Hello everyone!

Today is supposed to be disgustingly, dangerously hot so I am keeping Wyatt inside today. It is just too hot out there. I think we are supposed to top out at 111 degrees with the heat index. So we will be hiding out inside, and I am going to fiddle around on the computer for a bit and then later we are going to paint, Wyatt’s request. This is one of his top three requests though so it’s not really new. He would paint all day everyday.

I thought this might be a good time to just review our homeschool life, what we did last year and what I am thinking about for next year!

Last year we had a lot of fun. Wyatt is really making advancements lately. His favorite subject by far is history, but it is also mine and I tend to go all in on that one. We covered only 100 years but dang it we had a good time learning. We started with the Revolutionary War, and finished up with the US on the brink of the Civil War.

We read quite a few books together too for Language Arts! We read Hoot, Holes, Little House on the Prairie, and By the Great Horn Spoon. I’m forgetting one too. I get a lot of our unit studies for language arts from The Waldock Way. I love how she mixes in games and videos and extra little activities to make learning more dimensional. I bought one for Because of Winn-Dixie as well, but we didn’t end up using it. I also bought one for Rascal as well, but I am saving that one too. That one I got from Treehouse Schoolhouse. FYI, The Waldock Way is having a sale right now!

In science we leaned in on biomes, from mangroves to prairies, to deserts to the tundra. Then we started in on our own biome, the human body. We stopped due to his surgery but we will pick it up again in the fall.

Our art was all over. Dahli to Kusama to architecture. It was a blast!

I am still in the midst of deciding on the read alouds and projects and field trips for this year; I just sort of plan some of that all year anyway. I do know that I want to do Because of Winn Dixie, and Calico Girl, but that is about it so far.

As for history, I use History Quest as a spine, but then expand into my own studies, take them farther. I also add in Michigan history as we go, with lessons about what is happening in Michigan at that point in the history timeline. We really do have so much fun. Two of my friends homeschool now, their own special needs children, and they are joking that they want me to teach their kids history as well. (I think they are joking? If not it’s cool I totally would!)

We are going back to Blossom and Root this year as well, for Science and Art. In science he is continuing with the human body, and then doing some physical science, which is my least favorite, which is why I am reverting to Blossom and Root. They do such a good job with science. I think it is their passion, like history is mine. I am using their art curriculum for year 5 as well, which will cover artists like Beatrix Potter, Mark Rothko, Charles Demuth, among others. I am contemplating adding in their nature study too, which would be fun to do with the Blackbirds! Year 5 focuses on weather, water, and the celestial sphere, so maybe. I am thinking about it.

We also use All About Math and All About Reading right now. Wyatt has had inconsistent studies due to all of his medical challenges so he is playing catch up, but doing so well! I am so proud of him!

In between this, I am finishing up a study that I started writing years ago! I put it aside for a while then life got in the way. I thought of it the other day, and looked at it again. I was so close to being done! It is a picture book study, with 25 weeks of different stories, activities, copywork, journaling, comprehension, and some fairy tale comparisons. Nothing major, more for lower elementary, and focuses on gentle books, mindfulness, nature, family. I am pretty excited about it, and it should be done fairly soon. I will have it available on my Gumroad by the end of the summer! (I have three projects I want done by September – my 25 weeks of stories curriculum, my disability representation site up, and my multi-purpose room painted.) I am getting pretty close with the first two already! My Gumroad has a few things up on it, a freebie and some art studies and a nature study but that is it for now.

And, that is it for now my friends. Peace and love to you all.