Our First Week of Homeschooling: 9th Grade, 5th Grade, and 10 Years In

One week down.

And somehow, we are officially ten years into this homeschooling thing.

I don’t know that I will ever get used to saying that.

Ten years ago, I was trying to figure out what homeschooling was supposed to look like for our family. I was researching curriculum, wondering if I was making the right choices, and trying to build something that worked for one kid while breastfeeding another.

Now, here we are starting another homeschool year with a ninth grader beginning high school and a fifth grader starting her final year of elementary school.

That feels big.

This year is full of transitions. My oldest is beginning high school, and we are becoming much more intentional about building an educational experience around her interests and future goals. My youngest is finishing elementary school and continuing to become more independent in her own learning.

And somehow, despite the fact that they are now in completely different stages of their education, we are still finding ways to learn together.

So here are my honest first impressions from week one of our 2026–2027 homeschool year.

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Homeschooling a 9th Grader and a 5th Grader

One of the things I am continuing to do this year is combine subjects wherever it makes sense.

That doesn’t mean my kids are doing the exact same assignments.

It means they are often learning the same information.

And then I tailor what I expect them to do with that information based on where they are developmentally and academically.

I said it in my week one update, and I think it is worth repeating:

I am not pulling my ninth grader down. I am pulling my fifth grader up.

When we are learning world history or biology together, I don’t feel like I need to create two entirely separate educational experiences just because my children are in different grades.

They can both listen to the same lecture.

They can both read or watch the same material.

They can both participate in the same conversation.

But what I expect from them afterward may look completely different.

My ninth grader may be expected to write at a high school level, make deeper connections, complete additional research, or demonstrate mastery in a way that can support high school credit.

My fifth grader may be asked to explain the concept, complete a simpler assignment, create something, or demonstrate that she understands the material at her own level.

Same information.

Different outputs.

This is one of the things I genuinely love about homeschooling multiple ages. It gives me the freedom to stop thinking of education as a series of boxes that every child has to move through at exactly the same pace.

Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts: Starting Where They Are

We are also continuing with Michael Clay Thompson language arts this year, and one of my biggest takeaways from the first week is that I am giving myself permission to not start at the beginning just because the book starts at the beginning.

My ninth grader is working through the next level, and at this point, she has been exposed to many of the same grammar concepts over and over again.

She has done multiple levels of MCT.

We have talked about parts of speech for years.

At some point, I had to ask myself: do we really need to spend a significant amount of time reintroducing concepts she already knows just because the curriculum includes an introduction?

And the answer, for us, was no.

So we skipped some of the introductory material and moved directly into the parts that felt more useful to her right now.

That does not mean those introductory sections are unnecessary. If she had wanted to go through them, we absolutely would have. But one of the benefits of homeschooling is being able to look at a curriculum and say, this part is not what we need right now.

We can come back to it.

We can use it as a reference.

Or we can move forward.

For my fifth grader, the experience is a little different.

She wanted to read through the introductory material, so she is.

Same general approach to language arts. Different children. Different needs.

And that is something I continue to appreciate about homeschooling.

I don’t have to make both children move through every single page at exactly the same pace just because that is how the curriculum is organized.

We can use the curriculum as a tool instead of treating it like a checklist that must be completed exactly as written.

We are also focusing on vocabulary this year, and I created some additional resources to make that practice a little more engaging. There are multiple-choice assessments, digital flashcards, word searches, crosswords, matching activities, and word scrambles.

Because honestly?

Big kids still need fun too.

Just because my oldest is in high school does not mean every part of learning suddenly has to become dry, serious, and joyless.

If I can reinforce vocabulary while also making it a little more interesting, I am absolutely going to do that.

For my ninth grader, we are using those vocabulary activities alongside Word Within the Word Level Two. We are also making some adjustments to the curriculum based on what she is already learning elsewhere.

For example, because we are getting such a substantial dose of history through our world history studies this year, we are not necessarily going to duplicate all of the historical reading included in every language arts resource.

