2025-2026 Homeschool Year Review
We’ve had such a great year, but I am really tired and really ready for summer break! Over the last few weeks we’ve slowly been phasing out our school work and celebrated our last day of school with a trip into Barnes & Noble and a fancy steak dinner out to eat. Today, I’m reviewing and highlighting some of our favorites from this year for 7th, 3rd, and 1st grade! I won’t be going over every little thing because it’s a lot, but I’ll share some of the bigger things we’ve done and a few highlights!
7th Grade
For reference here are our original 7th Grade Curriculum Picks.
Language Arts
IEP Beginning English: The Wonder of Words I’ve had lots of questions about this class…it was great and I would definitely recommend it (it’s taught online or in person in Utah). I did pair this class with Good Books: An Introduction to the Literary Tradition. I don’t think pairing them is necessary at all. IEP is definitely a full course on its own and that’s probably what I’d recommend for most people. My main goal with IEP was to strengthen my girl’s writing and I’ve been really happy with their progress this year. The Good Books class was just a fun companion because my girls love reading and it added more depth to our literature studies. We haven’t finished it yet, but we’ll keep listening over the summer.
Looking back, I probably should have moved them straight from TGTB L6 into L8 instead. I originally switched because L8 is TGTB’s final math course, and I thought it made sense to move them into a more traditional pre-algebra path. (See more on math tracks here.) But I think one more year with TGTB would have challenged them more while keeping a learning style they already worked well with. That said, everything still ended up being okay. If you need more thoughts on all this be sure to check out this IG live I recently did on math tracks.
So, anyway, a few months ago, we switched to an online program called Math Academy. It’s totally different than anything we’ve ever done and we only planned to try it for a month, but the girls ended up liking it so much better than Saxon. So, we decided to keep going with it for now. Online math isn’t necessarily my favorite, but after trying several different things, this was the option they connected with most. And, one thing I do really like about it is that it has them practice and re-practice areas they need help with instead of just moving along in a book. It’s very personalized to where each of them are at. Considering I have identical twins who think VERY much alike I can see much more clearly where each has their own unique needs and that’s been really really helpful for me.
One thing to know is that Math Academy is it’s 100% mastery-based. If a student misses even one problem, they usually have to redo the section so it can feel pretty intense. It’s also completely online and text-based with no video instruction. Surprisingly, my girls actually preferred this style. Even with TGTB, they rarely watched the videos and usually taught themselves through the written lessons instead. And now they are just using a graph paper notebook to copy the problems down so they still solve everything by hand. Another thing is my girls are very self-directed. They just get up and do it and I really don’t have to manage anything other than helping them. I could see this program being extremely frustrating for kids who get discouraged easily with math though so just know I’m careful to recommend it to others. For now, we’re just taking it one step at a time. I’m going to bet at some point they’ll burn out with this and we’ll have to switch gears, but until that time comes I’ve decided not to worry too much about it. Over the summer I’ve asked that they work on this for 30 minutes a day just two times a week so they don’t totally loose progress with what they’ve been working on mastering.
Science, Business & Family Life Skills
This year our science plans ended up looking a little different than I originally expected, but it has all turned out really well. The girls studied physics through Wonders of Energy & Simple Machines - classes my neighbor taught. We also worked through an Engineering Unit together as a family, geared a little more toward my younger boys, but I think the girls still liked it. They also did the Hack Packs and it’s one of the very few things I wouldn’t ever recommend because 5/6 of our kits came missing pieces…they were super annoying to try to track down and by the third or fourth time, the girls were over it and said they were done trying to make the kits work. (PS We’ve LOVED Crunch Labs, but I’d say forgo Hack Packs!)
The girls also completed an in-person Animal Science course that they absolutely loved. If you’re local to Utah, I’d recommend it. The best way to find class times is through the Cox Family Farm Facebook page. The class is taught in Lehi during the fall and spring, though I’ve seen similar farm-style classes offered in Davis, Salt Lake, and Washington counties as well.
