Year in Review: Everleigh, 8th, and Kyrie, 11th

It was the strangest of years, but probably one where I learned more about teaching than ever before. It was also the year where I embraced our classical teaching model which means putting it all on a transcript in one calendar year is tricky. I met with yet another admissions counselor who told me what Assoc. Director of Admissions Rachelle Reitz would have told Homeschooling Mom Rachelle Reitz: "Just pick a year and put the credit there." He told me to make it easy to see what she had studied...When and how was less important. 

I like orderliness, but learning is messy. And flexibility makes for better learning. 

Everleigh warmed my heart by loving the Humanities. Math was a struggle and I had to abandon the plan and regroup. I learned a lot along the way. Here's out it all worked out. 

Math-We started with Jacobs Algebra and 3 months into the year, it was clear it was not working.  Kyrie loved Jacobs, but Everleigh was really struggling and I was pretty sure we were dealing with something major. We ended up getting her assessed where it was recommended she backtrack and shore up her pre-algebra skills and hold off until high school to start Algebra because she was struggling with abstract concepts. I went looking for something better and found some used half-year Singapore Dimensions 7A books. I tentatively purchased them and started going through the first book with her. It was an amazing transformation. This curricula follows the British method, which doesn't break up Algebra and Geometry but intertwines them. It also teaches it so well with real-life problems that are challenging and don't feel contrived. This reviewer rightly quoted a math teacher who said using Singapore Dimensions made her realize she was taught to “do math” but not to “think mathematically.” My own understanding of math has expanded exponentially in the  months since Everleigh and I started using Dimensions. It takes my involvement but she has seen her math understanding grow and we will continue with Dimensions through the final level (8A and 8B) which covers Algebra I and a lot of Geometry. We are finishing up 7B this summer. The challenge is that there are no "tests" so I am using the workbook to review and then the review in the primary text becomes a test for each chapter.

Earth Science -It was my first time using Novare Earth Science and I did use the Experiment Guide and resources from Classical Academic Press. I loved the thoroughness of this text--the learning objectives, vocabulary, and exercises are helpful, but even better was the beautiful and thorough text. Everleigh and I still discuss the weather, storm types, and everything we learned this year. Novare is excellent about grounding students in the scientific method, having respect for science while also recognizing limitations on human knowledge and the need to keep seeking and asking questions. 

Writing and Literature - Everleigh has moved through the Writing and Rhetoric series faster than her siblings and completed the Description portion of Description and Impersonation last school year. This fall she finished up the Impersonation portion, learning to write in the voice of four writers using the modes of persuasion. She then started Thesis Part 1. This is a complete transition from the Logic to Rhetoric and involves knowing your own voice and we made it part-way through before I wondered if we had arrived too early. So we moved to literature guides from Classical Academic Press and a focus on discussion, annotation, and reading for themes. We started with C.S. Lewis's The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe which includes some essays from Mere Christianity and The Weight of Glory. Ev took off, finishing it in record time, learning to form her own discussions questions from reading, and then writing about literature. I hadn't planned to keep going, but she moved into The Screwtape Letters with ease. I think this understanding of literature has prepared her to go back and work on thesis writing with confidence and greater understanding.

American Origins - As a Humanities lover (with a BA in Humanities to prove it), I was thrilled when Classical Academic Press rolled out its Humanitas curriculum. I watched webinars and tentatively embarked on American Origins a little early because I couldn't wait. This is a high school curriculum and it uses primary texts. We were reading Samuel Rutherhood, John Locke, and Thomas Paine and I wondered if I needed to change course. Interestingly, Everleigh loved it and just when I was going to put it aside as too much too soon, told me it was her favorite subject. So we worked through one semester's material in a whole year and focused on discussion and short written responses. Unlike most of Classical Academic Press's curriculum, the teacher's guide is not that helpful. I can't pull it out in the morning and have a schedule laid out for me with quizzes and assignments. I think it might be daunting for a lot of homeschooling parents. Having said that, I love the beauty of the texts, incorporating primary texts with short blurbs about what is going on in the world (history, science, art, etc....) at the time. Origins covered a lot of history, but also the framework for the American experiment, an early political philosophy source. It takes some work, but this is the stuff I read in college, presented beautifully. 

The Art of Argument and Discovery of Deduction - It's my third time through informal and formal logic and I am still learning more. I love these cornerstones of Classical Academic Press's logic sequence most. Everleigh did so well, we finished up Art of Argument and just kept going. She will finish Deduction next year, but she is nearly there. 

Art History - I have studied Art History as part of my Humanities degree and was just looking for a guide to help me remember all the names, movements, and styles I didn't want to forget. I would never recommend Short Lessons in Art History or the corresponding activity guide (which we never used) to someone who didn't have that background. It was ugly (for an art book), and not as comprehensive as I would have liked. But it did help me form a backbone to which I added videos on artists (from Khan Academy and other sources) and a number of museum visits. Our most recent visit (to Buffalo AKG Art Museum) had my daughters pointing out painting, sculptures, and drawings by more than 24 artists we had studied. Everleigh has a good eye and weekly responses to art, pointing out distinctives and commenting on what she liked and didn't like, helped develop her artistic senses. 

