Our Homeschool Plan for 3rd & 7th Grade (2022-2023)
When we first started homeschooling 8 years ago back in Dallas, Luci Belle named our school Rainbow Ladybug Learning when she was in pre-k. I love looking back at those photos and seeing how we started in the early years and miss them so much in many ways! After we moved to the farm several years ago, our school was renamed River Lake Sunshine School.
At the beginning of every school year, I take time to document what we’re planning to make sure we’re sticking with our core vision and goals for our family and each child. If you’d like to read about the heart and values behind our homeschool, I shared that in this post.
Otherwise, read on for our 2022-2023 school plan…
TUTORIAL
We do the bulk of our learning at home, but it’s important to me that my girls have a chance to be under different adult authority figures and develop the social skills that are required when in a group/team setting.
This year, we’re returning to our once-a week tutorial where my youngest daughter will have a full day learning about writing, science, history, music, sign language, and art. My oldest daughter will only take afternoon classes in science and an elective, while the morning will just be the two of us working on writing skills. I’m so excited about this! She took IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing), and while she learned a ton, it was way more intense than I wanted for our family. As a writer and author, I can teach her the elements she needs to make for interesting essays or creative writing, and we can do it in a more natural way. She started writing her own book when she was 7-years-old and completed it a few years later. She would dictate the chapters to me, and I would type them out for her. For our writing class, we’re starting by editing her book, chapter by chapter, to update it and make it better! (I’m keeping the original though, too, because nothing can replace the precious things she wrote when she was 7-years-old even if they didn’t completely make sense. 🙃)
BIBLE/DEVOTIONAL
The last several years, we’ve focused on seeing the whole picture of the Bible as one big story and journey, and the older they get, the more I feel it’s important to focus on how to apply the Gospel and the lessons of Jesus to our actual lives. This year, we’ll be reading The Little Pilgrim’s Progress. The illustrations are lovely, and it takes the classic The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan and adapts it for younger readers. We’ll also be focusing on the Gospel in what we’re reading in our actual Bible.
MATH
I explained our math woes in this post from last year, and now I’m all-in with The Good and The Beautiful math after using it last year. It literally changed our school lives last year! Both girls decided math was their favorite subject at home after changing to TGATB math - after many years of tears and frustration, this was a huge relief!
My oldest can do her lessons completely on her own, and I check her answers. Thank goodness for the answer guide - I didn’t learn math this way, but I wish I had, because it makes a lot more sense. Their math uses a spiral method where a new concept is presented in each lesson, and then the review circles back to the things learned in previous lessons.
HISTORY
This year we’re cycling back through European History with The Kind Kingdom 2.0. I have such a soft spot for The Kind Kingdom - we first started it in our 2019/2020 school year, and I’ll never forget that year because we read all 7 books in The Chronicles of Narnia together. Reading The Voyage of The Dawn Treader when COVID first hit our world is something that affected and spoke to me deeply.
I’ll loosely follow the book lists and monthly themes from The Kind Kingdom. I can’t wait to read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (Young Reader’s Edition) with my girls. This is one of my favorite books of all-time, and I love that there’s a young reader’s edition to make the really tough subject matter a little more accessible.
LANGUAGE ARTS
We’re using The Good And The Beautiful for Language Arts again this year. I think TGATB has a very thorough, fun, and interesting approach to language arts, and I love how varied in style the lessons are and that they even include some science, geography, and Charlotte-Mason style narration. I’ll concentrate on reading confidence with my 3rd grader. My 7th grader really doesn’t need any help in reading as she reads multiple books a week, but I want to continue getting her the grammar/spelling/writing practice she needs.
HANDWRITING/TYPING
My 7th grader will do enough handwriting in her language arts, and she knows cursive really well now. My 3rd grader will be using The Good and the Beautiful handwriting level 3 and beginning cursive - she’s so excited! We got the book today and after flipping through it, she asked to start it right away. Their handwriting books also have little puzzles and drawing spots throughout, which is so fun.
I have TGATB level 1 typing that both girls will be starting, and I like that it doesn’t require an internet connection or anything besides a spreadsheet (Google Docs or Pages) and a paper stand.
SCIENCE
Well, we live on a farm, so science is pretty much built-in to our everyday lives! We even experience food science as both my girls help in the commercial kitchen with my chef husband. They both participate in starting seeds, amending the soil, planting, and harvesting on the farm. Both girls will also take a science class at their tutorial. Last year, they each got to participate in a science fair, which was quite the learning experience!
LIFE SKILLS
My oldest daughter who just turned 10 is in charge of everyone’s laundry once a week. My youngest empties the dishwasher everyday. In addition, they have the opportunity to make money if they want to do extra jobs around the farm and commercial kitchen, like helping clean, put dishes away, wash the truck, and help with our farm store on Saturday mornings.
FAVORITE SCHOOL SUPPLIES
Anyone else become giddy when it’s time to buy new school supplies?! I wrote all about our favorites here.
SCHOOLROOM & WORKSPACE
We have a small farmhouse. Last year, we did most of our school work all around the house because our school room is super tiny, and my girls are getting bigger. This, our little school room, is now also a hangout room. We stacked two twin mattresses to make a big couch, currently being used for kitten cuddling, reading, sticker book-ing, and finger knitting. 🧶 There’s still room for the school table where we can do writing and crafts.
You don’t need an official school room. But it is good to have a dedicated space to store your things in a cabinet or in drawers so it doesn’t feel like your school supplies and books threw up all over your kitchen table. I’m grateful for our tiny schoolroom and also know we’ll do most of our work outside or in the kitchen or living room.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY & ADVENTURE
Creating healthy exercise habits is a big focus of mine this year. I’ve been doing Pilates at home for the last 8+ years, and it’s a joyful form of movement for me that also helps me stay strong and mobile. This year I’m encouraging each of my girls to find a form of exercise they can do daily for 30 minutes that is joyful for them. One chose hip-hop videos and one chose lifting kettle bells and dancing in her room .I’ll let you guess which is which. :) We have laminated exercise logs on the fridge for each of us where we check a box off after we complete it for the day.
Last but not least, I will make adventuring and field trips a priority this year. Some days, we will trade in our normal sit-down work for a field trip to a local state park, monument, or hiking trail. These totally count as learning days. I’m very grateful to live in a place with so much natural beauty.
