Homeschooling 2015/2016

I know I can not be the only homeschooling mama excited for the new school year to begin!

These school supplies being stocked in stores are a good reminder it’s almost time. I find myself walking down the aisles just to see what’s new this year!

Yesterday, I found a couple of pretty great posters in Target’s dollar spot (and the pencil jars from the top pic!).

I’ll continue to look and stockpile what we need for our homeschooling 2015/2016 school year to begin.

I still haven’t found all of the curriculum I want to use. How about you?

As usual, I’m stuck on grammar (anyone have a favorite?!). I’ve tried several things and never really been happy. I need to know the children are learning. I need something easy.
I need something affordable since I have to purchase pretty much every single grade level.

I have found a couple of things that *I LOVE*.

Teaching Textbooks  I adore!

It seemed so expensive to me for so long that in spite of hearing very good reviews from many friends, I just didn’t want to take the plunge.

Ahhh…how wrong I was! This curriculum completely changed our homeschooling.

I’ll post more about it here (and I was thinking about making a short video about that one), but in short:  no more grading. No more worksheets. No more planning.

It’s all done for me. The lectures, the practice work, the lesson plans. Done.

Obviously, I never thought through the cost completely. While each set is around $120, it is completely reusable for all of my children so that $120 is an one-time expense.

Illuminations 1, by Bright Ideas Press, I am learning to LOVE.

It’s new to me this year. I’m still learning, but what I see, I adore.

Again, there is some expense, but all the planning work is done for you! (DId you catch that?! IT’S DONE FOR YOU. IT’S DONE FOR YOU!!  I have to repeat that part a few times. I’m still trying to grasp the idea of not having to do so much of that planning ever again.)

You set it up for the subjects and materials you are learning and it generates a lesson plan for you.

If that isn’t enough (and it would be for me as it reduces *HOURS* of work), it has tons of supplemental material built in to the software.

I was shocked.

Just the copy work alone is worth purchasing as a separate item.

I’ve been creating some short videos on Illuminations I’ll be posting during the coming couple of weeks. I’ll post them in the coming days but for now, this is a quick video on the ease of using Illuminations from the very start of loading the software:

How about you?

Are you excited about the new year? Are you trying new homeschooling curriculum?

Leave me a comment and tell me your favorites (especially if they are grammar selections!).


3 thoughts on “Homeschooling 2015/2016

  1. Hello Tracy, I’m considering Illuminations for the 2016-2017 school yr. I was wondering how you feel about it now that you have used it for a yr? It looks really good to me. But it would be great if you could tell me what you think. Just a brief note would be great!!

    Thank You!!!

    1. I’m sorry it has taken me so long to respond. I’ve been deep in “new baby land”. I have not continued using Illuminations just because we needed to simplify things for this coming year (I have a very large family so our needs may differ from your family). We are continuing to use MOH.

    2. Hi Cyndi! I’m sorry it has taken me so long to respond. I’m just seeing this note. I did like Illuminations but I’m not using it, at this point. I just found it too complicated for long-term use. Thanks for asking!

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