Hi friends! In these posts, I talk about some of the things going on in my life, set some goals for the upcoming week, and talk about what I’m learning. In this post, we talk about wrapping up the year with Memoria Press Homeschool and planning for the Summer. I talk about my end of the homeschool year checklist and about the result of daily faithfulness.
Celebrations, Milestones, and Small, Daily Faithfulness
This week, we wrapped up our homeschool year. My son just finished up kindergarten, and it has been a year of ups and downs.
The little years are full of so much joy, but there is also lots of training that happens on the day to day. My son is a ‘reluctant homeschooler.’ Very rarely does his perfect day include read-alouds, watercolors, and discussions about what he’s learning. He would much rather be building a base outside in the trees.
Still, when we pursue that small, daily faithfulness, we do see growth. The daily returning – the daily tending – is what leads to a lifetime of richness. We must choose to cultivate the life that we’ve been given. To make it a garden of hope, of peace, of truth.
And, I’ve had to stop myself when I experienced struggles this past year and remind myself of what my role truly is. It is not about how quickly my son grasps the difference between ‘b’s’ and ‘d’s.’ It’s not about how quickly he grasps his ‘6 Addition Math Facts.’ It’s about what I am training his heart to hold fast, too.
It’s all too easy to measure our worth by other metrics, but true faithfulness looks different. It’s measuring ourselves against an eternal standard.
At their recitation night, my son got up and recited 20 verses from the whole Bible, and I realized that though there have been struggles and progress has been slow, we are still storing up those eternal treasures in his heart.
The Summer Ahead: Prepping for next Homeschool Year
Over the summer, we plan to continue our homeschool rhythm each day with a shortened phonics and math block. Currently, we do one block of ‘Bible and books,’ which is like our morning time. We do our devotions (we are working through Long Story Short right now) and then our read aloud (We just finished reading The Heartwood Hotel: A True Home and are starting Sweep: The Story of a Girl and her Monster now.) We also do any memorization, music, and poetry during this block. It lasts for about 20 minutes.
After a 15-minute break, we switch to our writing components. We do 20 minutes of phonics, and then 20 minutes of math. Memoria Press – the curriculum we use – has a summer manuscript book. I’m planning on finishing up any pages we did not get to in the school year and then working through the manuscript book.
I also want to take some time to prep for next year. Here’s what I need to do:
- Review my year
- Order First Grade Books
- Order School Supplies for next year
- Size up J’s uniform for his cottage school
- Renew my homeschool association membership
- Store all Kindergarten paperwork in my file box
- Prep Preschool Curriculum for M. – We have Gentle + Classical Preschool, which is what I think we’ll use this year.
My Living Education Homeschool Planner works through these processes and helps you plan your year. It also includes a homeschool attendance log that has been super helpful this year (you can purchase it separately here).
Homeschool Attendance Tracker | Printable PDF with Yearly Checklists & Grid Logs (January + August Start)
Stay organized and compliant with this simple, printable Homeschool Attendance Tracker. Includes two styles (daily checkboxes + full-year grid) with both January and August start options to fit your schedule.
I’ll probably take some time to review my homeschool year this week and plan for next year.
Visit A More Beautiful Life Collective Shop for bible studies, planners, and other resources.
A Trellis of Growth
As I think about building a beautiful life, I’ve started to recognize that growth is found in the daily tending. The vine is a very apt metaphor for our lives. Without a gardener, a vine that is left to grow as it wishes lacks direction, cultivation, and fruitfulness. It shoots as spindly growths in all directions. The sheer amount chokes out the fruit it could produce.
A trellis – combined with pruning and cultivation – helps to achieve maximum fruitfulness.
We loop through different areas of life that need our daily attention – spiritual disciplines, family discipleship, homemaking, etc. By the daily returning, the vine of our life slowly grows up the trellis to higher and higher rungs.
I keep returning to this idea itself: What are the non-negotiables of a beautiful life? What leads to higher and higher growth?
Faithful Disciple Weekly
One area that is crucial for growth is our foundation in the Word. We have to stabilize our trellis – and have good soil – before the vine can ever take off. The Word is central.
I’ve been using my Faithful Disciple Collection for the past few weeks as I’ve done my morning quiet time. I’ve always been a ‘devotional girl,’ but I’m slowly growing in confidence in my own inductive Bible study rhythms and routines.
You can watch a weekly recap each Saturday on YouTube. Here’s the most recent Faithful Disciple Weekly on 1 Timothy and Battling Discontentment.
My Goals for the Upcoming Week:
- One goal for May is to be consistent with daily posting on social media, which I’ve done a good job with. Now, I’m ramping up social media for a few other aspects of my life – like our church’s social media + my husband’s business. It takes about 30 minutes to 1 hour each day to tackle this. But, I think it’s worth it right now.
- I also want to make a plan for the Faithful Disciple Summer Cohort. We are going to be working through the gospel of John over the summer. Comment on this post if you’re interested in joining!
- I want to review my homeschool year, store last year’s materials, and prep materials for next year.
- I also want to start running this week. I’ve been walking for 30 minutes pretty consistently throughout the week. I want to step up my game and maybe sign up for a 5k sometime this summer.
- I’ve started reading the Trim Healthy Mama Plan. I may start incorporating that into my life this upcoming week.
- I also want to start brainstorming a project on Building a Beautiful Life. I have some exciting things in the works!
What are you working towards this week?
Until next time, keep creating a life you love and cultivating your heart for God.
Cayce
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