So I sat down earlier this month to map out our 2021 homeschool curriculum and plans for the year, and you guys, I’m really excited about this year.
Before I share my 2021 homeschool plans and some changes I’m making to our homeschool rhythm, let me first say, homeschooling is hard, y’all, but it’s so fulfilling at the same time!
Let me explain.
The Ups and Downs of Homeschooling
I say homeschooling is hard because not only are you responsible to expose your children to the things they need to learn to function independently in the world, but you also need to be able to take note of their interests and help guide and support them in those areas as well. Homeschooling isn’t just about teaching them everything they need to know by a certain age because, if we’re honest with ourselves, we know that’s impossible. We are constantly growing, learning, and changing, and learning is a lifelong pursuit.
One of the biggest things I’ve come to realize as a homeschool mom is that my job is to teach my children how to learn, to enjoy the process, and to pursue their interests to the best of their abilities.
Homeschooling is also hard because you’re mostly spending all day, every day with your kids. Spending all day, every day with anyone would be tough, but it’s especially tough with kids simply because they’re young, immature, and growing in character. It can be quite emotionally and mentally draining!
Now with all of that said, homeschooling is such a beautiful experience. At first, that can be hard to see, but the longer I do it, the more apparent it becomes. Not only do I get the privilege of being a part of my children’s life and developing connections with them that I’d miss out on if if weren’t for homeschooling them, but I get to tailor their education to suit them and their needs. We get to learn things together, to feed off of one another, and to grow closer together while we’re doing it.
So, yes. Homeschooling is hard. However, there’s so much beauty in the process as well that it makes it worth every bit of the effort!
Okay, so now let me start out by sharing some changes I’m making to our daily rhythm, and then I’ll share the specifics of what our 2021 homeschool curriculum looks like this year.
Daily Home Rhythm
I talked about winter homeschool rhythms in one of my past YouTube videos, and while that rhythm is basically the same as our daily rhythm when we’re homeschooling, this year, I am making some changes to how I would like our day to ebb and flow.
This year, I’m going to give slow mornings a go.
I am planning to be up no later than 7 am so I have time for my coffee, devotions, and journaling before the boys wake. The plan is to wake them by 8 am so they can get breakfast and play for a bit before our day starts. While they’re eating and playing, this will give me some time to get a home workout in if I didn’t get up to go to the gym with Dean at 6 am that morning. By 9 am, we should all be wide awake and ready for the day. This is the time we will all get our daily chores in so the big tasks are done and we are ready for school by 10 am. During this time we listen to composers, hymns, and folksongs that we are studying that year.
Our school rhythm will remain the same as it always has been with my three older boys doing independent work from 10 am – 1 pm while I work one-on-one with my youngest. If I have little breaks here and there during that time where the boys don’t need my help then I’ll probably sneak off to do some outdoor work, do a quick work task, or do something enjoyable like read a chapter of a book or catch up on a YouTube channel I’m subscribed to. I don’t want to get heavily focused on a large task of any kind during this time because I need to be available to the boys if they have questions or need help with their schoolwork.
We will break from school at 1 pm for lunch with Dean. Lunches are always quick and simple here, and we repeat them every week. I’m reminding myself to not beat myself up over our meals. At this season of life, I need lunches that are simple, budget-friendly, fairly healthy, and don’t require too much of my time to make.
- Monday – baked chicken tenders/ fish sticks + veggie
- Tuesday – nachos
- Wednesday – tuna melts + veggie
- Thursday – sandwiches and chips
- Friday – chicken quesadillas
After lunch, we always head outdoors for some time in the fresh air before Dean heads back to work by 2 pm. At two o-clock, the boys and I will head inside for some group schoolwork — those subjects we can all do together. Sometimes we’ll do school outside if the weather is nice! This normally takes us 1 1/2 to 2 hours, so we should be finished with our school day by 4 pm.
They boys are then allowed to have 1 hour for whatever type of technology they want to use. I call this “tech time,” and they can play their Nintendo Switches or Wii U. They can watch their favorite YouTube channels or play games on their tablets. They can even watch a couple of episodes of a show on Netflix or Amazon Prime. This is the only time of the day where they get to do these things, and it only happens after everything else that is a priority (chores and school) is completed.
