Getting Ready to Homeschool: Last Minute Tips

Whether you are new to homeschooling or not, getting ready for a new homeschool year can bring many emotions and thoughts. There is the excitement of seeing your children learn alongside you, the worry that you will not do enough to teach your children, and the questions you ask as to whether or not the curriculum will work for each of your children. Through all the eagerness to get started and the anxiety that bubbles up, I want to remind you can homeschool your children. No matter if you need to use three math programs and two different foreign languages, you will be able to homeschool your children.

Finding a Curriculum That Works for You and Your Children 

There are so many options that finding curriculum can feel overwhelming. Perhaps you found what you thought was the perfect fit, but then you started using it. You read lots of reviews, watched numerous vlogs that showed you an inside look, but the curriculum just doesn't work for your family. 

Do not be afraid to put the curriculum aside. This could mean that you resell it, throw it out, or never log in again. Yes, this might hurt to do if you spent a lot of money on the curriculum. I like to pinch pennies and use what I have – especially if I paid a pretty penny for it – but nothing is worth the aggravation and stress an ill-fitting curriculum will give you. 

As a reviewer, there have been several products that are wonderful but not for us. There was even one where I could see my son learning typing and spelling skills, but he did not like it. He stalled having to complete the tasks every day. The fact that it was online and timed was causing him stress. I reevaluated and, after the review period, we took a step back for a few months. We went back to it once before our subscription expired but even after the hiatus it still did not work for him. So, we did not use it again for our son. And I would make the same choice even if I had paid for the subscription. Nothing is worth causing friction in my relationship with my son. 

In the past, I have shared several posts looking at specific curriculum for different subject areas, so I won't go into great detail on all your options in this post. I will recommend you remember even if you purchased something that is not working for you, seek out assistance from the company. They may have advice to offer you. And try not to spread your dissatisfaction across social media. Constructive criticism is one thing, but complaining just to complain doesn't help anyone. It is okay to say this did not work for us while remembering it can work for someone else.

Homeschooling Resources: Mathematics 

Homeschooling Resources: Language Arts

Homeschooling with Curriculum: Creating a Connection

How Do You Pick a History Curriculum? 

Ask for Help 

Don't forget to ask for help if you are struggling - even early in the homeschool year. There is a multitude of places where you can go for encouragement, from small blogs like mine to curriculum companies. You could reach out to members at your church or find a local homeschool co-op. On our homeschooling journey, one of the things I learned early on was that homeschoolers love to help other homeschoolers. 

Give Yourself Grace 

One homeschool tip to remember all year round is that you should give yourself grace. You and your children will make mistakes. That is okay. Even if you are a veteran homeschooler, you might need to find a new groove as your life circumstances change. If you are new, every day may seem like a challenge. I encourage you to take a day (or week) off if you need to. And if you need to track hours in your state or country for homeschooling, look at what constitutes life skills. I guarantee you there are many hours each day where you are homeschooling life skills. 

It is hard to give ourselves grace, but it is important. Our family is working through a unique set of circumstances. My mother moved in with us, and then she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. This causes daily disruptions, scheduled and unscheduled, as I take care of her. I have had to change how I homeschool our younger children. So, they have a bit more independent work. I have also had to look at when we homeschool. Some nights, our son and I work on his language arts after dinner.

There are days when I feel like I am not doing everything that needs to be done while homeschooling them, but then I remember (or I am reminded) to give myself grace. They are clothed, fed, and clean. They can read, write, and do arithmetic. They enjoy learning new things. They have compassion. From book learning to learning how to care for others, their days are filled with valuable lessons. 

I pray you have a successful homeschool year. Remember, your year may look different from everyone else's, and that is perfectly fine!

Record Keeping in Our Homeschool

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Every homeschool is different. And depending on where you live, you may find the need to keep more records of homeschool work and grades than we do. I highly recommend you check out the laws and regulations of your home state or country to find out just exactly what you need to keep track of for your homeschool. A great place to start is with the Home School Legal Defense Association. They can give you the proper advice as to what you need to maintain the documentation you need.

