CURRICULUM HITS AND MISSES || What worked and what didn't for our homeschool last year

MENTIONS IN THIS VIDEO

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Welcome to Joyful Noise Learning! I’m Ashley, a former English Teacher, current homeschooling mom to my 3 kids since 2013. I like to find the joy in the chaos of life and homeschooling, and that is what we talk about here on my channel. Affordable homeschooling resources, Biblically based curriculum, and Charlotte Mason inspired homeschool.

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FTC DISCLAIMER: This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ***This video is not made for children 13 and under. The target audience for this video is adults interested in learning about Homeschooling.

[homeschoolteenswithjenny]

Try Homeschool in the Woods for ancient history! My kids LOVED studying Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome. They still have the portfolios of projects they did from 6-7 years ago :)

[amandamendoza]

I am definitely learning and beginning to understand what you are saying about skipping to what they are interested in, especially with history and science. I have really seen this work well this past year with my 10 year old son!😊

[joidavis]

This was so helpful, encouraging, and fun! ❤

[sandralindow]

Not saying I’m happy studying Ancient Egypt didn’t work out for you, but I’m glad to hear I wasn’t the only one this happened to! We had the same problem with that Landmark book about the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. My daughter enjoyed reading about Major Bouchard and Napoleon.. but we didn’t get much past deciphering the hyeroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone, then the interest was lost in my 4th grader. This book was recommended for 4-6th grade, but like you mentioned I thought it was for much older for sure. Luckily we had several other Ancient Egypt books that were more engaging and meant for younger kids. Even my Kindergartener liked them. What is it about spring time that we just finally drop the things that aren’t working?? Glad to hear you found something your kids did love though!

[gbcflower]

I really enjoyed seeing your hits and misses! The fun schooling journals did not work well for my children either. My son lasted about half the year with them a couple years ago. My two oldest daughters were excited and did them for a while, but in the end they were definitely ready to move on to something else.

[Ibyte]

I started homeschooling my son 2 years ago. When he was in school they used Saxon and it was a horrible fit for him. He’s dyslexic and needs mastery with review. We’ve been doing Denison pre-algebra and it’s been amazing for him. I love it! We’re going to try Guest Hollow geography this year. I love all the living books that they include.

[gbcflower]

It is so interesting how various things end up being hits for one family and misses for another. My children LOVED Ancient Egypt this past year, but most of them were not at all interested in Ancient Greece. LOL We read the book you held up about the Pharaohs and it was probably the favorite read aloud for many of them.

[avalle]

Good morning, love your videos! We just finished our exams yesterday, I had a 3rd and 6th grader. Hits: Singapore math for my 3rd grader and CLE math for my 6th grader. History with books like Our island story, the voice that challenged a nation: marian anderson, Theodore Roosevelt by Foster, builders of our country. Geography with books like marvels of the orient and tree in the trail. Misses: natural history 😢 the eyes and no eyes series were ok but i will need to find something new for this coming year. Art: Didn't get to it, need suggestions for this subject too 😂

[erinashley]

RA the Mighty Cat Detective is a great intro to the Ancient Egypt period for young kiddos. We read it a couple of years ago and it was a hit.

[abundanceintheson_]

Have you heard of "Without Doors" curriculum? I am excited to try it!!!!

[Primarilypappas]

Thank you for your transparency. It’s one of the reasons I come to your channel! Also have you tried Precious People by Peaceful Press for ancient history? I know your kiddos are older, but my 5th grader has liked Kind Kingdom. I just beefed it up some with more narrations, but we’ve liked their stuff!

[abundanceintheson_]

I feel we had a real scattered year as far as Group Studies went. But, I would say our mini Civil War unit (I put together myself) went pretty good and our Nature study with the Wild Kratts show was a BIG hit.

My 6 year old improved a lot with his handwriting using just copy work and I would call that a hit. Also, we found a phonics program that is working called "Elementary Phonics" from Underthehome website. So 2 wins there.

My 8 year old's reading really took off and that was also a win! We switched to "Elementary Phonics" for her, too and I was happy with how it helped.

My 10 year old's math was a huge win she lived "Math Lessons for a Living Education" from Masters book. We had used MLLE before and then switched things up and we shouldn't have...so it was a win yo go back to MLLE.

[ET-npif]

I love your videos! Do you have a flip-through or review of Imitation in Writing? If not, I would absolutely be interested in that if you get the time. There’s not much on YouTube about it but it has definitely spiked my interest. Just scrolled through your videos so sorry if I overlooked it.

[Dreblueskies]

Planner?! How did I miss that? Gotta check that out.😊
Mine also loves MWC, I tried to switch him but he was not happy. He told me today, “Now this is fun math”. 😂 lesson learned.

[sugarspice]

Mummies & cats got my boys interested in ancient Egypt. Books like: You Wouldn't Want to be an Egyptian Mummy! Disgusting Things You'd Rather Not Know or a DK Eyewitness book. Tons of fun books about ancient Egyptian cats. 😅

[lanemeyers]

We made a similar decision for math for my 7th grade girl. She was using a very spiral math and was losing confidence, so we switched mid-year to Denison pre-algebra. She now says she loves it and is doing very well. She also loves being more independent. 😊

[nanajanwalker]

I totally agree with you about Saxon Math. We did it for 6th and 7th grade, and found it to be too spiral. We are switching to Dennison Pre Algebra for 8th grade.

[DebBeePlus]

The reading journal from Not Consumed looked so cool but was also a miss for my 4th grade son. I shelved it for when my daughter gets older, I think she will love it. For my son, I’m using Wendy’s @PlanPrepPray reading list sheets, it just the title, author, and then a star rating that he actually likes to do. Plus an oral narration. And the same thing happened, he started reading more 😅

[staceycarroll]

Beautiful feet are amazing guides but we have always taken 1 1/2 to 2 years. Also, some cm’ers go with more than one History term. Sounds great what you did

[CharityAdair-verr]

Hello there!
IEW was a good challenge, but always a hit for my oldest two! My oldest son just graduated Grace as a HS Senior, and I credit his success with their dual enrollment program to the IEW investment in our homeschool years!
Question? I have always been interested in the IEW Fit It Grammar, but it is a little pricy, esp with the teacher materials. Do you only buy the student supplies, or both student and teacher supplies? Do you think it is worth the investment esp for the lower levels?
I have been on the fence to try Denison math, thanks for the recommendation.
Many thanks!
Prayers for you and your family to keep enjoying your summer break!🎉