Over the last year, the girls have also done a lot of babysitting and pet sitting, which has been such a great learning experience in responsibility, finances, and entrepreneurship. They saved up and bought their own bunny along with all the supplies for her. They’ve also spent countless hours researching animals and, now, bunny care. I think animal care is such a valuable learning experience because it teaches responsibility while also helping develop nurturing and caregiving skills. I can see so clearly how these experiences are helping lay a foundation for future family life, motherhood, and caring for others.
Lastly, the girls are now involved in 4H and I’ve been impressed with the education and opportunities our local club provides. It was super challenging for us to find out the right club to join, but after a lot of phone calls and emails we ended up working with Utah State University and they were very helpful getting us to where we needed to be. Because animals are still such a strong interest for them this is definitely something we plan to be involved in and we’ll see where it leads us.
History
Compared to science, we were a little lighter on history this year, but we did the first unit out of TGTB history course and really loved it! We took a pause on the course, because we’ve also been doing a lot of Biblical History and Old Testament studies (which has had a mix of science in it as well with our star studies) and it was just a bit too much for me to teach both especially since we have covered a lot of what is in TGTB History 1. We’ve really spent the majority of our devotional and family study on our OT studies and it’s definitely my favorite thing to teach right now so this is just where my heart is and we’ll continue to work through these materials over the summer and into next fall.
The girls also did a six week Utah history/geology unit study with my neighbor (a curriculum she just pieced together) and they also really enjoyed the Millennial Instructors -an amazing resource I’d recommend for LDS families.
Art & Music
We LOVED our Music Appreciation study and I’m anxious for more of these courses to be released! We did an Elements of Art study and pulled from a handful of art projects in Art Makes Me Smart. We have a lifetime subscription to this so it’s just a resource we come back to time and time again. The girls also take piano lessons and participated in a digital art class taught by another homeschool mom friend of mine. They went over things like Canva and Affinity Designer and even learned how to print their art with a laser engraver.
1st & 3rd Grade
For reference here are our 1st Grade & 3rd Grade Curriculum Picks.
Language Arts
For both of my boys this year we used Savvy for reading lessons (1UA8WO is my referral code and will get you a discount). I’m not going to lie, it was so nice to not have to teach reading all year! I’ve been teaching and working on reading with my kids daily for over ten years and I’m just tired, ha! We’ve been using Savvy for 18 straight months and I just paused our subscription for both of my boys to take a break for the summer. I also felt like they both needed some time to work on fluency before moving into their next leveled classes.
I feel like Savvy is a little pricey so I’m not sure I’d recommend it unless you have homeschool funding because you can definitely teach reading for much much cheaper. But, if your kids need some extra reading practice over the summer and/or you’re tired like me, I’d recommend it. I love that the lessons are short, move quickly, and hold both of my boys attention. We do the group classes, but I think either way, group or private, you definitely still need to be reading with your kids on a daily basis, but it covers the main reading lesson.
I also did a combination of some TGTB materials, Bravewriter, IEW, Evan Moor, and Explode the Code with both of my boys all year too. And, all my kids got the pleasure of another year of fairytale classes which I LOVE to teach! As a total spoiler though, I am planning to go back to a full all-in-one LA program with both of my boys next fall though…I know you guys won’t be surprised when I say we’ll be using The Good & The Beautiful.
Math
If you read my Mid-Year Homeschool Curriculum Update, you’ll know we went through multiple math courses this year and are back to The Good & The Beautiful and I will not be changing that again, ha! Bring on Level 2 & 4 for next year!
Science & History
We did a mini emotional intelligence health study earlier this year that was fantastic, but we didn’t get to the rest of our Health & Safety studies. We incorporate a lot of that into life learning anyway, but it wouldn’t hurt for us to circle back to these subjects maybe next year. As I mentioned with my girls we also did the Engineering Unit and Crunch Labs. We are still working through 365 Starry Nights as part our Old Testament Studies. We’ve gone done multiple rabbit holes with 365 Starry Nights so it’s a great spine. Recently, my boys got to go on an overnighter with my husband and use a super fancy telescope to view the night sky and see some of the things we’ve been learning about and they LOVED it!
