Homeschool Update: 8 Weeks In – The Good, The Bad, and The Honest Truth
It’s time for our homeschool update, and we’re keeping it completely real. Eight weeks into the school year means we’ve officially wrapped up our first quarter with a fourth grader and an eighth grader, and it feels both amazing and a little unbelievable. We’ve had plenty of wins, a few struggles, and all the in-between moments that make homeschool what it really is.
Welcome back to Making Everyday Magic. I’m Shanna, and we’re now in our ninth year of homeschooling. I can hardly believe we’ve already made it this far into the 2025–2026 homeschool year. Let’s talk about what’s working beautifully, what’s still a little rocky, and what I’ve learned eight weeks into this journey.
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The Good
We’re doing pretty well overall. Our rhythm feels solid, our group subjects are clicking, and the vibe in our homeschool has been much calmer than last year. After some wild seasons of life, it’s been nice to settle into a steady flow again.
Our Mom and Me Monday routine is still one of my favorite things. It’s our time for group subjects, and this year we’re diving into Crash Course Geography, Black American History, and Lego Science. We’re also finishing up High Gassy, and honestly, it’s been one of those unexpected highlights. I got especially excited when one of the featured paintings, Woman in a Purple Coat, turned out to be on display at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston—right where we visit often. Those real-life connections make homeschool so special.
Crash Course Geography is going great, though we need to speed things up a bit to finish on time. The same goes for Lego Science. Each lesson takes about 90 minutes, so we’ve been spreading them over two days, but the kids are enjoying every bit of it. Black American History has been powerful and thought-provoking, and I always recommend pre-watching to gauge age-appropriateness.
CNN10 has become a solid part of our morning routine. The kids love staying up to date on current events, and I appreciate how it encourages thoughtful conversation. Animal of the Day is still a big hit too, though I have to say, they really missed the opportunity to feature the groundhog in February!
Fourth Grade Homeschool Update
My fourth grader is thriving. We’ve moved into more formal writing, and she’s doing so well. She’s already finished Grammar Town and Alice in Wonderland and is moving into The Wind in the Willows. Her Caesar’s English vocabulary work has been amazing, and she’s scoring really high on her tests.
Math-U-See fractions have also been going great, which makes my heart so happy. She’s mastering equivalent fractions and understanding the why behind the math, not just the how. We’re coming up on our first unit test, so we’ll see how that goes, but so far, she’s confident and doing well.
Eighth Grade Homeschool Update
My eighth grader’s curriculum has been more intense this year. Michael Clay Thompson is no joke—it’s deep and detailed. We just finished the reading that leads up to her first writing assignment: a three-page single-source paper based on one work of fiction. She’s chosen A Christmas Carol, and I’m genuinely excited to see how it turns out.
The only area we’re struggling a bit is vocabulary. There are about 30 stems a week, which is a lot to keep up with. We’re managing, but it doesn’t feel like true mastery yet. I’d love to find better ways to reinforce so many words at once. If you have any suggestions for tackling big vocabulary lists effectively, I’m all ears.
Math with Denison Geometry has been such a win. She’s really starting to grasp the concepts, and I even surprised myself by helping with transversal problems successfully. That’s a homeschool mom victory moment right there.
Science at the Museum
We also started our science class at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. After just one class, I already have a few ideas for next year. I want to include dissection labs for older kids and organize smaller, more age-specific groups to make it run more smoothly. It’s all a learning process, but we’re making the most of it and having fun along the way.
The Honest Truth
Overall, this homeschool year feels good. There are small struggles here and there, but nothing overwhelming. We’re keeping pace with most subjects, enjoying our group learning, and slowly finding balance between flexibility and structure.
Homeschool isn’t perfect, but it’s powerful. Every year teaches us something new—not just about academics, but about each other and how we grow as a family.
We’ve made it through our first eight weeks with mostly smiles, a few sighs, and plenty of gratitude. If you’re in that same stage of the year where you’re starting to see what’s working (and what’s not), just know you’re not alone. It’s okay to adjust, to pivot, and to keep finding what fits.
So that’s our honest homeschool update—the good, the bad, and the real-life middle.
How’s your year going so far? What’s working well, and what’s still figuring itself out? I’d love to hear your own homeschool update in the comments.
