Hello again friends. I have to apologize for the delay on this post. I’ve been having such a difficult time getting photos to upload to the post and it’s been a serious headache! As I said in my last post, todays post is going to focus on the homeschool side of things. I’m going to talk about what school has looked like for us since the beginning of 2025 up until now. We have had a lot of fun and have done a lot of hard work these last few months. I am adding links to many of the items mentioned in this blog. I don’t get paid for promoting them, they are just items that have been useful to me and our family, and I am sharing in hopes they will benefit you as well! When you make a purchase through links on this site, I may earn a small portion as a commission through the Amazon Affiliate Program. These commissions help offset costs associated with blog production and do not affect your purchase – thank you for your support.
Mid-Year Review
In South Carolina, part of complying with Option 3 homeschooling is doing a mid-year review. The law doesn’t specify what this must look like, and for our association it is just a quick check in to make sure we are on track to complete our 180 days by June 30th. While this satisfies the legal requirement, it doesn’t satisfy my own need to evaluate how our year is progressing. In order to do this, I sit down and write out each thing my kids have learned in Math, ELA, Science, Social Studies, and any extra curriculars or other subjects we are teaching. Having a planner where I record all their work is super helpful here, as that would be way too much for me to just remember off the top of my head.
Before sitting down to begin my review, I really felt like we hadn’t made very much progress in the year. It felt like we’d been focusing our efforts on the same things over and over again without any forward momentum. However, when I started writing it all out, I quickly realized that my perspective was too near sighted. When I shifted my focus to look at the bigger picture, it was evident that my kids have made strides in their education during the first half of the year. The part of this review that is the most fun for me is when I look at the extra stuff. It’s when I realize that my son learned how to swim and ride his bike, or when I think about my daughter participating in her first ballet class or learning how to sew. There are so many other things that my kids get to learn that don’t exactly fit into one of the curricular boxes but are still a very pivotal part of our homeschooling.
If you are a homeschool parent who maybe feels the same way, I highly encourage you to review your year so far. If you set goals at the beginning of the year, take the time to go back and read them and see what all has been accomplished. Or if you keep a journal or other records of the work your child has done, flip back through it and notice just how much has been done. Maybe academically there hasn’t been as much progress as you’d hoped. Friend, that’s okay too! Kids develop and learn at different rates and one of the joys of homeschooling is being able to take the time each individual child needs in order to master concepts before progressing. Academics aren’t the only way to measure forward progress either. Take a look at development outside of academics, or things we don’t typically assess in education. Maybe your child has really advanced physically in their coordination and strength, or their handwriting has gotten much neater. Maybe, like my kids, they learned to ride a bike or swim. There are so many other ways your child is learning and growing. Don’t discount those things just because they don’t tick off a checkbox on an educational checklist. Celebrate those moments with your kids! Use this review as an opportunity to get an outside view of all the accomplishments and set up a game plan for the rest of the year.
Reviewing our progress serves a few other purposes as well. It gives me an opportunity to see which books and resources are the most useful for my children’s learning styles, allows me to see any gaps that might need to be filled in during the remaining school year, and gives me a chance to purchase any materials that I might need for the rest of the year. This year, I decided I needed to add in some more addition and subtraction work and STEM lessons that are particularly geared towards my daughter. Other than those, I think our homeschool library is ready to serve us for the rest of the year.
More Fun
We have had a lot going on these first few months of 2025 which means we had to take a slightly different approach to school. While we still do core work in math and English daily, we have tried to create more natural learning opportunities for the kids. For Christmas, my kids get each other a game, and we also gave them two more games. All these new games have led to daily family game time. Playing games as a family is an amazing opportunity for us to spend quality time with our children but also serves as educational moments for them without them realizing it. Recently, our favorite game to play is Taco vs. Burrito. Point cards are worth 1-3 points each and have to be added together at the end of the game. For my kindergartener, this is an easy way to get her to practice her mental math. For my third grader, this game is an opportunity to work on strategy and logic. There are several other games that we have been enjoying as family time including Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, Moose Match Mayhem, Hurry Up Chicken Butt, and LIFE. I also purchased a new ELA game for my kindergartener as she is learning how to read. The game is called Word Seeds and is a Candyland style game but in order to move to the space, you have to read the word first. It’s pretty cool because it comes with three different card decks so you can choose which one fits your child’s needs and reading level the best. It’s also a quick playtime so it’s perfect for the attention span of 4-6 year olds. Spending time with my kids while reinforcing educational concepts is a win-win for us!
Another way we are sneaking learning in with our kids is using their Kids Fire tablets. While we don’t use it often, it serves its purpose when necessary. My kids can get math work done using the Prodigy App. It reminds me a lot of the old Pokémon Gameboy game as you go around and battle other creatures. In order to win the battle, you have to answer the math problems correctly. The app progresses based on the student’s skill level. If they are getting questions wrong, it will adjust to slightly easier questions to get build their foundation before returning to the harder material. For my little one in kindergarten, we’ve also been using Duolingo ABC to contribute to her reading skills. I will continue to recommend that app to anyone who is looking for a way to strengthen their child’s reading.
