First Day of School August 2026 9th and 11th Grade

On Monday, August 3, we started back to school.  This year Cruz is in 11th grade, and Ben is in 9th. 

 

Ready or not, here we go! 

 

 

11th grade 

 

 

9th grade 

 

 

  

 

me and my boys

I love being their teacher! 

 

 

 

 

It is Ben's first year of high school. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is the curriculum we will be using this school year.

 

Cruz:

English 11- IEW Advanced U.S. History Writing Lessons with Literature

Math- Math-U-See Pre-Calculus

Science- Masterbooks Anatomy and Physiology 1 with lab

History- Masterbooks American History

Electives:

Beyond Personal Finance

Liberty University Online Academy- Essentials of Business

Liberty University Online Academy- Public Speaking

Liberty University Online Academy- College and Career Readiness 

 

Ben:

English 9- IEW American History Writing Lessons with Literature and Fix It Grammar Book 6

Math- Math-U-See Geometry

Science- Apologia Biology with lab

History - Outschool World Geography (semester 1)

                State History from a Christian Perspective- Mississippi History (semester 2)

Electives:

Spanish II- Homeschool Spanish Academy

Bible- Masterbooks Foundations in Faith

Health and P.E.- Not Consumed: Thrive   

Art- International Cooking 

 

Last Day of 7th and 9th Grade May 2025

Our school year has come to an end!!  We officially completed 7th and 9th grade.  We also wrapped up our tenth year of homeschooling. Wow! I am so thankful we have made it this far.  Only five more years to go!  We are all tired and ready to begin our summer break.  Here are our last day of school photos.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homeschool Lately March 2025

Cruz has done several fun experiments over the last few months.  This year he is taking Biology with Apologia. It is probably one of my most favorite classes to date in homeschool.  It is a fantastic course! We have been using Apologia science since Cruz was in fourth grade (we used Sonlight for the earlier grades).  Apologia is deep and thorough, and I think it is wonderful! 

 

When studying protists, he did a pond water experiment to see which types he could identify. We went to a local coffee farm to gather water from their fish pond.  He then put the water into four jars.  The jars contained rice, egg yolk, hay, and soil.  He let them sit for several days and then examined the water under his microscope. 

 

 

 

 

These are the things he was looking for.

 

 

When studying bacteria, he made homemade yogurt.  

 

 

In a Botany module, he dissected flowers and labeled the parts.  He also examined their parts under his microscope. 

 

 

In his first of four specimen dissections, he dissected an earthworm.  In the next few weeks he'll also dissect a crayfish, a perch, and a frog.  

 

 

In his Geography and World Cultures class, he learned to make homemade pasta.

 

 

In his Mississippi history class, he made homemade biscuits and homemade butter. 

 

Cruz has always been a hands on learner so I try hard to provide him with hands on learning activities.  

 

Homemade Yogurt

As part of his Biology class, Cruz recently had to make homemade yogurt.  It seemed a little intimidating at first but actually turned out great.  In addition to making homemade pasta, yogurt making has also become a new hobby of mine.  I now make it at least once a week and sometimes more than once depending on how fast we eat it.  It is not quite as easy as pasta but once you get the kinks worked out, it's a smooth process. 

Here are some photos of his yogurt experiment.  He takes Biology as a live online class through Apologia so this was an experiment he was required to do, and he had to submit photos of each step.  

 

The only ingredients are milk and a live yogurt culture.  Here he is heating his milk.

 

You have to heat it to a certain degree and then cool it to a certain degree before adding the live culture.  It is a delicate process.

 

adding the live culture

 

 

mixing it together

 

 

pouring it into jars

 

Next, we put it in the oven to sit for several hours with the light on.

 

Our finished yogurt ready to be cooled in the refrigerator.

 

Our first taste of it was sweetened with honey and some added blueberries.

 

I have since tweaked the process of how I make it. I still boil the milk on the stove, but I put it in my Instant Pot to sit instead of the oven.  That seems much easier to me. We have tried many different ways to eat it.  We love it with fruit and granola and also in smoothies.

 

 

a recent breakfast

 

 

We even made overnight oats with it that included chia seeds and fruit.

 

It's fun to think that a science experiment inspired a new hobby.  That's a part of homeschool that I really love!