7.05.2018

# Connoisseur Kids # homeschool

Homeschooling: How Was Our First Year? | Jennifer L. Scott



I hope all of my fellow Americans had a wonderful Independence Day. We celebrated by watching a spectacular fireworks show.

A few weeks ago, we concluded our first year of homeschooling. How did I like it? How did my husband like it? How did the kids like homeschooling? How did they do on the standardized test? What about socialization? Are we homeschooling next year? What are our plans for the summer?



All of these questions and more are answered in today's video, which shares a detailed recap of our first year homeschooling. I truly hope you enjoy today's post. To learn the backstory of why we started homeschooling in the first place, check out my post, Let's Talk About Homeschooling. You can also see the post sharing our Homeschool Room Tour.

News
Thank you to everyone who watched Monday's Pregnancy Chat and Favorites video. PLEASE NOTE: The Naipo massager is not recommended for extended use during pregnancy. Before using any electric massager while pregnant, please ask your doctor.

For more of The Daily Connoisseur, take my eCourses, Creating Your Own Ten-Item Wardrobe and Chic Financial Principles for Debt-Free Living.

On Instagram
Lessons from Madame Chic and At Home with Madame Chic in Japan...



Comment of the Week
On Monday's Pregnancy Chat and Favorites video, I recommended Albinoni's Adagio. So many people enjoyed listening to this beautiful piece. Plumsareyum writes, "Adagio is my favourite classical music piece! Thanks for your videos, I love watching and am a long-time subscriber."


Thank you so much for your long-time support of my channel, Plumsareyum. I appreciate you. Adagio is becoming my favorite piece as well. And it's hard to bump Chopin down the ladder for me! :)

I hope you enjoyed today's video. I would love to hear from you, whether you homeschool or not. Let us know your thoughts and your comment could be chosen as comment of the week on The Daily Connoisseur.

I'll see you tomorrow for a deodorant review and a piano performance in an all new, Natural Home with Jennifer.


Visit my Author Website

Facebook facebook.com/JenniferLScottAuthor

Twitter @JL_Scott

Instagram @dailyconnoisseur

Take my eCourse on the Ten-Item Wardrobe

Take my eCourse Chic Financial Principles for Debt-Free Living

Sign up for my Seasonal Author Newsletter


FTC: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

12 comments:

Jill Foley said...

I'm so glad your first year of homeschooling was a good experience. My girls are now 13 and 11 and we have always homeschooled. It's hard work, but worth it. None of us wish we were doing things differently.

Vicki Zimmerman said...

Even as someone with no children (unless you count my sweet cats!) who went to public school and has no homeschooling experience, I still find your videos so informative, because you explain clearly how this teaching method and education has worked so beautifully for your entire family. I also enjoy it because I have always valued reading and education and your experience shows that your children are learning and blossoming and loving the experience as they go. What a delight to hear your daughters did so well on their standardized tests! I'd say you did well, too, first-year teaching mother! Congratulations to the entire family! I had to smile when you said that they actually get a decent night's sleep and can wake up rested rather than feeling so rushed to get to school or take a bus to get there. Homeschooling seems like a wonderfully-rich and civilized way to teach the next generation and I really enjoy your personal perspective on it. I'm sure other families will benefit from your videos. The fact they they are also immersed in other outside activities, clubs and a satellite program really does expand the entire homeschooling journey.

Rachel said...

I’m so glad you all had a great year! I am currently homeschooling my 3 older children (rising 1rst, 4th, and 6th grades) with a delightfully active 3 year old in tow. This is our 5th year, and we all enjoy it. I’m thrilled that I get the opportunity to spend so much time with my children while they are young. Our days are (usually) joyful and satisfying, and my children are thriving socially, academically, creatively, physically, spiritually, really all the ways I can think of. I love your books and your blog! I think of your work sometimes when I’m tempted to be sloppy, lazy, grumpy, and living in my pajamas. Getting dressed everyday makes a huge difference in my attitude and productivity! Thanks for the inspiration you give me to keep classy. Much love!