Instead, we are using the materials in ways that support what she needs while avoiding unnecessary repetition.

That is becoming a theme of this homeschool year:

We don’t have to do everything simply because it is there.

We can choose.

We can adjust.

We can skip something we have already mastered.

We can spend more time on something that needs extra attention.

And we can make the curriculum work for the child instead of forcing the child to work for the curriculum.

Starting High School With a Personalized Plan

One of the biggest changes this year is that my oldest is officially a high schooler.

We are building her homeschool high school experience around a sort of guiding star: a local performing and visual arts magnet program.

We aren’t trying to copy the program exactly. But it gives us a framework for thinking about the type of education and opportunities she might have access to if she were pursuing that path inside a traditional school environment.

From there, we can build something that works specifically for her.

That includes her academic coursework, but it also includes her performing arts training, rehearsals, productions, auditions, and other experiences.

And honestly, that is one of the things I find most exciting about homeschooling at this stage.

Her education doesn’t have to exist separately from the things she is already deeply invested in.

The things she is doing outside of traditional coursework can become part of the larger picture.

This week, we also learned that one of her auditions paid off, and she was accepted into a very prestigious performing group. I am keeping the details private for now, but we are incredibly proud of her.

She may even be one of the youngest people the group has ever accepted.

And those experiences matter.

The training matters.

The rehearsals matter.

The time and commitment matter.

When we talk about creating a personalized high school education, this is exactly what I mean. I want her education to make room for the things she is passionate about while still giving her a strong academic foundation and keeping future opportunities open.

Combining World History for 5th Grade and 9th Grade

One of the subjects we are combining this year is world history.

I was honestly a little intimidated going into this.

My ninth grader is taking an honors-level world history course, and that phrase alone can make things feel intimidating.

What exactly does honors-level mean?

How much work is enough?

How rigorous does everything need to be?

How do I make sure it is manageable enough that we can actually sustain it?

Because at this point in my homeschooling life, I have learned something important:

A plan that looks impressive but falls apart after three weeks is not actually better than a plan that is manageable, meaningful, and gets completed.

So far, our history course has been much easier to use than I expected.

The kids are learning together, listening and watching the lessons, reviewing the material, working through flashcards, and completing assessments.

And after one week?

They did great.

Not perfect.

And honestly, I don’t need perfect.

We are learning a new system. We are figuring out how this course works. A high B while learning the rhythm of a new curriculum feels absolutely fine to me.

I am much more interested in whether they understand what they are learning and whether we can build a sustainable system than whether every single early assignment earns a perfect score.

Biology Is Off to a Strong Start

We are also combining biology this year.

Right now, we are starting with material that works well as an introduction while preparing to move into more advanced biology content for high school.

Eventually, my oldest will also be working through additional biology resources to make sure we are covering what she needs for high school-level coursework.

Again, this is one of those places where homeschooling allows us to build a bridge instead of pretending that every child has to jump from one perfectly labeled grade-level resource directly into another.

The kids have already completed multiple lessons and tests, and they are doing incredibly well.

I was genuinely impressed by how much they were able to retain after watching the lessons.

And yes, there was also a moment where they knew something from biology that I was not entirely sure I could have recalled myself.

So apparently, everybody is learning this year.

Including Mom. Have you heard of a Tuatara? For real, Google it!

Learning French Together

We are also learning French as a family this year.

And let me just tell you something.

I accidentally did an entire week’s worth of French in one day.

I genuinely do not know what I was thinking.

But we did a lot of French.

So now we will adjust.

Because that is also homeschooling.

Sometimes you plan something perfectly.

Sometimes you accidentally decide that today is apparently French immersion day.

And then you move on.

We are pairing different resources because I like having multiple ways to approach language learning.

Some resources are more immersive and visual. Others give us opportunities to reinforce the vocabulary and concepts more directly through written work.

For us, the combination feels like a good balance.