By 5 pm, Dean will be home. The boys can then head off to play or help him with something. I’ll usually get dinner started so it’s ready by 6 pm. We try to take 6-7 pm for dinner, but the timing of dinner varies depending on whether we have a big house project we’re working on, if we’re having guests over for dinner, or if we have an errand to run.
After dinner, the boys are off to play some more, while I do some tidying around the house, check my schedule for the following day, and pull out anything from the freezer for the next day’s dinner. Dean and I will continue to work on anything we haven’t finished for the day such as a work project or a home project. Sometimes I’m just done with the day and all I want to do is take a hot bath and read or veg out on a TV show.
By 8:30, we have the boys start getting ready for bed — showering, brushing teeth, washing faces, changing clothes — all of that stuff. The goal is to have the boys in their beds by 9 pm so they have time to watch a show or two before bedtime at 10 pm.
Now, I know that TV before bed isn’t ideal, but it’s something we’ve all gotten in the habit of doing. While I don’t see any evidence that it is disrupting anyone’s sleep, it may be one of those things we do away with at some point in the future. I’d be fine with that, but it’s one of those hills I’m choosing not to die on.
So there you have it. This is our daily rhythm in a nut shell. Or at least this is the plan anyway. Only time will tell how well our new morning rhythm works!
Now let’s look at our 2021 homeschool curriculum and the things we’ll be studying together this year.
Our 2021 Homeschool Curriculum
Below I’m listing each child by age and grade along with the subjects they’ll be studying independently. Following that, I’ll share the subjects we are doing together as a group. Finally, I’ll include links to as many of the resources we are using in our 2021 homeschool curriculum as well.
Judah: 12 years old – 8th grade
- Algebra 1
- Grammar + Composition (Spelling is included here)
- Literature audiobook
- Poetry + vocabulary
- Folktales
- Science, history, logic, and economics reading
- Duolingo
- Typing
- Piano
Isaiah: 10 years old – 6th grade
- Math: Decimals + percentages
- Spelling
- Grammar + Composition
- Literature audiobook
- Poetry + vocabulary
- Folktales
- Science and history reading
- Duolingo
- Typing
- Piano
Uriah: 9 years old – 4th grade
- Math: Division
- Spelling
- Grammar
- Literature audiobook
- Poetry + vocabulary
- Folktales
- Science and history reading
- Duolingo
- Typing
- Piano
Ezrah: 6 years old – 2nd grade
- Math: Multiple digit addition + subtraction
- Spelling
- Grammar
- Literature audiobook
- Poetry
- Folktales
- Science and history reading
Group Studies
- Bible
- Artist, composer, folksong, hymn studies
- Shakespeare
- Plutarch’s Lives + biography read-a-louds
- Nature Study + journaling
- Geography lessons + read-a-louds + mapping
- History lessons
- Foreign Languages: Latin + Spanish
So there you go, this is what our 2021 homeschool curriculum and year looks like. Below are most of the various books, brands, and resources we use in our homeschooling in case that’s something you’d like to know about as well. There are a lot of living books that go along with the core books mentioned below, but there are way too many of those to list here. However, you can find them all in the curriculum guide listed here.
- Curriculum Guide: Wayfarers – Revolution History terms 1-3
- Bible: Long Story Short
- Math: Math-U-See
- Spelling: Spelling-You-See
- Language Arts/Grammar: English Lessons Through Literature (writing composition, poetry, artist study, folktales also included here)
- Science: God’s Design for Life – Physics
- Nature Study: Handbook of Nature Study, Exploring Nature With Children
- History: Story of the World
- Geography: Usborne’s World Geography,
- Foreign Language: Getting Started with Latin, Getting Started with Spanish, Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish, Speaking Spanish with Miss Mason and François, Volume 1
- Folksongs, Hymns, Composers, Plutarch, and Shakespeare: We follow the yearly rotations found on Ambleside Online
- Literature Audiobooks: Librivox
As always, if you have any questions or comments about our 2021 homeschool curriculum, feel free to share with me in the comment section below, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Love and light,
Meagan