Keeping Records for Our Younger Children 

We have three children and we keep records differently for them. For our younger children, every day they are learning. If I kept every piece of paper they used on a daily basis to homeschool and learn, we would have a flood of paper. Now that our younger son is entering second grade, he has decided he wants me to grade his work - at least his math work - and supply him with a number and letter grade. So for the past several weeks, I have been grading his math worksheets, checking them for accuracy, and then writing down a grade. I even pulled out my stamps from when I was a teacher to add a 'good job' to his homeschool work.

Most of the work that our younger children complete is done with me sitting with them or near them so I know right away whether or not they are getting questions wrong. And when they are working online with programs like CTCMath, they are given immediate feedback as to whether or not they get the problems correct. I can even download reports from some online homeschooling programs so I can keep copies of their records from that program after the subscription ends.

Keeping Records for Our High School Student 

Our high schooler has the intention to start his own business after graduation. So, our methods of record-keeping are a bit different than if he had the intention to go onto a two-year or four-year college. He attended one year of public high school, so I have his transcript from his freshman year. I can take those grades and incorporate those into our record-keeping program so that I can calculate out his entire high school career's grades. We are using Applecore through our SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership to keep track of our high schooler's course grades as well as to calculate his transcript.

The first step I take in keeping records for our high schooler is to input his grades into an excel spreadsheet. I use one sheet for each course and I have been putting classwork/daily tasks in one column, quizzes in a second column, and tests and projects in a third column. When I calculate his grades, I have been counting his tests and projects as worth more than the daily work he completes. After I calculate the final grade for each course, I use a chart to find the letter grade and then record this information into Applecore. From there, the program will create a report card or transcript for me.

Final Thoughts

Many new-to-homeschooling families may be very concerned about grades and record keeping. I think it is important, as I mentioned earlier, that you follow any state requirements. But beyond those requirements, I think it is more important that our children actually understand the information than they have all As or Bs. Yes, if they understand the information, they are more likely to have 'good grades,' but I do not think they should be penalized too harshly for their mistakes. For example, we are keeping more grades for our teen as I will create a transcript for him in case he wishes to go onto higher education. However, I make sure that his regular work – what might be considered classwork and homework if he attended public school – is not weighted as much as work he completes as quizzes or tests. Those are the opportunities he has to demonstrate his knowledge—through these written documents as well as the conversations we have about the different topics he is studying.

Keeping records first depends upon your state requirements and then depends on what you feel is important for documentation. In the younger years, that may mean a lot of photographs of projects (that get too big to store forever) or boxes full of artwork. As your children get older, you might find that more and more of their work is saved digitally. I love that there are so many options for keeping records while we homeschool.

Top Five Homeschooling Curriculum Choices

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There are so many awesome curriculum choices available! It is very easy to get overwhelmed with all the options available to homeschooling families. There are some companies where you can purchase an entire curriculum for the whole school year for one price. Others provide you with options to purchase individual products for specific subject areas. As we have been members of the Homeschool Review Crew for the past two years, we have used a variety of materials and have discovered quite a few favorites.

Top Five Homeschooling Curriculum Choices in Our Homeschool 

SchoolhouseTeachers.com – Every Subject. Every Grade. Every Student.

I first came across SchoolhouseTeachers.com several years ago when I saw that they had positions for lesson designers. I was so very excited to write courses for them because I LOVE writing curriculum. That was one of my favorite parts of being a teacher. A short while later, I joined the Homeschool Review Crew and then our high school student decided to join us on the homeschooling journey. We use SchoolhouseTeachers.com almost exclusively for our high schooler. There are 475 courses for PK-12 grade. If you need math for first, second, or third grade, there are options for your homeschool. If you are looking for courses in British Literature or American Literature, there are courses you can use in your homeschool. So many great options!

