Reflections on 2023-2024

 

It's officially summer!!! We had a wonderful school year and I wanted to create a blog post with links to document the 6th and 8th grade school year of my amazing children!

I would say the highlight of this year was our Wild + Free group. I started a teen group this year with something every week during the fall semester and then in the spring semester it was pretty much still something every week with hikes, book parties, and field trips! To me, everything we do as a community has a purpose in our education as well. For example, all of our book parties fit into our literature study. I use a literature guide at home as we read through the books and I love the discussions that we have during each party! See all our books here and download the free literature guide

Our hikes are a part of our nature studies which is part of science! Every month we had a fun adventure and learned something new to add to our nature journals! See all our nature lessons here!

And some of our amazing field trips worked out so well with our education! Like attending the Nashville Book Festival and hearing authors speak about their writing process (and gave us free books!) Or attending a lesson at the Dyer Observatory before enjoying the Solar Eclipse of 2024! There are so many really neat field trip ideas in the Nashville area and I'm thankful for another year of exciting and educational opportunities! (The symphony is still my favorite field trip!)

As far as our school curriculum goes I am so glad that we stuck with our Middle School Science plans and Magnanimous Academy this year! The first semester for Magnanimous had several friends join in on the small group but when we started the spring semester it didn't work for everyone's schedule and I didn't want to start mid way with new students. So, we kept our regular scheduled lesson times for Plutarch, Shakespeare, Ourselves, Poetry, etc. and completed the year having read some amazing literature and also enjoying deep conversations about character. Charlotte Mason's Ourselves really was one of the best school books we had this year. I'm so thankful for the foundation we are able to give our children in character education. Our morning time this spring has been raw and real as we deal with struggles and temptation that comes up in these teenage years.

As I reflect I do regret not reading more of Bulfinch's Age of Chivalry with the kids. They had a hard time listening and narrating so I'm hoping to add some of Rosemary Sutcliffe's books on Middle Ages in 2 years. I loved her style of writing last year with the retellings of the Iliad and Odyssey. There are just so many great books and not enough time!

I can't believe this guy will be 9th grade next year! He impressed me with beginning his Algebra 1 book ahead of schedule and doing an amazing job! He also started a CLEP class that he will finish next year for American History. The time is going by too fast!

And this pretty lady never ceases to amaze me with her joyful spirit and creative mind! She took on an extra class this year through the Red Cross and is now a Red Cross certified babysitter! She studied the course on her own and took the test like a champ! She's been getting such great practice every week with LB and can't wait to babysit and be a mother's helper this year!

Here is an updated spreadsheet with some of our resources, readings, and events this past school year! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!