The Year of Change: Recap of Our Homeschool 2020-2021
My girls are now 7 and almost-11 and have now completed 1st and 5th grade! How is it possible?!
This year was all about change ~ new curriculum, new tutorial, new rhythms.
We didn’t get to the last page of our math, language arts, or science curriculum, but we grew in our knowledge and understanding of Native American tribes, the history of slavery, civil rights, and immigration.
We were absorbed in the stories of Sacagawea, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Trail of Tears. We stepped foot on the Trail of Tears locations several times and were moved to tears by the stories.
My girls learned entrepreneurial skills here on the farm and grew so much in their ownership of their “jobs.” They learned how to responsibly spend and give money.
They spent countless hours building epic outdoor play kitchens and “bakeries” in the forest and “selling” their goods.
Norah made a whole gaggle of characters in her tutorial class…
And Luci Belle learned aerial silks and got to participate in her first art show.
We spent most of the year loosely following The Playful Pioneers 2.0 curriculum by The Peaceful Press for history, geography, and even some science. We’ve used The Peaceful Press for about 4 years now, and one of the reasons we love them are the incredibly thoughtful book selections and activity ideas - so many I wouldn’t ever know to choose on my own.
Some favorite U.S. history books we read…
Peacemaker by Joseph Bruchac
Coming to America : The Story of Immigration by Betsy Maestro
All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel by Dan Yaccarino
Ellis Island by Hal Marcovitz
Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter
Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books by Kay Winters
The Trail of Tears by Joseph Bruchac
Who was Frederick Douglass? by April Jones Prince
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
I Am Sacagawea by Brad Meltzer
Sarah Whitcher’s Story by Elizabeth Yates
Christopher Columbus: New World Explorer or Fortune Hunter? by Jessica Gunderson
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
Hiawatha and the Peacemaker by Robbie Robertson
We basically kept the library in business this year. 😬
There were tears, laughs, and plenty of time spent outside doing lessons and projects in the wide-open spaces.
Earth Day “oobleck”
Be encouraged, mamas. We’re not going for perfection here. We’re going for connection.
At River Lake Sunshine School, ✨connection - to history, people, learning, each other - is most important above all ✨ and we will always adjust things that aren’t working towards that goal.
We didn’t do everything this year, but what we did is enough. More than enough.
Other resources we used…
My 1st grader who loves STEM got a monthly subscription from my mom to Kiwi Crate at the beginning of the year, but it wasn’t challenging enough for her, so we changed to Little Passports Science Expeditions. She loves it! I have to read her the instructions, but it comes with a little comic book story, excellent instructions and teaching materials, and 3 “experiments” in each kit.
My 5th grader who’s really into art got a monthly subscription to Annie’s Creative Girls Club. She also loves getting Wildflowers Girls Magazine.
We played the song “Tour the States” by Renauld Francoeur from the Brain Beats album on repeat! We loved all the other educational songs by that same artist. They helped my girls learn their state capitals plus other things like counting in other languages. And they’re fun for adults to listen to! Here’s the “Tour the States” video on YouTube.
My oldest started learning Spanish through the DuoLingo app, and my youngest started learning Korean using Little Pim.
In addition to The Peaceful Press, Amber O’Neal Johnston with Heritage Mom was an excellent resource for me this year in suggesting books that are both “mirrors” and “windows” and that celebrate people of color. I love following her on Instagram!
More posts to explore…
The Heartbeat of Our Homeschool - this has our overall homeschool philosophy and the heart behind what we do.
Our Homeschool Plan for 2020-2021 - this was our overall plan for the year for each subject - a good resource for when you’re planning your year.
Homeschool 2021 - How’s It Going? - our mid-year check-in, going over what was and wasn’t working.
In August, I’ll share about our curriculum choices for each subject for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year (2nd and 6th grade).
I hope some of these resources are helpful to you!
Pop any of your questions into the comments box below, and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Much love,
*All links to Amazon benefit Peace Gospel International through Amazon Smile.
