With a new school year upon us, I am in high gear getting our education plan in place. With my eclectic style of learning, it is a fluid plan that is ever changing. Our learning is never stagnant. Life happens and with that come days that are full and rich and days when checklists aren’t met. That’s okay. I see learning as a marathon, not a race. Each day, as long as we are moving forward, we are succeeding. More than just meeting an educational need, I believe it is my responsibility to raise girls that are well rounded academically, spiritually, physically and emotionally.

As a part of our education, each girl is assigned a day to cook dinner for our family. They choose from a variety of cookbooks, make a grocery list and cook dinner from scratch. The use the same recipe for a month so they master the skills needs to master the dish before moving on. The girls look forward to their night and set the table, light candles and choose background music.

Handiwork is a fancy way to say creative work. In our home this includes any music, art, hobbies, sports, creative play, imaginative play and more. We leave space everyday for handiwork.

Examples of Handiwork:

Instruments & Songwriting
Sewing or knitting
Drawing, Painting, Art, clay
Cooking & Baking
Learn a new skill like Procreate and Canva
Lego
Friendship Bracelets
Design a board game
Write a book

My 11 & 9 year old have a tutor that helps with the basics; reading, writing & arithmetic. We hired her when my youngest was struggling with reading (She hears all vowels the same). I was seeing such great strides that we added Hayden in the mix too. We love their teacher and it has been a blessing to our family. Do what works for your family. Hire a tutor or trade subjects with a friend.

The girls always have a novel on the go. We have a rule in our home that as long as you’re in your bed you can read as late as you’d like. They love this as they feel grown up and I love it, because it builds a love of reading.

Morning Baskets

Everyone does morning baskets a little differently but to simplify, morning baskets are any work that you can do together as a family each day. They can be filled with a range of activities including flash cards, games, books, devotionals or group subjects like history, bible & art. The world is your oyster! I look at it as an organizational tool. I know when I start my day, everything is where I need it to be. I only use it for the activities/subjects we do daily.

What’s in our morning basket?

Personal Devotionals - The girls and I each start our day with Write the Word Devotionals from Cultivate What Matters. They are simple and focus on scripture, prayer and thankfulness.

Bible

We will rotate bible between “Who is God?” and “To Every Nation”, a study on missionaries. Our first missionary is Corrie Ten Boom. We will read The Hiding Place (Sienna’s favourite book) alongside this study.

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Word of the Day is self explanatory. I will introduce a new word each day and it’s meaning.

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Grammar Time - Correct the grammar errors in real world mistakes.

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Writing Prompts for Journaling - Grades 1-5 & Grades 5-12

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Read Aloud Book

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The purpose of read aloud time in our home is to build connection with literature and one another. I choose fun or thought-provoking books and have great discussions throughout. We do not have formal assignments or book studies connected to this time. We are kicking off with the book, “The Nerviest Girl in the World” by Melissa Wiley.

“A feisty girl from a family of ranchers lands a job as a daredevil stunt girl in the early days of silent film in this adventurous and funny cross between Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken and Ramona.

Pearl lives on a ranch where her chores include collecting eggs and feeding ornery ostriches. She has three older brothers, who don’t coddle her at all. And she knows a thing or two about horses, too.

One day, Pearl’s brothers get cushy jobs doing stunts for this new form of entertainment called “moving pictures.” They’re the Daredevil Donnelly Brothers, a Death-Defying Cowboy Trio. Before she knows it, Pearl has stumbled into being a stunt girl herself–and dreams of becoming a star. The only problem is, her mother has no idea what she’s up to. And let’s just say she wouldn’t be too happy to find out that Pearl’s been jumping out of burning buildings in her spare time.

Filled with action, humor, and heart–not to mention those pesky ostriches–The Nerviest Girl in the World introduces a spunky heroine whose adventures will have kids on the edge of their seats and whose sense of humor will have them laughing until the very last line.”

Group Learning

History - The Good & the Beautiful - This curriculum is designed for families in mind and accommodates grades 1-12 with little prep. Some lessons can be US heavy so I adjust or substitute as needed and add in Canadian history throughout.

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Unit Study

We focus on one big unit at a time. This could include; space, government, world issues, science and more. Unit Studies are at the core of our learning and can go on for weeks. I believe every subject is covered in some capacity through unit studies and always keep us entertained and wanting more. One inquiry leads to another; there is no end of knowledge.

We are kicking off with a study on Marine Biology. I will be using The Good & the Beautiful as the base (It’s currently offered as a free printable resource) and will add additional fun from Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, Outschool and media.

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Poetry Tea Time

Weekly, we bake goodies, set out tea in our good china tea cups, turn on classical music, light the candles and read poetry to one another. Poetry can come from books, songs, bible or personal writings.

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Individual Learning

The girls each have their own baskets with individual learning opportunities like math, journaling, novel studies and language arts. They are responsible to get their individual work complete each day following the morning basket and group learning time. I believe this is important as it will prepare them for time management in the real world. I chose pretty baskets that we store under our living room coffee table. Bins with lids work well too and can be stored in an easily accessible cupboard.