Back to School Plans for 2020-2021 School Year

Never say never --- looks like homeschooling is the direction we're going at least for this school year.

I never thought I'd be into natural health solutions, but then came dōTERRA in 2012 after I struggled with my children's immune systems and breathing issues. I've been using essential oils and teaching about natural solutions for 8 years now.

I never thought I'd have 3rd child, then we were inspired to have another in 2017, 6.5 years after our 2nd child.

I never thought I'd cloth diaper, I do on and off with our 3rd child. Definitely not too bad with the all in one cloth diapers, and thanks to the Fluff Love & CD Science FB group.

I never thought I'd home school, but thanks to a friend explaining the basics and My Tech High giving around $1500+ in funds per kid and having several different options with their own classes, 3rd party classes or custom build classes it felt like a good fit for my family and kids are excited to learn again. I'm mostly excited too, but of course nervous as I try to remember that this doesn't have to look like public school especially since I have a degree in elementary education.
My kids are excited to learn how to use a 3D Printer, take swim lessons, get Kiwi crates, learn geography through cooking, paint kits, work more on their YouTube channel, expand video game design knowledge and more with custom built classes through My Tech High.

My kids originally chose to go back in person to school so I did a mask day to practice, but then I found out we had our initial application approved for My Tech High so I told them about that, and they got excited. Then I worried I was trying to push this idea so I had them pray about it. It was a good learning experience and ultimately they made they choice to be homeschool and use this program.

Mail Day
Here's our good mail day that has our starter stuff to get going. 

Usborne Books - I'd love to hear what books you are using for your homeschool year from Usborne or which are your kids' favorites!
Paint Kits - My Little Paintbrush ships all around the United States now!
Amazon extras - here's some of my wish list items that I'm not sure will fit into our budget this year.

Again here are the basic details:

My Tech High, an online public charter school in Utah is offering $1500+ per kid for custom built classes. Or they have other options for learning and you can choose for each subject. They have sisters schools in Colorado (same name) and Idaho and Wyoming (called Tech Trep).

1. My Tech High Class - someone else teaches them through online resources.

2. Custom Built Class - $225 per class reimbursed

3. 3rd Party Group Classes $300 reimbursed for the whole year.

We're getting reimbursed for things like swim lessons, 3D Printer, rec center passes, museum passes, Kiwi Crates, Usborne Books, learning games, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, internet fees, ink, heat press, Ancestry DNA kit, and so much more.

If it interests you even a little bit, you can get your foot in the door with the first part of the application for 2nd Semester starting December 16th 2020 through January 11th 2021. Let me know if you want more info. It might require a phone/video call though to explain a good chunk of it, but I've also created a spreadsheet guide to share.

Here's some of our plans for the year with curriculum and our class descriptions we submitted.

Beast Academy
Math curriculum. We are using the books, but maybe in the future I'll look into the online subscription as well. I will also be playing lots of math games like Fourmation and BankIt from SimplyFun and practicing with clocks and workbooks with timed facts tests.

Kiwi Crate
I think it's so cool that you can get a longer subscription and switch it up between crates!
My kids are mostly trying the Tinker Crates (for my son's Building and Design elective) and Doodle Crates (for my daughter's Arts elective) this year.
$10 off https://www.kiwico.com/Refer?i=KaelynN1

Night Zookeeper
Great for Language Arts
Both of my kids are really liking this one so far, and I'll take anything that will get them engaged and excited to learn. My 11 year old has even requested to play.
$5 off with my link: https://www.nightzookeeper.com/en-us/parents/start?code=ry1aH6lZD
We will also be using the Good and the Beautiful curriculum with their free PDFs for the first 4 weeks of school since they've had so much of their stuff out of stock. My kids will be accessing this on their Kindles with a PDF reader.
I also want to focus more on grammar. My kids are fabulous readers, but they don't understand a lot of grammar words/tools to help their writing be better. I'm sure through the Good and the Beautiful curriculum and some grammar/D.O.L. workbooks they will improve.

Some other programs I found to supplement with Language Arts before I learned everything about My Tech High were Spell Quiz and Quill. 

Spell Quiz is for kids and adults and those learning English. Spell Quiz has a 2 week free trial. Spelling isn't the only focus and is different than your standard school spelling. Listening, dictation, typing, vocabulary and speed are also being strengthened on this website. It's really great for those who like competition. It ranks you
against others which makes it more engaging and fun program.

Quill is an easy way to test your child's grammar and writing. They allow you to put each child/student in by their grade and assign specific lessons to them. The lessons are easy for you to follow to lead your children/students as well. They offer a free basic version and they have a premium version.

Outschool
So many different classes to choose from, and you can take tell your friends to sign up for the same one. and you can take it together.
My kids have liked the StemQwest Video Game Design and Kawaii drawing classes so far. I enjoyed them taking an emotions class as well.
$20 credit with my link:
https://outschool.com/?signup=true&usid=paRHXmHI&utm_campaign=share_invite_link

 

Here's our basement set up for now until we discover our flow with Flysta shelves I picked up from IKEA. Hoping to get a a cool globe and organize it a bit better.

Wish us luck today with our first day!

I pray we all can have a good school year no matter our choice. I know it's tough and there will be more changes to come I'm sure as everyone is trying new things this school year.

*These opinions are all mine, but the coupon codes are affiliate links which will give me some credit towards my subscriptions. I just love sharing what I know to help others. Sometimes I wish someone would have shared things like this with me sooner.