2022-2023 Homeschool Curriculum Overview: Family Learning Cycle

I can’t believe that I am beginning my 9th year of homeschooling. We began with a formal homeschool preschool program when Collin was 4 years old and we have been going strong (ish) ever since! If you caught my post last week then you know that we have a fist time schooler starting this year. However, while she is just beginning on her My Father’s World Journey, the big kids will be moving into the last section of the family learning cycle. We started this learning cycle when Collin was in 3rd grade and here we are moving you into 7th grade.

One of the best parts of using the My Father’s World curriculum is that for the “content based” subjects, things like Bible, History, Science, Music, Art and the like rather than attempting to teach each kid something separate we all do those subjects together as a whole. We all read the same books, do the same activities, and have some wonderful conversations together centered around what we are all hearing, doing, and seeing together. This not only helps my own sanity but it helps to draw us as a family together as we share experiences and make memories together.

This year our family learning cycle is “1850’s to Modern Times” for history, Elementary Physics/Chemistry for Science, and the importance of developing some basic Christian foundational beliefs for Bible. We will also be incorporating some music studies centered around the more US patriotic songs that have helped shape and form our country.

History: 1850’s to Modern Times

This year we are continuing our chronological study through history as we move into the more current events of our country. Along with what is going on in America, we will also take a look at things that are going on in the world around us during that time. This year will take us through several major wars that will impact not only American history but world history as well. We will read about important individuals that shaped history, discuss the presidents we have had and how they have impacted things, and we will talk about several other important movements that have caused shifts and changes in the direction of our world.

The books we will be using for history this year are:

Science: Elementary Physics/Chemistry

Science this year should be A LOT of fun. This year we get to dive into some basic physics and chemistry lessons which means we will get to do a lot of neat experiments and see how the scientific process really works. I think RaeLynn is most excited about this subject since she is so interested in all things math and science, but I will be honest when I say this year is going to stretch me quiet a bit. I am not a huge fan of experiments unless it is me playing around with recipes in the kitchen so I’m going to have to just let go and learn to be in the moment quite a bit this year.

The book we will be using for science is:

Bible

One thing that I am also going to be working on this year is helping the kids to begin to establish their own ‘quiet time.” Part of their daily check lists include a devotion time and each of them have picked out a small daily devotional book they read each day.

When it comes to our group Bible time this year we will be going though a separate daily devotional book, reading through the relevant passages in the Bible, and focusing on some Scripture memory. We will also continue with our study of some favorite hymn, their writers, and learning and singing them together. Each hymn will be focused on for 2 weeks at a time.

The books we will be using for Bible are:

We will also incorporate a handful of read-aloud books that will go along with our history and Bible themes but I will share more on those in another post coming soon. So there it is, this year’s family learning cycle. I’m excited to dive in this year as we move into more modern history and some fun hands on science lessons.

What are you looking forward to the most this school year? Let me know in the comments.

Come back next week to see what we are doing for 5th grade independent learning!