Religion -  A low key once a week reading of Credo, to solidify the faith through the Apostle's Creed.

There have been some challenges with Kyrie this year; in particular, she is uncertain of what she wants to do next, so it has been hard to determine what classes she should take and what requirements to follow. So trying to figure out a vocation or path of study has taken over her headspace, and mine. She does better with outside competition and accountability and benefited from group and online classes.

Math - Kyrie is a perfectionist and math has taken her some time. She excelled at Algebra, but she had both Business Math and Geometry since taking it and had forgotten a lot. We used this course for Algebra II and Trigononometry but this is past my level of math and we were buried pretty quickly. We found a tutor and relaxed the pace so she could really get it. She is just about to wrap it up and we are both so ready.

Chemistry - After loving her Biology lab intensive with Greg Landry, we had an amazing discount on his online Chemistry course and we jumped at it. Kyrie loved this course and after rejecting any STEM-related professions, began considering something science related. 

Economics - Once again, competing in Debate, her debate coach wanted everyone to have Economics. I taught this half-credit course to 20+ kids using Lessons for the Young Economist. Kyrie coupled this half-credit course with selected lessons from What Everyone Should Know about Wealth and Prosperity by James D. Gwartney, Dwight R. Lee, Richard Stroup, et al and from Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell.

World Literature: The Divine Comedy - A friend asked if I would teach her daughter the course I did with Ben his senior year. We did 100 Days of Dante with a group of six 10th-12th graders, meeting weekly to discuss, keeping a journal, and writing a full-paper on some aspect of the Comedia. Kyrie thrived and thoroughly enjoyed having friends to the house once a week.

Rhetoric - Using Rhetoric Alive! Book 1: Principles of Persuasion, Kyrie studied the five canons, three types of speeches, and three appeals, and gave twelve presentations. She also competed in Impromptu Speech competition at four different speech and debate tournaments, scoring well and competing in finals in two tournaments.

Art History - I have studied Art History as part of my Humanities degree and was just looking for a guide to help me remember all the names, movements, and styles I didn't want to forget. I would never recommend Short Lessons in Art History or the corresponding activity guide (which we never used) to someone who didn't have that background. It was ugly (for an art book), and not as comprehensive as I would have liked. But it did help me form a backbone to which I added videos on artists (from Khan Academy and other sources) and visits to University of Michigan Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art, Newfields (Indianapolis Art Museum), Detroit Institute of Art, Saginaw Art Museum and Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Kyrie took notes and seemed to relish this course.

Books 2023

A few years ago I intentionally began working to balance fiction and non-fiction in my reading, finding both valuable in different ways.  Everleigh inherited my love of historical fiction and while she crocheted, painted, embroidered,and sewed, I read to her the majority of Jeff Shaara's historical fiction on US wars. We thought we had read it all, only to discover 5 new titles (on the Mexican American War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Korean War, and two new books on World War II) we have yet to read. We have opted to break for a while and try some new books, but suffice it to say, I find Shaara's work to be insightful, faithful to the historical record, and strangely comforting in a turbulent age. I was so fascinated by his Gettysburg account, I also read The Twentieth Maine by John J. Pullen, an account of Joshua Chamberlain's all-volunteer regiment. Chamberlain, college professor turned regimental commander, and later governor of Maine is a fascinating American I knew nothing about until 2023. 

I read Michael Strogoff: A Courier of the Czar by Jules Verne again. Nothing makes me so happy to be an American as reading Russian literature and I needed to re-read this in 2023. While this novel starts a little slow (as novels set in Russian do), it is a true adventure full of tragedy, heroism, and romance. 

Willa Cather runs a close second to Russian literature for making me thankful for my life, and also reminds me of some of the hearty stock I come from who made a life on the harsh prairies of Kansas and Nebraska. This year, it was my first read of O Pioneers. This should be must reading for every whiny woman complaining about dishes and laundry on social media. Cather makes me feel the coldness of the prairie, the disappointment of a lonely life, and the determination of women of substance. 

While I am deeply suspect of fiction writers still living, Amy Lynn Green came on to my radar a few years ago with her book Things We Didn't Say. She is a graduate of Taylor (Ben's college) and when I saw that The Lines Between Us was set in Oregon during World War II, it was a must-read. It was my fastest read of the year, because I couldn't put it down, completely caught up in the trouble between conflicting convictions in a family and a riveting story based on real events that I was completely unaware of in my home state. 

