FIRST MONTH OF HOMESCHOOL UPDATE || 2nd Grade + Kindergarten || August 2024 Update

[@tempafigueroa9591]

Same. I have been putting my phone on do not disturb during our homeschool time this year and it has helped a lot!

[@SevenInAll]

We recently read Charlotte's Web and I loved seeing my boys hear the story for the first time--it's such a good one!

[@MaryBarfield]

It really is! 🥰

[@ashleymurphy4813]

Also- that tip about the classical music with the headphones while reading!! My daughter is definitely an auditory learner, we are trying this

[@MaryBarfield]

Yay! Let me know how it works for your daughter! 🥰

[@ashleymurphy4813]

Mary, I just had a feeling it was AGH you were going to put down when I saw your thumbnail😆 Girl, it is A Lot!! We are on month 6 (girl 6) and I feel like I’ve been doing it my entire life🤪 My daughter loves it too much and I rely on them to bring a lot of spirit to our homeschool but with that, we aren’t doing a foreign language, art or heavy lit based language art curriculum like you guys until next term. Be sure to watch the Felicity movie, it’s really good! I live hearing your updates!

[@MaryBarfield]

😂😂 I definitely bit off more than I could chew with alll of the curriculum I selected! I hated to drop AGH because we loved doing the first two weeks of Kaya during the summer, but we also had no other curriculum on our plates 😅. I think might make them our fun summer units over the next couple of years! 🥰 we will definitely check out the Felicity movie!

[@shirleysoeth]

Love the reflections book idea! I’m a journaler and not sure why it never occurred to me! TFS!

[@MaryBarfield]

I have loved keeping this logbook/reflections journal! It helps me get all my thoughts down on paper from our Homeschool and it’s great to go back and read to see how far we’ve come. Happy journaling! 🥰

[@NaturallyNoni]

I was debating between BYOL and Torchlight. I ended up picking Torchlight because I liked the spines better after going to the library and flipping through them. I have a Kindergarten and 1st grader as well! So our main curriculum is Torchlight, Math with Confidence, McGuffey readers, and Beautiful Mundo for Spanish!

[@MaryBarfield]

We loved the spines from Torchlight Geography last year which is why I wanted to incorporate them into BYL this year 🥰 but it just ended up being too much 🥴. However we loved the Atlases from TL so we kept those added for this year! Sounds like you have a wonderful line up for this school year!

[@Michelgia523]

Girl you gotta put your phone away during the day it’s number one rule of homeschool 😂 I allow myself 30 min after lunch at “recess” and an hour after the kids are in bed. It’s hard to manage these things when you are in total control of your schedule but Homeschool is a job and we need to give it that respect 😊

[@MaryBarfield]

Yes! So well put! Ever since putting my phone on DND the last two weeks have run much smoother and I’m less overstimulated! 🙌

[@janeannmoreland4798]

I feel like homeschool planet would be so helpful for you. It’s basically trello how you use it, but I print off the weeks work and can check off as we go. I only log in every other day or so to adjust if needed

[@MaryBarfield]

I’ve actually thought about looking into Homeschool Planet further, but I’m actually enjoying using a paper planner right now. So maybe for next school year I will take a look! 🥰

[@JessieTBRoverflowing]

Ironically, I had also decided to push off American Girls curriculum till next year. My children are sensitive little souls and not quite ready for some of the topics we will be encountering. I love that the books cover these topics, but I think another year or two of maturity for my children would be wiser before tackling them. And I plan on incorporating the units as we move through our American History curriculum.

[@MaryBarfield]

I also think holding off for a year or two may also help us get through the readings faster. My oldest kept stopping me mid-reading to ask me what XYX meant or why they did this or that, which I love that she is curious and wants to know….but it made reading 10 pages take 45 minutes 🥴🫠 which wasn’t maintainable with the rest of our curriculum we needed to do. I’m liking the idea of doing the units in the summer or during that time period as we learn about it in history over the next couple of years 🥰

[@andishobbies]

I 100% feel the technology interruptions. Because I work from home and not on a set schedule, it's SO HARD to not feel like EVERYTHING deserves my attention RIGHT AWAY. I'm trying so hard to break away from that but my daughter is VERY aware that I have to stop and "work" and makes comments before we start school like "can you tell your work not to call you so we can do school?" and it's HEARTBREAKING

[@MaryBarfield]

That really is so tough especially since it’s work, so you can’t ignore it 😞

[@BetzyCarmona]

I’m glad you’ve found the rhymn 😊

[@MaryBarfield]

Thank you! Me too! 🥰 such a good feeling when everything settles into place!

[@BrekkeEl]

I really appreciate this! I too had the FOMO around the American girls curriculum and we are also doing the around the world study through build your library. I was concerned it would be too much, both in reading and in topic level because I have twin kindergartners. I think maybe what I will do is save them and do many units studies, like around Christmas time I could do a mini study of felicity, or save them as some summer school mini units. Luckily, I made myself hold back and only bought the Felicity study!

[@MaryBarfield]

It’s so tough to choose when all these curriculums are just so wonderful! I like the idea of incorporating the AG Units into Summer school too! We are doing that at Christmas with our Harry Potter Lit Units (starting with the first book this Christmas 🥰). So maybe AG can be our summer unit moving forward! Thank you for the good idea!

