A Wonderful First Week

I have spent a significant amount of time and energy planning our homeschool experience. Having homeschooled in the past, I've been disappointed with the outcomes due to a lack of the right supplies, misunderstandings of the curriculum, or just plain boredom! At this point in my parenting journey, I am strongly opposed to “busy work” unless the child wants to engage with it for fun (which my kids occasionally do). I’m also firmly against “teaching to the test.” I am all about experiential learning, storytelling, and Socratic discussion. I was determined not to face another failure or settle for mediocrity. I aimed to make this year a fantastic experience for Snow and for me. Was I successful? So far... yes! Week 1 was a huge success. In an effort to keep this somewhat brief, I’ll highlight a few of my favorite things:

Campfire Curriculum – Responsible for Transforming Snow into a Morning Person!

Snow is not a morning person. One of the reasons I wanted to homeschool her was because of the difficulty we had getting her up in the mornings for school. This week has been completely different. Snow loves reading and storytelling, so I thought a great way to start the day would be to snuggle on the couch in pajamas with tea and a really good story. This week’s stories were all about real-life pirates in our Campfire Curriculum unit studies. Someone on Facebook recommended Campfire Curriculum, and I am so thankful! It’s fantastic. Snow has loved it so much that it has become her favorite part of each day. She wants to wake up early just to do more of it! The curriculum is engaging, well-written, and fun. Moreover, the authors incorporate thought-provoking questions that lead to wonderful family conversations. Although the curriculum is technically Christian, it aligns with Christian values without overtly mentioning God or the Bible, except at the end of each lesson in a section titled “Faith Talk.” I haven’t particularly liked that section, but it has inspired me to relate the topics to my own faith journey. For example, today’s pirate was essentially trafficked (there were parental warnings for this lesson, so I was prepared), and the questions posed included whether she was a villain or a victim, or both? What if we only knew part of her story—would we have a different opinion? What if someone next to you has a different opinion? Is it difficult to converse with someone who feels differently about something so emotional? Other days were lighter and even humorous. A great mix! Next, we are doing a photography unit study and another called “History’s Mysteries.” I can’t wait!

Online Classes Have Added Great Variety to Her Days!

My friend offered to include Snow in her US History and Geography class, but since she lives 20 minutes away and I didn’t want to drive every day, we agreed to do a Zoom class some of the time. It has been a learning curve, but Snow has enjoyed the variety. Snow also took an online art class (which was too fast for her and not well-liked) and participated in a live “First Friday” event with other Open Ed students. She loved the live event. They shared their pets and then did a mini drawing class. Other kids chose to go into different Zoom rooms to build Legos, read stories, or explore other topics. Open Ed did a great job with adult moderators in each room. Snow is signed up for a Lego club, a book club/challenge, a crafting class each week, plus several single classes (the nervous system, oceans, watercolor, and more). They also offer a range of free online resources, such as MusicQuest, which Snow enjoyed while composing music! If anyone wants more information on Open Ed (formerly MyTech High), let me know—I’d be happy to share more. The $2500+ reimbursement and fun freebies are how we’re doing so many wonderful things in homeschooling this year!

Snow has also been doing math online using Teaching Textbooks, which is app-based. It seems almost too good to be true, so I’m keeping a close eye on it and have two backup plans ready, but so far, it’s been great! She likes it and seems to be learning quickly. My reasoning is this: math can be frustrating for both students and teachers, especially when errors are clerical rather than conceptual, or when students do a lot of work only to find they were doing it incorrectly. Planning lessons and providing feedback can be time-consuming. Teaching Textbooks offers everything in the app—no writing required (though there is a scratchpad available). Feedback is immediate for the student, and parents receive daily email reports. There are extra practice lessons if a student struggles with a particular area. Reviews mention that the methodology doesn’t align with standardized testing, so students might not perform well on those tests. However, parents have reported success with college entrance exams like the ACT or SAT. Since I’m not a fan of standardized testing anyway, this doesn’t bother me. Teaching Textbooks follows a different sequence from other math curricula, which could lead to inconsistencies or gaps if you switch curricula. While this is a risk, I’m not regretting the decision so far. It’s a relief to have something that’s fun and requires minimal involvement from me. She never complains about doing math! Each lesson takes about 20 minutes. She even did it in the car while we were picking up her sister or heading to other classes—super convenient and saves time in our homeschool schedule! There are 119 lessons plus quizzes, so that’s about four a week for the school year. Loving it so far!

Community Classes – Southern Oregon Has So Much to Offer!

We signed up for a membership with the Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon. Thanks to Snow’s OHP coverage, we got a 6-month membership (for 4 people) for just $35 (not per month—total!!). It includes culinary classes and clay studio classes. Our first visit was fantastic! Snow has been asking to go back every day since! We met some other homeschool friends there which made it extra fun. Online art classes haven’t been great, so we’re looking for an art class in town. Rocky Lawrence of Paint Away was the plan, but her class time conflicts with the culinary classes (which we’re not missing ever), so I’m meeting with another art teacher next week to see if she’s available to teach some classes. Anyone else interested?

Snow and I are joining the Rogue Photography club next week that meets once a month at Elmer’s—lots of older folks, which is wonderful as well. EPEC Homeschool PE was fantastic—over 300 kids split into age groups playing PE games. Snow ran so hard she said her legs might give out soon! Gymnastics at Motion Matrix, dance at Southern Oregon Dance Center (where I also teach), and our new favorite thing: a homeschool co-op! We joined Schole, one of several homeschool co-ops in Grants Pass. It’s been great so far. We’re going on a field trip next week, but classes don’t start until the end of the month. She signed up for Fairy Tale Science and People Throughout History. Just realized we’re now doing three history-related things... oh well! We’re loving it, and that’s one of the many joys of homeschooling—pursuing interests, diving deep, and falling in love with learning more every day.

As for the planning and schedule, I am adding and taking away a few things each week for the first month to make sure we are not wasting any time and having enough time to go as deep into subjects that Snow wants to go. I will keep you all updated and post our updated schedule in a few weeks!

If you want to see Snow's video learning log for the week, check it out here https://www.facebook.com/1698141900/videos/1555135335109307/

If you are looking for online or community-based classes, groups or schools, check out our website at www.OptionsforEducation.com or reach out - I am here to help!