Rounding out my fiction reading for the year, was C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces. There is not much in the human lexicon that Lewis doesn't touch in this masterful myth telling. Peter Kreeft's 2004 lecture on the book was a fascinating addition.

I ventured into new territory, reading Jon Acuff's Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking and finding it underwhelming. So oddly, I opted to follow it up with his similar book for teens written with his teenage daughters, L.E. and McRae Acuff, Your New Playlist: The Student's Guide to Tapping Into the Superpower of Mindset. This one so moved me, I had my youngest read it and blogged about it for HSLDA. One sentence continues to humble me and make me a little more generous to millenials and Gen Z: "We would have made the same mistakes you’re making with your phone." Good reading for teens AND parents.

I read Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote for Chaos. I didn't find it revolutionary but didn't disagree.

Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing by Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis should be must reading by everyone, but particularly anyone who thinks there is any reason to keep this hideous practice, legal. Tackling all the ways that abortion destroys everything: women, children, men, law, politics, medicine, the media, Anderson and DeSanctis point the way forward for prolife activists to help our culture understand the horrific repercussions of this evil. 

Hats off to Matthew Continetti for his brilliant and readable The Right: The Hundred Year War for American Conservatism. I came away with a more complete understanding, a little more hope, and a more grounded understanding of why I am and will remain, a conservative.

Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq by Melvyn P. Leffler was an insightful look at a key time in history. Having lived through this period, I've never thought the media accurately reflected the decisions and motivations of the Iraq invasion and removal of Saddam Hussein. Leffler's book was deeply satisfying for finding deeper and more nuanced motivations, and recognizing the long-term repercussions of policy decisions and leadership issues.

I met Pam Tebow in the fall of 2022 and was inspired by her positive outlook. Thrust into the national spotlight by a son who has lived uncompromising faith in the limelight, Pam grasped and articulated something I needed to be reminded of: that a woman's influence is more than a job she does, it is about the people she influences behind-the-scenes, in day-to-day faithfulness. She told me (and others) that she thought homeschooling moms (of which she was one) play a key role in influence and Ripple Effects: Discover the Miraculous Motivating Power of a Woman's Influence is her story of living out that reality. I realized again how much I most value the role of wife and mother above all things, and that homeschooling my children is my opportunity to live this to the max.

Letters to A Diminished Church: Passionate Arguments for the Relevance of Christian Doctrine by Dorothy L. Sayers, is a collection of Sayers essays on the intertwining of faith and theology with art, literature, education and history. Each is rich in merit, and I took some time to read and process, identifying with Sayers' frustration that the Church and her people are diminished and impoverished by a lack of robust imagination and intellectual passion. These 70+ year old essays could have been written to today's Church and are relevant to anyone who takes faith seriously and needs refreshment and renewal.

Year in Review-Everleigh, 7th grade and Kyrie, 10th grade

This year was supposed to be easier. After all, I was just down to two students. It turned out to be a chaotic and difficult year, with some golden spots, and a lot of learning for the students and teacher.

Everleigh hit her stride this year and I saw a huge uptick in her effort and the quality of her work. She took piano lessons and taught herself to crochet this year, as well as continuing to paint and do hand-sewing. Here is what we did for her for formal education:  

Math-Ev wanted to continue using Horizons for Pre-Algebra. This book introduces algebra concepts as well as early geometry. 

Grammar, Writing and Spelling-All of my kids ended up liking Rod and Staff's grammar. Ev declared it her favorite subject and learned it well. She also thrived with Writing, developing into a strong writer. We have loved the Writing & Rhetoric series from Classical Academic Press, and she completed Comparison and the descriptive writing portion of Description and Impersonation. She learned to compare people, events, and things as well as to write descriptions of nature, people, and processes. She completed Spelling Workout G and H, a series I loved and used for all three of my children.

Physical Science-My older kids used John May's Physics text and really liked it, so I used Novare Physical Science for Everleigh. It's a challenging program, using mastery concepts, but she ended up thriving and learning a lot. She laid the foundation to be more prepared for physics and I appreciated the conversion problems as well as solid foundation. 

Health and First Aid-Using Susan Boe's Total Health: Choices for a Winning Lifestyle, we had class discussion on physical, emotional, social, and spiritual health. Evie kept a food journal, did an exercise and lifestyle analysis and focused on time management. She completed a National CPR Foundation Course in CPR and First Aid. Ev also read Your New Playlist: The Student's Guide into Tapping into the Superpower of Mindset and I blogged about that experience here. 

U.S. History-I relaxed on this topic this year and had Everleigh sit in on discussion with Kyrie who was taking U.S. History and then do extensive reading of history biography and historical fiction. She will take this on a more in depth level in high school. This was to whet the appetite.  

 

Kyrie had a tough year. A lot of things went wrong, including my mistake at not pivoting quickly on a poor curricula choice. We both can't wait for next year. She participated again in Debate and even that was tumultuous with a lot of personal challenges (sickness, grief) for both her partner and her. She also took piano lessons.

