Do you like taking a peek into the lives of homeschoolers? I do! I love how each family makes homeschooling their own. Here is how we homeschool, have homeschooled, and what it looks like to let your kid’s interests lead.

How We Homeschool

My youngest is going into middle school. It feels so bizarre to write this. Other than giving brick-and-mortar school a try for two weeks in fourth grade, she’s always homeschooled. My oldest will be a junior. Again. TIME. Slow down! He’ll go back to public school. (He homeschooled 2nd-6th). You can read all about how we homeschooled when they were little and in elementary school in the posts below or keep reading to see how things have changed. Spoiler alert. Not much has changed. When it works, it works!

What Homeschooling Looks Like- An Eight-Year-Old’s Point of View

Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum- The Early Years

Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum- Early Elementary

Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum for Upper Elementary Students

A Day in the Life of Interest-Led Learners

2022-2023

What follows are the curriculums and subjects my middle schooler and I will explore Fall of 2022. I’ll update this throughout the year if anything changes. It’s possible it will. That’s the beauty of homeschooling. We can go with what is working and fix what isn’t.

Note: We follow interest-led homeschooling. This post can help you learn more about interest-led learning if you’re interested, and here’s one on why we homeschool.

How We Homeschool Math

We all have subjects we love and feel confident teaching, and ones that are not our favorite. Math is the subject I knew going into homeschooling I’d support. 

Over the years, we’ve used several online and paper curriculums. We’ve liked some and found others were not a good fit. While things like cost are a factor, I let my daughter choose how she wants to learn math.

Every year for the last four, she’s chosen the same curriculum, and every year she’s glad she did. Sophia will use CTC Math for 7th grade. You can read all about CTC math here and here.

Update– while Sophia loved CTC Math, she decided to focus on business math for the second half of 7th grade.

How We Homeschool English Language Arts

We homeschool ELA in much the way that I’ve taught ELA for 18 years. My daughter has a lot of choices. We read awesome books together and independently. We use discussion questions to help dive into literature and poetry, and she completes creative reading and writing projects.

It may sound simple, but it works and makes reading and writing a lot of fun.

There are no grammar books or spelling worksheets. There are no tests, and she does not do copy work. We’ve tried these things. I’ve also tried them in the past with my students. Again and again, I don’t see the majority of students able to apply workbook skills to their actual writing. On top of that, workbooks can’t teach writers how to cultivate their voice or become creative, critical thinkers.

If you’re interested in learning more about how I teach English Language Arts, I’d love for you to join Creative ELA. There you’ll find unit studies, novel studies, and creative projects. Your students can also take live classes with me.

How We Homeschool Science

For science, Sophia wants to continue learning about biology and ecology. 

Science is one of the subjects I worried about helping my kiddos learn, but I have grown to love creating science units so much. I always learn a lot too! 

Over the years, we’ve used several different types of resources for science. We’ve loved BookShark, Think Outside, and Kiwi Co crates. We’ve created units on cooking, spent many afternoons hiking, and deep-dived into all types of things my kids were interested in learning. 

Magic School Bus, National Geographic, science museums, the library, and nature tend to be our go-to resources. 

You can read more about how I create science unit studies here.

Update– Our focus in 7th grade ended up being zoology.

How We Homeschool History

This year my daughter has asked to focus on the geography of the US, which will naturally lead to learning history. I’m excited to do this with her because one of our thoughts about homeschooling high school is to travel-school around the US.

While we don’t have everything planned out yet, and I know things will morph as we go, here are some of the resources we’ll use.

Crash Course, Learning for Justice, National Council of Geographic Education, USGS, National Geographic, the library, and YouTube.

We’ll go about creating each history unit much like we create science unit studies. She’ll pick the state or area she wants to focus on; we’ll gather materials, look for field trips, and dive into our curiosities.

Update- This year, we’ve studied:

• T.C. Steele’s life and times
• Monarch Butterfly Migration
• Mexico
• Oman
• Colonial Williamsburg
• Emmitt Till & Civil Rights Movement
• Current Events

How We Homeschool Art

Art is essential to our homeschool days. We incorporate art into pretty much every other unit and subject. Our favorite art history resource other than art museums is Art History Kids.

My daughter also takes weekly art classes with a friend and former colleague, Hilary Cannon Anderson. If you are local or looking for art classes on Outschool, I highly recommend Hilary.

As I write this, we have just a few more weeks of summer. It’s bittersweet. I’m excited to get back into a more steady rhythm, and I’m going to miss the freedom and travels of summer.

If you are new to homeschooling or are looking for some help getting your homeschool plans and days organized, I’d love to help!

Happy planning and homeschooling!