We have been nature journalers for about a year now and I am all in. I love it. It’s been my enthusiasm for it that has really kept my kids’ interest. If they see me drawing, they automatically want to draw too.

I’ve always loved watching birds and have several field guides that we have used over the years. We use the field guides the majority of the time for inspiration for our drawings. But over the past week we put out some bird feeders and a pair of bluebirds picked the house closest to our homeschool room to build a nest. So convenient of them!

This has led to some truly nature inspired drawings.

I did a bird study with my older girls when they were about second and third grade and now I’m doing it again with my son who is now in second grade. We are using Jeannie Fulbright’s Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day a little, but mostly just field guides and binoculars.

I have always enjoyed drawing and I am happy to rediscover it with nature journals.

Sometimes I’m able to capture something pretty much the way I see it. Other times it’s a complete failure. But either way, it’s enjoyable. Do you have to be good at something for it to be worth your while to do it?

I think not.

When I first started homeschooling The Well-Trained Mind was my guide on everything regarding curriculum. I had no idea where to start so I checked out what Susan Wise Bauer recommended. One of my first choices was Math-U-See. It was the teaching DVD that hooked me.

I would break out into a sweat, sink down in my seat, and in general, hate every second of first grade math. There were speed drills and answering questions out loud when I barely knew how to add without my fingers. That first grade math-fearing feeling never left me and never felt confident in math. I still don’t. I knew starting out that this was an area I would not feel confident teaching my own kids. The Math-U-See teaching DVDs were a life-saver for me.

It is one curriculum I’ve never tried anything new with. Math-U-See worked for us and so we’ve always used it.

Now that we are getting into Algebra with my 15 year old, I’m not sure it’s going to continue working. Sometimes she doesn’t understand the lesson and even if I watch the DVD I can’t help her. It’s beyond what I can do now.

English, on the other hand, is right at home for me. I majored in English. I taught English to junior high students before I had kids. I enjoy grammar and diagramming and literature. So, in grammar, I feel the freedom to change things up. Also, I get bored teaching from the same book year after year.

I always start formal grammar lessons in third grade. It seems that around that time they have a fairly firm grasp of reading and basic writing skills. I always start with Shurley English. I still feel this program is the best for full coverage. It’s also great for people who aren’t so firmly grounded in grammar as a teacher. The lessons are scripted.

I always started my third graders in level 2. I think The Well-Trained Mind may have recommended this. Then we skipped to level 4 whenever we finished level 2, then level 6. It worked well for us. The first year I used it we did three books of Shirley English.

Then I grew tired of it. I will still always do Level 2 with my third grader because I think it gives them a firm foundation, but I find it difficult to teach it year after year.

I’ve also tried Growing With Grammar. We’ve done that from 6th-8th grades. And I like it, but I wouldn’t start with that. It’s a good follow up review after they’ve learned the basics.

And now my 15 year old is using The Magic Lens.

The Magic Lens is not a book I would recommend to everyone. It’s different. I think if you go to fireworkspress.com you can see sample pages. I love the use of beautiful language in it, quotes from great literature, and the heavy use of vocabulary. We use it in small doses, about twice a week.

What are your favorite homeschool basics?