Bible - We did a study of Genesis and Creation using Chance or Purpose and the Hearts Aflame study on Genesis Part 1: God and His Creation both of which explore a lot of theology. (I did this before with Ben and will return to it with Ev.)

Biology with lab - This is a cautionary tale. Kyrie started off year in Charlotte, N. Carolina at a 2-day lab intensive which she loved. She dissected a frog, sheep's brain and uterus (pregnant with twins), typed her own blood, took a sample of her DNA and studied it, and many other amazing labs. There were 15+ labs, and she kept a notebook, and completed a lab report. This experience carried her through a tedious curriculum. We have loved Novare's Physics and Physical Science curriculum, but the Biology was written by other authors. I didn't love the order it was presented in, but failed to recognize that it just wasn't making the subject clear and interesting. Sadly, it wasn't until April that I dumped it. We had covered everything but part of plants, animals, and humans. I covered those using Miller & Levine's Biology using resources I used for Ben from Kolbe Academy. Kyrie loved this section and encouraged me to go back to it for Ev.

Geometry - We used Jacobs Geometry through AskDrCallahan who provides teaching (we have videos because I purchased for Ben--it's now streaming). Love both the curriculum and the Callahans who provide guidance and support throughout the process. 

Latin III - Kyrie took Latin III through Schole Academy with Eddie Kotynski as her instructor. Mr. Kotynski is an amazing instructor and his ability to make students feel like they were in the room with him was truly a gift. She thrived in this course and I eavesdropped a little to learn the skill of teaching. Online classes are painfully expensive; this one was worth every penny. 

U.S. History - I used A Patriot's History and along with the corresponding primary source reading guide. I used The Classical Historian's teacher's guide with additional resources selectively.  We used games to quiz with and had class discussion as well as 16 different short essays and one long essay on different U.S. history events and people. I love U.S. History, but probably should have condensed for Kyrie, instead of elaborating.

Writing and Literature - While we did some work in Classical Academic Press's Writing & Rhetoric Thesis II, I have taught Ben from CAP's Rhetoric Alive and found them very similar. I liked Rhetoric Alive a lot and it is on Kyrie's schedule for next year, so I was selective. Kyrie also read C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces using this literature guide and discussed in a book group with others who had read the book. However, this area was short-changed this year.

2022 Reading

Real life begins tomorrow, when we drive Ben back to Taylor, and send my brother back to California the next day, and resume school. Time for contemplation has been in short supply this year, and I'm grateful for a few minutes to look back at the year through the books I read.

Dante was the theme for academic year 2021-22 and as a result I finished up with three related titles in early 2022.

Purgatorio and Paradiso by Dante Aligheri--Dante had a profound influence on my thinking about sin and salvation, and gave me insights into holiness and God's orientation toward me.  The Divine Comedy was meant to be read as a whole and it is a travesty that most readers don't make it past Inferno. I cannot recommend 100 Days of Dante enough for anyone wanting to read and learn more about this great work that inspired the works of so many others. (Big fan of Anthony Esolen's translations.)

My interest led me to Rod Dreher, who wrote How Dante Can Save Your Life: The Life-Changing Wisdom of History's Greatest Poem. I read this with high hopes and came away a little disillusioned with Dreher, who seemed self-focused for much of this book, without a lot of thought to the people in his world he writes about.

Dreher redeemed himself a lot with Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents which was the impetus for small actions to disassociate myself from the overarching cultural move towards spiritual annihilation of humanity. Focusing primarily on dissidents in 20th century communist regimes, Dreher shines a light on the similarities of those not-so-distant times and the current state of the West. The small act of refusing to participate in the lie can be costly, but so very powerful. 

Also, this year, read 1984 by George Orwell for the first time. It was as depressing and relevant as I expected it to be. 

Helpful after trying to understand why people participate in the march toward totalitarianism, was Thomas Sowell's A Conflict of Visions, which my husband sums up best: "Two archetypal assumptions about humanity explain major differences in political and policy preferences.... A constrained vision says humans are imperfect, self-interested creatures and that we must govern knowing that people respond to incentives. An unconstrained vision says humanity can be perfected and made altruistic; government then becomes a tool to shape us."

My son introduced me to Leo Tolstoy's novella (your only chance to read anything short by Tolstoy), The Death of Ivan Ilyich, a deep dive into living, dying, suffering, and the meaning of life. Ben calls it his favorite book; it was impactful for me. 

I couldn't have known when I read Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep by Tish Harrison Warren that our family would experience the deep and wrenching grief of losing two family friends to suicide and a third to a fentanyl overdose in 2022. I have walked through dark seasons before, but watching your child experience its plunging depths was something new and painful. Warren's book is a short poignant reminder that we are not alone in the night. 

