Our Favorite Homeschooling Curriculum for 2026: 6th, 4th, 2nd, Kindergarten and Baby [Episode 396]

I'm homeschooling five kids (grades 6, 4, 2, kindergarten… plus a five-month-old baby), and I'm sharing what's actually working now that real life is in full swing. I'll walk through the "filter" I'm using for curriculum decisions, what changed between my plan from seven months ago and what we're doing now, and the biggest fixes we made (especially in math and writing). I also share what our days look like right now — the flow, the routines, and the small setup decisions that make consistency possible. Resources: Other Homeschooling Videos: Favorite for 2023: PreK, 1st Grade, 3rd Grade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oV70d1kr9A Favorite Curriculum for Fall 2023: Kindergarten, 2nd Grade, 4th Grade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm3hJAlVTdI Homeschooling in Hard Seasons | Library System for the Best Books: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9wgIgGxQgk How I Decided Our Learning Priorities For the Summer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQkuSufQnJs Our Homeschooling Curriculum for 2024-2025 Pre-K, 1st, 3rd, 5th Grade: Alveary Update: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5MvRMKNY1E Planning A Full Year of Homeschool With A Baby On The Way | 6th, 4th, 2nd, Pre-K: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNKz4gz3MzI Curriculum: Growing Brave Writers https://bravewriter.com/products/growing-brave-writers (use this link to get $10 off: https://go.referralcandy.com/share/SVPT9W8?s=sp&t=cp) Math With Confidence: https://amzn.to/3Nezl3K Fix It Grammar: https://amzn.to/3N7CJxy Alveary: https://lddy.no/1jdpq (use code JJACKSON for $25 off) All About Spelling: https://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/all-about-spelling/?srsltid=AfmBOoq7t0vyOYoJiNU10_kw_RBcPQ6p8CuxneTYVBcK_bCtrgF3TJXb (I actually just buy the teachers manual used for a fraction of the price)  

As the year comes to a close, I'm talking about what it feels like to reflect when you're discouraged, uncertain, or just tired. When progress feels slow. When goals didn't turn out the way you hoped. When the future feels unclear. In this episode, I share the thoughts, stories, and spiritual insights that helped me reframe what it means to be "behind," why nothing you've given is wasted, and how to approach vision-setting when dreaming feels hard. I'll talk about seasons of becoming, surrender, and letting God lead when you don't have clarity yet.

Looking for books that will completely change the way you think about weight, health, and body image? From surprising medical history to cultural myths we've quietly absorbed, these reads helped me question where our ideals about "healthy," "thin," and "ideal" actually come from. Resources: Happiest Man on Earth: https://amzn.to/49lK5G6 The Secret To Unlocking The Stress Cycle: https://amzn.to/4aul90b Everything is Tuberculosis: https://amzn.to/3MMAY8F Semi-Well Adjusted Despite Literally Everything: https://amzn.to/3NbdGt8

As the year winds down, I love slowing things down a bit, opening my 2026 Thriving in Motherhood Planner, working through the vision section, and taking time to reflect on what actually stayed with me this year. One of my favorite parts of that process is reviewing the books I read. This year, I read over 60 books. When I sat down to reflect, I narrowed that list first to the ones that truly stood out, and then distilled it even further to my top favorites across fiction, memoir, nonfiction, and a small handful of self-help books that genuinely impacted how I live day to day. In this episode, I'm sharing: The fiction series that gave me deep, genuine belly laughs at the end of long days The nonfiction and memoirs that expanded how I think about resilience, perspective, history, and human experience The self-help books that actually changed my habits, not just my ideas How I choose what to read in different seasons of life (especially as a homeschooling mom of five) These are the books that shaped how I think, how I rest, how I parent, and how I move into a new year with intention, without pressure to read more, faster, or "better." Resources: Previous Book Lists Top Books of 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLMNVWoyWxQ Top Books of 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDU1QwZm0rM Books I Read During My Tech Fast 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI7v_2DmlP8 Designing Your Personal Curriculum For 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyc-YCDjtfQ Deep Dive Book Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK0Nd4dbVRA Non-Fiction Books An Immense World: https://amzn.to/3Mwtman American Nations: https://amzn.to/4pFAUpR Brave the Wild River: https://amzn.to/48TWI9Z Empire of Pain: https://amzn.to/4s0S6aG Memoir Solito: https://amzn.to/4rWGJ3A The House of My Mother: https://amzn.to/4s0RYIe The Happiest Man On Earth: https://amzn.to/4oZxNrM Semi Well Adjusted Despite Absolutely Everything: https://amzn.to/3XZrUzH Self-Help Books The Glucose Revolution: https://amzn.to/4j04dkf The Power of Now: https://amzn.to/3YB8Ckd Thrivers: https://amzn.to/4oQnmGF Fiction Books The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lions: https://amzn.to/3L21cn6

Before you jump into holiday plans or new-year goals, there are two things I want you to do, because they will completely change how you feel heading into next year. In this episode, I walk you through the exact reflection and clarity-building process I'm using right now to close out 2025 and prepare for 2026. It's a simple reset that helps you see what really happened this year, understand where you grew, and get clear about what matters most going forward.  

