This year, the girls completed the first grading period at BASIS Baton Rouge, where they were enrolled last year. They were enrolled in 4th and 5th grade.
Though there is much we like about BASIS, we decided that BASIS was not the right fit for our family. So, we decided to go back to homeschooling.
Will will kick off our journey back to homeschooling on September 30, 2019 by participating in Homeschool Monday at the Infinity Science Center in Mississippi.
And, we will start with our new curriculum on October 1, 2019!
This year we will be using BJU Press Online, where I will be more of a facilitator, allowing me more time to focus on my real estate career.
BJU overall, is pretty heavy on the reading side, but many of the online videos give real life meaning and application of what is being taught.
Because the BJU curriculum for this age level is pretty topic-based, the girls be taking the following 3 courses together:
- BJU Heritage Studies 4
- BJU Science 4
- BJU Bible 4
Iz:
She is in 5th and is mildly dyslexic. After much intervention, at this point, she can read and comprehend beyond her years. However, she needs extended time and her spelling is still a little weak. She is currently in a Saxon 7/8 course at the charter school, so after careful consideration, this is what we decided to do for her:
- BJU Reading 5
- BJU English 5
- BJU Handwriting 5
- BJU Math 7
- Latin for Children Primer A
Roo:
She is in 4th grade, but is HIGHLY dyslexic, so we are stepping her down in the reading curriculum. She is pretty advanced in math is currently taking Saxon Course 1/6th grade math at the charter school
- BJU Reading 2
- Nessy – Orton Gillingham reading intervention
- BJU English 3
- BJU Handwriting 3
- BJU Math 5
Bug will remain at his preschool 4 days a week for this year.
FAST FORWARD to 2020
The school day was long with all the subjects mentioned above. The first subject to go was Bible, because they could get that through informal instruction at home and church.
We switched Iz to Mr. D Math Pre-Algebra. Much I liked about this curriculum, and though the material could be grasped pretty easy by her, being that she is 11, the full independence of going to look at your notes if you didn’t understand something, wasn’t working. Please keep in mind that she did not participate in the help sessions. I still think this is a great curriculum. Ultimately, however, we switched to Teaching Textbooks 7, and she is excelling with it with little parent intervention.
As for Roo, we switched her about a month after we switched Iz to Teaching Textbooks 6. So far so good, but we are anxiously awaiting the 4.0 version, which I think will help her to stay more organized and not accidentally skip problems yet think she has completed them. We also added Toe by Toe for a different approach on dyslexia training.
FAST FORWARD to COVID HOMESCHOOLING!!!
Once COVID hit, and my husband had to work the COVID strike team plus regular duty, we dropped everything we were doing except the “three R’s” and enjoyed spending time doing the things we loved and grew closer to one another. We planted a garden, built a chicken coop, cooked, worked on chores, enjoyed nights around a camp fire, swam, played with the dogs, explored nature – and learned through passion. This part of our journey, I have a feeling will shape our 2020-2021 School Year! Stay Tuned!
Beyond the Elm 