2023 - 2024 Plan of Study ~ 11th, 8th, & 4th grades

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Morning friends!

I am finally ready to share our 2023-2024 Plan of Study! When I tell you this year has been a labor of love, I mean it. I’ve been on my knees many times over the last few months praying and planning about our upcoming school year and our Plan of Study. Countless days I have been up late into the night researching…thinking…planning and replanning. Trying to formulate a (loose) long term plan of attack for my youngest two who, Lord willing, will get the chance to be student-athletes like their older sister. My current high schooler is also forefront in my mind as she has reached the level of whether we take the AP or Dual Enrollment (Early College) route. This fall the countdown will start and she will have just two years left. I’m leaning towards the latter as we currently have orders to stay in the area and we can get a waiver so we don’t have to pay out of state tuition as we would have had to with Madison and Mikayla when they were at this stage.

photo credit/blog post @ AfterThoughts

I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said there are not days that I feel physically and mentally done with homeschooling. It’s hard work! I’ve wanted to quit, to throw in the towel… but I can’t, I won’t. The stakes are too high, we’ve come so far! This is my job, this is what the Lord has placed before me as my task for the last 14 years. Plus, if you know me, I’m no quitter 😊.

I think this is probably the latest that I have ever waited to share our plans. I have had all three kids enrolled in their upcoming online courses with Veritas Press Scholars since February, so I’ve been planning for next school year since January! Things kept being thrown at me and we have been traveling a lot this year, but I have finally figured out the direction we’re going to go! I want to note that any links below are not affiliated links. I just put them in for my reference and yours if you want to check the curriculum out. Also, because we are coming up onto our 15th year and fifth trip through high school, I already own the majority of the curriculum listed as I try to shop our shelves first before investing into something new.

 

Montana will be in 11^th grade and is enrolled in three online classes, Saxon Advanced Math (Pre-Calculus), Honors Anatomy & Physiology, and Honors Spanish 3. The latter two offer a Dual Enrollment opportunity. At the time of penning this post, Montana is also currently enrolled in an online AP English Language course, however, I am in the process of registering her for the Early College program with Regent University. 

 

Montana's Plan of Study looks like this for 2023-2024:

Bible ~ Sonlight Bible 410 {1 credit}

Math ~ Saxon Advanced Mathematics (Pre-Calculus) online with Veritas Press  {1 credit}

Honors Science ~ Apologia Advanced Biology (AnPhy) online with Veritas Press (Early College/DE) {1 credit}

English 3 ~ English 101 with Tidewater Community College (FALL) {1 credit}

Honors History ~ Sonlight Core 400 American Government {0.5 credit}

Honors Literature ~ Sonlight American Literature 430 {1 credit}

Honors Foreign Language ~  Spanish 3 with Veritas Press (Early College/DE) {1 credit}

PE ~ softball (Rec ball) / home workouts {1 credit}

   

Electives:

 Economics ~ Thinkwell {0.5 credit}

Personal Finance ~ GHW {0.5 credit}

Driver’s Ed {0.5 credit}

Extras 

 ~ PSAT/ACT 1 hr/day

 ~ Mother’s Helper 1/day a week for 5 hours

 Total yearly credits: 9.0 credits for High School / 9 credits for College

McKenzie will be in 8th grade this year and is enrolled in four online classes with Veritas Press Scholars, Latin 1, Grammar & Writing Transition, Logic 1, and Physical Science. Three of the courses are for high school credit as well as her Sonlight and Math course below. I plan to add to the writing course to make it count as an English 1 credit and we have a fall back plan in case the course does not pass the NCAA Clearinghouse down the road. She has big goals and wants a chance to be a collegiate gymnast at her current dream school, the US Air Force Academy (or anywhere she can gain a spot). 

If you’re a long term reader of this blog you know that in 2014 when McKenzie was turning 5 years old we opted her out of officially starting Kindergarten with the State. She did in fact complete her Kindergarten year 2014, just not on paper. So when she did officially start Kindergarten in 2015, she was working at the 1^st grade level. Essentially she has been working a year ahead each year.

Eighth grade is when we normally start earning high school credit in our homeschool, however, next school year McKenzie is going to attempt to complete a full 9th grade course load for 8th grade. I am in no way trying to rush the high school process. I have talked with several other homeschooling families who have taken this route with success. We have been preparing for this jump and she is ready for this step. 