This year, SchoolhouseTeachers.com introduced School Boxes. No matter if you are a brand new homeschooler or a veteran homeschool mom, you can use the virtual Homeschool Curriculum Boxes to help plan your homeschool year. The new Curriculum Box provides all the content you need to provide an entire school year's worth of curriculum. You can just open and go! And if you already have a great social studies curriculum (for example), you do not need to use that curriculum guide. It is all up to you as a homeschool parent.

History Homeschool Curriculum Resources 

There are many homeschooling history resources that I found over the past several years. Because I love history, I constantly seek out historical material. WriteBonnieRose shares a great number of history-related resources that allow students of various ages to learn about history as well as to practice their copywork. I also love using materials from Notgrass History and Home School in the Woods in our homeschool.

Notgrass History 

Last year, our teen used Exploring Government for his junior year. During his studies using the textbook and accompanying materials, he explored the government of the United States from the beginning to the present day. Everything was laid out in a clear, easy-to-understand manner that made Exploring Government not only a class that was simple to include in his homeschool day but also very valuable. He learned about how government operates at the federal, state, and local levels as well as the various issues that are important to the United States today. (I also really enjoyed reading the textbook and learned a lot myself!)

This year, we will be using Our Star-Spangled Story for our second grader. When I was looking at history options for our younger son, I fell in love with the samples that Notgrass History provides for Our Star-Spangled Story (well, for all their materials to be honest). The textbooks are beautiful with full-color photographs and illustrations. I bought the bundle that combines the curriculum and literature packages so that we have all the books to read along with Our Star-Spangled Story. I love that we will be including songs, dances, and hands-on activities with reading to learn history this year.

Home School in the Woods

Another fantastic company that I love for history resources is Home School in the Woods. We have been fortunate enough to review several of their products over the years with both of our sons – including resources to learn about the election, a Lap-Pak to learn about knights, and unit studies on the Renaissance and Reformation and the American Civil War. I love that their materials are digital. So, with a family license, I can use the material for all three of our children very easily.

Schooling with Games, Foreign Languages, and More! 

Timberdoodle 

Timberdoodle is a great company that offers complete curriculum packages for purchase. They offer different levels such as elite, complete, and basic as well as religious and nonreligious kits. These options make them a good choice for families who are secular homeschoolers and for those who are religious homeschoolers, too. And if you do not need an entire curriculum package, they offer many of the items for individual sale. In the past, we have purchased science materials from them such as Apologia's Exploring Creation with Astronomy, the Curious Chef 3-Piece Nylon Knife Set, and Channie's My First Letters tracing pad.

We have also been fortunate enough to review several games from Timberdoodle including:

• Gobblet Gobblers - A fun twist on Tic-Tac-Toe 
• Tenzi Game and Tenzi Card Deck 
• Bugzzle 

I love that we can incorporate games into our homeschool day to help work on critical thinking skills, problem-solving, cooperation, and teamwork. Games provide a great brain break for the day, too. 

Memoria Press – Studying Latin 

If you are looking for a curriculum that takes a classical approach to education, then I recommend Memoria Press. And just what is classical education? According to Memoria Press, "classical education is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue through the study of the liberal arts and the Great Books."

Memoria Press also offers full curriculum packages or allows homeschoolers to purchase just the materials they need for their homeschool. We have used a number of their products, including the First Start Reading Program, their Simply Classical Writing, and Prima Latina.  I love their approach to teaching and the quality of the materials. We started reviewing Prima Latina with our younger son at the start of the summer and we will pick up the curriculum again this school year. I love that Prima Latina can be purchased with a DVD so that I don't have to worry about my own pronunciation of the Latin. Our son can learn along with the instructor in the videos. That makes it so much easier to teach a foreign language!

What are your Top Five Homeschooling Curriculum Choices? Where do you turn for great curriculum for your homeschool?

Yesterday we shared our must have resources...please see what everyone shared on their blogs!


Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses shares My Must Have Homeschool Resources.
Kristen @ A Mom's Quest to Teach shares Homeschooling Must Have Resources and Supplies in Our Home.
Annette @ A Net in Time shares Nature Study Bring Alongs.
Jessica @ My Homeschool with a View shares My Top 5 Homeschool Supplies.
Dawn @ Schoolin' Swag shares Must Have Supplies ... For Mom.
Vicki B @ Tumbleweed News shares Homeschool Must Have Resources / Supplies.
Yvonne @ The Life We Build shares her Top 5 Favorite Homeschool Supplies and Resources.
Lori @ At Home: Where Life Happens shares Homeschool Supplies... Squirrel.

Homeschooling Must Have Resources and Supplies in Our Home

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

If you read ten homeschool blog posts about must-have resources and supplies, you might find ten different lists. There might be some similarities like a library card or access to the Internet but the lists will also be diverse because there are so many different homeschooling styles and materials available. And your own personal list of must-have resources might change as your children get older and grow. For example, arts and crafts supplies might change from crayons and markers to watercolor paints and acrylic paints.

Must Have Resources in Our Homeschool

One of the items that is of great importance in our homeschool is an editable digital planner. I love using a planner that allows me to type in the weekly homeschool work and then print it out so that I can share it with our teen son. I usually like to type in two to three weeks' worth of work and then print them out each week. If we have changes, I can easily copy and paste in future weeks. Using an editable PDF planner allows me to prepare the schedule for our son as well as creates a record of work completed.

Other must-haves in our homeschool are binders and a good three-hole punch. While we use a variety of materials for homeschooling from online programs like CTCMath (where I do not need to print papers) to printed books for studying languages like Latin, we also incorporate many courses from SchoolhouseTeachers.com from which I print work for our children to complete. Having binders for each of them is a must for organization. I usually print our children's work two to three weeks in advance so – if we need to make a change – I will not have wasted a lot of printing or time.

So having a stack of binders of various sizes, a good hole punch, and divider pages are very helpful for our homeschool!

Another must-have resource in our homeschool is our subscription to Minno.  As parents, we want to ensure that our children are watching appropriate television shows and Minno helps us accomplish this goal. It is a perfect fit for our younger children. The service provides a fun way to approach our Bible study and character development. They can watch old favorites like Veggie Tales (and Minno has been adding more episodes) or new programs put together specifically for recent events like Church at Home.

Supplies in Our Homeschool 

There are quite a few items that make homeschooling easier. From pens and pencils to notebooks and folders, the back to school aisles provide many options of varying designs and styles. We are fortunate that our basic supplies – pens, pencils, crayons, scissors, etc. – last us from year to year. We do not have to pack them up into a book bag and send them to school. It always amazed me the state of our son's supplies when he cleaned out his desk at the end of the year when he attended public school.

There is one supply we have to restock on a regular basis for younger children – scrap paper. Our younger children LOVE to draw, so having extra paper available for them is very important. They can use it for drawing, mathematics work, spelling, etc. Previously, I had given them a lot of the papers and pages from when I was teaching but they have since depleted most of those pages. So, a few times a year, we pick up a ream of printer paper for them to use as their scrap paper.

What makes your list of must-have resources and supplies for your homeschool? Do we share any favorites?

Check out yesterday's posts from our Not Back to School Blog Hop 

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses shares Homeschool Traditions.
Yvie @ Homeschool on the Range shares 20 Best Educational Subscription Boxes (we let the kids choose a new one at the beginning of each school year)
Dawn @ Schoolin' Swag shares Back to School Traditions.
Vickie B @ Tumbleweed News shares Homeschool Traditions {NOT Back-to-School Blog Hop}
Adrienne B @ Practicalmindedness shares on Traditions that seal the heart.
Teresa B @ Teresa Brouillette shaes Homeschool Traditions.
Annette V @ A Net in Time shares Starting a New School Year.
Kristen @ A Mom's Quest to Teach shares Homeschooling Taditions for the New Year.
Lori @ At Home: Where Life Happens shares Traditions for Back to School.
Yvonne @ The Life We Build shares Our Homeschool Traditions.

