I’m homeschooling again. Part-time. It wasn’t the plan, but throughout the summer the Lord made it clear that it was what is good and right for this season. I was just telling some friends on Friday that one thing I love and appreciate is that we get to make decisions from year to year and individually for each kid. This year, the high schoolers are working towards Associate degrees online with Liberty University’s K-12 program. (Brynn just enrolled in the AA in Education program.)
The younger girls are each taking two classes online, and I’m teaching Math, Science, History, we all start the day together with Seeds Kids Worship and doing some Bible, and on Friday’s we meet up with our little – not so little because we have like a zillion kids between us all – homeschool co-op for outings, play dates and classes.

We love Liberty. Trent graduated with a high school diploma from LUOA, and the older girls are on-track to do the same. They’re each in an AA program and taking dual credits. Almost all of the curriculum is online, so we don’t have to haul books halfway across the globe. Sometimes we have to download Kindle books (many are accessible through the LUOA digital library) and all of their lab kits are included in the tuition fees and mailed right to our home. Yes! We even get the kits here at our home in Nepal! We tried TPS one year, and we loved the idea of real-time classes and online classmates, but our time zone in Nepal just wasn’t compatible and the flexibility of LUOA is in line with some of the reasons we began homeschooling (seventeen years ago) in the first place. The younger years are set up for parent facilitation and each lesson includes an outline of objectives, instructions for facilitators, and resource links to any videos, books, online games, spelling/vocab lists, printouts and worksheets etc. The older years are entirely self-directed, and all timelines and due dates are flexible. You can actually begin any class any Monday of the year. After the initial application and enrollment process, yearly enrollment is fairly easy, and you’re welcome to enroll kiddos as full-time students, or to pick your classes a la carte. The LUOA Parent Observation Deck is a valuable tool for keeping track of all your kids grades and progress and provides a quick view of all the important stats like overdue assignments or when the last assignment was turned in. Every class has a real and accessible teacher. And there are opportunities for virtual clubs and even in-person meet-ups and events in Virginia.

For Math, we’re using Math Mammoth again. Math Mammoth is available as PDF downloads. Some years we print as we go, and others I’ve had the workbooks printed and spiral bound. We tried all kinds of math curriculum back in the day; from Math Without Boarders to Life of Fred, and eventually landed on Math Mammoth for the pre-highschool years. We are not fans of how math is taught these days, but Math Mammoth focuses on conceptual understanding, mental math, word problems (so builds critical thinking skills), and is easy to just pick up and start. The curriculum is about a grade ahead and all of our kids tested into LUOA a grade higher in math, and a couple of them went from Math Mammoth to Algebra in 8th grade (which puts them in a good position to pursue dual credits in HS). At the very least, finishing Math Mammoth through grade 8 more then prepares your student for Algebra 1. On their website, Math Mammoth offers placement tests as well as supplemental curriculum and free videos corresponding to the grades 1-7 curriculum. Best of all, Math Mammoth is super affordable! You can purchase a half year or a whole at a time, or all grades at once.

For Science we are using The Good and the Beautiful. It’s our first time using this curriculum, and just two lessons away from finishing our first Earth Science Unit we’re loving it. I love that I can teach all the kids at once, but that they each have their own age appropriate activities and assignments. It’s a lot like when I used to use Sonlight, although much easier to navigate and get started. I love building our vocab wall, and I love the all the beautiful printables. We’re planning to crack open the Health and Human Mind curriculum next and I’m probably more excited about it than the kids are!

We’re back in Story of the World for History (which I’ve heard Sonlight uses now). Opening Ancient Times has been pretty Nostalgic after having gone through the SOTW curriculum twice before. We have the activity books and test books and we use it all. My kids love the map work and I always learn a lot of geography because my brain just never retains any of it! I appreciate the details and historic accuracy, the engaging story format, and the Biblical perspective. Building an accurate foundation of God’s story is important to us and SOTW has been a treasured accomplice.

For our morning Bible time, we’re alternating reading another book from the Miller Family series and lessons from The Young Peacemaker. If you’re looking for a good read-aloud, definitely check out the Miller Family Series. From family adventures to lessons from Proverbs, stories with the Millers are wholesome and fun. The language is a bit older, so I often pull out another Bible translation to read any scripture from, but all of my kids have enjoyed the books and corresponding activity pages over the years. Five of the six book series has a corresponding workbook that enforces the scripture or virtue learned. The Young Peacemaker is a biblically based workbook on exploring conflict and healthy modes of response and resolution. It’s a great conversation starter. And currently, we’re memorizing Romans 8:1-6. If you’re looking for a memorization resources, be sure to download and print my Bible Memorization Sets from the Freebies page.

In our co-op this Fall, the kids will explore photography, ASL, creative writing, nutrition and entrepreneurship. We’re only a couple weeks in, but so far things are going well and I have the best students this year! 😉