Extracurriculars
We haven’t added any new extracurricular activities this year but have continued in the programs we were already doing. This means we are still going to the YMCA for homeschool swim & gym every week and will continue with it until it wraps up at the end of April. My daughter did a second six-week session of ballet and did an amazing job! The teacher said she saw a lot of growth since the last session and her focus and attention span has definitely improved. While we wanted to give her an opportunity to explore dance, we also wanted to see how she would do following directions and focusing on a certain task. These skills are crucial for when she begins Jiu Jitsu in May, which is 42 days away, not that we’re counting! [she asks me daily how many days until her birthday because she has to be six to start jiu jitsu]
My son had his birthday in January and turned 9! He is continuing to attend Jiu Jitsu classes three days a week and just earned his second stripe on his white belt. Last weekend he competed in his very first tournament. He spent weeks preparing for the tournament at home in addition to his regular classes. This involved drills in the gym, and lots of time out on the trampoline wrestling with yours truly. No, trampolines aren’t usually used in jiu jitsu but since I really have no idea what I’m doing and am not getting any younger, I really didn’t want to hurt myself, can you blame me? While he didn’t end up winning in the tournament, it was an amazing opportunity for him to see the focus and speed required for competitive Jiu Jitsu. We are so proud of him for getting out there and giving it his best.
Just a few days into the new year we had a stretch of beautiful weather. The sun was shining, and it was 70 degrees out. Naturally, this called for some time outdoors. The kids wanted to ride bikes since we’d been unable to for several weeks. We got out there and my daughter exclaimed that it was time for us to put the pedals back on her bike because today she was going to learn to ride her bike. My husband and I were reluctant but decided we would give it a go. It took all of two minutes and she was off, riding her bike without training wheels. We were astonished. After that, I decided it was time for me to find a bike so that we could ride around the block together. I scoured my local free pages on Facebook and managed to score a bike for myself. Now, the bike needs some work to be fully functional and do things like shift gears, but it serves the purpose of getting me around the block with my kids and for that, I am grateful.
Crazy Weather in the South
I realize what I’m about to say will not be a big deal to the majority of people reading this. For most people this is an occurrence that happens several times a year and is more of a hindrance than a joy, but you have to realize where I am writing this from: South Carolina. Not only South Carolina, but Myrtle Beach where its warm basically all the time and fifty degrees is considered “cold.” Anyways, a few weeks into January we had a weather event that hasn’t happened in the five years I’ve lived down here, and according to my husband who lived her for most of his life, is basically unheard of. It snowed! Not just a dusting either, but an actual steady snowstorm. The snow started in the evening, right around the time the kids go to bed. Lucky for them, we let them stay up to experience it. My daughter had never seen snow falling from the sky before since she was a baby when we moved here. She looked up at the sky with her hands stretched out and wonder filled her eyes. She looked at me and said “Mom, it is SO beautiful!” The next day we woke up to five inches of snow covering everything. On that day, we skipped school lessons and let the kids go enjoy the snow, a task that proved more difficult than anticipated since we lack any snow gear whatsoever and little fingers get cold awfully quickly. The following days were interesting as there are no snowplows, no snow shovels, no rock salt or sand trucks to get things cleared up and moving again. The sun came out but only warmed up to about 33-34 degrees outside in the afternoon, just enough to melt a bit of snow before the sun set and the temps cooled to below freezing again leaving us with black ice covering the roads and walkways. Public school closed for the entire week and many businesses were closed as well. This led to discussions with the kids about weather, city and state infrastructure, local taxes and ways that they are used, and discussions about how the city could solve the frozen roads problem. This is one example of how just about everything can be an opportunity for learning. If you are a parent, don’t be afraid to get into some of these conversations with your kids. While you might think they are over their head or something that won’t interest them, you might be amazed at the concepts your child is able to grasp or how they relate that concept to something that is within their understanding.
Chick Hatching
I won’t spend too much time talking about this, because if you read my last post, I went in detail about hatching chicks. However, I think it’s necessary to put here since there is a homeschool aspect to it as well. The kids saved up their own money in order to buy a new incubator so that we could hatch some new chicks. This is NOT our first time hatching chicks; in fact, my son did an entire study about chick hatching and development last school year. But it is my daughters first time having this as part of school. She was thrilled to be involved with the process this year as she got to help get the incubator set up, candle eggs, watch chicks hatch, and set up the brooder box. Every morning it is my kid’s responsibility to check their food and water to make sure they have what they need. They are also responsible for checking for pasty butt (yes, that is actually what it’s called) which can be fatal if not treated quickly enough. Fortunately, they did a wonderful job in identifying the three chicks that needed treatment. Currently, they are comparing the birds tail feathers and combs to try to identify which are male and which are female. There are several theories on how to tell, so we picked a couple and are running with it. It will be interesting to see if we are correct!
This week we moved our birds from their brooder box to a larger pen set up in the garage. They still require some heat and aren’t quite ready to outside yet, so we bought a baby playpen from Amazon (which happens to be on sale right now!) to give them ample space to play, jump, and try out their wings! The kids love to hang out in the garage and watch the babies play and interact with each other. It is the perfect transition space for our growing birds!
Moving Forward
As we carry on, we are approaching the end of our school year. We only have 14 days left to reach our 180 days as required by the state of South Carolina. My kids have finished a few workbooks along the way and have gotten started on the next grade level for certain subjects. We are exactly on pace to finish the Learn to Read book that we have been working on, and I have to admit that it’s probably one of the best Amazon purchases I have ever made. This book gets my daughter excited to work on her reading lessons for the day as its filled with colorful pictures and fun games. The lessons are short which makes it easy to get a few in each day.
Just because we are almost done with our required days doesn’t mean we will stop the learning. Instead, we take it as an opportunity to shift to more interest-based learning where we can really dive into what the kids are excited about. Being a homestead family, it is wonderful to be able to be done with more formal schoolwork as we head into planting season. The kids can be really involved with whatever tasks and projects need to be done around the homestead. I don’t think a single day goes by in our home that my kids aren’t learning something, and as long as we take the time to let them ask the questions and find the answers, we are setting them up on a path to be lifelong learners.
