I never thought I would homeschool but when I got married I met a homeschooling family who I just adored. As the years went by and I witnessed the remarkable way this family functioned day in and day out, I was quite intrigued by this idea of homeschooling. I was given what would become one of my very favorite books on homeschooling, Educating the WholeHearted Child by my dear friends the Clarksons. After pouring over that resource, my husband and I decided to give it a try. When we started (and it still holds true today) we decided that we would take it one year at a time, always having the option to school differently. It was definitely a learning curve, but over a decade later, I can still say it was one of the best decisions we ever made for OUR family.

One of the things I have learned to really love about homeschooling is the ability I have to select the material that my children cover each year. There is no need for me to push them to the next level until I see that they have mastered the basics. There are so many great curriculums and resources available but not all are created equal. Because of this, I always jump at trying new resources I am unfamiliar with (as long as it looks worthwhile!) which is why I was eager to try LifePac. LifePac is designed to support this idea of mastery learning. Each year consists of 10 workbooks that build on the previous one and we can take them at our own pace. I requested the Language Arts subject because I have been unable to find a Language Arts curriculum I really love. My two youngest, Noah and Sophia spent some time this summer getting started so I could share my thoughts with you before the new school year begins.

First, here is a bit about LifePac from their website:

LIFEPAC is a Christian homeschool curriculum for grades K-12. Designed by a team of accomplished educators with years of classroom experience, LIFEPAC is based on the principle of mastery learning. Students master content in each unit worktext before progressing to the next. Ten LIFEPAC worktexts provide one full year of learning content per grade level; individual worktexts can also be used as supplemental material. In addition, you can mix and match subjects or grade level worktexts to personalize your student's curriculum content. Individual worktexts take approximately 3 to 4 weeks to complete.

The topics available in LifePac are Bible, Language Arts, Math, Science, History & Geography, along with a long list of electives (Accounting, American Literature, Art, British Literature, Business Computer Information Systems, Civics, Consumer Math, Family & Consumer Science, Foundations for Living: Studies in the Christian Worldview, Health Quest, High School Health, Spanish I and II, and Speech etc.)

I finally feel like I have found a language arts curriculum that adequately covers spelling, writing, reading comprehension, handwriting and grammar. FINALLY. For the past several years, I have had different workbooks/curriculums for each of those sub-topics of Language Arts, but LifePac offers all of them in one well written, clearly laid out, simple to understand curriculum. I really want to do the praise hands emoji here because that is how thrilled I am!

I also appreciate that LIFEPAC is Bible-based, affordable and PORTABLE. Portable is a big deal for our family! Because LIFEPAC is made up of light worktexts, there are no large and heavy textbooks to lug around. That makes it really simple to grab the workbook and take it when we have errands to run or places to go and the work isn't done.

If you are looking for a great curriculum for homeschooling I highly recommend LIFEPAC! Bonus: They are offering 20% off through August 31st!

You can check out LIFEPAC by Alpha Omega HERE.

Here is a direct link to the LIFEPAC Language Arts we are using for 2018-2019. 3rd Grade & 7th Grade

I sincerely hope this is a help to you as you get your year organized!! I am in the throes of getting our school year together and sorted out...even after all these years of homeschooling I still don't have a great system for organizing our year, but I'm trying! ((any tips are always welcome :))

XO,