Ladylike said...

Hello Jennifer,

It's so wonderful that homeschooling is working out well for your family. I did home-school with my son for a couple of years several years ago, and I really enjoyed that time with him. I wish I could do some homeschooling with my daughter as well, but I am not convinced that it's right for her at this time. I am thankful that your video is helping me to remember the homeschooling option and to keep it on the list of possibilities for the future.

Warm best,
Aleaxandra

The Daily Connoisseur said...

Ladies, thank you for chiming in for this homeschool chat! I love to hear about your schooling experiences with your children. I'm really enjoying this journey and looking forward to sharing more with you as time goes on. Love, Jennifer

KarynsHouse said...

Your homeschool experience is an inspiration and I'm so glad you had a wonderful first year with your girls. I was also skeptical when I started with my children years ago when it was definitely not trendy! But it proved to be a great fit for us. On a side note, our family just returned from a trip to England and we are totally in love with the English countryside. I write about our travels on my blog. Happy Summer! to you and your family!

Kim A. said...

This is my first time watching one of your videos-I LOVE your books and recently discovered your Instagram account. So glad you had such a good first year homeschooling! I did it for 17 years and loved it!!! My 3 girls, now young adults, are all very close as a result of being and learning together daily. Thanks for sharing your experience—what a great encouragement to other moms!

Amy said...

Thankyou for this great video! I am curious to hear how you manage an active 2 year old with all the 1 on 1 time you need to homeschool the girls? I have a 4 year old and 1 year old and it is chaos trying to get the 1:1 time my older girl needs. Would love a video on how to balance these needs.

Polly said...

I love your homeschooling videos! I am about to start my 7th (!) year. This year we are modifying our approach and using more textbook resources for simplicity because my husband has cancer and we will be living in another state for 6-7 weeks while he receives radiation at a top-notch cancer center. We are so glad that homeschooling will allow our family to be together during this unexpected time! In any case, I have a child going into second grade and I’m considering using a textbook for science and history for her. I think you use Abeka for your second grader. Did you like it enough to use it again? I haven’t seen the materials so I’d be ordering sight unseen, and am trying to decide on something that will be straightforward, educational, and yet engaging. Previously I’ve used a Charlotte Mason approach for everything which I love and will continue to do in some ways, but I also need a simplified approach for the coming year, with traveling and unusual schedules!

The Daily Connoisseur said...

KarynsHouse- thank you! How wonderful you had a chance to spend time in the English countryside. I love it there too.

Kim, thank you! I loved reading about your homeschooling experience!

Hi Amy, it is challenging and I can do a video on this topic in the future. But he hangs out with us and just does his thing. They become accustomed to it and mostly he just plays quietly. I always give him "school" to do too :)

Polly, Thank you! We are trying Notgrass for history this year. I'll let you know how it goes. It looks great! Abeka is good too but I wanted to try something more in-depth.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for the informative homeschool year review! I became even more interested when I realized our kids are the same age (except I'm not pregnant). :) I am looking for a language arts curriculum for my 1st grader and twin 3rd graders. I had never looked into Christian Light Education before and am intrigued! Will you stick with Abeka for your first grader or will you move her to CLE this year? Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Dear Jennifer,

Thank you for sharing your perspectives on life, style, and just being a good human being. I have maintained a 10-item wardrobe for around 5 or 6 years now thanks to your inspiration. I have 3 children and we home school. I'm very interested in how you structure your day to maintain a clean home, provide home cooked meals, and educate the children. I am a first generation stay-at-home mother so I know most of what I know from mothers I meet or read about, but no first hand experience. I know many of us are navigating uncharted waters by being stay-at-home moms + educators (and then with the extremely high capacity folks add blogging or other work from home to boot). Do you share online somewhere your daily "schedule." I recognize there may be some flexibility, but do you have a general flow to your days to allow you to maintain your housekeeping responsibilities along with your schooling?
Thank you so much for all you do.
Sincerely,
Tyfnae