Not back to school – our home ed plans for this year

September has rolled around again. Our 13th year of homeschooling. SO many years of homeschooling, it’s so normal for us, I couldn’t imagine NOT having the kids at home all the time.

I’m looking forward to getting back into a more normal rhythm after the last few crazy months of lockdown. WHile our home ed groups aren’t meeting yet, there are planty of meet ups planeed, the kiddos extra curicular groups are slowly getting back to normal.

Life resumes.

Things look a little different this year. I have two kiddos in college! Lola starts full-time college, studying for four A-Levels after spending the last two years in school studying for GCSEs. She walked away with 3 A*’s, an A, a B, and 5 C’s. Years of home-educating set her up for going for what she wanted and working hard to get the results she needed. I’m so proud of her! It’s an amazing feeling to start seeing your kiddos come out on the other side of homeschooling.

Kiki starts college this year for the first time, after 14 years of being home educated. She’ll be studying for an Animal Management Diploma as well as English and Maths. She is super excited to be starting college, and stepping out on her own path. Her course is only two days a week, so it’s the perfect option for her right now. I think she will thrive in the college, she’s so ready for this next step.

That leaves me with Baya and Beastie at home [and Oren of course!] to home educate. It will be strange only having two to think about in terms of educating. I’ve changed things up a little this year, outsourcing a little more as with Oren, and working and trying to study, time is precious.

Morning time will carry on as before. I love coming together first thing, to start out day. We usually have time to chat over the days plans, read that days poem, a little Shakespeare, maybe sing a song or two, share any interesting information we have, read an inspiring quote… etc etc

Beastie at 5 isn’t expected to do very much formal work. It’s still all about play at this age. That said, he’ll obviouly take part in morning time with us all. He loves Reading Eggs for some English and Mathseeds for Maths practice. We’re also going to trial Beast Academy to see if it’s a better Maths option for him. He has also been using ‘Teach Your Monster To Read’ over the summer to brush up on his reading skills.

I have signed him up for some Music and French lessons that a fellow home eduator is running online. These are fun little sessions that give him a little insight into a couple of new subjects.

I am also planning on loosely using the Exploring Nature with Children curriculum with Beastie {and anyone else who wants to join in}. We love nature time and this will give us a little structure to our walks, and something seasonal to focus on each week.

Miss Baya would be starting high school if she were to go. This year she will be taking an online Year 7 English class with Yvonne Mason, she will be joining in with our home ed book club, and also has a list of books she is ‘required’ to read over the course of the coming year.

She is going to be taking some Maths classes online, as well as using the MyMaths 1B book.

She’s chosen to do a Biology elective from allinonehomeschool this year for some science. She also plans to keep up her language practice on Duolingo, and carry on with her typing practice too.

We’re also going to use the Meet the Artists curriculum for a little bit of guided art study through the year. It covers some fantastic artists, and gives us a little bit of structured art – I love trying out different styles and techniques with the kiddos, and this gives us a little art history to throw in with it too.

That all sounds more formal than it really is. Morning time is just a get together over the breakfast table really, Baya’s lessons only take a few hours each week, asides from Beastie’s french and music, the rest is on an ‘as he feels like’ basis really, and we love to get crafty and arty – so our art curriculum is just an extension of that. Exploring Nature with Children gives a little shape to the nature time we already love.

There is plenty of free time for them to follow their own interests, plenty of time to play, and read, and craft. Plenty of time for walks and bike rides, baking sessions and general family fun.

What are your plans for this homeschooling year?