Everleigh is my most prolific reader as of yet, often torn between working with her hands, and reading. She solves that conundrum by having me read while she knits, paints, or sews in the evenings. I pivoted from my usual 7th grade academic plan to fuel her love for U.S. History (thank you Lin Manuel Miranda). Along with an outside class on the Revolutionary War, tickets to Hamilton, and jumping in on her sister's U.S. History class, we read Jeff Shaara's Road to Rebellion (and anxiously await its sequel The Glorious Cause to make its slow way through interlibrary loan to our local library). Shaara's historical fiction brings to life the names and dates of history. Contrasting in style to Shaara, we read Kenneth Roberts' Northwest Passage and Rabble in Arms. Shaara's vision is optimistic (even Ben Franklin is nearly perfect), while Roberts is intent on his readers understanding that history is made by common, rather than heroic, characters who are deceived, deluded, and often despicable. Politically correct by no one's standards, Roberts finds Congress a completely useless low-life body of ingrates, and makes the case for Benedict Arnold as used and misunderstood by his peers. Both books are riveting works of historical fiction full of colorful characters. 

I was excited to read Andrew Klavan's The Truth and Beauty: How the Lives and Works of England's Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus. The first two thirds of the book is devoted to the Romantic poets and stories about them. Then, in the last third of the book, Klavan gets to his interpretations of the stories of Jesus.  I think Klavan is sincere, but I wondered why his editors didn't land on a better title for this book that is his take on the Romantics followed by some spiritual memoir. The two didn't feel woven together in any coherency.

After listening to National Review writer Michael Brendan Dougherty on a podcast, I picked up his My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son's Search for Home. It took me until the last chapter to really come full circle with Dougherty. There the book took on its fullest meaning, going beyond the story of the emptiness of a boy without his father and seeing the losses Dougherty can only understand when he becomes a father himself: the brokenhearted bitterness of a mother and a man deprived of living life with his son. A book for our times.

In December, my aunt sent me a little book The All of It by Jeannette Haien. As Irish as it gets, it is a remarkable testament to the human spirit to overcome brokenness and survive, even thrive. The telling of a life story in a semi-confessional setting, I was stunned by the beauty of a protagonist who chooses to do right in a setting of many wrongs.

A year of reading is not complete without Dorothy Sayers. I listened to her speech The Lost Tools of Learning, a speech given in 1947 at Oxford that started a revival in classical education and is a parent of the modern classical Christian model of education. I was grateful to be reminded that middle school age children ("Logic" stage) are difficult and argumentative anyway; best give them a framework for arguing and thinking well. 

Part of reading for a summer book group, I also read and listened to the BBC audio plays by Sayers, The Man Born to Be King: A Play Cycle on the Life of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Sayers waded into deep waters bringing her interpretation to the Gospels in dramatic form. Controversial when written and performed on BBC radio during World War II, C.S. Lewis read them every year during Lent. Thought-provoking, I came away defending St. Andrew from her interpretation, but with a renewed appreciation for each of the persons of the Gospel story, and a deeper love for our Lord and His early followers who took the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.

Homeschool Year in Review-2021/22-Ben's Senior Year

Wow! The end of an era. I started this blog when I was the awed mother of an infant boy named Ben. I could not imagine or foresee two little girls (and now young women) that would come along. Ben was my introduction to motherhood and it was the most life-changing thing I have ever experienced. 

Ben's health and unique intelligence plus my experience with his public preschool are what spurred me to homeschool him. I just finished reading his senior thesis, "Christian and Biblical Influences on Storytelling" and was again overwhelmed by the amazing person I was able to guide both as parent and primary instructor. It was an honor.

But it is time. Time to send him on to higher education, other influences, and people who can teach  him things that are beyond my scope. And also time to devote even more time and energy to the education of his equally amazing sisters. 

Senior year was by far the most fun I have had homeschooling. Here's what Ben's senior year looked like in addition to Debate and his part-time job as a facilitator for fun at Kokomo's Family Fun Center. 

Ben took these classes: 

Business Math -  Ben is decidedly not going to be pursing a STEM career and Business Math was a  good final math course that he could take with Kyrie. We used Abeka's Business Math. Both kids thought it was really useful and enjoyed the course. I thought it was too easy, and outdated (still teaching 1040A and 1040EZ with no mention of online filing), and taught things in a really weird order. The very last section covers personal banking, after covering accounting procedures, real estate, etc.... We all agreed the subject was really worthwhile, but I wouldn't use this curriculum again. Ben had added assignments--doing his taxes, for instance, that prepared him for the real world. Course-A; Curriculum-C. 

Physics - We used Novare Physics and followed the course syllabus which provides a schedule, quizzes and tests, and experiments. This course focuses on mastery and there is a continual review process, particularly in the quizzes which are comprehensive and focus on written answers. The lab consists of 6 labs and lab reports and are expensive and some were just too elaborate to carry out for a homeschool course. We did most of the labs, an extensive lab report, and added in some similar but simpler labs. I really liked this curriculum a lot, but the lab portions would work better in a co-op or school situation. 