 

McKenzie's Plan of Study looks like this for 2023-2024:

Bible ~ Sonlight Bible 110 {1 credit}

Math ~ Saxon Algebra 1/2 

English 1 

 ~ Composition with IEW's The Elegant Essay online with Veritas Press

~ Our Mother Tongue Grammar online with Veritas Press

~ Rod & Staff Spelling 8

~ Interactive Latin & Greek Roots Notebook

Science ~ Apologia Physical Science online with Veritas Press {1 credit}

Honors Literature ~ Sonlight American Literature 100 {1 credit}

Honors History  ~ Sonlight American History 100 {1 credit}

Foreign Language ~ Latin 1 online with Veritas Press  {1 credit}

PE ~ Level 9 Gymnastics, 26-28 hours a week 

Electives: 

~ Logic 1 online with Veritas Press {1 credit}

Total yearly credits: 6 credits

Micah, my baby boy, is jumping into online learning with three classes for 4th grade, Memory Period I, Grammar & IEW Writing 3, and Latin 3. Honestly, I wanted to enroll him into a Saxon 5/4 Math and/or IEW Linguistics 4 (Spelling) class, but deep down I can’t justify the cost at this stage. Saxon Math does take a big jump as far as the formatting of the lessons so I’m hoping we don’t butt heads too much over that. He will use Nicole the Math Lady for lesson instruction even though I can teach 4th grade math 😊

Micah's Plan of Study for 2023-2024 will be:

Bible/Recitations 

~ Sonlight Bible Core E

Math

~ Saxon 5/4 online with Veritas Press

Language Arts

~ IEW Fix it Grammar, book 1

~ IEW Structure & Style Writing, Year 1-Level A online with Veritas Press

~ IEW Phonetic Zoo Spelling, Level B 

~ Script and Scribe - Americana, Poetry & Art Study

Linguistics 4: IEW Phonetic Zoo online with Veritas Press

History/Geography/Literature

~ Sonlight Core E – American History, part 1

Science

~ Elemental Science: Physics for the Grammar Stage

 

Greek Myths

~ Memoria Press D'Aulaires' Greek Myths

Latin

~ Latin for Children, A online with Veritas Press

PE

Baseball, Fall & Spring ball, private lessons during the off season

Micah will be the only one attending our beloved co-op for enrichment courses next year as well. McKenzie wants to take Drama but with her training schedule it’s hard to fit in unless she goes completely to night practice, which she doesn’t want {and neither do I 🙂}. Montana’s weekly babysitter job is switching to Tuesday mornings in September so we spread the bulk of her online courses to M/W, and she doesn’t want to sit in study hall all day to do her online courses. I’m going to be teaching a class on Time Management/Study Skills/Functional-Decorative Planning to middle schoolers as well as aiding in two science classes. I’m excited for co-op next school year!

I’m pretty sure we will be traveling all over the country again for gymnastics with McKenzie and trying to catch as many college meets of Mikayla’s too! Micah wants to make a Travel ball team next year so he will start taking private lessons in pitching as well as fielding/batting in the off season. Unfortunately, I believe Montana will age out of softball eligibility after the fall season so we need to look into something else to fulfill her PE requirement if she can’t play. She may look into being an umpire, but she also wants to focus on her drawing and possibly creating illustrations for sale. Micah will also be bridging to a Weblo 1 in Cub Scouts in a few short weeks. His Pack does a lot of exciting adventures and we’re looking forward to more camping throughout the year.

 

If you’ve read all of this, YOU are a ROCKSTAR! Leave me a comment, I’d love to connect with you and talk about your homeschool plans.

 

Until next time friends, have a blessed day!

 

 

Read to Learn with Reading Eggs ~ a TOS review

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Disclaimer: I received a Complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family and I pray you, the reader, find them helpful on your homeschooling journey. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations. 

 Hello friends! Over the course of the 14 years we have been homeschooling we have used a lot of curriculum when my kids were younger and learning to read. I have learned that what works for one child, may not necessarily work for another, but when it does it is great! We are no stranger to the world of Reading Eggs, the online learning site, having used the program with both Montana and McKenzie when they were younger. We have been working with the program over the last few weeks with Micah, my 8 year old third grader. He loves his morning computer time and logging into his Reading Eggs profile to complete the fun online learning games and activities. 

