Mid-Year Curriculum Review

So, we are about halfway through our school year. Our quadruplets are in 10th grade, and Little Miss (loosely) in 3rd grade.

This year has been a year of change, as we changed almost everything about our homeschool curricula. Change is scary. I was fairly confident it would all work out (blog post from August), but you never know until you try.

I am thrilled we made the leap, as the changes have been very good for us.




Everyone is using Sonlight as their core curriculum. We have really enjoyed the books in our curricula, both our teens, as well as Little Miss and I. The teens would argue they haven't liked every single book, but I think overall everyone has been happy about switching to Sonlight. All my students enjoy reading (or in Little Miss' case, she enjoys being read to), so this change made a lot of sense.

Of course, the Mothership is heavily loaded with books these days.. Less room for... anything else ;-)




Switching to Sonlight was the biggest change, yet the one that has given us most satisfaction was switching to Mr. D Math for our teens' geometry curriculum. Mr. D offers live and recorded math classes online, extra tutoring, quizzes, tests and grading - it's a full high school curriculum. When I needed to enter grades for Homelife Academy earlier this month, I logged into my parent account, and quickly found my students' grades.

Since I am busy homeschooling Little Miss, I am relieved to have a high school math curriculum which allows my students to study independently. And the best part? All four of my high schoolers with various learning styles are getting their math and feeling confident! Thanks, Mr. D!!!




Figuring out homeschool high school science classes with lab credit can be difficult, especially to a non-science type of a mom. I was thrilled to discover Catie Frates' online science classes, and we signed up for high school biology, with labs. Catie Frates uses Apologia material, and has recorded biology classes your student(s) watch from home at their own time. The class does the required lab work in detail, and if your student isn't headed to a medical field, this is perfectly adequate for high school biology lab. The students are required to write lab write-ups.

This has been a perfect fit for us, although I have a student (or two) who really do not care for biology. But we are working through it, and I feel the curriculum is excellent. The videos help a lot. Also, I have to confess I have hired Missy to grade the boys' work - it was a lot for me to grade four students' papers. She's happy to get some spending money, and the material is being reinforced to her when she checks her brothers' work. We are both quite happy with this arrangement:)




We have some various high school electives going on, too. Mr D, Mr A and Missy are learning to fly, and Mr D and Mr A are working on their driver's licenses, as well.
(We have an amazing homeschool opportunity coming up in this area, too, but more on that later.)




Missy is studying art with KnoodleU Drawing on History curriculum, and has really enjoyed it. This curriculum covers art from 1830–1970. Such a neat way to study art and history! It is designed to give the student a basic understanding of what was happening in the art world during major events in history. Perfect for homeschoolers!

Our boys also took study skills and speed reading through CollegePlus in the fall semester. We're hoping these skills will help them in high school, college and beyond.

Mr T started an AP U.S. Government and Politics class with Patrick Henry College Preparatory Academy. It has a heavy workload, but Mr T is enjoying the challenge, and likes the class very much.




For math Little Miss is using Math-U-See, and it has been a good program for her. She also does XtraMath drills online. We started supplementing Sonlight language arts with Explode The Code online. She has been learning cursive this year with Handwriting Without Tears, but I am looking into switching to a more traditional cursive. Any suggestions?




We are having a full year this year. Since we are traveling a lot this school year, we have done a lot of field trips, and continue to do so. It is so much fun to learn as we go! It has helped to have a bulk of our school work in books (instead of online), so school goes on wherever we are, by bringing a book or two along. We also add PE to most of our days, and try to learn practical skills as much as we can.

If you have any questions for us about any of the curricula we use, don't hesitate to ask!

Waiting/Odottamista

My sister's baby number five is due any day now.




Two big brothers and two big sisters are waiting for little baby.




According to the ultrasound, it's another baby sister!




It's a busy, love-filled household.




Little Miss, Mr T and I are waiting here, too.




So exciting!




