McCullough Schoolhouse :: 2nd Grade + 1st Grade

Today was our first day back to {home}school! Eli and Maddie are in 2nd Grade, and Aiden started 1st Grade :)

Eli is ready to crush 2nd Grade!

Aiden is "Nacho" average 1st grader ;)

We kicked off the day with our usual "back to school" breakfast. We decided to do pigs in a blanket again this year :)

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It's hard to believe this is already our third year homeschooling {fourth, if you count pre-K}! We made it through our first year of providing proof of progress, and it was comforting to have an outside opinion confirm that the kids were on track. So while I knew in my heart that they were doing well, it gives me that much more confidence moving into this new year. I can put some of those lingering doubts to rest and just focus on teaching to my kids' individual needs and having a good year!

So what's on deck for second and first grade?

Morning Time: This time consists of multiple elements:

• Daily hymn
• Catechism
• Character Cards
• World Prayer
• Etiquette Training

We will continue learning/singing a selected hymn each week from Then Sings My Soul by Robert J. Morgan. We will also continue learning our catechisms by walking through The New City Catechism for Kids from The Gospel Coalition. We will use the curriculum that goes with it, which we started last year. The extra activities/illustrations helped us go more in depth with each catechism. We also use the songs in the app, and it's honestly the best way the kids learn the catechisms. 

We will also continue using the Character Matters Cards from September and Co. I introduce one new character trait a week, read the Bible verse that connects, and then we talk about ways we can express the trait. At the kids' request, we will reintroduce our Window on the World: An Operation World Prayer Resource book, where we read about a country in the world and pray over the physical and spiritual needs of the country. We had kind of moved away from it last year because we just had so many things to do in the morning, but when your kids ask to pray for the world, you make time for that :)

Something new we will add this year is some etiquette training. I kind of got at my wits end with some bad manners that my children were exhibiting and decided we needed some extra training. So we will make it more formal and will walk through Connoisseur Kids: Etiquette, Manners, and Living Well for Parents and Their Little Ones. We'll see how it goes ;)

Bible:

For our formal Bible curriculum, we will be in the New Testament with the Bible Road Trip curriculum that we have used in the past. It's Year Three from Thinking Kids Press. We will continue reading through the ESV Big Picture Bible, which is what we transitioned to last year. Everyone will get to do some of the notebooking pages to help practice handwriting and narration skills, and I have also added in a few coloring pages from Lithos Kids, as that was a more requested activity last year. Plus, we received their New Testament and Parables of Jesus coloring pages when we purchased those Bible sets. I did also add in a few art prints that match our studies to help round out our Bible time this year.

Language Arts: 

• Spelling- Eli and Maddie will move to Modern Curriculum Press' Spelling Workout B, and Aiden will start with Spelling Workout A.
• Grammar- We will do grammar twice a week, and we will use First Language Lessons- Level Two from the Well Trained Mind. Aiden did great with Level One last year, so I have no doubt he will be able to stick with us with Level Two this year.
• Writing- We will continue our daily handwriting practice with Zaner-Bloser Handwriting workbooks. Eli and Maddie will start cursive this year, and Aiden will start the Grade 1 manuscript book. We will also start Writing with Ease Level 2 for literature and writing skills.
• Reading- Eli and Maddie will wrap up the final lessons in The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading {OPG}- we're in the home stretch! They have both made huge strides in their reading, and I am so proud of their progress. I want to cry just thinking about how far we have come. They still have a good bit of work to do to practice fluency, but they have the mechanics down and are doing great with their phonics rules. We will get in more practice by having them read more of their work in other subjects {less of Mommy doing it for them!} Aiden will continue his lessons in the same book, taking breaks to practice with BOB Books and to use the ABC See Hear Do books. He needed to take a few steps back in the book over the summer to get a better footing with his phonics, and I think he is making much better progress now.

Family Read Alouds: So for this year, we're going to walk through the wardrobe, and we are going to make our way through The Chronicles of Narnia! We are going to start the year off by reading about C.S. Lewis and how he came to write the beloved stories of Narnia. Then we will make our way through the series. And yes- we are going to read them in publication order ;)

• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
• Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
• The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
• The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
• The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
• The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

Math: We will continue our previous math curriculum, but will be making a few adjustments. Eli will be moving forward with Kate Snow's Second Grade Math with Confidence, and Maddie and Aiden will be reviewing First Grade Math with Confidence. I want to give them a little more time to build a good foundation with their math skills before pushing them forward, so we're going to see how this year {or even just this first semester goes}. As I was planning out the year, I already knew which concepts we would move through quicker, or could skip altogether, so we may finish faster than the end of the school year and be ready to move on sooner. But I will wait to see before making that final decision. I just know that moving them on right now is not the right answer. 