Since everyone needs to learn to read, why not make the process fun and engaging? With Reading Eggs you can do just that! Reading Eggs offers online learning games and activities with Reading Eggs and Mathseedsto spice up the learning process. Micah is already a strong reader, so we used the program where they assessed him at for the Reading Eggspress program that is geared for 7-13 year olds. I found, that while Micah is a great reader, he sometimes struggled with the reading comprehension of some stories. I am glad that the Reading Eggs program pointed this out to me so that we could make sure we slowed down to get the concept done.

As I mentioned the Reading Eggs program provides a fun and interactive way to get kids to learn how to read and how to practice math with their Mathseeds program. By introducing beginner readers to the world of reading through interactive stories and games with fun characters your child will be soaring off into their reading adventures in no time!

Reading Eggs has five distinct components to the program including:

 ~ Reading Eggs Junior for children aged 2-4 years: Reading Eggs Junior is the perfect amount of stimulation for your young toddler who is just beginning their learning journey. With a huge library of read-aloud books, songs, alphabet games, and the all-important phonemic awareness activities your toddler will be engaged from day one. 

 ~ Reading Eggs for children aged 3-7 years: With Reading Eggs your children aged 4-7 will learn everything from letter recognition, phonics, to reading early readers while using this program. To capture and hold a young child’s attention and make the reading experience multi-sensory there are also puzzles, games, and songs to make the process F-U-N! Not to mention the chance to win golden eggs and rewards to help the child progress toward the end goal and feel proud of themselves. 

 ~ Fast Phonics for children aged 5-10: Most beginning readers need a little bit more practice with phonics when learning to read, so the creators created Fast Phonics to focus on building phonics instruction. The Fast Phonics program helps children to learn the 44 sounds of the English language. The program moves quickly but helps to reinforce reading and spelling skills. 

 ~ Reading Eggspress for children aged 7-13: Do you have an older child or want to continue on the reading journey? No problem! Reading Eggspress {a sister part of the Reading Eggs World} is geared towards older children, aged 7-13, to encourage fluent reading. Using real books for reading this program is jam packed with hundreds of interactive reading activities and games to encourage fluent reading! 

 ~ Mathseeds for children aged 3-9 years: Mathseeds teaches kids 3-9 the core math and problem solving skills needed to be successful. Through highly interactive lessons, Mathseeds keeps kids interested in completing math skills. Mathseeds is also available to play on a tablet so you can take the learning on the go if you have internet connection.

For this review we received a 12- month subscription and Micah has been enjoying it from the start! He has focused all of his time in the Reading Eggspress program. He typically spends 20 minutes each morning while I am working with his older sister. The lessons are engaging and fun so it keeps him interested.

We will definitely continue using the program for the rest of our subscription. All in all, we highly recommend Reading Eggs for anyone looking for a fun and exciting reading or math supplement. Be sure to click the banner below and read what 20 of my CrewMates thought of this program from Reading Eggs.

 

 Company ~ Reading Eggs 

 Product ~ Reading Eggs 

Format ~ online reading curriculum 

Ages ~ preschool through age 13

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 © 2008 - 2022 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

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Christian Literature Study Guides from Progeny Press ~ a TOS review

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Disclaimer: I received a Complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family and I pray you, the reader, find them helpful on your homeschooling journey. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.

Morning friends! We are on the road bringing our two University girls back to school but I am happy to share a review with you from a long standing favorite, Progeny Press. If you have been around the blog for long, then you know our family has a fond affection towards good books. I try to fill our bookshelves full of good books as well as check them out from the local library. We love adding Progeny Press guides to our Language Arts studies, so we were excited to receive the Farmer Boy Study Guide this time to review.

Progeny Press has been a family owned and operated company since 1992. They produce high quality literature guides from a Christian worldview ranging from lower elementary years through high school. They literally have 100+ guides and add 3-6 new titles each year ranging from lower elementary, upper elementary, middle school, and high school. If you are looking for a literature guide, they have got you covered! 

Have you ever checked out the literature guides from Progeny Press? I highly suggest you look at them if you are looking to add critical thinking to your child’s learning this year. In our family I have found that literature guides make reading even more enjoyable for my younger children and helps me to check for comprehension.

For this review we received a downloadable interactive PDF copy of the study guide for the second book in the Little House on the Prairie series, Farmer Boy. This guide helps break down the story of nine-year old Almanzo Wilder and is told through Laura Ingalls Wilder’s eyes. With this literature study guide, your child will learn about literary techniques on synonyms, adjectives, characterization, dictionary, mood, paraphrase, in context, thesaurus, similes, metaphors, and theme. More importantly this literature study guide will teach moral and character lessons on attitude, work ethic, patience, the Sabbath, truth, consequences, and loving one another.

