How We Are Not Adapting the Alveary This Year
But it wasn't for lack of trying
I have written this post in various forms so many times over the past couple of months. I wanted to update at least one of those drafts once I actually knew how my starry-eyed plans were working. And then a grandparent1 passed away. We knew it was coming for over a year, so it wasn’t a great surprise. It still upset our carefully laid plans. You know what I learned from that? I really need a plan B. I’ll figure that out later.
We started out this year with the full Alveary curriculum, again. I used a mix of the 2nd and 3rd grade courses, along with Right Start Math and Logic of English. But the kids were not having it. We ended up with so much school avoidance at home that I spend the last two weeks in September scrambling for a new plan.
I tried using the planning course from Delightfully Feasting2. I got us on a new schedule and pulled in new coursework from Mater Amabilis3 and a few other random places, like Waldorf art lessons on YouTube. My kids really wanted some more in-depth science lessons, and Mater Amabilis (MA) has those. Downside: they are based on older, harder to find books, and the lessons vary greatly in length. I ended up having to do too much planning.
MA also had more interesting geography lessons which I mixed in with the Alveary lessons. However, even those were not quite interesting enough/too challenging for my kids. I mixed in Waldorf video art lessons with the Alveary drawing lessons, and we actually made it through the first term of the Alveary art course that way. We used crayons and black paper instead of chalk, due to sensory processing difficulties that prevent us from my kids from using the chalk pastels. But the kids still didn’t like the lessons very much.
I stopped trying to use the Alveary’s reading lessons with my younger child because they were not working with his specific reading disability4. Just FYI, I would not use the current reading lessons for a child with dyslexia. They are not adequate at this point in time. After quickly switching to Logic of English, he’s cruising right along and doing much, much better.
We finished our first 6 weeks of the term, with a longer break due to the death in the family. I went looking for something else, yet again, that would give us the rich educational experience while accommodating everyone’s needs. This includes my own: the curriculum needs to have simple, well laid out directions that my ADHD/dyscalulic5 brain can handle without needing a nap immediately afterwards. Oh, and it needed lots of information about animals, fossils, and rocks. Naturally.
And can we talk about homeschool FOMO for a minute? It has been hard to move away from a full-fledged Charlotte Mason curriculum. There are so many nice things in there! And my kids hate doing most of it! I can’t stomach the idea of being an unschooler, if that means zero structure and just doing whatever the kids are interested in at the time. I need structure and more than a 24-hour heads-up on what the interest-of-the-day is. My ADHD brain is crying just thinking about the chaos, as much as she loves to sow it herself. I just want it to work out. It has not. I am sad and worried about all the lovely things we’ll miss out on by dropping certain subjects. I am sad and worried about the things we are already missing out on by doing things only the “official Charlotte Mason way.”
Anyway. Let me gather my thoughts and get back on track. Ahem.
I bought more curriculum. We did a homeschool-lite week6 over the past week and that was a huge success. I wanted to slowly introduce the newest curriculum while I got everything printed, prepped, and planned. The kids still lack enthusiasm about some of it, but they are joyfully engaging with the projects for over an hour at a time. My flabbers are gasted, y’all.
The curriculum is Blossom & Root (B&R)7. I bought grades 1-3 and their history curriculum. I also purchased the recommended Geography supplement from Beauty of Play. I’m reserving my opinion on it until after we’ve used it.
I want to go through the science lessons from all three grade levels. Grade 1 is earth science, Grade 2 is plants/botany, and Grade 3 is animals/fossils/prehistoric world. To make it work, science will be 2-3 times a week, and continue even during school breaks. We can skip any lessons that we’ve already covered so far this year. We are using animal and nature documentaries at lunch time for additional exposure. Prehistoric Planet and Tiny World are two favorites.
For social studies (history/geography) & art: primarily B&R, with resources from Alveary incorporated if/when it makes sense.
Reading lessons are still Logic of English, supplemented with a trial of the Nessy Home Education8 pack starting in January 2025. Math lessons are still Right Start Math, supplemented with resources from Math for Love and other games. Coding lessons will continue at the 2nd grade level from Code.org Bible lessons will be once a week on Sundays, using the preschool curriculum from Kids + Faith.
And that’s it for the next 6 weeks. I want to add formal music appreciation and music reading skills at some point, but that may need to wait until next year. Music is essentially a mathematically-based foreign language. It makes sense that this would present challenges for dyslexic kids.
I don’t have the brain power to come up with a good segue and ending. I hope you all understand. I don’t want to let that keep me from sending this update out. Thank you for being here, for reading what I write, and for engaging in conversations about these things in comments and emails. I appreciate you all.
Actually a great-grandparent, but he had the same impact as a grandfather on our kids.
It’s good but a bit disorganized/long-winded. I don’t currently recommend it unless you are in a place where you can take your time to watch all of the videos and take extra time for planning.
A free Catholic homeschool curriculum based on the Charlotte Mason philosophy.
I believe it still falls under the umbrella of dyslexia or related reading disabilities. It’s hard to explain, but he does not the typical dyslexic profile.
And potentially autistic/other-processing-difficulties
Or as I told a friend on a phone call this week, we’re “hot mess homeschoolers” this week.
Not an affiliate link. None of the links following this one are affiliates, either.
A computer based program that helps with reading, touch-typing, and writing skills.