In Our Classroom Archives - Home With Purpose

Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide (Review Crew)

August 27, 2015 By Kara 3 Comments

Literature has always been a critical component of our homeschool curriculum.

I’m a huge proponent of literature based, rather than textbook based learning, and that’s how I’ve structured our homeschool. That means we use books, books and more books for almost every subject. When my kids get into high school, I like them to have a course or two that focuses solely on literary analysis, even though there is some analysis integrated in with all the other reading we do for history, etc.

So, since I have two high schoolers this year (how did that happen?!) I jumped at the chance to review Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide from Writing With Sharon Watson. We’ve used and been impressed with her writing programs in the past, so I was eager to take a look at her literature course. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education at Home, High School, In Our Classroom, Review Crew

In Our Classroom: Junior High Edition (March 2015)

March 20, 2015 By Kara Leave a Comment

March has flown by!

Kyle turned 14 at the end of February, and he’s had a busy month! School has gone along as usual for the most part, but there’s been plenty else going on too.

Here’s just a little of what he’s been up to: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education at Home, In Our Classroom, Junior High

In Our Classroom: High School Edition (March 2015)

March 13, 2015 By Kara Leave a Comment

The last several weeks have been a whirlwind of activity.

In addition to regular dance classes, drama, and schoolwork, Kaitlyn has had extra rehearsals for both her ballet company’s performance of Cinderella and their upcoming Regional Dance America trip at the end of the month. With performance week, a brief spring break, and several out of town trips, just the basics have been getting done in academics these last two or three weeks.

In Our Classroom: Kindergarten & Elementary Edition (February 2015)

February 27, 2015 By Kara Leave a Comment

It’s time for long overdue kindergarten and elementary classroom updates!

The new year has been super busy, and we’ve been on the go so much we’ve been doing the basics academically, but not much extra. I noticed with both of my older kids, that when we had seasons when life got hectic and academics were on the back burner, they took huge leaps in their basic skills in math, reading, and writing, and in their ability to grasp concepts in areas like history and science, even though we weren’t devoting the time I would have liked to any of those areas. I’ve noticed this same phenomenon with both Kendall and Kade in recent weeks. In my mind, this is one of the biggest advantages of homeschooling. The ability to “go with the flow” of life and still see my children blossoming and advancing academically, even when our school days don’t always look like what I had envisioned, has been a real blessing to me through the years.

So, here’s where things stand right now:

In Our Classroom: Junior High Edition (February 2015)

February 20, 2015 By Kara Leave a Comment

I know, I know. This update is long overdue!

I haven’t filled you in on what’s happening in our homeschool since before the holidays! We’ve spent the last six weeks settling into a new routine for the new year, and I’ve neglected to blog about it. So, this week I’m going to catch you up on what’s happening in our junior high and high school, and next week I’ll share what’s going on with kindergarten and elementary.

Kyle (14 next week!!) has been doing great at keeping up with his work so far in the new year. Here’s what he’s been up to: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education at Home, In Our Classroom, Junior High

In Our Classroom: High School Edition (February 2015)

February 20, 2015 By Kara Leave a Comment

It’s time for a long overdue update!

We’ve spent the last six weeks getting into a new routine for the new year, and I’ve neglected to update you! This week, I’ll catch you up on our junior high and high school classrooms, and next week, I’ll fill you in on kindergarten and elementary. Kaitlyn has been plenty busy since the holidays.