What I Learned From Our Mid-Year Review

A few weeks ago I shared our Mid-Year Review Strategy. The RESULTS are in!! and today I am going to share with you the results using the same questions, and also I will share exactly what programs we are using this year.

Consider this a late 2015-2016 year schedule.

Are You Planning Your Curriculum?

My number one motto in choosing a curriculum is to make sure it suits you, your child, your family, and your homeschool. Next, I use 7 questions to help me choose the right curriculum. 

What You Need To Do a Mid-Year Review:

A few days ago I printed out a blank copy of our schedule for me, then I grabbed my tablet for my homeschool tracking app, grabbed a cup of coffee, and met the kids at the table. They brought their completed schedules and hot chocolate. We were set!

Disclosure: I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

You need:

• a blank copy of your schedule
• any trackers you may have –  I use an app, or online calendar.
• Coffee, but of course!
• Kids

We started on the side of our schedule and asked the 6 questions as we went along. I am not going to bore you to death with each discussion. Instead, I will note the subject and list the program and our results.

Where I live, when I register the children we have to note “grade level”, which I get but dislike.

I am noting grades, but they do not always correspond, as you will note the children often do the same courses, even though they are technically a grade apart. C is in “grade 8” and Dewi is in “grade 7”

Mathematics:

We are using Easy Peasy math for both, they are both using Middle School Math Step 2, C started at the end of last year and continued on, Dewi started this September.

What we love about this program is there are tons of videos that you can re-read, or re-watch if you don’t get it the first time. There are tests and quizzes and it is set up as “days”. So the children know to do one “day” each day. I let them work no more than 2 hours.

If they are not getting it after 30 minutes, they take a break, work on something else and come back. If it is still a no-go, they quit and try again tomorrow.

As for being on track, both were pretty much there, with Dewi needing to complete one extra day a week to finish when she wanted to.

English:

Writing:

We are using Writing With Skill, Level 1: Instructor Text (The Complete Writer). I researched this and it was a toss-up between it and another course. I sat the children down last summer showed them both the courses, and let them choose. It was a chunk of our budget.

They love her courses and so went with this. That said, C loves this course to death and says it helps him write the stories he writes. He enjoys it but says it does take a long time to do the lessons sometimes. Dewi hates it.

I love that it comes with a teacher’s manual. If you have used her courses before, what is great is they not only give you the answers but how to redirect if they are wrong. As in “say this” or “explain why”, which is perfect because it has been a few years since I wrote a research paper, just saying!

However, what we do find frustrating is I need to be there when they do this course, as it is broken up into days and steps. I need to check a step before they can go on, and thus it has taken us over a year to do it.

Writing With Skill, Level 1: Instructor Text (The Complete Writer)Writing With Skill, Level 1: Student Workbook (The Complete Writer)

 

We will finish it this year early and plan on doing some of the Language Arts program Easy Peasy offers to finish the year out and see if Dewi likes it better. If not, I will be searching for a program for her-suggestions welcome!

Spelling:

We use Spelling Workout, Level E I wanted something they could do each day with a test at the end. They are at different levels, I just linked one of their books so you can see it.

SPELLING WORKOUT HOMESCHOOL BUNDLE LEVEL E COPYRIGHT 2002

 

I love how it includes bits of grammar and teaches through games like fill-in-the-blank or crosswords.

This year, I gave them fewer guidelines and told them a test a week, they could do as many blocks as they wanted. Bonus: the list is in cursive! Which I love, as they need to learn to read cursive, in my opinion.

Grammar:

Nothing! Yikes! And it is showing, I used First Language Lessons, which they kids loved/hated.  We’ve done a few of the books and I might pick one up for next year.

I would love suggestions for a reasonably priced program or free that you like for middle school-or Grade 7+.

First Language Lessons Level 1

 

In the meantime, since they will be switching to Easy Peasy Language Arts, and she includes grammar we will see how that goes.

Reading:

They read books they choose for 30 minutes a day. This has been okay. I am not thrilled with their lack of variety and they are definitely not reading a lot of books. So far maybe 4-5 for the year, compared to last year this is lacking big time.

