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End of 2023 - 24 Homeschool Year Review

Writer's picture: Niki LavinNiki Lavin

Well, some years are just not your year. And that was the case for us this year. In our 9 years of homeschooling, I've learned that some years are just not as good as others. The other thing I've learned, which is so much more important, is not to worry about it. Life was life-ing real hard this year and school didn't get as much attention as it should have.


The great thing is that it didn't set us back at all because we've had so many good years that we were a little ahead of the game when the school year started. So while we didn't get as far as we had hoped, we also aren't "behind" (although y'all know there is no such thing as behind in homeschooling!).


All of that being said, we did make great progress this year. Overall, we did learn a lot. We do participate a co-op and that has been such a great thing. Learning might have not been going perfect at home, yet the kids were still getting in a ton of learning in at co-op. And not while not right on time, the learning train was still rolling at home as well.


I've broken our year down into three parts. My 8th grader, my 4th grader, and my Kindergarten & Pre-K together. So let's dive into what we got done this year.


8th Grade

We had some grand plans for my 8th grader this year. My hope was to start getting ready for a high school schedule that was a little more independent and setting her up to do more subjects in a year to start earning high school credit. It didn't really work out they was we wanted it too, but we did still work on getting her to be a little more independent.


Here are the subjects we did, what curriculum we used, and a brief explanation of how it went for us:


Subject

Curriculum

How It Went

Math

Saxon/Nicole the Math Lady

Hated Saxson/Enjoyed Nicole the Math Lady. Unfortunately, she only uses Saxon

Math

Khan Academy

Really like this. Easy to use and FREE!

Literature

Brave Writer Literature Singles

Still working well for us

Spelling

Spelling Connections

Did not go well

Spelling

Sequential Spelling

Works good for us

Spelling/Latin

Word Roots

Really love this workbook

Grammar

Fix It! Grammar

Still really love this

Writing

Layers of Learning

Didn't get to it much, but like it so far

History

Big History Project

LOVE! Use on Khan Acadamy

History

Curiosity Chronicles

Didn't get very far, but really enjoyed

Science

Science Chunks/Big History Project

Really enjoyed both

If you want to hear about how our year went in more detail, check out our video on YouTube:



4th Grade

While we didn't get as much extras in this year, 4th grade went pretty well. Here is what we used:


Subject

Curriculum

How It Went

Math

Math U See Gamma

Finished it up. We like MUS a lot

Math

Khan Academy

Really like the simplicity and the fact that it was free

ELA

Micheal Clay Thompson

LOVED!

Spelling

Spelling Connections

This works really well for us

Spelling/Latin

Word Roots

Really love this workbook

History

Curiosity Chronicles

Really like this

History/Science

Big History Project

She came along with big sister for some lessons.

Science

Science Chunks

Really enjoy this curriculum

If you want to hear more about how our 4th grade year went, check out the video linked below:



Kindergarten and Pre-K

I grouped my younger two kiddos together this year. I don't usually homeschool for Pre-K. I like to use that time to get some solid learning through play in. I think that is very important. But my youngest was just so eager to do school, so I allowed her to join us.


My goal with her was to not worry about how much she was learning. Just letting her have fun along the way. And she really surprised me with how well she did! For my Kindergartener, we really made sure he was making progress since is was registered as a homeschooler and will have a portfolio review.


Here is what we used and how it went:


Subject

Curriculum

How It Went

Math

Math with Confidence

Loved! Would have liked more practice sheets.

Math

Math U See Primer

Really like this. Used for extra practice when needed.

ELA

Pinwheels

Can't say enough great things about this program!

ELA

Brave Writer Quill

We really enjoy this units. They are engage and a nice addition to our learning.

Science

Science Chunks

They came along every once in a while for science lessons. They also got a lot of science at co-op

You will notice that we keep the younger years quite simple around here. They are also doing lots of learning through play and imaginative play as well. We find this really valuable and like to make it a priority.


If you would like to learn more about our year, check out the YouTube video:




How did your 2023 - 2024 Homeschool year go? Please share done in the comments!

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