A New School Year, 2016-17

Change is inevitable in most areas of life. I've fought change my whole life because I usually like to keep things as they are, but that doesn't really work most of the time!

We have been very consistent in most of our home education journey using similar methods and curricula for various subjects with a pretty regular school year schedule and a few breaks here and there. I have leaned toward programs with hands on learning activities, great read aloud literature, lots of history and Biblical worldview, and classical materials. These have served our family well! We have gained many new relationships through connecting with multiple home school communities in our area and I have grown personally in many ways. It is funny how over the past ten years of home education for our family, some things haven't really changed much, like the learning styles of our children or my own teaching preferences.

However, we are changing the curricula that we are using in our home school this year and the kids are excited about it! We used My Father's World for the first five years of our home school journey, then got involved with a Classical Conversations community for five years, and this year we find ourselves without enough middle school / high school children in our local CC community for classes for our own kids, so we are going back to My Father's World. MFW feels so familiar and it really fits the learning needs of our students well.

Sometimes God has to make things really clear for me and He did this time! I have been emotional about stepping down from my leadership role in our community, but I'm also excited for what He is doing in the lives of our children. Here are some of the things we are looking forward to this year:

• Freedom to select our own curriculum for math, science, foreign language, and other electives
• Five days at home each week for our studies, giving us more time to work at home
• Flexibility to use the curriculum in a way that works for each student
• Bible lessons as a regular "subject"
• A focus on missions and community service with a Biblical worldview
• Freedom to choose materials that fit our learning strengths & continue to work on our weaknesses

Yes, I will miss some of the community aspects of a weekly CC community day, but I am continuing to trust in His plans for our home school. I like to plan ahead and think that I have it all worked out, but sometimes He leads me in a new direction and I trust that He knows what is best for all of us! 

If you would like a more detailed description of the materials we are using, check it out at this link to our page of 2016-17 Curriculum, MFW WHL & ECC.