Wrapping Up the 2022-23 School Year

The last time I posted here was last summer -- which means a whole school year has flown by! I thought I'd take the chance to share some highlights from the year before moving in to the next one.

But before I jump in: a few family updates...

This year, I had two in each Form: Gianna and Vincent in Form 5, Catherine and Xavier in Form 3, Bridget and Clara in Form 2, Andrew and Justin in Form 1 (and Damien and Emilia in Kinderleben!). It really worked out well having the students paired so neatly this year -- not only did it save me prep time, but my students always had someone to work with when desired.

And further, one thing I really like about the concept of Forms for the larger family is that although students are combined, students aren't forever paired with the same sibling. Depending on the year, they are sometimes with younger siblings, sometimes with older siblings; sometimes they are the youngest in a Form, and sometimes the oldest. I find this annual adjustment helps keep the dynamics fresh and gives the students a chance to strengthen different skills.

The other big family update this year: Baby Matthew Campion! Preparing for and recovering from his arrival was certainly a big part of our homeschool. He arrived the day before Epiphany.

So I planned a very light third term for Forms 1 and 2 and a semi-light term for Form 3. My high schoolers were bascially able to go back to their full schedule after our couple weeks off together. Even with a rocky postpartum time, we ended our school year on strong footing thanks to the CMEC, my wonderfully helpful husband, and rails of habit laid down over the past decade.

That said, I was SUPER relieved to head into summertime! It's so nice to have a break from juggling baby and lessons. Matthew is now five months old -- rolling, babbling, and starting to sleep through the night. And by the time we begin school again in August, he'll be napping more predictably, which will be a huge help!

On to the recap! It wasn't a perfect year by any means, but at the CMEC, we always like to take stock of signs of definite progress and celebrate our "wins." So I thought I'd share here five things that went really well this past year...

Studying history collaboratively and comparatively.

This year we studied roughly 1780-1900 (for all Forms) and Ancient Rome (for Form 2A and up). 

First: I love that my students are all studying the same time periods. It makes my mental workload much simpler and I feel like I can really "live" in the eras as a teacher of many grades.

Second, I'm grateful for fantastic books! American history was fascinating in all the books we read this year -- Builders of Our Country, This Country of Ours, and The Oxford History of the American People. Each one was rich and engaging for the age group it was aimed at. My Form 1 boys were sad for each chapter in Builders to end, and I often heard my high schoolers laugh out loud at Morison's witty, pointed insights. British history was great too: it's hard to beat Arnold-Forster!

And although it was interesting last year reading about the founding of the American government alongside Ancient Greece, I was surprised to find so many connections this year between the Civil War and Ancient Rome. Comparative history makes for rich studies and lots of good history notebook work.

Using the high schoolers' literature as my own leisure reading.

I have talked so much here about pre-reading as schole and teaching with the posture of a student that it is likely cliche! But pregnancy/postpartum meant limited prep time for me this year, and the only leisure reading I really did was my kids' books (plus some Agatha Christie over Christmas break!). Particular favorites for me were Uncle Tom's Cabin, Silas Marner, A Tale of Two Cities, Oedipus and Antigone, Sesame and Lilies, and the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins. 

I am grateful my teacher prep can also be so enriching.

Participating in our Charlotte Mason-style co-op.

Last year was our first year with an academic co-op and not just a nature study club. (You can read about our fall term and spring term.) We continued with the same families this year and the CMEC as our guide, but took it indoors this year -- my friend hosted us in her home. Just like last year, we took up a different set of subjects each term and swapped teaching duties. Our spring term also looked quite different because instead of meeting every other week, we met for seven weeks in a row (with a couple weeks off in the middle for Easter). This allowed us to start a bit later (I was on a postpartum break) but still end on time and still meet for six meetings plus our end-of-term celebration. It has been so nice to take up different parts of the "feast" together.

It was a lovely year together. So many subjects: Plutarch, heraldry, choir, The Trumpet of the Swan, music theory, hymns and folksongs, recitation, architecture, folk dancing, singing games, chalk drawing, solfege, drill, brush drawing, and more! In the fall, we included a moms' time to meet and discuss a Parents' Review article while the kids played, which was really nice as well. 

I love teaching the kids -- I think all of us do! And I am grateful to have found committed, kind, and thoughtful moms to partner with. They have become dear friends.

Outsourcing subjects to my older kids.

Isn't it wonderful when your children surpass you in skills?! My high school daughter's Italian is now much better than mine, and my middle school daughter is excellent at needlework, so I paid them this year to teach their younger siblings.

For Italian: It was time to break up my Form 1-3 students into two groups for Italian. Last year, I taught everyone together twice a week and then taught the Form 3 students an additional weekly block or two for Italian dictation, copywork, and grammar. This year, Gianna offered to teach the older three kids and I taught the younger three students. Lessons went much more smoothly (smaller groups, everyone working at an appropriate level) and teaching just the littles was really enjoyable for me.

For handicrafts: Catherine used the CMEC's needlecraft course over the year to help her younger siblings learn new stitches and complete a variety of projects. In addition to teaching the 30-minute weekly block on the schedule, she was responsible for letting me know what supplies were needed, assigning each student "homework" to work on over the week, and helping them with that homework as needed. This set up worked so well that she is continuing with the three younger boys (ages 8, 7, and 5) over the summer.

We are planning to continue this arrangement next year too -- I am trying to take advantage of the help before Gianna graduates and I lose one of my "team teachers." :)

Preparing postpartum timetables for an easier transition.

This one was on the advice of a dear friend. I had thought I might just play it by ear after the baby arrived, taking it as easy as needed and eventually scaling up to our regular timetable bit by bit. A friend who knows me better than I know myself (ha!) convinced me that putting the time in before baby arrived to create a super-light timetable for our postpartum term would lead to smoother days and a more restful term. And it would give me an excuse to truly take it easy and not try to get back to regular lessons just so we could have a plan to follow.

I actually made two light timetables: one that was really bare bones (basically just readings and Common Subjects), and one that added back in math and a couple other subjects as well. 

We ended up taking two weeks fully off before starting Term 3, then following our bare-bones timetable for six weeks and our other light timetable for the last few weeks of the term. I had planned to get back to our full schedule by the end of the year, but that didn't happen -- I needed more time to recover. And I was completely fine with that, since I had a great plan for the family that made sure we still sampled a wide feast.

So that's some wins from our year! A few more photos from our 22-23 studies to wrap up...

final Plutarch project for co-op

clay work from model

sweet Burgess narration

we loved studying Millais!

geography with Form 1

grammar review with Form 2 and 3 kids

Form 1 Buckley notebook work

Form 2 written narration

one week of Weekly Paintings

And now -- I'm deep in planning for the fall! I'll be adding a formal student (Damien will be in Form 1B) and will have two seniors, so it promises to be a year full of first, lasts, and excitement!

So what were the "wins" from your year -- favorite books or subjects, best tips, things you loved about your homeschool?