Our School Year 2021/2022

Abby completed 4th grade, Evie completed 2nd grade, Obie & Elly completed Kindergarten, and Chloe, Josie, & Katie worked on pre-K activities/skills.

Abigail - 4th Grade:

Not pictured - Abby's cursive and Pathway workbook

This year I gave the two big girls each a daily schedule to help us stay on top of everything.  Here is what Abby's weekly schedule looked like:

Monday: Bible Reading, Math, McGuffey, Copy Work, Piano Practice, Copy Spelling Words

Tuesday: Bible Reading, Math, Pathway, Cursive, Piano Practice, Spelling Word Practice

Wednesday: Bible Reading, Math, Reading & Language Arts, Piano Practice, Spelling Word Practice

Thursday: Bible Reading, Math, Piano Lesson, Pathway, Spelling Practice on Computer

Friday: Bible Reading, Math, Spelling Test, Science/History Reading & Journal, Piano Practice

Abby continued reading through the Bible using her NIrV translation.  We had her read one chapter per day. 

We continued having Abby do a daily Saxon math lesson.  This year was extra fun because Saxon has the student begin doing their lessons on their own for the first time!  Although Abby still needed help, she could get the main part of her math done on her own.  Cabz stepped in as her math teacher (which was SO nice!) and would go over it with her during his lunch break or sometimes after work if he was too busy.

I had Abby read aloud a story or two once or twice a week from the 4th grade McGuffey reader.  I still found it very beneficial for her to work on her reading aloud fluency/skills.  It was also a good opportunity to correct mispronunciations, etc.

She does a lot of independent reading too, which is great!  Pictured is a small sampling of the many books she read through this year.  She really liked "Little Women" too and reread it a few times. haha

Copy work consisted of copying a section out of her McGuffey reader story.  As the year progressed, I required more and more of her in regards to neatness, etc.  Abby has very neat handwriting when she tries, but can be a bit sloppy and fast at times too. haha

Here are some writing samples from her.  Abby doesn't tend to spend much time on her artwork when it is required for school.🙄😂

Abby had 10 spelling words per week which were selected from her McGuffey reader.

Abby completed 2 or 3 assignments from the grade level My Father's World reading and language arts book.  I usually really like them and they make a great little supplement.  One of her lessons had her write an autobiography, have it corrected, rewrite it neatly, and then read it aloud (to Dad).  It was a really good activity for her!  I also posted a couple more writing assignment/type pictures below.

We began using a mix of Hoffman's free online lessons and my one on one instruction for Abby's piano.  She was slacking a bit with just the online lessons and I really wanted to see her making a bit more progress so I stepped in to make sure that happened. haha  Abby is still definitely at a beginner level, working on mastering her notes and basic fingering, counting, etc.  She is enjoying it more and learning how to practice properly now.  She really likes playing out of the classical book because it doesn't have any foolish words to the songs (her words, not mine).  It definitely fits her personality better. haha

I got a cheap little cursive workbook from Amazon this year and used that to teach Abby her cursive.  She still needs a bit of review, but has the overall idea.  I think it will help to have her practice with it this upcoming year.  I'm sure there will be a few writing assignments to help with that.😉

There was only one Pathway reading book (and corresponding workbook, not pictured) for fourth grade.  We still loved the reader!  I had her read the stories aloud to me again, although they are getting a bit lengthy for that.  In future, she will probably do less reading aloud assignments.

Fridays were our science or history lesson and journal day.  Abby went through a variety of books this past year.  Pictured is one of them.  She would read a section aloud to me, followed by writing a journal entry about what she read.

Here are some of her science journal entries.  I love them all so am posting way too many.😂  I will always enjoy the way Abby is fascinated by learning about animals, bugs especially.  She was on a big kick with primates for a while there too.  She is quite the character.😘

Alright, just a few more....😂😍

Evelyn - 2nd Grade:

*And I just noticed I put the wrong math book in the above picture.  She did not do 3rd, she did 2nd.😜

Monday: Math, McGuffey Reader, Copy Spelling Words, Pathway, Piano Practice

Tuesday: Math, Bible Reading/Journal, Finish Pathway, Copy Spelling Words, Piano Practice, Reread McGuffey

Wednesday: Math, Reading & Language Arts, Read a Book, Piano Lesson, Copy Spelling Words

Thursday: Math, Computer Spelling Practice, Piano Practice, Reread McGuffey, Copy Work

Friday: Math, Spelling Test, Piano Practice, Reading & Language Arts, Science/Journal

Evie did 2nd grade Saxon math.  She tends to complain about well.... everything school related😂, but she did quite well with it.  I was with her every step of the way.

She read through the 2nd grade McGuffey Reader.  As with Abby, she would get her list of spelling words each week from her reading in McGuffey.  She would normally get 6 words a week to work on.