And as we are waiting, we are filling our days with love and laughter, breaking up fights, wiping messes, playing, working and schooling.

Thankful for all our blessings!

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Täällä Virginiassa odotetaan. Odotetaan siskoni viidettä vauvaa syntyväksi. Äiti, isä, kaksi isoveljeä ja kaksi isosiskoa odottavat pikkusiskoa, kuin myös täti ja kaksi serkkua:) Ja odottaessa riittää iloa ja onnea, siivoamista, tappelujen selvittämistä, leikkimistä, töitä ja koulua.

Kiitollisina kaikista siunauksistamme!

Traveling South/Etelään matkaamista

Exactly a week ago we left our camp in Maine. We spent one night at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and visited with cousins, too. Grandma had been working on old photos - such treasures - and here we are looking at one album. (Notice the stink eye? I didn't, until I was editing the photos.)




On our way out of Maine we stopped in Portland for a business meeting. Near the wharf. It was a cold, windy day, and I only stepped out of the car to take these two photos. And stop at Trader Joe's to stock up on munchies for our road trip.

Since we had left the Mothership in Virginia, we had to squeeze into our car, and ended up driving to Norfolk in two days, staying in a hotel in New Jersey. Other than heavy snow on our way out of New England, we had smooth travels. I had brought two Christmas presents with me: "Alone, Not Yet Alone", and "Unbroken", and I read aloud as the Captain drove. We finished the first one, and got to chapter eight on the second one. Both amazing stories.




We picked up the Mothership, and parked at my sister's curb for one night. And then the Captain drove off. With Mr D, Mr A and Missy. They made it to Florida the next day, and Little Miss and I will join them later. Mr T is here in Virginia, too, and most likely will stay even longer.




We have been enjoying the milder temperatures of Virginia, and playing with the cousins. We've all been doing school, too, and almost could have had a one-room schoolhouse as my nephews are using the same core curriculum as Little Miss is. Our nephews, however, are six weeks ahead of us. Only. (Cough, cough.)



My sister's baby is due in less than two weeks. Little Miss and I are hoping to meet baby girl before we leave.. Stay tuned:)

Thank you so much to all of you, dear readers, who kept voting for our blog last month. We found out today Our Mothership Adventures won Best Photos Category! We are so grateful to your support, and thrilled for this honor. And a huge thank you to The Homeschool Post for this fun event, and all their hard work!

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Kiitos teille jokaiselle lukijalle ja äänestäjälle!! Blogimme voitti valokuvakategorian! Ilman teitä emme olisi pärjänneet...

Terkut täältä Virginiasta, Mr T, Pikkuneiti ja minä jäimme siskoni luokse, ja Kapteeni ajoi asuntoautolla jo Floridaan viikonloppuna. Pikkuneidin kanssa odottelemme josko siskoni vauva syntyisi meidän täälläoloaikana, ja Mr T aikoo jäädä lopputalveksi tädin ja sedän luokse. Kotikoulu on upean joustavaa!

Our Last Snow Days/Viimeiset lumipäivämme

One day in Maine I sat by the window and watched an eagle fly by several times. So regal!




We are now in Virginia and Florida, but I wanted to share some of our snow pics from Maine.




Even on the most coldest days, the boys would go out at least to get wood for the fire.




And a few days before our departure we were blessed with fresh snow.




We didn't do any snowmobiling, skiing or ice skating, but when it wasn't negative temps we would go out to play.




We did have school and work in Maine, but also rest and relaxation.




We really enjoyed our winter trip to Maine.




We'll be back! After our southern adventures:)

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Olemme nyt Virginiassa ja Floridassa, mutta halusin laittaa satunnaisia Mainen kuvia vielä tänne. Emme käyneet moottorikelkkailemassa, laskettelemassa, hiihtämässä tai luistelemassa - melkein joka päivä oli hurjan kovat pakkaset, mutta ihana reissu oli silti pohjoiseen. Nyt uudet seikkailut odottavat:)