Who Says School has to be Boring!

We had a fantastic summer and now it's that time of year again! Time to have fun learning at home! There are so many fabulous avenues of learning out there now that there is no excuse for education to be dull!  When it's time to start school, my kiddos actually get super excited. I have to admit, I love it too.

So what are we using this year? Glad you asked.  First off we use Tapestry of Grace as our core curriculum. Can't rave about this company enough. It will be our second year with it. We are using Year 3, which is centered around 19th century history. Tapestry will cover our Geography, History, Writing, Church History, Literature, and Fine Arts. It's packed full and extremely adjustable, which is great with teaching multiple children. It's a Christian, integrated, meaty, classics-based, apologetics-oriented program for homeschooling your children. It's been a perfect fit for our family.

For Math we are using the best thing since sliced bread, in my opinion, Teaching Textbooks. My kids absolutely love this math. Took the tears away and brought joy back to learning. With automatic grading, fun little "buddies" that give hints when needed, and hilarious word problems, my kids actually enjoy math!

In Science we are using the amazing Apologia! My 11th grader will taking Chemistry and my 9th grader is taking Physical Science, using the Red Wagon Tutorials with Mr. Rosenoff. Wow is an understatement. He is a fun-loving, Christian man who is an excellent science teacher. They watch his tutorials once a week and come to "class" prepared and ready to learn. He covers tons more than what's in the book and makes science exciting with his funny sense of humor. I love that it's only once a week and teaches my kids to be prepared.  Again, a big hit with my teens.

And the new exciting addition for this year that I've had to actually tell my two oldest to quit trying to read ahead, is The One Year Adventure Novel! My 14 and 16 year old girls are chomping at the bit to start this. What's so great about this is that when you are done with the class, you will have completed your own novel! How cool is that?? No more dry, boring writing class.  To be honest, I can't wait to start!!

Now if all that wasn't a full enough plate, we decided to give a local homeschool co-op a try this year. My older two will be taking Latin and Apologetics/debate.  My 12 year old will be taking her Apologia science and doing geography one semester and Logic, using the Fallacy Detective, the second semester. We will meet once a week.

The girls are also playing Volleyball this year for a local Christian school. This is a first with this sport. But volleyball camp was such a big hit, they of course had to try out for the team....

The kiddos seem excited and think they are up for the challenge.

So what are you doing for school this year? Any new changes or big plans?