As I also mentioned we worked through a bit of History 1 and are still working through our Old Testament Studies. We also did a mini unit on Pythagorus using Art Makes Me Smart…this is a time in history I’d really love to learn more about so I wouldn’t be surprised if we come back to ancient Greece relatively soon. Can you tell? I am really drawn to studying ancient history, ha!
I love anything and everything from Little School of Smith’s for early elementary! We used her Ancient Egypt history study this year and Me on the Map - both great units for my 1st grader!
I didn’t share this for privacy reasons, but now that his class is over my 3rd grader was in a class that based their curriculum off of the Heroic Youth Mastering Knighthood. It covered a bunch of science, history, leadership & discipleship as an all boys homeschool class and was absolutely fantastic for him. If you get a chance to participate in one of these clubs or want to start your own, I’d absolutely recommend it.
Art, Music, & PE
This is pretty similar to the same as my girls (see above). Both of my boys ended up being enrolled in a once a week homeschool PE class for the last half of the year and they also did city flag football, basketball, and baseball. Turns out they really like sports so I guess sport classes are going to be a new normal for us. Sports have taken up so much more time than I’d like, but I do feel really strongly that it’s been what my boys have needed so it’s been a new experience for us this past year trying to balance a busier schedule. It’s something I’m praying a lot about next year to see how we can try to better balance our time between academics and athletics. My youngest is also loving the piano and bells!
Read Aloud & Book Highlights
The girls major reads this year were The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. They’re avid readers, but these were hard books for them to get through and I’m so proud they did it. Once they got through LOTR I let them read Hunger Games and, of course, they devoured it in a few days and it’s one of their favorite series right now. They also loved the Traitor’s Game Trilogy.
This year my 9 year old listened to the entire Harry Potter series and is half way through his second go around of it. He is just starting to independently read longer chapter books and is really into Badger Hills Farm right now. He also LOVED Timothy on the 10th Floor. In fact, I’m pretty sure it was the first book where he felt like he really enjoyed the book he was reading (not just me reading aloud). After he finished it he told me how much he likes reading now which was like music to my ears after years of delicately balancing some reading reluctance from him. It was one of those moments where you breathe a sigh of relief and are like we finally made it and it was worth all the effort. A major homeschool win for us this year. Another short series of books he enjoyed this year were Billy & Blaze.
With my youngest we read a lot from the beginning levels of The Good & Beautiful books and love everything that we have out of there. He is currently working through the Dog Named Sniff books.
Other read alouds we enjoyed this year are Sweep, The Shining Sword, Les Miserables, Peter Pan, The Wind & The Willows, Percy Jackson, The Ickabog, Christmas Pig, and I’ve REALLY been enjoying this Golden Children’s Bible as part of our OT studies.
Field Trips & Vacations
One thing we LOVED doing this year was getting out and doing more field trips. We visited a bakery, an orchard, botanical gardens, toured a chocolate restaurant, saw a Shakespeare play (and are planning to see another one soon) visited a historic Pioneer village, hung out with Reid Moon in his rare book shop, saw multiple theatrical performances, learned from some wildlife experts, decorated Ukrainian Easter eggs, took a virtual 3D tour of Jerusalem, and toured Trader Joes and our local fine art theatre. I have a story highlight saved on my IG with details on ALL these things. It’s called ‘Field Trips.’
We didn’t travel as much as we have in year’s past (hello, sports!) but we did take a few trips to St. George and really fun venture over to Kanab, Utah. I loved seeing Cutler’s Point. We also completed two bucket list items by hiking to the Delicate Arch and visiting Canyonlands National Park thus checking off our goal to visit Utah’s Mighty Five National Parks.
Final Thoughts
This is the first year I’ve had to set multiple reminders in my phone to help me remember to be places! My mom told me “you’re in the crowded years” and that’s exactly what it’s felt like. On one hand, I feel like the busy things we’re involved in feel good and right, but on the other I’m always grasping for slower days at home. I’m still right in the middle of planning our next homeschool year…trying to figure out that delicate balance between learning rooted in the home and fun opportunities out in the world. I’m excited to see where we land though!
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