Homeschool Curriculum 2020-2021

Us Watsons are new to the homeschool world. When I began homeschool research (I’m an avid researcher), I was unfamiliar with and overwhelmed by the number of homeschool curriculums offered. I was overwhelmed by the methods, styles, and literature.

Once I got over my initial shock, I delved into what method would work well for our family. I chose Charlotte Mason method with a touch of traditional and unschooling. It was not long after I made that decision that I began my curriculum hunt. After reviewing spines on Amazon and various blogs, I stumbled upon SEVERAL You Tube video reviews. Amazon reviews and vlogs from real homeschool parents (linked below) helped me to decide which books to get for our children.

Homeschool Vloggers that I love:


So, without further ado, these are our homeschool curriculum picks for our 2020-2021 premiere homeschool year!!

GROUP SUBJECTS

I teach these subjects to both kids. I am not surprised that the kids look forward to them the most because these are more interactive and engaging that our other subjects.

SCIENCE

HISORY

ART

NATURE

NOVEL STUDY

SIXTH GRADE CURRICULUM

While my sixth grader was bummed about missing her first year of middle school, she is currently enjoying the texts that I chose for her. I landed on Masterbooks for both kids for ELAR and math. I felt that these books both did a good job of explaining the concepts, and I love that the students narrate what they learned at the end showing mastery of concepts. I asked Harper to choose a foreign language elective because I felt that would be easiest for her to kind of learn on her own (with my help of course). She chose French which is great because I took 3 years of French in high school, tutored for 1 year, and then I took a year of French in college. I'm a bit rusty, but I'm using this as review.

LANGUAGE ARTS

MATH

FRENCH



THIRD GRADE CURRICULUM

Sawyer was actually super happy to be homeschooling. He misses his friends from public school, and he misses his Dyslexia teacher, but I think homeschooling is a good fit for him, even if he is ornery at times. He is ADHD with moderate Dyslexia and Dysgraphia, so I tried to find a curriculum that would best fit him, his interests as well as offer a quick, efficient form of learning. So far, Masterbooks fits the bill, but we will see over the course of the year. I started him on level 2 rather than level 3 for language arts because he is behind in his reading and writing. Right now we are in review, and he's catching on quickly.

LANGUAGE ARTS

MATH


SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

For both kids, I also chose supplemental materials. These materials are easy enough for dad to take on in case I am sick or for the kids to complete when they are bored during the daytime while mom and dad are working. 



I hope that these curriculum picks are helpful to you. We went with a blend of spines to achieve the perfect fit for our kiddos. We are on week two of our homeschool year, and the kids are enjoying these materials thus far. 

In my next few posts, I will share reference books and materials that we love using this year as well as supplies that we cannot live without.  



Disclosure: Bear in mind that some of the links in this and other posts are affiliate links. If you click on them and make a purchase, I may make a small commission. I only link to items that are tried and true for our family. I will not link to items or services that I do not like. The commission I make, if any, is minuscule.
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Welcome to Westridge Academy!


It has been a long while since I updated my blog, but I thought that it was time to brush off the cobwebs. 

For those who are new here, I am Gabrielle, a first time homeschool mama to two. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Masters of Science in Educational Psychology. I work full time at an office manager for a local university. I have 3 children ages 11, 8, and 5 months. My husband and I have been married for 14 years, and we have a sweet, orange beagle called Maple.

Lennon and Mama at 2 months old.
 Now for the life update for all my other readers:

During the year of our Lord 2020, a new little person joined our family of four. Now, we are a Watson Party of Five. Little Lennon is just 5 months old. He knows nothing of the world around him except his immediate family and both Gavin’s and my families. He has rarely had interactions with our friends and certainly none with coworkers, PTA, baby classes or even some of our besties. It has been a weird 5 months in our life, and I am sure yours too. However, this is life in a pandemic, and I am grateful for being able to work from home, care for my family, and be alive when so many people are ill or dead.

We found out when Lennon was four months old, that I was still immunocompromised from pregnancy. My body has not fully healed itself from the trauma that is pregnancy and birth, so on one of my very few excursions out of the house, I picked up a minor virus. It began as a low-grade fever and within days I was begging for that low-grade fever and chills to return when I was running fevers ranging from 104—106.7 regularly. I wound up in the hospital with sepsis, tachycardia, and systemic inflammatory response syndrome for several days. While being treated, the doctors could not determine what caused my mystery illness. I was in the covid wing of the ER for over 24 hours while they tried to admit me to a nearby hospital (all local beds were full). Luckily, both of my covid tests came back negative, and I was transferred by ambulance to a hospital just minutes away. It took me another 2 weeks to recover from my ordeal. As a nursing mother, I am not sure if my milk supply has fully returned yet, but I hope so. Lennon does not seem to notice too much. That was a long story, but I am happy and healthy for the most part, BUT this was the leading reason is why we chose to homeschool this year.

I spent a total of 5 days in the hospital in June with sepsis.

 Also, I still scrapbook, and I still bargain shop. I rarely practice photography, but do it for friends and family when I can. I am also a freelance resume writer when folks need their resumes updated. Check out my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/watsonresumes

Disney tri-fold interactive scrapbook folio that I created in July 2020.

 So, this post is really about our reasons to homeschool:

I am immunocompromised, and we have an infant with a developing immune system.

Lennon at 4 months old.

There are some other reasons of course that we chose homeschooling for our family too, but those are not important. I am proud that we have successfully survived AND THRIVED through our first week of homeschool. I am here to tell you that it is doable, even if you work full time. Give yourself grace. Be flexible, and you do not need everything to start homeschooling. 
 
Our very first day of homeschool ever, July 27, 2020, all the kids enjoyed their first day.

In the next few posts, I will talk about our academic calendar, our method/curriculum, our homeschool space (aka dining room), our daily schedule, our reference materials, and keep updating you on our daily lives. 

You can also follow my journey on Instagram @fromwatsonwithlove – I post pretty much daily, and share a lot of stories.

Leave some love, if you enjoy posts like these or you are on a similar journey to ours. I would love to be part of a community of #newhomeschoolers.




Disclosure: Bear in mind that some of the links in this and other posts are affiliate links. If you click on them and make a purchase, I may make a small commission. I only link to items that are tried and true for our family. I will not link to items or services that I do not like. The commission I make, if any, is minuscule.
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