World Literature -This was online discussion course through Center for Lit. The book choices are great and the online instruction is good, but for the price we paid, there is no feedback to the student on the 15 short essay assignments. Ben found this disappointing. He worked hard on his essays and shared some of his ideas with me. This summer he was able to lead a book group discussion on his favorite book, The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Center for Lit offers the content of the online interactive discussions at a much cheaper cost and that might be a better option for someone who wants guided discussion. Ben read: The Aeneid, The Odyssey, Beowolf, Job, selections from The Canterbury Tales, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and The Great Divorce. Wrote 15 short essays, usually two on each book. I also had him read Les Miserables outside of the course. 

AP Comparative Government  - This was an online class through PA Homeschoolers AP Online Classes taught by Julia Reed. This course delivered exactly what I hoped for, offering a Ben a real challenge in an area he was interested in. Mrs. Reed, retired lieutenant colonel (Air Force) offered excellent instruction, communicated with students individually, and employed three T.A.'s (one a Hillsdale student, another a student at Oxford) who offered online study sessions and feedback. The technology used (Canvas), the methodology, and the quality of instruction were by far the best of our online classes.

Rhetoric - We used Rhetoric Alive: Principles of Persuasion which utilized great speeches throughout history to learn the five canons of rhetoric to form speeches (deliberative, ceremonial and judicial) using pathos, ethos, and logos. Ben wrote speeches and presented to them family and grew in his spoken communication. Loved this curriculum. 

Introduction to Film - Ben took this class (self-paced, online) with a friend through Film School 4 Teens. Taught by a filmmaker whose wife homeschools their own kids, this was a great course and we watched some great movies as part of the course. Ben had learned much of the technical content at Taylor University's Film Camp before his senior year, but he definitely enjoyed it. He completed the course by February and proceeded to make two films, The Tower of Hats, which took second place at the Envision Film Festival (high school division) at Taylor, and The Omega Grindset, which he debuted at his high school graduation. 

The Divine Comedy (Honors) -Ben read The Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso by Dante Aligheiri and watched a short video on each through 100 Days of Dante.  Originally he wrote short written responses to questions, but as he was frustrated by lack of responses and ability to discuss in his world literature course, I averted course and we discussed each chapter and video in class together. He kept a journal and wrote a final senior thesis titled: “Christian and Biblical Influences on Storytelling" which examined Dante's influence as well as other notable writers (of books, a television series, and a video game. We both loved walking through this together; it was a true capstone for Ben to examine Dante's growth in faith and his amazing impact on the world of storytelling.

Homeschool Year in Review - 2021-22 (Kyrie- 9th grade)

It's July and I'm just getting to finalizing Kyrie's grades and documenting what I did with her. 

Bible-Though God's Great Covenant: New Testament 2 Acts is ideal for middle school, and since I used it for both Kyrie and Evie together, I added in Martin Franzmann's The Revelation to John and Eugene Peterson's Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination to make it more challenging for Kyrie. She loves theology, so this was a great addition.

History-Kyrie also joined Evie in The Story of the World Volume 4: The Modern Age. I found an online school and followed their syllabus for turning the course into a high school course, adding in writing projects on both events and people to make this more challenging. Kyrie did her final project on the Civil Rights Movement. 

Latin II-This is her second year of high school level Latin and she took it through Schole Academy. Her teacher is Mr. Eddie Kotynski, who also taught Ben for a year. He is a great teacher and Kyrie thrived in this course. Schole offers quality online instruction with clear policies and a good platform. 

Physics-We used Novare Physics and followed the course syllabus which provides a schedule, quizzes and tests, and experiments. This course focuses on mastery and there is a continual review process, particularly in the quizzes which are comprehensive and focus on written answers. The lab consists of 6 labs and lab reports and are expensive and some were just too elaborate to carry out for a homeschool course. We did most of the labs, an extensive lab report, and added in some similar but simpler labs from Evie's middle school physics. I really liked this curriculum a lot, but the lab portions would work better in a co-op or school situation. 

Business Math-Ben needed an elective math and I thought Kyrie would benefit from taking a year to do something else before going on to Geometry. We used Abeka's Business Math. Both kids thought it was really useful and enjoyed the course. I thought it was too easy, and outdated (still teaching 1040A and 1040EZ with no mention of online filing), and taught things in a really weird order. The very last section covers personal banking, after covering accounting procedures, real estate, etc.... We all agreed the subject was really worthwhile, but I wouldn't use this curriculum again. 

Writing and Literature-I love the Writing and Rhetoric series and Thesis I teaches students how to write a thesis answering the question, "What is beauty?" Resources from Aristotle to Roger Scruton  slowly and carefully teach the basis of a good thesis essay. In addition, she read C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters and walked through the literature guide. She read G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy and Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and discussed all three books in a book group. 