Homeschooling Traditions for the New School Year

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Every new year, there are expectations as to what will happen on that very first day of school. Many kids (and teachers) can't sleep the night before the first day of school. What about for homeschooling families? Perhaps the first day of a new homeschool year is not as stressful as the first day of a child attending a public or private school but it can still bring joy and fun.

The new school year always brought on the nerves for me. As a child, I was very shy. I still tend to be shy around new people or in new situations. Meeting new people or seeing classmates after an entire summer apart was often very scary for me. When I became a public school teacher, I still was nervous regarding the first day of school. I taught many freshman classes so these students were new to our school and the whole high school experience. How would they react to new systems and new teachers? Would I be able to reach them and help them learn to enjoy studying history?

Our New School Year Homeschooling Traditions

While our children do not have the same worries as I did as a child and we technically homeschool year-round, I do like to start each new year off with special recognition. We started a new tradition of taking a "first day of school" photograph with our three children. I create an individualized poster for each child to hold with their grade, school year, and image to color with the name of our homeschool to hold in the photo. These 8.5-by-11-inch posters are then used as the front cover of their current school year binder.

New Traditions for 2020-2021

This year we are instituting a new tradition for our first not-back-to-school dinner. We will be having dessert for dinner! What a fun way to make the day special ending with a special meal! We have only done dessert for dinner once so far and our kids loved it. We served ice cream, candy, cake, and cookies. I wonder what else we will serve this time.

We also picked up brand new binders for our two youngest so that I can better organize their papers from the various online resources we have access to in our homeschool. I am thinking of using new binders each year for our children will be a great way to create portfolios of their school work.

Wordless Wednesday: Our Homeschool

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We are officially back to school! Here are some of the photos I took around our schooling rooms (which is mostly the living room and dining room) for a mostly Wordless Wednesday post.

We use our calendar to keep track of everything from trips to the library as well as when I will be sharing different reviews and blog posts. 

I love having this quote visible to me at all times when I am blogging and homeschooling.

I love having the map of the United States at the level of the kids so they can find states, cities, and bodies of water. 

I keep extra worksheets for our younger children to work on and complete when they are bored while one is working on the laptop in a file holder on the wall.

I am using this large canvas crate to hold our books and workbooks when we are not homeschooling. Each day I pull out the ones we need and place them on the dining room table for our schooling day. 

How do you organize your homeschool? 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Back to School for the Homeschool Year: 2019-2020

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Our family is very excited about the upcoming homeschool year of 2019-2020! There are so many excellent resources available for families of all sizes and I am very excited to share this overview of what we will be using with our own family. And we are so thankful that we have the opportunity to homeschool our children.

What are the Main Subjects We Will Be Studying? 

We will be focusing upon mathematics, language arts, the sciences, and social studies as our four main core subjects in our homeschool. Each of our three children in our household will focus upon the age-appropriate level of materials and skills focus. Our teen will also focus on photography as an elective as he hopes to make that his future career.

What are Some of the Courses We Were Thinking About? 

With so many different resources available for homeschooling families, what were some of the courses and topics we were interested in studying?

When using SchoolhouseTeachers.com, I use their bookmark feature to save courses that our teen and younger children might be interested in studying. I can also save courses that I might like to take a look at for myself!

In other cases, I highlight, use post-its, and fold pages in the catalogs of companies like Memoria Press and Timberdoodle when I see something exciting that I might like to incorporate into our homeschool.  And of course, I also use online wishlists and bookmark websites when I can.

