
Texas memorabilia,
some amazing,amazing things to see in their restaurant.
But one of the owners actually doesa history tour for kids in fourth grade.
And, you can reach out to themand they will help
you get that booked for your group.
So really amazing.
And that we will be doing that laterthis week.
It's so fun.
(08:02):
It's such a wonderfullittle fun thing to do.
We did do the ACAmiddle school chemistry again.
Even my third grader did it.
We did it as a group. It's free.
Completely free online historyor chemistry curriculum.
You just have to buy your supplies,which I do have a list on my Amazon
storefront where you can buyevery single little thing you need.
(08:22):
It was honestly, it'smy favorite science we've ever done.
It was so in-depth, so, so robust,so easy to use.
It really was my absolute favorite sciencethat we've ever done.
So I'm really pleased with that.
I'm hoping that this coming yearwill be my favorite science
we've ever done,but that's where we are now.
If you guys remember,we started with Tech Essentials.
(08:45):
A ruby piece from, Timber Doodle.
That is amazing.
It teaches your kidshow to, you know, understand
file storagebetween the different platforms and,
just so many important technological,techie things to do.
And they have so many coffee Scholar,which is the company
(09:07):
that puts it out, has so many programslike How to Code with Python,
how to code with JavaScript,so many amazing things.
And we started outwe were in Fast and Furious.
It was great.
We weren't going as fast as we neededto, apparently.
And that was one of the things thatwhen we got so off the rails in January,
we really, really,really needed to correct the ship.
(09:27):
And it was,
well, it
was one of the thingsthat went by the wayside, actually,
it may have been the only thing that wentby the wayside, which I honestly do.
I don't think that's too bad.
But it was, Yeah, it went, it went.
So we did not ever finish it.
And that is just, it is what it just is.
So tech essential is really great.
It's very specific.It it's something that you need.
(09:49):
We just we just we just cut it.We just cut it.
We were done.
Film school for teens.
So my girls again worked on it together.
Absolutely amazing.
Absolutely amazing program.
I do wish that my kids, even
my oldest, would have been a little older,
so that it could have beenthe film making.
(10:12):
Because you basically make a film,they give you a script,
you make a film to submit to,like a film festival.
That aspect would have been so much easierif my kids were older.
But the rest of it,they were able to do 100% on their own.
But it was that like organizingand getting all the film stuff
together that, had they been a littleolder, would have been a bit smoother.
But being able to watch
(10:35):
things like The Outsidersand The Help and Blind Side
and then they chose for their their oneoptional with Some Like It hot
being able to disguise so many layers.
So many of the things that came along,the big, big,
big meaty topics that came along with thisfilm study was amazing.
I'm so thankful for it.
(10:55):
I loved it as our family.It was really good.
Now you guys knowwe started the year with the,
principles of secondary mathematicsfor algebra one and
jumped ship part,jumped ship hard and settled on Denison.
Denison has been an amazing, amazing fit
for, for my seventh grader this year.
(11:16):
She's got it.
I mean they they now that is where I willstart, especially for upper level math.
So my youngest will probably go throughZeta,
the last kind of lowerlevel of math, you see.
And then even for even for pre-algebra,we'll switch her probably and try Denison.
Denison is amazing for upper level math,I love it, I love the format.
(11:37):
I love the way it works.
I like everything about it.
I feel like the cast is good, the videos,she's getting so much out of it.
It's explained really nicely.
So that that is,
I mean, night and day,absolute night and day.
My younger one did this year was Division.
So in math, you see,if you don't know, it's mastery based.
(11:58):
And so it was like all additions,all subtraction, all multiplication.
And this year was all division.
And I am talking like three digit numbersinto five and six digit numbers.
Some really meaty stuff.
She, they really just naildown on the Roman numerals,
which is really coolbecause I don't know a lot of people
who know that even grownups, even myself,I'm like, okay, having to like,
relearn it to like, know about it,which was kind of cool,
(12:22):
but very, very great.
Love it. Love the program.
We will use it, next year for Epsilonwhich is fractions.
And then after that would be zetawhich is decimals.
And then we'll move on to something elsefor the upper level math.