Logic-We used The Discovery of Deduction-An Introduction to Formal Logic which is engaging and provides great examples and allows students to work through examples, definitions, and other useful exercises.

Music-Kyrie continued with piano and was able to participate in a spring recital for the first time in 3 years.

Debate-Kyrie participated in team debate last year through Christian Communicators of America. This year, she was able to compete in four complete tournaments. She had a great time and promises to drag us all over the midwest again next year.

Homeschool Year in Review- 2021-22 (Evie-6th)

I know I would never want to teach as a profession because going through the same curricula multiple times gets really boring for me; this year with Evie was where I hit a wall and determined that next year she is going to get to study some new things that will shake it up for both of us. 

This year was fairly routine, with some adjustments for her unique interests and abilities. 

This was what school looked like for her: 

Bible-God's Great Covenant: New Testament 2 covers the book of Acts incorporating Paul's epistles. I love this series and appreciated the way reading Scripture, memory work, and reviewing the story of God's saving love in the world is simply, but deeply, presented. It is the final book of the series and I'm glad all of the kids were able to go through this series that is so foundational, and told God's story in such a winsome way. 

Math-Horizons 6 For whatever reason, my kids never wanted to consider another math curriculum and I took heart that a mom whose sons went on to college degrees in math told me she had homeschooled using Horizons. Horizons is colorful and uses the spiral method, circling back to make sure a concept has been learned after time away. No regrets at using this, though grades 1-3 were the best years. 

Grammar-Despite trying other grammar curricula, I knew by last year that Evie needed to use Rod and Staff. She likes things to be straightforward and she likes animals and Rod and Staff is seemingly composed by farmer's wives for all the farm animals involved, and avoids being repetitive. (There is a separate workbook for additional practice for kids who need more repetition.) She told me this year that she really liked using Rod and Staff and will continue next year. 

Writing & Rhetoric-I continue to like this series as students practice writing fundamentals (using the classical principle of progymnasmata). Evie completed Commonplace and Encomium and Vituperation and progressed to be a much more confident writer this year.  I always appreciate the content in this series that focuses on meaningful topics and exemplary (or not so) individuals.  

History-Last year with Story of the World. We used Vol. 4.

Latin-I love the streaming teacher instruction as well as the fun videos and online games that accompany Latin for Children Primer B. 

Spelling-We continued with Spelling Workout F, a series that I like for its simplicity, focus on roots and rules, but that also uses logic puzzles and games. This was a one-day a week class for us, but fits well with the grammar and writing we are already doing. 

Physics-I had used Real Science 4 Kids with the older kids, but used other curriculum for the past few years. I returned to it for Evie this year, because we didn't have a lot of time for science and she was able to observe Ben and Kyrie's labs. She enjoyed a snap circuit board a lot. This covers the material well, keeping it interesting with colorful illustrations. 

Music-Evie continued with piano lessons, and played in her first recital. In addition, we used a very old Usborne Intro to Music book, similar to this one and the Classical Music Sticker Book. This would have been best when she was a little younger but the information is still good and it is a beautiful book.

2021 Books

I'm grateful for the good friends I talked books with this year. Here are the Top 12 (6 in Nonfiction and 6 in Fiction) with a clear winner in each category. 

Nonfiction Book of the Year

The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise by Cardinal Robert Sarah 

I finished this book and felt I immediately needed to turn back to the beginning and start again. Thoughts on God's silence and our need to be silent, this book is full of the very thing I need in a cacophony of noise. This in and of itself was enough for me to contemplate for most of my life:  "The narcissisim of excessive speech is a temptation from Satan. It results in a form of detestable exteriorization, in which man wallows on the surface of himself, making noise so as not to hear God." 

 Other nonfiction

Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Household Rhythms by Justin Whitmel Earley

We practice what we believe; we believe what we practice. Earley has thoughtfully written a book on how to do that better in our families. See my full review here.

My Divine Comedy: A Mother's Homeschooling Journey by Missy Andrews

Being both mom and teacher is hard, and particularly so at different stages. I blogged about this and the book here. 

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough

I love McCullough's writing, I love history and I read this one eagerly looking for mention of any of my ancestors who were part of the settling of the Ohio Territory. I was disappointed in the latter, but the story of the Northwest Ordinance and the determined and principled pioneers who made it reality was intriguing. There are a lot of characters and it was easy to get lost, but McCullough didn't disappoint in weaving a narrative to history.

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why by Amanda Ripley and The Survivor's Club: The Secrets and Science That Could Save Your Life by Ben Sherwood are two books about who survives extreme disasters. This is a subject that fascinates me and Ripley is the better writer and wrote the better book, with one exception. She doesn't acknowledge faith, prayer, or the unexplainable. Sherwood does. And while he admits his skepticism, he acknowledges the near universal indication that prayer makes a difference in who survives, using data and anecdote.