Sample of Course Topics and Titles

• Botany
• A Study of Extraordinary Women in the Bible 
• World History
• Digital Art and Product Design for Small Businesses 
• Christian Values in J.R.R. Tolkien 
• Chemistry 
• Algebra II 
• Writing: Advertising Copy 
• Appreciating the Gift of Music 
• American History: First Grade 
• Manners and Health Habits for Preschoolers 

Take a Closer Look at the Courses and Materials We Will Be Using 

You can click on the images to visit my individual blog posts about each subject area. 

From books about events and biographies to using materials I prepared when I was teaching high school history, we have so many great materials at our fingertips for history!

From our daughter who is learning to read using Learning Dynamics and the Fluency Builder of Dyslexia Gold to our middle child who loves to read and is learning about grammar using Simply Classical Writing from Memoria Press, we have so many great resources for language arts. And we are incorporating the genre of books that our teen enjoys reading to work on essay writing and research paper skills.

Science is a subject that can be studied together with a few simple changes depending on the age of the homeschooled child. While our younger son may actually be completing all the required work associated with the Astronomy course we are using, our daughter is joining in for the read-alouds and experiments. And as our teen studied botany this year, our younger children will also learn about flowers, plants, and trees. 

All three of our children will be using CTCMath for their mathematics course this year. I love that everything is together. It makes it so much easier to keep track of for this homeschooling mom.

We will be able to focus upon photography this homeschool year with our teen who wishes to pursue that as his career. And we can also incorporate courses that will help all three of our children become members of our family that can help with cooking and cleaning. These are valuable skills they will need when they eventually move into their own home.

Ready to Start 

We follow a modified year-round homeschooling schedule with our teen getting more free time during the summer. Our younger children continue to complete assignments during the summer but with a lot more freedom to learn through exploration.

Personally, I can't wait to pick out their first day of school outfit and line them up for those cute photographs! Last year we made signs for them to hold and then these were used as their portfolio covers for the year. 

What are Our Favorite Essential Items? 

There are so many resources and materials for schooling and homeschooling that it can be overwhelming. I think the most important items are those that work best for your family. Some enjoy using online learning while others prefer pencil and paper. I find the basics in our home include the same times used for any student: pencil, paper, notebooks, paper, and binders along with subscriptions to important programs to accompany the books, textbooks, and workbooks we are using.

How do you get ready to go back to school? 

A Quest for a Great Homeschool Year: Electives in our 2019-2020 Homeschool Year

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

What is an elective? In high school, electives are often those considered outside of the main course of study (English, math, history, science, and foreign language). Electives can be those chosen by the high school student that relate to their interest like choir or playing an instrument for fun, improving a skill, related to a future career, or even something along the lines of economics or study of laws and government.

Examples of electives include:

• Study of World Culture 
• Church History 
• Marketing
• Accounting 
• Creative Writing 
• Public Speaking 
• Graphic Design 
• Drawing 
• Home Economics
• Debate 
• And more

In one's homeschool, there are so many options and ideas that it might even seem overwhelming. After all, if our children are involved in the day-to-day tasks of helping to keep, manage, and run the home, they will be learning about cooking, budgeting, and more just through daily interactions. As the very classes that students need to become successful homeowners are often those that school districts cut first (home economics courses like sewing and cooking or woodworking), that makes homeschooling and incorporating electives all the more important. 

Electives are where we get to have a lot of fun in picking courses, resources, and materials. With our oldest son's goal to become a photographer, we are able to select from a variety of courses through SchoolhouseTeachers.com that allows him to build the skill set he needs to accomplish this goal.

High School

Photography 

Our teen has shown a keen interest in starting his own photography business so why not take the time to learn the basics of photography during his homeschool year? The online Photography class at SchoolhouseTeachers.com covers the functions of a camera, composition, and elements of design. It also provides the opportunity to take photographs that fit the week's themes over 30 weeks.

