This is a little recap of our school year so far plus my “big vision” for the next few months. This post serves as our family’s keepsake of our homeschooling journey. It is mostly for our own records but I realize it could also serve for the few of you who might be curious about what we do and how we do it so I decided to share it for this purpose also. This learning journey alongside my kiddos is a passion of mine, so if ever you have any questions, you are more than welcome to reach out!
That being said, let’s dig in!
Here is a picture of the books we have read from September to December.
We took a longer Christmas break this year cause we all felt like we needed it! Who didn’t, am I right? The kids worked extra hard all through November so we could cover all the material I had planned for the first semester and they did manage to do it all in a shorter amount of time! Way to go kiddos!
Now that our Christmas vacations are coming to an end, I re-evaluated what I had planned for this year according to our interests. A few books I wanted to read were put on hold making room for others that we felt were more aligned with our interests at the moment.
We also felt that we had covered enough material on the Seven Years War(it was extremely interesting) but we are learning that there is always more we can learn and sometimes it is best to move forward so we can come back to it again in the future. We will now be studying the Loyalists period for Canadian History.
Same goes for our studies of World History. The kids were fascinated with the Plague also known as the Black Death(it might have to do with the Covid situation we find ourselves in) so we read and watched a lot of documentaries on the subject but we are now ready to move on to something else like Henry 8th also known as the Beheader… now that sounds interesting!! ;p
The kids have also each found a book series that they enjoy reading on their own which saves me the trouble of having to coax them into reading for a minimum of 15 minutes a day. Zoey really enjoys the “Diary of a Whimpy Kid” series for her English reading, French is a little trickier so we stick to simpler reading like the “Junie B. Jones series.” Finn still only reads French so we’ve found this “Fou du Hockey” series which he really likes, and I must admit they are pretty good!
As for French and Math, we will be sticking with what is working for us so far, simple French work books and the “Life of Fred” series for Math.
Science is covered through reading different biographies, watching youtube videos on subject of interests and going deeper on the BRAINPOP website which we got a subscription to this year and are loving it!
We usually try to finish up our week with Poetry Tea time which mainly consist of a special afternoon snack, tea, and language art activities. We used to read fairy tales or native american folktales but I decided to switch it up a bit this year and decided to focus on a single Canadian author, I chose Felix Leclerc.
We also include art lessons once a week. We print out outlines from the lets make art website and follow her tutorials on youtube! This is the highlight of our week, at least it is for me! And now that we have been doing it for quite some time, I can see that the kids are really starting to build on their confidence and techniques as little artists which makes me a very proud Mama!
The kids also have one extra-curricular activity each. Zoey-Leigh is continuing her fifth year of horse backriding, while Finlay made it into the competitive hockey team this year and Keilan started guitar lessons. Norah is still making up her mind for next year, she’s regularly going from girl’s hockey team to ballerina. Who knows with her, she probably would rock at either one! ;P
So the subjects we cover are as follows:
French
Language Arts
Math
Science
World History
Canadian History(Geography)
Arts
And they each do daily typing, sports or exercise and cooking/baking!
Our days are full but not overwhelming, full of what we enjoy doing with the people we enjoy doing it with! Of course, we can’t wait to add travelling again to our lifestyle but in the mean time we feel soooo blessed as we are settling into this new/old home of ours!
Jeremie worked many evenings this past month so we could enjoy our outdoor skating rink. We’ve met with neighbours and friends and enjoyed the outdoors and our backyard like we never had before! This old house, built so close to the street, which sometimes feels like a drive-thru as my husband puts it, has allowed us to create relationships with the people around us like we never could have planned for… having a house for the holidays for the first time in three years has allowed us to open our doors and our hearts to friends and family and for all of that we are truly grateful!
One thing I realized this holiday season is that with all the isolation brought on with COVID, I had been finding myself living a bit more in my head than in my actual life.
I read this quote in my Wild and Free newsletter that goes like this:
“I had been living in the stars, so busy chasing an ideal that I lost sight of my true calling: Connection, Contentment, Rest, Pleasure, Peace, Joy.
We so often idolize our ideals that we miss the miracles before us. When our dream doesn’t become reality right away, we let discouragement get the better of us. We compare ourselves to others and seek approval from people who don’t understand. We lose our way.
While my elusive north star enchanted me, my children grounded me.
Perhaps we won’t find our true north by looking to the stars but discovering what grounds us in the place. Perhaps, our true north is closer than we think.
Perhaps it’s been right in front of us all along.”
Sounds a bit like the Grinch maybe ;P… perhaps Christmas means a little bit more, we all know how that one goes… but perhaps I needed a little reminder!
Hope you all had a nice holiday season and are refreshed as we face together what is to come this new year!
With love,
From our family to yours!