I used the Farmer Boy literature guide with my son, Micah who is 8 and in the 3rd grade. This study guide is suggested for children in upper elementary grades 4-6, however, Micah is a strong reader and currently reads at a late 5th grade reading level. Because of his age I am always on the hunt for quality of literature for him to read without being mature themes etc. Progeny Press helps me to provide quality literature books and for that I am grateful! Using this study guide is easy for the child and mom. 

During the first week it is best to read the entire book before getting started on the activities within the study guide. Vocabulary is addressed in many ways to make sure the reader has a full grasp of the words being studied. First students are required to define several words, determine word meaning from its context and then double check their guesses in a dictionary. Vocabulary words and definitions are also presented to be matched and there is a vocabulary activity in multiple choice format. Comprehension questions which ask the student to recall events from the book are also included.

Progeny Press’s website is easy to navigate so you can find the guide you are looking for. All of the literature guides on the website are categorized by both genre and grade-level to help with this navigation. Be sure to check out the sample of the types of questions and information contained in the guides at the website. The guides are extremely user-friendly and are currently available as a print version, CD in PDF format, and email as a PDF attachment. We enjoyed using this literature guide just like the others we own. The new interactive format allows the student to type in the answers directly on their computer screen which is awesome! I also love that there is no limit on copying pages for use within our homeschool.  

 Our family finds that literature guides make reading even more enjoyable! We give this guide 2 thumbs up and I look forward to adding more literature guides to our collection over the course of the school year. Be sure to check out what my Crewmates thought of this guide and the many other guides being reviewed, The Story of Ping Study Guide, The Last Battle Study Guide, and the Fellowship of the Ring Study Guide.

   

 Company ~ Progeny Press 

 Product ~ Farmer Boy Study Guide 

 Price ~ $19.99 

 Format ~ downloadable PDF

 Ages ~ upper elementary grades 4th-6th

 Find Progeny Press on these Social Media sites:

 Facebook ~ Twitter ~   Pinterest ~ YouTube

 © 2008 - 2022 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

 https://astablebeginning.com

2022 - 2023 Plan of Study

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 Hi there friends! We are wrapping up year 13, yet we are looking forward to starting the new school year in August. All three kids made great strides this past year and I am so proud of them all for pushing through and excelling. 

image credit

Next school year we will begin our 14^th year of home education and we will have a 10^thgrader, 7^th grader, and a 3^rd grader. This year only Montana will be taking online classes as I jump back into the saddle teaching full time. My break was great and much needed, but now I am ready to get back into the grind of daily teaching and learning with the kids.

We will continue to school 4 days a week for McKenzie and Micah while Montana will do a traditional 5 days for Sophomore year of high school. It may become necessary to adjust our days for McKenzie because of her gymnastics schedule, something we did at this grade for Mikayla. To do this we will add in Saturday school, but for now we are planning on just four days. 

Right now our plan is to start our new year on August 1^st. I may have to adjust this since the University girls need to get back to school mid-August but that is what I am planning. I’m also looking forward to going back to our Sabbath scheduling. This year we will school 9 weeks on / 1 Sabbath week off. It might get a little tricky for Montana as she is taking three online classes again, but we will make it work and make sure she gets her rest when needed too.

Without further ado here is our 2022 – 2023 Plan of Study…

Another year of high school is upon us for Montana! She has excelled in the three online courses she took with Veritas Scholars Academy with final grades ranging from 96-99%! We will continue to utilize VSA for three more of her courses for 10^th grade. Montana has narrowed down what she thinks she wants to be after University, either a Veterinarian or a Medical Examiner. She wants to study art on the side and is interested in animation. Now, don’t be super alarmed at the amount of credits she is taking because everything will not be done every single day. I wanted to make room in her course load to include classes she is interested in as well as our required courses. The schedule will definitely adjust if need be, especially if she starts to get overwhelmed. Here’s what Montana will be learning next school year to earn 10 high school credits. 

