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Well, we’re settled into our new home in Minnesota and loving the much cooler weather here! We’ve also met some great people!

9th grade:
My oldest is a 9th grader this year, and has decided to enroll in the Minnesota Virtual Academy High School. She’s a very strong writer, so they’ve put her into 10th grade honors English. They didn’t have enough 9th grade honors students to field a 9th grade honors English class. She’s on track to take AP English her senior year now, though she might just take English through PSEO at that point. She choose German I as her elective.

I’m independently homeschooling my middle two children. I love being in a state that has a legal definition of homeschooling! I’ve noticed that with that legal recognition, places like museums, historical societies, park districts and fine arts organizations often offer classes or sessions specifically designated for “homeschoolers.” In California, we were free to tag along to education performances and classes, but it was rare for a class or event to be designed just for homeschoolers. There’s so much to do here that my Google calendar is nearly full for the next three months! Obviously, we won’t be able to do it all, but I’m so excited to see so many things available! I’ve signed the kids up for homeschool ice-skating lessons through our city’s Parks and Rec department. Now that we’re in Minnesota, we need to learn to ice skate!

6th grade:
My 11 year old 6th grader will be using Calvert’s 6th grade curriculum, and Saxon 7/6 math. She has ADHD, and feels that she’ll learn best with a very structured curriculum. Using Calvert will also help both her and I know that she’s performing at grade level in relation to her peers. She struggles with the physical act of handwriting, so there’s always some question about whether or not the amount and quality of written work she does is appropriate to her grade level. Since my oldest is such a strong natural writer, I often worry that my expectations with my younger daughter are either too high or too low. Calvert will be a big help in that respect. And honestly, this child has ALWAYS worked best with traditional textbooks and workbooks.

2nd/3rd grade:
My just-turned-8 year old son is technically a 3rd grader, since he was a 2nd grader in our charter school last year, but we’ll see how this year goes. Since he’s homeschooling, he doesn’t need to be in a grade. He’s an absolute math whiz, and does all his math in his head. However, his reading skills have come along slowly. This is in sharp contrast to both my girls, who were strong early readers. He also loves science. I’m still working on his plan, but so far this is what I have for him:

Math – Saxon Math 3 (I already owned it, and we’ll just jam through it to get his facts memorized, then move into 5/4)

Language Arts – McRuffy (Covers spelling, phonics, grammar and copywork. I LOVE McRuffy. Wish I’d bought it sooner!!)

History – Story of the World 2 and History Portfolio from Homeschool Journey (which I’ve used before with my girls)

Science – Real Science for Kids, Level 1 Biology (We’ll see how it goes, then choose either Chemistry or Physics when we finish this one.)

Lots of literature and seasonal explorations will round things out. Since we now live somewhere with actual seasons, it’ll be fun to spend some time doing all those seasonal things we were never able to do in California!

Preschool:
We’re waiting to see what the local school district does regarding our 3 year old son’s special education preschool placement. We don’t do anything academic at home, but there will be lots of paint, crayons, reading books, library trips, play-dough, dress-up and outside play. We’ll do what we’ve always done with him… try to encourage his language and social skill development by playing and talking with him!