We are finished with our school year early this year. I’m almost a little sad because it was a really good year and I really want that feeling to flow into our upcoming year. We learned a lot this year, like what works and what doesn’t work at this time, and what we may need to change.
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End of Homeschool Year Evaluation 2017-2018
Our school board requires a few work samples and a periodic log-in for each child, which gives us a great chance to look over everything we have done through the year. I did a brief end-of-year evaluation of our 2017-2018 year and thought I would share it with you as well.
The Great
This was our first year using a curriculum. I really wish we had used BookShark from the beginning, it’s been that great. So much easier than trying to juggle a bunch of workbooks and trying to find books on our own to go along with what we were wanting to learn about.
This year we used BookShark Science and Reading with History Level 1, it was great, our first time using BookShark, and my first time not having to plan any of the schoolwork. It was heaven! BookShark does all the planning so I didn’t have to worry about it, I didn’t have to stress, it was open and go, a homeschool mom dream.
The Good
My kids did great with math, turns out it comes quickly to them, they get it from their dad. This year the girls used RightStart Math. While a bit more common core than I would like, it is repetitive which I love, they are able to get a great understanding of new concepts before moving on and continuing to use what they learned in the beginning at the end too, there is no learning it, move on and forget it happening.
We did end up turning to audiobooks for some of the read-aloud books in the Reading with History curriculum, part I needed a break from reading, part of my kids were tired of listening to me. Listening to them in the vehicle worked great, and made our drives a lot less boring.
Our Lessons
I know it’s usually the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, but there was nothing ugly about our year. Even with days where we had to just walk away from it all. I learned a lot about our homeschool needs and style. Such as:
- I want the curriculum planned out for me
- My kids are like a dog with a bone on topics they are interested in, the human body for instance went longer in our home than in the plans
- They will blast through curriculum if I let them
I cannot wait to start to see what the next homeschooling year will bring.