History: This is probably the kids' favorite subject! They LOVED The Story of the World, so we will continue with The Story of the World Volume 2: The Middle Ages, supplementing with the following:

• Usborne Book of World History
• The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
• The Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World
• Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History
• Relevant library books

We will have a mixture of read alouds and narration, maps/coloring pages, and activities/crafts. As with the Ancient Times, this will be a broad overview, but a good introduction to history for the kids. There will be a lot of knights and princesses, so they're going to eat it up :)

Science: We did much better with science last year, and the kids really enjoyed it {probably their second favorite subject!} So we will continue with the same format, but will move on to earth and space. 

We will use the following texts this year:

• Usborne First Encyclopedia of Our World
• Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space
• DK Mysteries of the Universe

And just like with history, we will check out relevant books at the library, based on the topics we are covering that week. We will do narration and keep a notebook of what we learn. I'm hoping to get a few field trips in as well.

Foreign Language- Spanish: Last year, the kids asked to learn Spanish, so I found a basic program that was perfect as an introduction to the language, to see how they would do with it. They loved it and want to continue learning the language, so I made the jump into a more formal curriculum this year. We will be using Song School Spanish Book 1 from Classical Academic Press. There are teaching videos, songs, activities, and a workbook, so I am hopeful we will begin seeing some more progress with our language skills! After reading Fancy Nancy and watching the Olympics, Maddie is already wanting to learn French, and I'm needing girlfriend to slow down and learn one language at a time haha!

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I have been reflecting a lot on our homeschooling journey. Praying a lot. I think back to those beginning days, when homeschooling wasn't even a thought in my mind. In fact, it was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do. The Lord was whispering to my heart that He wanted me to take a step of faith and homeschool my kids, and I was {basically} ignoring Him. I didn't want to do it. I wanted to send them to school. I wasn't qualified to teach them. I didn't have enough patience; I was convinced I would ruin my relationship with them. I knew I wouldn't be enough for them. I just couldn't do it. I fought with the Lord for a year. That whole pre-K year, as I homeschooled them, I was preparing them for school. And He patiently waited me out.

I did finally {obviously} come around, but I was definitely reluctant. I was doing it to be obedient to what the Lord was asking me to do, but I remember keeping in my back pocket the idea that I could go drop them off at school at any point. They had to take them. By law. And please hear me: I wasn't trying to escape my children. I just was trying to escape homeschooling them. Because that was what I was scared to do. But over time, the Lord has worked in my heart and it's not the scary thing I had once thought. Do I know everything that I am doing? Of course not. Is it still scary? Sometimes. But I have grown to {are you ready for it?} LOVE homeschooling my kids. 

Now, I am not the homeschool mom who rolls her own beeswax candles, forages for mushrooms, or dissects owl pellets. I tried the 1000 Hours Outside and learned very quickly that we won't come close. But that's ok, because we're not inside on screens, and that was kind of the whole purpose anyway, right, to replace screens? I do want my kids to spend time outside and have good adventures, but I don't like mud, so we won't be the family crawling around in the dirt or walking barefoot through the forest. But we will curl up with good books, go on trail hikes, go play at the park, and have dance parties in our living room. And that's ok. Because that's what works for us.

I love getting to tailor our kids' education to meet their interests and needs. I love that I can choose the educational philosophy that I resonate with and can offer my kids a feast of learning opportunities through good books, play, and hands-on activities/field trips. I love that we can get our studies done in an efficient amount of time, so that they can focus on things that interest them. I love watching their little minds work and getting a front row seat to their learning process. I love the freedom that homeschooling has given our family to rearrange our schedule in the way that best fits our family rhythms. I love that it has given us the gift of time as a family, that we can purposely slow down in the midst of this busy Northern Virginia culture, and choose to give our kids a different pace of life. To let them be kids and play and rest, and push back the stress and demands of the world just a little bit longer. I love that we can cultivate our family relationships more deeply and intentionally, along with those of our church family. 

It's not all sunshine and rainbows. I'm still not very patient. I want to pull my hair out when I have tried 50 ways to show them one concept and they stare at me with blank faces haha. My kids are probably missing out on something somewhere {because there is no one perfect way to educate a child}. But I have no doubt that this is where the Lord wants us for right now, and it has been a huge blessing for our family.

I am thankful for homeschooling and the chance to homeschool my kids for another year!