Our 2017/2018 Relaxed Homeschool Curriculum for 10th and 12th Grade

Don’t you just love back-to-homeschool time? Everywhere you turn, excited moms are sharing their plans for the new school year. It is such an awesome experience to see how different homeschooling can look from house to house, and how, despite the differences, they’re all equally impressive.

Today I though I’d share what I have in store for my 15 and 17 year old. I will admit that these choices aren’t set in stone- but then again, nothing in homeschool should be, right? Another thing I’ll also point out is that, although I have them “labeled” as 10th and 12th grade students, I don’t actually use a single resource that is grade level specific.

Not one. To me, grade levels are just an arbitrary holdover from traditional school. In fact, we only use them so that:

• our kids know which Sunday School class to attend, and
• because our school district assigns them grade levels in their records, anyway.

So, with that being said, let’s get started! 

Our 2017/2018 (Very) Relaxed Homeschool Curriculum for 1st and 2nd Grade

I love homeschooling. Well, specifically, I love relaxed homeschooling.

After the disastrous beginning to our homeschool journey that ended with my children being enrolled in school again, if there’s one thing I’ve learned on this adventure, it’s that simplicity is a necessary component in this slightly chaotic household.

My approach to homeschooling 1st and 2nd grade may come dangerously close to unschooling, but that’s okay. It works for us.  

Our 2017/2018 Relaxed Homeschool Curriculum for 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Grade

I’ll be homeschooling nine kids this year. That may sound like a lot, but it’s actually one less than last year since my oldest daughter became my first homeschool graduate.

Sniff.

As stressful as people think that may sound, it truly isn’t as chaotic as people think. Busy? Sure. I’d be worried about any homeschool that wasn’t busy. But believe it or not, homeschooling is actually pleasurable for me. 

How to Use Five in a Row in a Relaxed Homeschool

Over the past eight years, we have tried out a lot of curriculum. Some of it we loved, some of it we hated, and some of it became a staple in our home education routine from the moment we opened the first page. (If you’re interested in seeing our full curriculum for our littles this past year, you can find that on YouTube.)

Five in a Row is one of them. 

12 Easy Ways to Use Notebooking in Your Homeschool

Do your kids like to write? Up until about this time last year, my kids hated anything that had to do with putting their thoughts on paper. Tears would flow as they were composing essays and researching reports.

I was at my wit’s end.

Over the years, I had heard of notebooking and knew only that it was similar to lapbooking, which we were already doing. Finally as a last resort, I decided to actually begin to research what it was all about, and I am so glad I did. 

3 Reasons Why I Don’t Give Grades or Tests in Our Homeschool

Every year at my children’s physicals, the same question inevitably pops up:

How are their grades?

Now, we’ve used the same pediatrician for almost 18 years, and she knows we homeschool, but it’s the same conversation each year. I usually just respond that their grades are fine (because I honestly don’t feel like having an hour long discussion about the futility of grades), while my kids look on in puzzlement because they know darn well there are no report cards handed out in this house. 

10 Practical Ways to Shorten Your Homeschool Day

Life is hectic. In this age of constant busyness, it just seems to come at you from all different directions every single day.

It’s exhausting. 

Large Family Homeschool Hack #4: Combining the 3 R’s with Self-Directed Learning

Boy, time flies when you’re having fun. Today is the last day of my series about large family homeschool hacks. So far this week I’ve shared tips with you about:

• Grouping and alternating your kids
• How to take advantage of unit studies without going overboard, and
• How to save time and frustration by using read-alouds and notebooking as your main curriculum

Today I’m going to be sharing with you the benefit of relaxing your homeschool by sticking to the 3 R’s and letting your kids follow their interests to their heart’s content. (Click here for my video on this!)

How to Homeschool Simply (The Middle Years)

Over the past two weeks, I’ve spent some time sharing how to homeschool preschool and the early years in a relaxed, yet effective manner. This laid back approach to learning at home doesn’t stop being beneficial once children begin to achieve more advanced skills. The core foundation of simplicity remains the same, although some additional activities will make their way into the routine as your children’s interests grow.  

3 Reasons Not to Worry About Homeschool Subject Requirements

If you’ve ever visited this blog before, you are well aware of how passionately I try to spread the message that homeschooling does not have to be a replica of school and how important it is to get out of the schoolish mindset. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately and have come to the realization that homeschool laws and even homeschool curricula can make that very difficult. (Watch my video on this topic here.)

Many states have specific subject requirements that must be fulfilled each year, thus homeschool resource publishers follow suit and produce textbook after textbook covering grammar, writing, spelling, reading, math, social studies, science, and so on and so on.

Countless times I have seen stressed out homeschool moms completely burned out from trying to fit all of these different classes into their day, inevitably erasing the possibility of any enjoyment that might have occurred in their homeschool routine.