So I think that's the rightkind of sweet spot for us.
Okay.
Her thinking we actually dida couple of books with her this year.
(12:42):
We started out,
with what was included in our
timber doodle cat, and she changed hermind and didn't want to do that one.
And so we did it.
Move on to another book.
I think it's from Evan Moore,which we also added
for late season edition
as a kind of a review piecewith the animals
from addedmore brand new release to series,
(13:02):
and we've already bought that onefor next year because she went through it
so that she loved that animalsWord books so much.
As far as thinking goes,she will move on to Myrtle
Junior next yearbecause she wants to be like her sister.
Okay, so she also my younger one
also did all about spelling level fourand we have a video about it.
(13:22):
We kind of did Frank and spelling,where we did the, the color work,
but because I love the workbooks thatcome with the all about learning programs,
and then used it withthe original teachers instructions for All
About Spelling level four.
She is.
And I think it's that more solidfoundation and sonograms
from the All About Reading platform,because she just had so much
more exposure to it than her sister did.
Her spelling is much more on point.
(13:43):
So we are going to transition awayfrom a dedicated spelling curriculum.
I know,
into next year, we'll talk about next yeara little bit more here in just a minute.
So all about spelling level fourwent great, Frank and spelling went great.
I like having a little activities,you know,
I didn't know exactly how to use thembecause I didn't buy the right,
the rightworkbook, the right teacher guide.
But I'm okay with that.
(14:04):
She also did
the at more, skill, sharpness, geography.
We absolutely love itteaches them just one page today.
It's so easy to use again.
Are you invested in it for next yearand then the Zener
blazer cursive I love this in our blazer.
Handwriting books. They're so good.
I just get them on Amazonand just very easy to use now.
(14:26):
Michael Klay Thompson for my youngest win,
was the level one, which, if you've beenhere for any period of time,
you know that I bought all digital booksand it was not good.
It was the very first level that I use,and I didn't like it.
But we kind of figured out what we couldchange when the first time I used it.
(14:47):
And so in using it this time, it'smy second time
using it for my second kiddo.
And it has been so good.
I absolutely love the MangoKlay Thompson program.
And it was
it was so
nice because she's had the very index
history with this.
So she's gone through the poodle seriesa couple of times.
And so thismy having already taught this level
(15:11):
and figuring out what didn't work for me
as a teacher, was wildly helpful,I think, in our pursuit
of, Michael Thompson level onethe second time around.
It's so good, so nice, so good.
And so that is that.
Now, if you are wondering howI stick my kiddo into some of this stuff,
it is like the Steph is, you know,middle school chemistry and college
(15:34):
level dinosaurs.
I just don't expect the same outputfrom her.
So yeah, you can probably use the notes
to find answers to multiple choicequestions in the college level course.
Or you can answer
multiple choice questions in chemistry,but I'm not asking her to do
open ended questions, completesentences, essays, anything like that,
because it's just notdevelopmentally appropriate.
So if you're wonderinghow I'm combining these two
(15:56):
and they are four gradelevels apart, that's how now in my,
in my seventh grade specific
courses, her thinking this yearshe did choose to do Myrtle.
She loves it.
It's like logic games and thinking games.
You're solving some sort of course.
And it's likelike some sort of exam crime.
You're being like a detective.She loves it.
We did start out. Really? Really? She did.
(16:19):
I say probably 90% of the year with worldhistory detective, where you're reading,
you know, a 2 or 3 page spread
about a specific point in world history,and then you are answering questions.
And the way that you're asked to answerthe questions is like it's
multiple choice.
And then it's like, okay, but like whichpage, which sentence did you find this on?
So it's asking you to kind of like
make a point that you can citewhere the answer was found.
(16:41):
And we did do this for quite a while,
honestly,just up until probably the last month.
She did not finish it.
And that is because we're kindof taking precedent with some of the other
bigger things that we doreally, really need to get done.
So we are kind of showing that
for now.
So that is where we are for now.
(17:02):
And again, I'm going to talk aboutnext year here in just a minute.
Now, I already talkedabout the algebra shift for her.
So thankful. So goodMichael Klay Thompson.
