Our Family Homeschool Subjects for Homeschooling Simply
If you are looking for homeschool subjects that work well to do as a family, check out all that we do as family subjects.
Many homeschool moms, especially those with a bunch of little ones or a large family, find that it simply works better to do some subjects all together to cut out on the time needed to help your individual students with their work.
Besides, most young children learn just as well or better when certain subjects are taught as group subjects. (Or, depending on what your family dynamic is, it might work to have an older sibling do some of these subjects with a younger sibling.) Once I have high schoolers I know a lot of this will look different, but for now it is one of the best decisions I have made as a homeschooling parent.
Our children have core subjects that they each do on their own level, such as Language Arts and Math. (Check out our first and second-grade curriculum choices.) Most of the rest of the subjects we do as group subjects, with the whole family gathered around learning together (the younger children aren’t required to be there, but they often want to sit in).
When you plan out your homeschool year, consider adding in some of these.
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Homeschool Group Subjects
Circle Time
Most of our days start with homeschool morning time or circle time as we call it. I may read a short Bible story, and we go over our Scripture memory verses, songs, and poems, as well as other basic stuff I want them to know. In the future, I want to add more Bible study and things like that. You can check more about how I do circle time here.
Read Aloud
At some point during the day, usually in the afternoon, I try to read aloud to the children from a chapter book. I don’t manage it every day, but they love it, and we all know that being read to is very important for our children.
Science
Science is one of the easiest subjects to do as a family. We have always done it together. It might change once I have older children who can study well on their own, but for now, it works well for us.
We use some Abeka Science textbooks we were given, and just read them and observe everything together, and we also love The Good and The Beautiful Science for Little Hearts and Hands (I think it’s the best homeschool curriculum for science!). Even though everything we have used is for Kindergarten through Second Grade, I have learned some things I didn’t know or had forgotten.
I try to add in science experiments or nature study as I am able, but those aren’t my greatest strengths.
This is a subject we do about twice a week, and we just do what we can in a year.
Science in the younger grades, especially, should be about joy and discovering the world around us. You can read all about how I teach science for kindergarten and the younger grades here.
History
This year, we have just been studying Costa Rica’s history, as that is our home country. In the future, I want to do World History and more social studies, and when I do, I will come back and add that information. I am thinking of going with history from Good & Beautiful for our world history lessons.
For Costa Rica’s history, I got some nice picture books that I think are out of print by now. But if you are from Costa Rica, you can find some good games to learn history and more from Guabaya Games.
We have the history and provinces games, and while they are still a bit above my children’s levels, we are learning the information already. We do history about one day a week.
Good Manners and Health
We use the Proper Manners and Health Habits book from Rod and Staff as well. While we have the Spanish version as it is a better price and option for us here, they are basically the same thing.
A lot of this information is common knowledge, but it does us good to review it occasionally. The book has thirty short lessons, and so doing one lesson a week gets us through it in a school year easily.
Geography
Geography is another subject that works well as a family. We usually have a map on our kitchen table (under plastic or glass), and the children easily learn about continents, oceans, and countries all over the world.
Another good book if you are just starting out is Evan Moor’s Beginner Geography. We do three pages one day a week, to get through it in a school year. You can just buy it once and make copies if you have a printer.
There are so many ideas and curricula for the entire family to learn about geography, I wouldn’t be able to say which is the right homeschool curriculum for you. It is also simple enough that you could just make up your own country studies or things like that, if that is your style.
Art
Art is one of those subject areas that is a bit harder for me to teach. Crafts and Art Projects easily stress me out, but my children love them! So I try to be patient and occasionally add something like that.
Sometimes we have used ideas from various places, like Under The Home (totally free!). Recently, we have been going through Level 1 of Good & Beautiful’s Vintage Drawing Series. We also do some art study occasionally, especially what comes with Under The Home’s music appreciation courses.
Physical Education
As a homeschool mom, this is another area that comes a bit harder. I have the book Homeschooling Physical Education for the P.E. Challenged Mom. While I don’t go by the lesson plans they have provided, it has given me several ideas that I use. My oldest girls are starting to learn how to cartwheel, use hula hoops, and skip rope.
My goal is for them to have an active lifestyle, and for that, I know I need to lead by example!
I also have my eye on the book Home School Family Fitness: The Complete Physical Education Curriculum for Grades K-12
Singing
I struggled some with singing over the years, and so I want my girls to have the practice they need to be able to sing wholeheartedly, while not making it too hard or boring either. The Singing Made Easy courses by Music in Our Homeschool have been perfect for that. We do that about once a week.
Music Appreciation
Music appreciation is something we do randomly, but I use Under The Home for that. It is totally free! You can also check out all we do for music here.
Save it for later!
Homemaking
While homemaking is not officially a school subject, it’s worth writing down that it is something my children are learning every day. Besides the basic household chores, my older girls are starting to learn to sew and bake cookies, and those are great hands-on activities!
Business
If your children are anything like mine and want to know how to earn money for themselves, start them on a small business! Our girls make and sell little bags of jello and frozen milkshake “ice creams.”
While it’s nothing big, they earn a bit, and are learning about the costs/profit of businesses, as well as the time, effort, and management it takes. All this will be helpful in the future, I am sure.
What are your favorite family subjects?
What is your favorite subject and family-style homeschool curriculum? Are there different subjects you study from what I mentioned here, and what do you think is the best curriculum for that? Comment below to give others more ideas. Also, let me know if you have any questions.
Remember that the most important thing you can do for your children is to give them a love of learning. You may have a different teaching style, different grade levels, and a completely different homeschooling journey, so find what works for your family’s unique needs. Happy homeschooling!
