Year in Review: 2015-2016

As the "school year" comes to a close, I usually reflect on a two simple things from the year: what worked and what didn't work. This year was a year of many many curriculum changes! I don't think we have ever swapped curriculum as much as we have this year! I was not happy with several curriculum choices {and still am not with a few}. It does make it a little harder on the kids when we make changes, but sometimes it really works for them. Being on the Schoolhouse Review Crew has brought some extra curriculum into our home to review, and some we have stuck with.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK:

Heart of Dakota: We started the year with Heart of Dakota. I love the idea of this curriculum, and there are some great ideas and products within it, but it didn't work for us.

Fun-Schooling: We then started Fun-Schooling with journals from the Thinking Tree. Those were fun for a while, and I loved my kids using them, but my kids grew tired of them quickly, so we dropped them.

Christian Light: My oldest daughter started off with Christian Light for several subjects, but very quickly we dropped those! Not for us. Thank goodness they take returns.

WHAT DID WORK:

BiblioPlan: I have said many, many times how much I love this program! We are on Week 12, and I love it more each week. All of the kids can sit and listen and participate to their own ability. The text is interesting and holds the kids attention!

Math-U-See: Silas has been using the Primer level and doing great with this math program! I am very impressed with it.

Learning Language Arts Through Literature: We have just started using this, but it's just what I wanted in a language arts program!

Writers in Residence: Mikaela loves this writing curriculum, and it's just the right balance of writing instruction and grammar.

Before Five in a Row & Five in a Row: Although we quit using BFIAR and FIAR, it worked wonderfully for my 3 younger kids. I plan to use FIAR with Mercie and Silas next year for their enrichment {science, history, geography, art}. I got overwhelmed trying to do BFIAR and FIAR! Lesson learned. :-)

EACH CHILD'S FAVORITE CURRICULUM PRODUCT:

Mikaela: She is enjoying the Memoria Press Literature Guides and Writers in Residence, two review items we received!

Eli: He started Rod and Staff math a few weeks ago, but he already loves it.

Mercie: She has been using Singapore math 2A and 2B all year and loves it! She is nearly through with 2B. She also liked FIAR.

Silas: He loves Math-U-See and looks forward to doing it each day. He also likes playing games from the Logic of English's Foundations A.

HOMESCHOOL METHOD THAT WORKS:

Family Learning works for us although as Mikaela moves into 8th grade, she may do her history and science independently rather than with everyone. We also employ many Charlotte Mason methods, although we are not 100% CM.

As the year comes to a close, and we prepare to spend some time off for the summer, it's fun and very helpful to reflect on the things that we used, the things we don't want to use anymore, and the things that work well.

Next, I'll be posting our tentative plan for 2016-2017!


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