So Michael Thompson this is level four.
So the classic literature not level
and practice sentences were great.
Vocabulary is great.
Writing got a little hinkyas far as it's a lot to cover.
(17:25):
And we did it the whole year.
I've got videos dedicated videos on this.
If you want to see any of this.
But it definitelywas that shift into like, this is getting
real, this getting harder,and we're expecting a lot more out of you.
And so that shift was something else.
The grammar. Easy peasy.
Practice sentences. Easy peasy.
Getting the reading done also kepta little bit, more focus on that.
(17:49):
So we we're going to pivothow we're doing some things next year.
And I think that's everythingthat I wanted to talk about specifically
and dedicated for that for this year.
But because of the waythat this year has gone,
it really has allowed meto see what matters,
what is important, and thingsI'm going to do differently in the future.
(18:10):
So we have always, every year been able todo, you know, whatever we want.
We don't have any what is it reallythat we have to adhere to here in Texas
beyond using a bona fide curriculumand teaching, you know, arithmetic,
language arts, you know, science,
like just little checkboxesthat there's no oversight, there's
no recordkeeping, there'sno testing, there's no any of that.
(18:33):
You don't have to use approved curriculum,any of that.
So because of that,we've had a lot of freedom.
And for us, what that's usually looks likeis we usually do a great job
of staying on trackand we get it all in and it's mostly fun.
But now we're getting into thosemore serious grade levels.
And also my kidsinterests are getting more serious
and our time commitmentsare getting more serious.
(18:55):
So this year has taught me so many lessonsabout
actual homeschool flexibility
and grace in practicewhen no other year has like this year.
And because of that, I'm going to carry itforward.
We're going to be using,
less and trying to get more out of it.
So we will not have a dedicatedspelling program.
(19:16):
We're going to use our vocabularyfor Michael Klay Thompson.
We will not have dedicated handwriting.
We're going to use our vocabularyfrom Michael Klay Thompson.
And we are going to go forward
keeping in mind that sometimesless is more and that simplicity is key.
So this year has taught us so many lessonswhen it comes to our homeschool journey.
(19:37):
And because of that, we're going to pivotand we're going to go forward
a little differentlybecause I do not have young kids any more.
Fourth grade is kind of oldwhen it comes to homeschool.
A lot of people will do it very earlyand really deck out,
like my middle school or my older onewho's last year is in middle school.
We're going to be really thinking aheadto high school and what that looks like.
So we do need to pivot.We do need to change.
(19:58):
I'm gonna bring you alongfor all of the things.
I cannot tell you how many peopleI have spoken with who all agree with me.
This has been the hardest year.
I don't know if it's globallyjust an energy shift.
Politically, I don't know what is goingon, but it has just been hard.
It has been, you know, running uphillthrough peanut butter.
(20:19):
It has been hard, hard, hard.
And I am excited to have it behind us.
I'm excited to enjoy the summerand I'm excited to start fresh.
I'm tired of trying to play catch up,and I really want to be intentional
in all of the things that we're doingand also simplifying,
intentionally simplifying our liveswhen it comes to homeschool.
So yes, it has
(20:40):
has been a doozy.
Hey guys, thank you so much.
For those of you who keep coming backwho are joining us
on this homeschool journey,
I feel like so many of our friendsfrom the past
few years have kind of dropped offand stopped sharing,
so I'm hoping that we canwe can continue to build a little network.
I've got some things and I'm hoping
to invest more energy on over this summerthat can help us do that.
But I'll let you know. I'll keepyou posted.
(21:00):
Be sure that you're signed upfor the newsletter.
Because there's a lot of stuff in there
that doesn'tget talked about anywhere else.
So I do have that link down belowa contact form.
Sign up for our monthly newsletterone month at a time.
And it just hasinformation kind of outside of the norm.
Information.
So yeah.
Guys, I hope that you found any of thishelpful, entertaining or informative.
(21:20):
If you did, please scroll down, hitthe big red subscribe button,
turn on that bell for notificationsand give this video a thumbs up.
As always, you can find meright on down in the comments
or an Instagram at Making Everyday Magic.
I think that's everything I. I.
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