I don’t want language learning to become so repetitive or tedious that everyone loses interest, but I also want the information to stick.

So we are using visual, audio, spoken, and written practice together.

And so far, it is going well.

Even if we may have gotten a little too enthusiastic on day one.

The Quiet Win of Independent Kids

My favorite moment of week one may not have had anything to do with a particular curriculum.

I had a dentist appointment on our second day of homeschool.

I left early in the morning, and when I came home, the kids had almost everything done.

They had just kept working.

They knew what they needed to do.

They knew their responsibilities.

And they kept going.

That was one of those moments that reminded me that homeschooling is about so much more than finishing a particular textbook or checking off a particular assignment.

We have spent years building routines.

We have spent years teaching responsibility.

We have spent years figuring out what systems work for our family.

And after summer break, those habits are starting to come back.

They are able to flip that homeschool switch back on.

And it is glorious.

Is everything perfect?

Absolutely not.

I already managed to double-enter information into our planners during the first week, which was entirely a Mom problem.

But the kids are using their planners.

They are checking things off.

Chores are getting done.

And we are figuring out the little glitches as they come.

That feels like a successful first week to me.

Letting Both Kids Follow Their Own Interests

One of the biggest things I want for both of my children is for their education to leave room for who they actually are.

My oldest is developing a very clear path through performing arts and other creative opportunities.

My youngest is continuing to explore the things she loves.

She is involved in Girl Scouts and art classes, serves on a local kids advisory board, and is trying archery this year.

But we are also beginning to see other interests emerge.

She loves animals, but she has absolutely no interest in becoming a veterinarian.

Instead, she is fascinated by things like animal enrichment, habitats, and the creation of environments for animals.

And that is exciting.

Because there are so many possibilities that exist between “I like animals” and “therefore I should become a veterinarian.”

Part of our job as homeschooling parents is not to decide who our kids should become.

It is to pay attention.

To notice.

To help them find opportunities.

To expose them to possibilities they might not know exist yet.

And then, when we can, to help make those possibilities available.

Why We Still Homeschool After 10 Years

After ten years, people still have assumptions about why families homeschool.

And I want to continue being honest about why we do.

We do not homeschool because we want to keep our children away from the world.

We do not homeschool because we believe our children should be sheltered from every idea, experience, or person who thinks differently than we do.

For us, secular homeschooling is about building an education that fits our actual children.

It is about having the flexibility to combine subjects when that makes sense.

It is about allowing one child to move forward in an area of strength while giving another child the time and support they need somewhere else.

It is about making room for performing arts rehearsals, auditions, Girl Scouts, art classes, archery, advisory boards, travel, appointments, and real life.

It is about being able to say, “This isn’t working,” and change direction.

It is about giving our kids access to as many opportunities as we can.

I don’t believe homeschooling is the only way to give a child a good education.

I don’t think homeschooling is automatically better than public school.

I don’t think every family should homeschool.

But for our family, in this season, homeschooling continues to give us the ability to build an education that is tailored to the individual children standing in front of us.

And that is why we are still here.

Ten years later.

Still adjusting.

Still changing our minds.

Still fixing things that do not work.

Still occasionally doing an entire week of French in one day.

And still finding our way forward.

So Far, Week One Was Awesome

One week is not enough time to predict an entire homeschool year.

There will be difficult weeks.

There will be curriculum that doesn’t work.

There will be days when nobody wants to do the thing.

There will probably be more Mom input errors.

But after the first week, I am feeling really good about where we are.

The kids are engaged.

They are taking responsibility for their work.

Our combined subjects are working.

The high school plan is starting to take shape.

And both of my kids are continuing to discover more about the things that interest them and the possibilities that might be available to them in the future.

So far?

Week one was awesome.

And after ten years of homeschooling, I am still excited to see where this journey takes us next.

Because the truth is that our homeschool has never stayed exactly the same.

It evolves because our kids evolve.

And I think that is exactly how it should be.