I am really excited about the upcoming school year! We have made our curriculum choices and have most of the books that we will be using. I will only be homeschooling three children this year as my oldest graduated from high school last month. My oldest son will be attending the local community college and finishing up his 2 year degree. He is excited about only having 2 semesters to finish before he will move on to a university. We are extremely proud of all he has accomplished thus far.

My oldest daughter, who will be entering the 8th grade, will be using Tapestry of Grace. She will be doing Year 1, From Creation to the Fall of Rome.

We used Tapestry of Grace 2 years ago and she loved it. However, due to funds, we didn’t use it last year. This year, someone gave our family a $300 gift certificate to Lampstand Press and we were able to buy the bulk of the main material. Then another blessing happened. A fellow homeschooler sent me an e-mail and said she had a lot of books she could let me borrow for Year 1! I sent her the list since I bought the redesigned TOG and she had quite a few on the list. Which means that I will have even less to buy. God is so good! I know it is meant for us to use this curriculum since He has used others to provide the majority of the curriculum for us. Yes, we do serve an awesome and mighty God! Tapestry of Grace will cover History, Literature, Bible, Geography, Government, Writing and Art. We will add in Teaching Textbooks for math, Apologia for Physical Science, dance lessons as well as Piano lessons. We are still talking about a foreign language. However, she has mentioned she wanted to learn Greek. I am thinking we may add Spanish though.

As for my soon to be 1st and 2nd grade youngsters, we will be using Bob Jones and Hooked On Phonics this year.

This is a very big change from last year. I started out with Sonlight last year and just could not get it to work for us. Back in February, I finally just gave up on Sonlight and ordered Hooked On Phonics and Bob Jones math. We read a lot of Science and History books as well as worked on writing. They just seem to work better at this time with worksheets. Thankfully a homeschooling friend was going to sell her Bob Jones that she had used the past several years and I was able to purchase the teacher manuals and textbooks for a reasonable price. I just need to place an order for the consumable workbooks and we will be all set for the year. Hooked on Phonics, Reading and Math will be covered daily. I will alternate Science and History throughout the week. I want them to have fun while learning and not overwhelm them.

The only decision that is left is when to begin the formal book learning! I am thinking perhaps the 2nd week of August. That will give me time to order what few books we do not have yet and give them time to get here. I know I am looking forward to getting back on some kind of schedule. However, I may ease back into schooling and just start with what I already have on hand.

What plans do you have for your upcoming year? Are you trying any new curriculum? When do you plan on starting school, or do you school year round? I can’t wait to hear from you!

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