Looking Ahead at Our New School Year

Around here, we tend to chuckle when we start talking about a new school year as one year usually seamlessly blends into another due to our schooling year around. We take breaks as needed and whenever Daddy has off work, so this schedule really does work best for us. We’ll keep going this way until it no longer works or Munchkin graduates. As we enter into this new year, I find myself reflecting on how far we’ve come since we started many years ago. It’s hard to believe that we’re heading into our 8th year of homeschooling. Where did that time go?

Our homeschooling journey looks so different than when we first started, and it’s ever changing. The only real constant is that our focus in on Munchkin developing into a beautiful, Godly woman and pursuing her interests, the interests that the Lord has laid on her heart. Over the years, those goals have lead us to a variety of different methods of homeschooling, but we’ve always been rather eclectic in our approach. I know it’s such a big surprise that I like to tweak most programs to fit our needs. **wink**

When we first began homeschooling, we had loads of hands-on projects and did everything together. I now find myself being more of a guide along this homeschooling journey as her studies become more and more independent. We’ve gone from doing everything together to only doing a few things together. Many of her studies (by her choice) have become reading based with a select few hands-on activities. I assist when needed, grade, encourage, put together studies, and help her develop her study skills.

For a season, Munchkin wanted to do most of her studies quietly on her own. She has now decided that she wants me in the room all the time. She loves to talk to me while she doing her work, and her excitement for some of her studies means that she talks a lot while reading. I just have to grin some days as she pretty much recites the entire chapter of her history or her equine studies. Along those same lines, she sits there and talks about how much she dislikes factoring, fractions, linear equations, polynomials… as she’s doing her work.

Latin continues to be a strong interest for her which means she tries to incorporate it into as many of her studies as possible. Daddy and I enjoy seeing how she’s incorporating it into the book that she’s writing. We do need to occasionally remind her that in order for the book to be understood by most that she needs to make sure she doesn’t overuse the Latin. **grin**

For now, this is what we’re using in our studies for the year. I still have a couple of things to add, but these are the basics.

• Biblical Character Studies
• Latin (combination of Visual Latin and Lingva Latina)
• Spanish
• Thinkwell Math
• Equine Studies
• Mystery of History III
• Analytical Grammar
• IEW Continuation Course
• Natural Health (using Vintage Remedies)
• Economics (using Economics for Everybody)
• Tae Kwon Do
• Archery (hopefully)
• Culinary Arts (possible)

At Munchkin’s request, we’ve stepped back with math a bit, so she can relearn topics that she felt she didn’t truly understand. She was concerned that she didn’t understand the topics enough to really progress forward in her studies. I appreciated her desire to understand the topics, so she’s retaking a couple of different math classes until she feels confident enough to move forward. It’s one of the things that I love about homeschooling. We can tailor Munchkin’s learning to her needs and interests.