[@tracyelizabeth2178]

Can you please share how you do math mammoth along with Math with Confidence? We have used MWC since kindergarten and now heading into second grade. I’ve been considering trying a new math curriculum but so worried to mess up and give my child a gap some how. I also have really been considering math mammoth. I love that you do both which helps me realize it’s possible!!

[@MaryBarfield]

Absolutely - I've added it to my "to be filmed" list! I think that would be a great video because I think a lot of people use both MM and MWC as a combo, because they compliment each other well!

[@tracyelizabeth2178]

Awesome! Thank you. I look forward to that video. 😊 wow, I didn't realize how common that was, that already makes me feel better about it as an option.

[@SydneyWooten]

Since you've used torchlight, build your library, and blossom and root...do you feel like one is easier/better to follow than the others? We are finishing up b&r level 0 and begin torchlight level k, but I have fomo for not even trying BYL.

[@MaryBarfield]

So I love all three curriculums for different reasons, BUT personally if I could only pick one to go with, it would be BYL. 1) I love that it goes all the way through 12th grade and I wouldn’t have to scramble to find another curriculum at some point, 2) I think it’s the most cohesive across all the subjects, 3) Great living books selections, 4) easiest weekly schedule to follow. Now I will say that I LOVE the science from B+R and TL has great book selections too!

[@brittany.powell]

The amount of things I had originally planned for this year and began with on July 1st compared to this very day are unrecognizable lol. However, it was definitely one of those things where I didn’t know until I knew. I selected items, and levels I thought my daughter could handle. Unfortunately, when we got to our first unit review lessons I quickly realized that we needed to drop down a level, or rethink a lot of stuff.

[@MaryBarfield]

I think a lot of us do this because we want all the best for our learners! And sometimes it just takes practical trial and error to know if something is going to work for your schedule or if the material is the right fit. Don’t feel discouraged because I’ve done the same thing now 2 years in a row 😂 but I will say that with each year I Homeschool, I am getting a better sense of my kiddos abilities, what curriculums and styles work best for us, and the amount of curriculum I should plan for our schedule. It’s all a learning process! 🥰

[@brittany.powell]

@@MaryBarfield this is year three in a row of trial and error for us lol. But it’s also another year where I was introducing something new because I felt like it was time. We haven’t done a formal grammar and writing curriculum yet, so we gave it go this year. Definitely wasn’t the right time. We need to go all the way back to the beginning and reinforce basic skills so my kid has the confidence to just dive in when we pick it back up in a few months. I’m so glad that this year I don’t feel pressured to stick to a timeline and feel like what is started in this year has to be finished in this year. That above all else has been so freeing!! Thanks for your encouragement! 😊

[@MaryBarfield]

@@brittany.powell yes! It’s all about mindset! Once I stopped “forcing” myself to stick to a timeline, my stress melted away and my attitude in our Homeschool was much more relaxed and the girls could feel it too! They started having more fun with our schooling! I have a feeling there will always be a little trial and error when introducing new subject material, but that’s the beauty of homeschooling! We can always add or take away based on our kiddos needs! 🥰

[@sarapayne9445]

I have to put my phone on do not disturb during homeschooling hours. I am able to allow certain family members be able to contact me during the do not disturb.

[@MaryBarfield]

Putting my cell phone on DND has been a game changer and helped me focus better, while also helping our school routine run much smoother!

[@jaimewolf9036]

Are you adding in AO or are you finding it to be too much?

[@MaryBarfield]

We added in a few things from AO Yr 1 this year to try it out (in anticipation of adding more from YR 2 next year) and we are loving it! We’ve added from AO: Paddle to the Sea, Aesops Fables, Blue Fairy Book, Shakespeare, some free reads, artist/composer study, folk songs, and handicrafts. We are loving everything we have added from AO, although we have been spotty about doing handicrafts 🫠. Might be the crafted we selected or the girls ages, but we will figure that out eventually lol.

[@YasminB-u9d]

@@MaryBarfield I did AO year 1 and BYL around the world last year. For us AO was the core and BYL was the "extra." I ended up not loving BYL and shuffled over to Beautiful Feet Around the World and it was just ok. The whole "around the world" thing fell kind of flat for us though learning about Japanese toilets was a big hit (I added that in; it wasn't in the curriculum).

[@MaryBarfield]

@@YasminB-u9d lol oh boy, I can’t wait to get to the party about Japanese toilets 😂. So far the girls are liking BYL lvl 0 (my oldest more than my youngest), but they’ve always loved hearing about other places so maybe that’s why it resonates well with them? How did you like AO year 1?

[@YasminB-u9d]

@@MaryBarfield I didn't do it fully as written for a few reasons, but we enjoyed what we did. My only regret about her 1st grade year was not adding in some American history and some basic social studies like American symbols.

[@MaryBarfield]

@@YasminB-u9d that’s really good to know! Thank you for sharing!

[@awilson8521]

(Depending on how you define generations) In the past it was approximately 22 years, and therefore, most of gen-z are millennials.

[@themodernhomemaker]

can you do a video on how you teach your kindergartner McGuffey?

[@MaryBarfield]

I actually did a video recently, on how we are using them for both my girls, with a greater focus on using them with my 2nd grader (see below). If you are looking for something more specific to using them with my Kindergartner or have additional questions, let me know! kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5_cnXamgrZmg7c