The Big White Farmhouse

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No.122: And We’re Done! Reflections On Our First School Year at the Farmhouse

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School’s out for summer!  A few thoughts and memories I want to remember:

I wasn’t 100% sure I was ready to homeschool again.  I don’t necessarily identify myself as a “homeschool mom”- I’m just a mother who happens to homeschool.  (I’m sure that doesn’t make any sense to anyone other than me.)  But with the bullying and the learning difficulties in public school, I knew it was the best option for our family and I jumped in head-first, hopeful.  Only by God’s grace can I say that it was a life-changing year.  A difficult year for sure, but a good one.  Self esteem was gained and big strides were made in my dyslexic learners.  Last fall, Mark and I considered this to be a “rebuilding year,” building our children back up emotionally and helping them overcome the obstacles they needed extra help with in school.  As always, we were open to the idea of returning them to public school in the fall, but they all enthusiastically want to continue at home. 

Duds and failures:

1. Poetry teatime // I had the best intentions and this never worked out quite how I envisioned it.  We ended up ditching the poetry and just ate homemade treats once a week.  Maybe we’ll try again next year?
2. Fulton Sheen // I loved learning about Fulton Sheen with my fifth grader but we quickly lost steam when it came to the crafty/cut-and-paste part of the curriculum.  It wasn’t a great fit for my quickly maturing boy.
3. States and capitals // We started learning these at the very beginning of the year and then I dropped it for no apparent reason.  Oops.

Successes:
1. Charlotte Mason // While we definitely aren’t purists, this method is really complementary to the way my kids and I learn.  Curiosity and good books certainly are my love language!
2. History // Across the board, the kids said history was their favorite subject.  I’m excited to continue with more rich, living books that make history come alive.  
3. Morning basket // The morning routine of reading aloud was the glue that helped me adequately teach four different students.  On a loop, we read our fiction selections, history, science, African studies, and poetry together before separating for individual reading and math.  So thankful that we were able to experience those books all at the same time.
To celebrate the last day of school, everyone got a book to jumpstart summer reading:
Tradition is also to get everyone a treat, so we celebrated with vanilla milkshakes from Chickfila!

It was a good, good school year.  I’m looking forward to a summer of (relative) relaxation and rejuvenation before jumping back in again.

Comments

  1. I have LOVED following your school year Ashely. You’re a kindred spirit in so many ways. Thanks for sharing with us! Enjoy your summer!

  2. I love reading homeschooling thoughts from moms who have had kids in public school too. We are a public school family, but I can see my husband starting to be convinced towards homeschooling. I hope you keep sharing.

    • There are definite pros and cons to both…the discernment process is so hard!

  3. Hi: I'm really sorry to hear your kids were bullied. We have had a number of students transfer from the public to our Catholic school because of the bullying problem at the public school. It seems to be an epidemic. Your kids are blessed that you did what's best for them. I hear that social media plays a huge role in bullying, that it has made it worse.

    • Yes, the bullying was so disheartening – I could not believe it was so bad already in the 4th grade! So so sad.

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