Pathway, Pathway, Pathway (readers pictured, workbooks missed the boat).... how Evelyn dreaded you each week.  I'll be honest, I kind of did too because of how painfully slow it was. haha  Although Evie could get the workbook done quickly if she focused, it was often a grueling, slow process. ha  She did great with the reading portion (they are SO fun!), but the workbook was rough.  It was interesting, because she had way more workbook material than Abby did for 4th grade.  They had high expectations for her.

We didn't think Evie was quite ready to take on reading a real Bible this year, so we went with this one.  It was definitely too easy for her, but it helped boost her confidence in reading and was one of the few subjects she tolerated somewhat jovially each week. haha  I would have her read a story or two followed by copying a few sentences into her Bible Journal.  I loved looking through her pictures.  She can be quite artistic!  The little 'color in the circle spaces of letters' is Evie's signature move.😂  She can't focus to get real work done, but she's the queen of wasting time doodling etc. with great detail.

Evelyn also used the grade level reading and language arts book from My Father's World.

I would have Evie read one shorter chapter book out loud to me each week.  This was definitely her favorite school activity.  No writing involved, just good old fashioned reading!  She has made huge progress with her reading ability this past year.  She's starting to enjoy reading books on her own sometimes which is so fun to see!  There were a few harder chapter books thrown in (like Pony Pals).  We would just read a chapter each time for those.

Copy work..... yikes.  Evie would dread her copy work day, sometimes even days in advance!  I started letting her get it done the night before if she wanted to which really helped her attitude.  Otherwise she would picture it ruining her day by taking her the entire morning to get it completed (which was only sometimes true because she would complain instead of just DOING it haha).  Her copy work was copying a (very small) section from her McGuffey reading that week.  I'm talking like a few sentences tops.

Evie would use her writing journal (pictured above) or her draw and write journal for her various copy work, reading & language arts, and other writing assignments.

Here are some samples of her work.

And of course, my favorite writings are when I force her to write something ALL on her own.😘 The first few sentences about Whiskers were one of those moments.

Peanut is also taking piano lessons and is at a beginner level.  As with everything academic, she is capable of so much more than she likes to think.  Miss Perfectionist will freak out over and over and over about her song until she has it perfect and then the whining stops.  I pass her and we move on to a new song and you guessed it.... back to the freaking out.

Science/History Journaling consisted of her picking a topic, getting to read a little about it to me (either online or from one of our books), and then writing some things she learned and drawing a picture.

Evie tends to be a dramatic perfectionist.  She would very seldom write anything on her own for fear of mistakes.  SO, at some point during the year I began requiring her to do her science journal with NO assistance.  She had to write her own sentences and I wouldn't critique or correct them to her.  I told her to try her best and it was FINE.

She would read them to me later and then I would write the correct spelling over the top privately so I could take pictures of what she was trying to say. haha

It was SO good for her though and I loved seeing her writing.  She made huge improvements over time and also began writing more for fun on her own!  I love all of these funny little writings so much. haha

Obadiah & Eliana - Kindergarten: 

These two mainly worked on basic math, writing skills, and learning to read.  We used some of my homemade dry erase sheets as practice earlier in the year.

Both Obie and Elly really enjoyed using their letter cubes for spelling.

One of the bigger school projects they worked on was their letter journals.  They would practice printing a capital and lower case letter and think of a picture to draw that started with that letter.  Obie showed a lot of improvement with this as the year progressed.

Elly (and Abby & Evie) really got excited about having pen-pals this year.  We have all had so much fun with it and they have spent hours on their letters and artwork they send off constantly.  It's been a great way to sneak in extra reading/handwriting practice too!

Obie was quick to pick up on reading with his crazy memory.  Elly took a little longer to get going, but she has shown so much wonderful improvement throughout the year!  They both worked on reading some of the primer McGuffey, Dick & Jane books, some beginner Bob books, and a few other easy readers.  You know you've reached a good stage when you catch them reading all on their own for fun.😘😊

Finally, towards the end of the year we purchased some of the Bridge summer school books.  We've gotten them in the past with the older girls so knew they would be a hit.  Obie and Elly LOVED them!

Chloe, Josanna, and Katie - Preschool:

We read books every day, worked on letter recognition/sounds, did some basic math, and Chloe finally mastered her colors!  Yay!  Some of the little girl school overlapped with Elly & Obie.

Some dry erase marker line practice to work on our pre writing skills.

These two also got a Summer Bridge activity book and loved working on them!  They were always asking to do their school. haha

Katie jumped in here, there, and everywhere.  She started showing a lot more interest in school time right about the time summer started. haha  Here she was "reading" magazines with Big Sis.💗

We had a pretty great year!  Now, it's almost time to gear up for the next one. 😂😂