There is also a Photography Challenge course that our son can take if he so chooses that has the child take one or more photographs based upon the weekly challenge topic. Some of these topics include:

• School
• Winter
• Hobby
• Textures
• Landscapes
• And more

Elementary

At the elementary level, electives are not necessarily seen as something separate. In a public school setting, children are still introduced to art and music on a somewhat regular basis. While homeschooling, younger children have a lot of time to explore topics that interest them. Perhaps they wish to learn how to play the piano or they are involved in Sunday School that puts on plays at church.

Both our younger children enjoy arts and crafts and we have studied several artists in the past when learning about different art styles. We used Learning About Art from SchoolhouseTeachers.com which introduced our children to different artists like John James Audubon, Albert Bierstadt, and Grant Wood and different techniques for drawing simple pictures. They also studied more techniques and learned how to use different mediums like water color crayons, pastels, and clay with ARTistic Pursuits' Art for Children: Building a Visual Vocabulary and Art of the Ancients.

How do you incorporate electives into your homeschool? 

Not Back to School Blog Hop 

This week I am joining up with the Homeschool Review Crew for the Annual "Not Back to School" Blog Hop...5 Days of Homeschool.... Please visit the other members to see what they are sharing this week.

A Quest for a Great Homeschool Year: Counting on Math for 2019-2020

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

The plan for mathematics this year revolves around CTCMath as the main component of our curriculum with additional online programs and hands-on materials for our younger children. Math is one of those subjects that one either seems to love or hate and while our younger children seem to love it right now, our teen seems to dislike it greatly. We are hoping that this is a good homeschooling math year for him.

Elementary

Our four-year-old daughter and six-year-old son are both working through the CTCMath curriculum. Our daughter is completing the Kindergarten level while our son is completing the First Grade level. They watch short videos which introduce a concept, go over practice questions, and then answer a number of questions on their own (okay, I am sitting next to them to help them if they need it).

One of the questions in the kindergarten set on CTCMath.

In addition to CTCMath, our children are using workbooks from MathSeeds. (You can read my review of the Kindergarten book here.) We also have tons of manipulatives and other hands-on materials to study mathematics. We have a Mickey Mouse clock to work on reading an analog clock and a play money set from Learning Resources.

We also have a number of online resources that the children will continue using such Matific Galaxy, IXL.com, and I Know It. These three sites provide fun games to either review or introduce new concepts to our children. Our son really enjoys Matific Galaxy and can do even more on it using my phone. Both of our younger children use an older tablet to practice their math (and language arts) skills on IXL.com.

I also plan on putting to use these really cool dice that our son received last year for his birthday. They were missing in our house for almost the entire year but now that I have found them again, I can't wait to use them (along with the rest of our dice).

You can read more in my reviews on Matific Galaxy, IXL.com, and I Know It.

High School

Last year, our teen took Geometry with Mr. D. Math through SchoolhouseTeachers.com. This year, I gave him the option of using the Algebra II course on SchoolhouseTeachers.com or using CTCMath (that we would be able to review). He decided he liked the idea of CTCMath since there would be videos to watch for instruction (much like last year's Geometry course) and would need to rely upon us less as his teacher.

The videos on CTCMath are short and can be viewed over and over by both student and parent.

We are in the middle of his working through the first dozen or so lessons. I like that we can print the worksheets or he can complete in them in his notebook. And the fact that I can set tasks and see exactly when things are or are not completed through the parent portal helps me keep track of his homeschool work.

We will be using IXL.com for our teen to review math skills and practice his Algebra II skills.

Not Back to School Blog Hop

This week I am joining up with the Homeschool Review Crew for the Annual "Not Back to School" Blog Hop...5 Days of Homeschool.... Please visit the other members to see what they are sharing this week.

Lots of opportunities to read great "Not Back to School" posts in the Blog Hop!

Patti Pierce - Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy - My Favorite Homeschooling Things
Wendy @ Life on Chickadee Lane - 5 Days of Nature Study
Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning - Homeschooling my final 4 
Christine @ Life's Special Necessities - Yes! You Can Homeschool Your Special Needs Child
Sally M - Tell the Next Generation - Tips for Homeschooling Struggling Learners