Our Family's 2026-2027 Homeschool Plans!
/We are officially gearing up for another homeschool year! Honestly, in full transparency, I'm not super excited about it. I think it's because we've had such a busy summer that I don't feel like it's REAL that it's already August. But alas, here we are, whether I like it or not.
I'm being a total slacker on actually getting ready, but I have completed all of my planning, so I thought you might like to see what we have on our plate for the 2026–2027 school year for 4th and 5th grade boys :). I think talking about it will get my heart moving in that direction.
Here's our plan!
Our Core Subjects
Math: CTCMath + Mastery Review Workbooks
Both boys will continue using CTCMath for their primary math instruction. It has worked well for allowing them to move at their own pace while giving me a clear picture of where they need more practice. We'll add simple mastery-review workbooks to keep older skills fresh since CTCMath isn't as spiral-based as we need it to be. (I buy cheap ones from Amazon that look like a good fit for whatever skill we're wanting to focus on.)
This combination has worked well because the boys can complete much of their math independently, while I can still see where they need additional review and pull in extra practice as needed.
Classical Conversations
Thursdays will remain our community day with Classical Conversations. CC gives us accountability, friendships, presentations, science experiments, fine arts, and a shared framework for memory work throughout the year. Even though the boys are "Essentials" age, we are skipping that this year.
I really appreciate having a consistent community day built into our week. It gives the boys opportunities to learn alongside other children, practice presenting, and experience subjects like science and fine arts in a group setting while still leaving us plenty of flexibility in what we do at home.
Latin: Veritas Press Live Online Latin for Children A
The boys will take Latin together in a live online class twice each week. They have already completed a dash of Latin with me, but I intentionally chose Latin for Children A so they can strengthen the foundation while learning to manage a real class schedule, assignments, and teacher expectations.
The academic content is important, of course, but part of my purpose in choosing a live class is simply giving them experience learning from someone other than me. They'll need to show up prepared, listen to their teacher, remember what has been assigned, and complete work on someone else's timeline. Those are all skills I want them to begin practicing now.
Literature: Veritas Press Live Online Classes
Kolton will take Literature 4 through Veritas Press Live online classes. We did a book club online this summer that he really liked, so I'm keeping that momentum going. He'll complete the reading independently and attend class for discussion and instruction, with me available to help with assignments as needed.
Daxton's literature plan will be more customized, as he was no fan of the Zoom-call classroom lol. He'll read some books aloud to me, listen and follow along with audiobooks, and continue building both fluency and confidence without limiting his exposure to excellent stories.
This is one of those places where homeschooling gives us so much freedom to meet two children where they actually are. They can both spend the year reading excellent literature and developing their skills, while the day-to-day approach looks different for each of them.
Growing in Independence + Personal Responsibility
One reason we are introducing a few online classes this year is to begin gently developing more independence and personal responsibility. I still want to be deeply involved in their education, but I also want them to practice listening to another teacher, remembering assignments, managing materials, and taking ownership of their work before the stakes become much higher.
I've bought them both a planner, so we will also be working on goal-setting and time-management skills this year. I believe that doing this earlier rather than waiting until they're teenagers is a wise move.
We're entering that transition toward "reading to learn," and I think it's a natural time to begin handing them a little more responsibility for their own education. Of course, I'll still be right here to guide and help them, but they'll have more opportunities to practice the habits they'll need as they grow.
Our Core Curriculum at Home
Our main family study will be the upcoming Constitution & Citizenship course. It begins with the Constitution and branches into touches of American history, citizenship, government, logic, debate, writing, art, hymns, poetry, and Scripture memory. This will be the subject that gathers us together and gives our school year its central thread.
It's a 12-week study designed for four days per week, but we will use it on Tuesdays and Fridays, which means we'll stretch it across pretty much the entire school year. I love being able to do that with a study like this. We can move through it slowly, spend more time on topics that spark good conversations, and allow it to serve as the central family study around which the rest of our week is organized.
We'll also continue with a few straightforward skill subjects at home:
Fix It! Grammar for consistent grammar practice, which can be done independently before or after their CTCMath time.
