One of the very best things about homeschooling is the ability to set our own schedules. We can take breaks when we like, we choose the hours in the day that we work, and we decide when enough is enough or when we need to challenge ourselves a little bit more.
Due to our move from Fort Worth to New Mexico last year and a number of other reasons we made the decision to really begin the year round schooling process. This meant that we started in on 2nd and 4th grade in July rather than waiting until August. This lead to us finishing the better part of our curriculum at the end of April. For a while the plan was to begin our summer vacation then due to the fact that we would be entering into our small company’s busy season and it would open up flexibility to travel and assist with that when needed. Unfortunately, COVID-19 happened and all business events were cancelled.
I’m not one for having the kids sitting around idle so now was the perfect time to jump into our new program and evaluate a longer break when the time comes for us to do so. Enter: My Father’s World Rome to Reformation.
We began what we are calling 3rd and 5th grade on Monday May 3rd. While many of our friends are wrapping up school years we are beginning a new one. I’ll be honest, the kids aren’t exactly thrilled by this latest development but they are trying to embrace the idea.
We are excited for this program because we are moving into a time in history that we as a family have always really enjoyed studying. For Bible and History we are studying the rise and fall of the Roman empire and how that impacted and and engaged the life of Christ and the beginnings of the early church. Then we will move on to the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Reformation. In Science we have begun with a study of the Human Body. Later in the year we will be studying Astronomy from a Christian perspective. We get to read some fun books aloud, engage in some fun hands on learning activities and explore complex ideas through discussion.
We are continuing on with our use of Easy Peasy All in One Home school for Language Arts and Reading as well as for 2nd/3rd grade math (for the girls). For 4th/5th grade math (for Collin) we are continuing to use the Beast Academy math program. He is still enjoying the comic book style text book and the activities keep him engaged.
We are also incorporating some physical movement by using workouts provided by both Refit Revolution (a dance based fitness program) and DDPYoga. Each of the kids is also reading books and stories independently each day as part of their daily routine. It is my hope that in the fall we begin to also incorporate learning Sign Language as well. I am still looking for the best resource for this at the moment so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
So there it is. Mars Hall Legacy Academy is still going strong and even though we miss our weekly trips to the library and our play dates in the park, we have not let those things deter us from our learning. It is my goal to continue to share updates and stories about our journey through Rome to the Reformation as we go along so check back to see what we have been up to.
A Wise Woman in Progress 