However, I am not sure if that is important on my list or not. I will see how I feel at the end of the year.

History:

We use Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer and we love this series. We are being super pokey taking our time.

We do a book in two years. I bought both the student workbooks and the textbook for each year and we are on level 3 this year. I am not sure if I will be buying two workbooks next year or not.

This has changed over the years from a read-aloud (which I miss terribly but I can’t read it aloud when I am not here) to a self-paced course.

Story of the World, Text Bundle, Paperback Revised Edition: History for the Classical Child: Ancient Times through The Modern Age

 

We are doing it differently this year.

They have a week to read the chapter and find and define vocabulary words, accompanied by free YouTube history videos.

At the end of the week, they take notes and write a one-page summary of what they learned, including important figures and dates.

They can make them any way they like, sketch notes (which is super cool FYI) notebook page, a page with lap-book pieces, or whatever. They can include pictures and charts and dress it up any way they prefer, but they must include facts, dates and figures.

History-Geography:

We are using Easy Peasy which is why the name might throw you off. It is her History year 3, found under History-Geography. C is doing level M, and Dewi is doing level L. We also broke this down to a two-year course. They do this twice a week.

C hates it, however, he informs me he hates all geography so this “isn’t a bad one considering” (haha teenagers!) Dewi loves it.

If you know of any fun engaging geography courses out there for someone who doesn’t like geography let me know!

Science:

The children decided to study Zoology this year. Since we have a deep love of animals it was nice to be able to incorporate this with a program.

Therefore, we decided to use Easy Peasy Zoology. Dewi is using Level L and C is using Level M. The nice thing about it is they get to practice their skills of working together as few lap book activities ended up being “group”.

Electives:

These are done once per day, and cycle through. So they get all their core subjects plus one elective each school day.

Foreign Language:

We are using Duolingo, C is continuing on in French, and Dewi is in Spanish.

Note: we heard great things about mango, which is not available through our library and wasn’t free. We tried the trial and they were not too impressed. So, we are sticking with Duolingo.

Computer:

We are using Easy Peasy Computer, I love that she talks about internet safety and walks them through each section.

The children thought this was going to be terrible, as they have hated every single coding/computer course they have attempted.

They are actually liking it. =)

We do this once a week, and they are pretty much on track. However, they need to work on their typing so we will be returning to Typingweb.com and doing that for 15-20 minutes a day.

Art:

Easy Peasy Early American Art, They do this once a week and they are “okay” with it. It is more interesting than they thought. They are on track to finish this course by the end date planned.

Both children are artistic in a way, and so after “school hours” they can be found curled up with videos and art of their choice. C is on the computer messing around with source coding, writing, photo editing, photo shop, etc. Dewi will have pencil and paper, polymer clay, or whatever the art of the feeling is.

Easy Peasy rounds out their art by introducing methods, artists, etc. And they are short entertaining lessons.

PE/Health:

Easy Peasy PE/Health-Odds– once a week, Dewi loves it, C not so much. He does M she does L.

However, she loves moving around and working out, he does not. He also hates learning about body anything so take this into consideration.

I love it, it includes studying nutrition, fire safety, dangers of drugs/alcohol as well as exercise, and learning the proper form, etc. It covers all my “checkmarks” needed for the Department of Education.

Music:

Don’t go into shock…Easy Peasy Music: Early American. Neither child is a fan of learning to play and instrument. This covers learning about music, the different notes, and artists, and is all online. Nothing I have to “waste money” on.

Last year they did keyboarding, C did pretty well. D hated every single one. C had no desire to continue. Again it covers all my requirements needed for the Department of Education.

What  I Learned From Our Mid-Year Review:

This mid-year review went very smoothly, I was happy to get some feedback from the children on what they enjoyed and did not enjoy. We also discovered they are right on track and that was good to hear after the sickness and holidays. We have approximately 22 weeks left, should everything go as planned, which it never does right?

I look forward to hearing the results of your review, or any suggestions for the multitude of questions I asked above!

Thank you so much for reading and please share if you think this was helpful.

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