10th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Apologetics, 1 cr:

~ Sonlight Core 300

~ It Couldn’t Just Happen *she will just read this a few times a week

Math, 1 cr:

~ Saxon Algebra 2 with DIVE lecture or OutSchool lecture course 

Honors English II, 1 cr:

~ Rod & Staff 9/10, Book 2

~ Composition 2, online with Veritas Scholars Academy

~ Literature: Sonlight 20th Century Classic Literature

~ Article of the Week {current events only- not the writing portion}

~ Vocabulary Virtuoso: PSAT-SAT Book 1

 

Honors Chemistry, 1 cr:

~ Chemistry, online with Veritas Scholars Academy

 

Honors History/Geography, 1 cr:

~ Sonlight Core 300 : 20th Century WorldHistory

Honors Foreign Language, 1 cr:

~ Avancemos  Spanish 2, online with Veritas Scholars Academy

 

 Music Study, ½ cr:

 ~ 21 Lessons in 20th Century American Music Appreciation

Art , ½ cr:

~ (2-3) 2D /3D Animation courses on OutSchool

 

Philosophy, 1 cr:

 ~ The Discovery of Deduction

 

Home Ec, 1 cr:

~ Home Economics Household and Personal Management Skills
~ Home Economics Kitchen Skills

 

PE, ½  cr:

~ Rec Softball {Fall/Spring}

 

Drivers Ed, ½ cr: (1st  semester)

 

Extras:

~ Montana also works as a Mother’s Helper 5 hours a week

 ~ PSAT prep ~ 45 minutes/day, 4 days a week 

 

* Just as my older girls have done, Montana will sit for the PSAT in October to get her first look and baseline score as a 10^th grader. 

 

Total credits ~ 10.00

 

 

McKenzie has made huge strides over the last year, especially in her reading, Latin, and spelling! For 6^th grade she took two online courses, Apologia General Science and Latin Transition 1 with Veritas Scholars Academy. It was a great fit and the right amount of push she needed. This year she will not be taking any online courses because of timing issues, but hopefully next year course times will work a bit better for her schedule. McKenzie is still interested in being either a Chemist or a Gymnastics Coach/Manager. I’m excited to be feeding her excitement for studying Chemistry this year. Here’s what McKenzie will be learning.

7th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Apologetics:

~ Sonlight Bible H

~ It Couldn’t Just Happen *we are going to use this as a devotional and stretch it to fit the whole school year with the lesson plans I have.

Recitation:

~ Rhetoric/Latin/Math memory work from Classical Conversations

Math:

~ * At My Pace Pre-Algebra with High School Math Live

~ Pre-Algebra with Saxon 8/7 using DIVE

*we are currently reviewing the first half of this math program.

Language Arts:

~ Rod & Staff Grammar 7

~ Rod & Staff Spelling 6

~ Sonlight Literature H

~ Doodle & Do Vocabulary

~ Analogies For Us All from CC Challenge A

~ IEW Structure & Style, Level B

~ Current Events with World Magazine

History:

~ Sonlight Core H

Geography:

~ CC Cartography course from Challenge A

Latin, 1 cr:

~ Latin Alive 2 *we will count this course for high school credit

Logic:

~ Fallacy Dectective 

Science:

~ Elemental Science Chemistry for Logic Stage

PE:

~ Level 8 (9) Developmental Program Gymnastics Team, 26 hours/week

Extras:

~ co-op enrichment courses

Total credit ~ 1.00

Micah is moving ahead to 3^rd grade, wow! It seems just like yesterday that he was just going into Kindergarten. Cliché, I know, but nonetheless I am excited that my baby boy is growing up. He is a strong reader (yes!) and doing great in math as well. Years ago I did Classical Conversations Foundations at home with the older girls so I am planning on doing the same this year with Micah. We will be focusing on the memory work for Recitation as we work through Sonlight’s Core C that we dropped for 2^nd grade. Micah is also looking forward to starting his formal study of Latin this year. As of right now he would like to be a baseball player or a military officer. Here’s what Micah will be learning next school year.

3rd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Apologetics:

~ Sonlight Bible C

~ Thy Ology

Recitation:

~ Classical Conversations Foundations Memory work (at home)

Math:

~ Saxon Math 3 

Language Arts:

~ Rod & Staff Grammar 3

~ Rod & Staff Spelling 4

~ Sonlight Literature 3/4 Readers

~ A Reason for Writing, C

~ Writing across the curriculum

History / Geography:

~ Sonlight Core C

Latin:

~ Latin for Children A

Science:

~ Elemental Science Chemistry for Grammar Stage

PE:

~ Fall / Spring baseball

Extras:

~ co-op enrichment courses

~ Cub Scouts Wolf

Thanks for reading our plans! Have you started thinking about what you will use for next school year? I would love to hear your plans! Drop me a note below in the comments and let’s keep the conversation going.

 © 2008 - 2022 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author. 

 https://astablebeginning.com