A Gentle Feast: Cycle 3 Term 2

Let me start off this review with an Instagram post I shared at the beginning of Term 2. This is a peek at what our neat little homeschool family "should" look like, with the perfect social media lenses on (actually, it's even a bit messy per those standards here!):

And here's what it usually looks like, in real life!

Learning is messy and there are too many busy young men in this house to pull off the neat "farmhouse chic" vibes. So to keep it real, most days, this is us:

 

Homeschooling itself went very well and we are all thriving in A Gentle Feast's Cycle 3: Reforms, Revolutions, and Reconstruction. Here is a quick rundown of what is working for us:

• Cycle 3 Curriculum
• Cycle 3 Morning Time
• Songschool Spanish
• E/3rd Grade: AGF Lower Elementary Language Arts (Print Font), Singapore Math 2B
• W/Kindergarten: Phonics Museum (that I found on eBay), Singapore Math 1A
• C/Pre-K: Preschool Workbook that I bought online (on Christian Books, I think), homemade Letters & Numbers notebook
• S/Babyschool: Cheerios, applesauce with spoon to make a mess with, matchbox cars

We have swapped out the Solfa in the curriculum for piano lessons (with mom) for the older three boys, as interest leads. Really I wouldn't start a 4-year-old on piano but I help him a little here and there, if he wants to practice like the brothers. 

For our Hymn Study, we switched from using the Happy Hymnody resources to going by A Gentle Feast's hymn schedule. This has been really helpful because the sheet music is already in the Morning Time binder and I can play the piano for our hymn study (personal growth for mom right there)! This was a great change for us because the less we use YouTube, the better off we are. It ends up being a big distraction!

The kids and I have enjoyed every book on this Term's booklist. Once again, D'Aulaire's Abraham Lincoln was our favorite - one we were supposed to break up into a couple days and ended up reading in one sitting. We just couldn't put it down. As it turns out, Lincoln's living room may have looked a lot like mine!

Another excellent read that we ended the Term with was The Last Brother; an excellent Civil War tale that the boys couldn't stop talking about.

We dealt with some sick bugs over these months and my husband being in the hospital in December but this made me all the more thankful for homeschooling! The boys were able to go to my parents' farm while I was with my husband and, even through sick bugs (like mom having the C-virus), school can still keep rolling! The kids and I were even able to go on trip to Florida with my parents, my brother and his family - including a stop at SeaWorld and Disney World! All in all, we're right on track with the school year.

Ice skating, riding snowcats, wrestling practice and project nights for 4H have helped to pass these cold, long winter months. With Term 2 ending, I'm thankful Spring is on the way! Onward we go into new exciting books, hopefully some thawing weather in a month or two and marathon training for mom, of course :)

Explore the A Gentle Feast curriculum here and feel free to email me or comment here with any questions! Disclaimer: This post contains my A Gentle Feast affiliate link. If you click it, and make a purchase I will receive a commission.