**I’ll get a post with specifics on curriculum choices, daily/weekly schedules, and a more in depth review up soon!**

Our first week of homeschool went surprisingly well! We just dipped our toes in this week and started with JUST math and ELA for Brixton. We’ll add in another subject each week until we work our way up to our full “course load”. We didn’t go full-on scheduled crazy, that’s just not how we roll. But we got everything done I planned, and there were minimal melt-downs. Here is a summary of how our first week played out and what is on board for next week!

We’re using The Good and The Beautiful for math (level 1) and ELA (level K) One week in, we both absolutely love them. We dove right in with lesson 1 in ELA, but I decided to start with the transitional math lessons. A week in, I’m thrilled with the (last minute, game-time) decision to use TGATB.

Brixton already knows the transitional math skills, but I used this as a chance to preview the curriculum. It let me do a read-through of sorts before we got into new information. I also love the manipulatives that are incorporated into the program. There is just enough to keep him engaged, but not so many that we end up overwhelmed keeping track. ELA has a good flow so far. We took the (free!) online level assessment to see where Brixton placed decided to start in level k. So far the lessons are mostly review, but we’re getting a good feel for how the day will look. I like the pace and length of each lesson. The writers seemed to be very aware of the targeted attention span, and make sure the lessons respect that.

Of course, Colston is not going to be left out of school work at all, so we did start our Torchlight pre-k curriculum for him as well. Since I intend to do Torchlight family style, I picked this specifically for the social emotional aspects . Pre-Covid, Brixton was working on social-emotional growth in school. I’m hoping this will build on those skills he was working on and help develop new ones. Honestly, I’m still wrapping my head around this program. Despite loving the book choices, I struggle to find the themed connection. We’ll stick with it though. Colston seems to enjoy it, and I think the benefits of even just reading the books and doing the activities without themed units outweigh my confusion.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be adding in the rest of various courses:

• Song School Spanish
• Handwriting Without Tears
• Explode the Code
• Science unit studies

Overall, I don’t think I could have asked for more from the first week. I decided to start early so that we had plenty of time to work out the kinks and still stay “on schedule”. Although, I am quickly realizing that “on schedule” means nothing as a homeschooler! I am loving the freedom of daily school. Some days we finished in an hour, some days we went down rabbit holes and found ourselves spending 2 hours researching something random. We watched Hamilton daily, because it really is the best soundtrack to do anything to.

Best of all, though, is watching my kids be genuinely excited about learning. Distance learning in the spring was HARD. We lost all our structure and routine overnight. We struggled. A lot. Add in a new baby, and things were chaotic, to say the least. I really believe homeschooling this year will be a lot more productive and enjoyable for all of us.