Five more years — that's all the time I have left as a homeschool mom. How is that even possible? With my oldest two launched and pursuing their own career paths, and my middle two taking several dual-enrollment classes from a Christian University, most of my efforts will be directed toward my youngest son and his individual learning.
That said, there are still a few subjects/resources that all three of my remaining at-home kids will work on together.
Please note: I am a firm believer that when teaching more than one child, a mother has to divide and combine. She has to remember that there are two different types of subjects: skills-based subjects (subjects that must be learned in a particular sequential order, like math) and content-based subjects (subjects that are rooted in broad information that can be learned at any time and in any order, like Bible and history).
With that in mind, be aware that this is only a list of our group subjects — resources that we'll do together. In the coming days, I'll be sharing the subjects and passion projects that each of my children will be doing individually.
Obviously, my junior and senior have to report to their college professors daily; otherwise, though, our commitment to a four-day-a-week schedule remains unwavering. As you review our curriculum choices, keep in mind that most items will be used four days a week unless otherwise specified. An asterisk denotes a new addition to our curriculum this year. I don't strictly adhere to grade levels and can easily adjust these subjects to suit a variety of learners.
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Morning Time- every day
Our morning time is a non-negotiable part of the schedule — an immovable anchor for the past 16 or so years that has helped create calm in the daily chaos. While some moms pack their Morning Time full and overflowing, I prefer to keep it simple, including only the things that will build our faith and strengthen our relationships with God and one another. I figure if I can start our day peacefully with this short but very intentional benchmark, I can count the entire day as a success even if the rest of it gets derailed.
Plus, Morning Time should only contain the most important things, in my humble opinion. If I cram a million activities into that time, then I'm essentially saying that everything is equally important, inadvertently making nothing truly important.
And like Charlotte Mason, I don't feel like kids should sit for hours doing lessons. I keep each part of our day short. Do I read aloud a fun fiction novel to my kids? Yes. Have we covered most of our content subjects, such as history and nature study, as a group in the past? Yes. But I place(d) those activities in the day at other times. Because they are not the most important things. Bible study and faith building, along with pleasure reading, are my top two, so I put them first and set them apart in our agenda.
Some of the resources in our morning basket will be done daily, while others will be done in a "loop." (Not sure what a loop is? Be sure to check out The Quick-Start Guide to Brave Homeschool Schedules for more info.)
To be done daily
- Call to worship- I'll use Spotify to play the entire audio of Gratitude by Brandon Lake.
- Practice the verse of the week from Truth & Grace Memory Book 1 and review previously learned ones.
- Go over a few catechism questions from Truth & Grace Memory Book 1. (This is a protestant catechism book of basic theology and tenets of our faith.)
- Learn a new hymn each month. On the day that the hymn is introduced, we will read about its writer from Then Sings My Soul, Book 1, and then do a short MadLib just for fun.
- Review one old hymn and/or praise and worship song from our homemade songbook.
- Review previously learned manners with the 100 Manners to Teach Your Kids Before They Turn 18 list and read one page from 52 Modern Manners for Today's Teens*.
- Listen to the headlines portion of The World & Everything In It podcast or one full epsidoe of the KidNuz podcast. (This is not a Christian podcast, but it is edited in kid-friendly sound bites, is only 5-6 minutes long, and gives us many talking points to explore regarding current events. Sometimes, we agree with the show, and sometimes, we don't, but we have good discussions either way.)
- Read for 15 minutes at the end of Morning Time. We will each grab the individual books we're currently reading for pleasure and read, even me!
To be placed in a "loop"
Bible
Read one or two chapters from the New Testament - 1x a week
Read one or two chapters from the New Testament - 1x a week
Christian Living
Reflection on the Existence of God*- 2x a week for the first third of the school year
The Marketing of Evil*- 2x a week for the second third of the school year
Missionary Story
Through Gates of Splendor*- 2x a week for the last third of the school year
Through Gates of Splendor*- 2x a week for the last third of the school year
Extracurricular Activities
Following our afternoon read-aloud time, which generally happens right after lunch clean-up, my youngest two sons and I will do the following extra curriculars. Their older brother will join us whenever he is able. These will be placed on a loop. We will do one activity each day and once we've rotated through all the activities, we'll start the loop all over again.
Prager U Cash Course*
We will watch one video from this curated playlist and have a brief discussion about financial stewardship.
Documentaries
Like in years past, once a week, we plan to watch a documentary or a How It's Made type show together, watching 30-minute increments for a couple of weeks until we've completed an entire video. Then we'll move on to another one the following week.
Watercolor
We learned the basics of watercolor a few years ago, but my youngest was quite young and doesn't remember much of it. Additionally, since that time, I have stumbled upon some online tutorials I am anxious to try. We will using the following YouTube channels to relearn the basics and to further our skills.
- Beginner's Guide with Kristin Van Leuven
- The Complete Beginner's Guide to Watercolor with Jenna Rainey
- Water Color Basics with Jenna Rainey
Cooperative Learning- 2-3x a month
We've been members of a local co-op for the past six years and will continue with that monthly enrichment throughout the coming school year. My kids will take two to four grade-level appropriate classes taught by other homeschooling parents each semester for a total of four classes each during the entire year.
2025-2026 Curriculum By Grade Level
Stay tuned in the coming days. I'll be sharing the curriculum that I've chosen for the individual subjects like math, English/grammar, science, history and electives for the following grades:
12th grade
11th grade
8th grade
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