Homeschool Progress Check 1

As you may (or may not) know, I have been working at homeschooling the two oldest this year. I have had a strong calling to homeschool ever since I was young and being homeschooled. I just truly appreciated the foundation that it gave me for my faith and personal growth.


I have desired the same for my children. I want them to have a good start to life through hands on teaching and relational building with me.



My goals for homeschooling the boys (for as long as we feel led to) are as follows:



  1. They would learn that faith in Christ is the most important aspect of all of life. That they would learn to put Him first and live according to His ways over all else.

  2. All of education comes from God. I believe that we can learn more from drawing close to Him than opening any other book or doing any other paperwork. Although it may not be realistic to live every day in this way, finding Him a priority in teaching is key.

  3. Memorizing scripture. I struggled at the beginning of the year to feel like we had made any progress but when I reflected, I realized that my boys (both) had already memorized 7 verses. That, I count as success.

  4. Subject strengths and weaknesses. I want to be able to learn the best ways that my children learn and what they are passionate about and gifted in and I want to be able to foster those areas, that they might recognize early on what God's future plan for them might be.

  5. Ministry opportunities. I want to be able to help them recognize and connect with ways that they can minister now and in the future. That they can recognize when God is working and what He is doing.

  6. Hard work, diligence, independence, and independent work. I want to make sure that my kids know the benefits and blessings of working hard, going the extra mile and being problem solvers. I enjoy watching my kids be passionate about their chores and taking care of their responsibilities.






So far things have been going well.

Things that have worked:



  1. Learning verses has been amazing. The kids blow me away with how well they do!!! We practice (almost) every morning, they repeat me and then after two days usually, they can say them on their own. Even Parker gets the long verses with a couple of word prompts!

  2. Using Target Dollar Spot workbooks. We just started this the beginning of the month, but it's so nice because I can assign a few pages and he can work independently on them.

  3. Making Science be our project time. For some reason I have the hardest time with doing projects, but it's been SO easy to incorporate a project for Science. Win-win!

  4. Using composition notebooks for each subject.

  5. Finding projects, worksheets, unit ideas on Pinterest.





A photo posted by || kayla j nelson || (@kayla_j_nelson) on




Things that haven't worked:



  1. Printing worksheets. Ugh. I felt like I would print 100 of them and we'd use ABOUT 25 of them...what do I do with the rest of them?! Love pre-made workbooks!!! Plus, printer ink. Need I say any more about that? ;)

  2. Working at desks or the "little table." I just find it so much easier to sit at the dining room table with one kid on each side so I can help either/or.

  3. Starting and focusing a majority of time on reading. Reading doesn't come as easily to Bennett as I had anticipated and he gets frustrated doing a lot of copy work so I've scaled back on this and incorporated more copy work into our other subjects (he doesn't seem to realize or have a problem with it then!). He also gets bored reading and the only thing that has seemed to spark his interest there is if I hand him the Beginner Bible. He'll read then!






A photo posted by || kayla j nelson || (@kayla_j_nelson) on




Successes and Progress so far:



  1. Bennett IS reading!!!!

  2. He is picking up quickly on adding and subtracting - it's just a matter of getting him to memorize the problems rather than rely on his fingers the whole time. He likes handicaps and can get stuck on using them alone.

  3. Parker is beginning to write his name!

  4. His tracing is quickly improving.

  5. He loves to sit down and do his book work while Bennett does.

  6. Bennett is working on comprehending time. He asks what time we will do things and I in return give him certain times so he can watch. I need to get a clock with hands on so we can practice that...I'm a little out of practice there.

  7. We've touched a little on fractions so far.

  8. Parker is recognizing numbers quickly, although he still likes to shout out his favorites before telling me the correct one.






Overall, it feels successful. Bennett is only 6, Parker only 4, and I am comfortable with what they know and are learning.

What are things that work or don't work for your homeschooling? Leave me a comment, I'd love to connect!!!

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2 comments

  1. Lecy | A Simpler GraceJanuary 16, 2017 at 2:02 PM

    I have such respect for mamas who homeschool! Especially boys! Sounds like yours are doing really well! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kayla NelsonJanuary 17, 2017 at 3:10 PM

    Thanks, friend! <3 That means a lot to me!!!

    ReplyDelete

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