Sequential Spelling for spelling instruction, continuing what we used last year. This is hands-down our favorite subject together.
Bible Quest: New Testament, regular Bible reading, and an apologetics book. Bible Quest is brand-new to me. I've just gotten my hands on it, so keep an eye out for a review later on.
These are all fairly simple to implement, which is important with everything else we're doing this year. I don't want every subject to require a huge amount of preparation or direct instruction from me, especially as the boys become increasingly capable of completing some of their daily work independently.
A Few Supplements
NOEO Physics + F.O.R.M. Health and Fitness
Our Classical Conversations science focus this year is anatomy and chemistry. To round that out, we'll combine NOEO Physics with F.O.R.M., which is a Biblical online course focused on movement, healthy habits, and nutrition.
NOEO will give us hands-on physics experiments, living books, and deeper science exploration. Because we already have so much going on, we will just have one "science day" each month to work through it. I'm perfectly happy to move through it slowly rather than trying to cram another full weekly subject into our schedule.
F.O.R.M. combines basic health and anatomy instruction with guided movement, so it will serve as both health and PE. Again, the boys can work through it pretty independently. Together, these should complement our CC science work pretty well and tap into the physics I hoped to cover with Dax in 5th grade.
I plan on sharing a more detailed review of F.O.R.M. later on after we've had a chance to really use it.
Classical Quest
(This portion of the blog post is sponsored.)
We'll also be using Classical Quest for quick, consistent review of our Classical Conversations memory work and the Latin concepts the boys previously learned in Latin for Children A.
Classical Quest uses spaced repetition, short practice sessions, and adventure-style games to help children review classical memory work across subjects like Latin, history, geography, math, science, English grammar, fine arts, and Bible. It also includes a parent dashboard so I can see what they know and what needs another pass without making my own flashcards, quizzes, or review games.
My plan is to use it for about fifteen minutes during independent work. That feels manageable enough to remain consistent, which is usually the most important part of memory work!
I've had an opportunity to onboard with Classical Quest, and it's really amazing. The real "gold" for me is that we have a lot going on this year academically, and I like to treat the year where we transition to "reading to learn" as an opportunity to grow into some independence and personal accountability as well.
The boys' Latin class will be their first experience with an outside teacher giving them assignments, requiring preparation from them, and then holding them accountable (even with grades lol). Classical Quest should make consistent review so much easier on everyone, AND a little bit more fun than dry flashcards with mom alone.
It includes more than 6,000 practice questions across eight classical subjects, more than 60 interactive games ranging from Latin quests to dragon battles, an adaptive study companion that meets each student where they are, and a parent dashboard that tracks mastery and flags what needs to be reviewed next. For us, I think it will fit really naturally into that short block of independent review without adding another big subject to the day.
Finding Our Rhythm for This Year
So that's what we have on our plate for 4th and 5th grade!
Looking at everything written out, it definitely seems like a lot, but much of it isn't happening every day—or even every week. Classical Conversations has its own day. NOEO gets a science day about once a month. Constitution & Citizenship will be stretched across the year. Some subjects are completed independently, while others are the things that bring us back together.
And I think that's really the key for us this year. I'm trying to build a rhythm that allows the boys to grow in independence while still protecting the parts of home education that I really value doing together.
We'll have literature, Latin, math, grammar, spelling, science, Bible, history, citizenship, memory work, and plenty of opportunities to practice managing their own responsibilities. We'll also have room to adjust as we actually begin living out the plans I've made on paper—because after all these years, I certainly know that the plan and real life are rarely exactly the same thing lol.
Maybe writing all of this out really has helped get my heart moving toward another homeschool year. Ready or not, 4th and 5th grade, here we come.
We are officially gearing up for another homeschool year! Honestly, in full transparency, I'm not super excited about it. I think it's because we've had such a busy summer that I don't feel like it's REAL that it's already August. But alas, here we are, whether I like it or not.
I'm being a total slacker on actually getting ready, but I have completed all of my planning, so I thought you might like to see what we have on our plate for the 2026–2027 school year for 4th and 5th grade boys :). I think talking about it will get my heart moving in that direction.
Here's our plan!