I made independence a big goal for our homeschool a few years ago because of the number of kids I have. For the older ones, here is what works for us right now. - During Dinner, they recap their learning day. We discuss books they are reading, subjects they are studying, etc. this is for all the kids. I count it as narration for the younger kids. It is usually approached as, “Tell Dad what you learned ...” - At the end of each week, we do a sit down review of their work for the week. I sit down with each of the older kids and we go through all the work they completed. I schedule light of Fridays so they can correct any work that needs to be corrected or do additional work as needed. I tried to do this daily, but it was too much. Once a week makes it still applicable but puts it all together so we can all get through it. Once the sit down review is completed, their weekend officially begins.

Books are the only thing I have ever decluttered and regretted. I went digital about 5 years ago, which resulted in a major purge, and my digital phase only lasted two years. I still miss books I gave away or sold during that purge.

I have a very big age range, and switching to a Morning Basket style for those subjects they can do together has helped significantly. I read Story of the World out loud to them for history and then for their more in depth work, we split it up. I still keep all the little kids together for the extras, but the older ones have moved on to independent work in those areas.

Math: TT7 Grammar: Easy Grammar Plus + Diagramming the Scriptures Vocabulary: Word Roots 2 Handwriting: Patriotic Penmanship Jr. High Science: Christian Kids Explore Physics History: SOTW4 + additional work as outlined in TWTM Bible: Herein Is Love Exodus (group) + Journey Through The Bible Book 1 Latin: Latin Primer 1 Logic: The Amazing Dr. Ransom’s Bestiary of Adorable Fallacies + The Thinking Toolbox Writing: The Creative Writer Music: Busy Kids Do Piano Art: 13 Art Techniques Children Should Know + 13 Art Movements Children Should Know

I always administer the COGAT portion simply because I feel like it tests critical thinking skills, which is a subject we focus on. Really that is the only reason I add it. My kids usually test high on it, not because they are geniuses but because we do focus on critical thinking skills. So, it is an area of the standardized testing experience that I know they will do well on. We did not give it after 1st grade, though, because our state only requires every third year testing.

My boys aren’t nearly fitting into grade boxes right now. So I am planning a sort of late K-early 2 kind of year instead of a solid first grade year. Math: unsure Math Mammoth Science: Berean Builders: Science in the Industrial Age (with older siblings) Sassafrass Zoology Language Arts: Explode the Code online History: SOTW 4 (older siblings, this is just where we are in the cycle right now) + Legends and Leagues Bible: Herein is Love Exodus (with the older kids) + My ABC Bible Verses from the Psalms + Big Thoughts for Little People: ABCs to Help You Grow Logic: Critical and Creative 2

We pick a verse each week. I’ve chosen a variety of ways. Lists others have made. A key verse from the past Sunday’s sermon. A verse from our group Bible study. We read it aloud at the beginning of each day during our morning basket. At the beginning of the week, the kids are all looking it up or repeating after me for those that can’t read yet. By the end of the week, they are all saying it from memory. The older ones write it during the week to practice handwriting. But other than that, we are pretty low key about it and they memorize them easily.

We used Modern Manners this year. It was a big hit. It focuses on manners in business, so some of it, the kids weren’t quite ready for (email etiquette) so we skipped those. But they had a lot of fun practicing handshakes and introductions and setting the table for dinner.

I like Prismacolor, but my kids don’t like to be nice to art supplies, so I usually just buy them Crayola. The “adult” version are the exact same as the regular ones, they just have different wood and such, but the color part is the same- so don’t waste your money upgrading from the basic Crayola to the fancy. I also like to have some watercolor colored pencils around because they can be really fun and pretty. They aren’t our everyday use pencils, but we do love them.

My son with ADHD was similar. We used Explode the Code online program. It skips them past things they already know and works them slower through things that they need more help on. It is automatically adjusting. My son went from not reading at all to reading chapter books in a semester. We purchase through Homeschool Buyers Co-op for a very discounted rate.

I think I have settled on starting them on the Latin Primer for now. Maybe we’ll skip to Kraken next year. We’ll see how they do with this one.

I was concerned Prima would be way below level, which is why Kraken was appealing. It is specifically for the Logic Stage as a beginner OR continuing on. That it is for both is what is tripping me up. I’m cool with challenging them. But I don’t want to give them something they realistically cannot do.

I have two 7th graders and possibly a 5th grader who will be beginning Latin studies this year. I tried Song School Latin last year, but it was too far below their level for them to really stick with it. I was thinking Prima Latina, but then I came across Kraken Latin. Has anyone here tried Kraken Latin?

You can start anywhere in the series. We started with the Scientific Revolution because that is where we were in history. My kids have really enjoyed it.

My kids just did better with the timeline format of Berean. It helped them understand the scientific process. Since they follow along with scientific discovery, the kid “discovers” topics as they come up in history. We tried Apologia before Berean. I have a wide age range, so some kids “got” it better than others. (This past year I had pre-k through 6th grade. This year, I’ll have pre-k through 7th grade.) We did the reading together in Berean. We did most of the activities together. And then my older kids did the additional “optional” lessons on their own. I also pulled some biographies and such for them to read on their own. When mine were younger, we didn’t do this type of science curriculum. We took more of a Charlotte Mason exploratory approach. I think that fits the younger ages much better. Getting into nature and finding things out for themselves. My kids seemed to have a good base when we moved into more textbooky curriculum.