Fiction Book of the Year

Inferno by Dante Alighieri, translated by Anthony Esolen

I'm not sure how I received a Humanities degree without having to read any part of The Divine Comedy, but I, tragically, did. Enter 100 Days of Dante and Ben and I reading all three books and listening in on leading scholars discuss each canto of Inferno. Looking forward to Purgatorio and Paradiso in 2022. Wow!

Other fiction

Silence by Shusaku Endo

Endo's haunting story about Jesuit missionaries in Japan and the tortures and crises of faith they endure is unforgettable. 

Eden Mine by S.M. Hulse

I rarely find a modern novel that truly gets me thinking. Hulse's setting in a small Montana town and how we love even the deeply flawed (i.e. when your brother has taken someone else's life) kept me turning the pages until I was finished, leaving me thinking for...well, I'm still thinking about it.

Gerta by Katerina Tuckova

This was a hard book to read, written by a young Czech author about being Czech as the Nazis, and then the Russians come to power. It is a brutal read, guaranteed to make your life look a lot better.

The Fall by Albert Camus

Also not fun reading, this is a classic conservative text. In a nutshell, man can keep running from God, but it leads to nothing but misery. 

Things We Didn't Say by Amy Lynn Green 

A small northern town hosts POWs during World War II. Told entirely through written correspondence between the primary character who is essentially sentenced to return to her hometown to serve as an interpreter for the POWs in order to keep a scholarship and those she is interacts with, it was unique and worth reading.

Homeschool Year in Review 2020-21 (11th grade-Ben)

Ben continued with debate this year and piano as extracurriculars and really honed in on his major interest-film production. By the end of the year, we had made three visits to different colleges and he went on to participate in a film production camp which solidified his first choice college. I wish I could go back and do a lot over with him but as I worked on transcripts and course descriptions, I was more happy than not with the choices we have made for his high school career. 

This is what he did this year. 

Early Church History—When the Church Was Young: Voices of the Early Fathers by Marcellino D’Ambrosio and On the Incarnation by Athanasias  He provided written responses as well as writing a paper on Athanasias. He also participated in a webinar with Katarina Kern of Belmont Abbey about On the Incarnation. I put this course together and Ben and I both really loved it.

American Government and Economics—I started using this guide by The Classical Historian but my the time we had gotten to the Economics part, I was pretty much doing all the planning and assignment myself. However, the resources and online links were entirely worth it and very helpful.  The primary text for government BasicAmerican Government by Clarence Carson was not my favorite and I wouldn't use it again, particularly for a student like Ben who is very interested in government and politics. But I loved the primary economics text: Lessons for the Young Economist by Robert P. Murphy. We also used Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nation’s (condensed) and other selected primary sources.  We had great discussions, and Ben turned in written and oral summaries; two short papers; and a final 8-min video on “HowTeddy Roosevelt Brought America Out of the Gilded Age.”

American Literature—Center for Lit The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, The Great Gatsby, To Kill A Mockingbird, Peace Like a River, as well as selected Hemingway Short Stories, Flannery O’Connor Short Stories, and 19^th Century poets. Discussion and three papers on The Scarlet Letter, The Red Badge of Courage, and The Great Gatsby. We really liked the 8 online discussions and the learning materials and reading choices. The writing piece was more frustrating with policies that weren't always clear or communicated well, but the feedback on writing was really helpful.

Algebra II and Trigonometry—College Algebra with Trigonometry, Seventh Edition Textbook by McGraw-Hill. Online streaming course by Dale Callahan I'm so grateful we found this course. Having a rubric, assignments, and online instruction made my life easier, especially as I was in over my head on a subject I don't know well. 

Chemistry with lab—Elemental Science provided the guide and resources. CK-12 Chemistry by Wade Baxter, Ph.D. has a lot of editing errors--answers don't always line up with the questions, and the material was very high level. It took some trial and error to determine how to test and grade on my part, but the labs from the Home Scientist were great and Ben enjoyed this course from a student perspective more than I did on the teacher/administrator. 

Health and First Aid—   Total Health: Choices For A Winning Lifestyle by Susan Boe. Kyrie and Ben took this course together and I was thankful for a book that helped me remember all those things we needed to cover that I wouldn't think of teaching because I know them. This covered health from a physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual perspective and gave us great discussion material. I added in American Red Cross certification in First Aid, and selected internet sources on world view and Christian views on sexuality. We had class discussion, a food journal, two power point presentations, and time management planning.

Music Composition and Film Scoring—Composition and Film Scoring 1 and 2 by Jason Allen, Ph.D. (online video instruction on Udemy).  I required written responses to lessons to solidify material; Ben listened to lots of film scores and his final project was a film score to accompany a clip from a TV show. He was also taking piano lessons and getting further instruction there.