In this episode, I'm sharing three things I want you to start thinking about as we get close to the end of the yar. These things will set you up really well when you sit down to create your vision for the new year. They come from two books I read in November, and it was really encouraging to see how much of the research lined up with what we've been doing in the Thriving in Motherhood Planner and Journal since 2015. But these books also highlighted a few angles that I think can help us look at things a little differently.  In this episode, I walk you through: Why moms burn out Three ways to actually complete the stress cycle How to use your part as a tool instead of something that weighs you down What makes a future vision powerful enough to influence your present Why pausing every 90 days changes everything These ideas aren't about rushing into goals or "fixing" anything. They're just little shifts that help you understand what's going on inside your days so you can move into the new year with clairty and purpose.  

Some decluttering advice sounds great, until you try it with a real house with real kids and real life happening all day long. In this episode, we're talking about the gap between having a decluttering plan and following through, especially when you're a busy mom. After years of trying a lot of different methods, I've learned what actually makes progress possible when you don't have long stretches of quiet time. If you're ready to make steady, realistic progress in your home (even with kids underfoot), I hope you'll listen in.

If I could sit my younger self down - the brand-new mom who was sleep deprived, overwhelmed, and convinced she was doing everything wrong - there are five things I would tell her. They're simple, but they have changed everything. In this episode, I'm sharing the real-life lessons that came from a decade of raising kids, navigating sleep deprivation, stumbling through routines, shifting old patterns, and learning what actually makes motherhood feel lighter.  I'm sharing: What helped me manage those long nights so I didn't spiral with anxiety Why going outside changed everything when the days felt suffocating How I stopped letting one hard hour turn into a "bad day" The realization that I was making everything harder than it needed to be (and the small mindset shift that make everything easier) The truth about deculttering that I wish someone had told me years ago I don't have motherhood all figured out, but these five things genuinely made my days lighter. Hopefully one of them does the same for you.  

There's a kind of energy that looks productive on the outside but feels frantic on the inside. You're moving all day, checking things off, staying "on top of it," but when the house finally goes quiet, you don't feel satisfied—just tired. It's easy to assume the problem is time management, but often what we need most is clarity. Clarity about what matters most. Clarity about what season we're in. Clarity about where our energy is truly needed. When we lose that clarity, it's easy to get swept up in ideas, goals, and endless to-dos that don't actually align with our values. We end up busy, but not purposeful. Productive, but not peaceful. In this episode, I talk about what causes that frantic energy (especially in reentry seasons) and how to slow down enough to find your footing again. You'll hear tools for: Recognizing the difference between meaningful progress and distraction. Learning how to quiet mental clutter and renew your mind. Reconnecting with your vision, so you know what to say yes and no to. Turning that clarity into small, steady action each week. When you know what matters, the noise quiets. You can show up with intention (not perfection) and begin to build a life that you love to wake up to. ✨ Next Steps to Start Thriving Step 1: Create your vision with the Thriving in Motherhood Planner or the Create Your Vision Workbook if you already have a planning system you love. Step 2: Watch the Plan a Week You Can Win Masterclass to learn how to make that vision a reality — one week at a time. Create Your Vision Workbook ➡️ thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/vision Thriving in Motherhood Planner ➡️ thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/planner Plan A Week You Can Win Masterclass ➡️ thrivinginmotherhood.myflodesk.com/winyourweek

This week, I'm joined by Carly Thornock, who's joining us from a 400-year-old farmhouse in Portugal. Carly and her husband went from running a business and owning their dream home to traveling the world with their three boys—and finding more peace, health, and joy along the way. In this conversation, she shares the Shift 5, the process that helps them make decisions, pivot with purpose, and live a life that truly aligns with their values. We talk about: Creating a vision that keeps evolving Learning to trust God with the "how" Living intentionally through change and uncertainty Listen in for real stories, practical wisdom, and a reminder that it's never too late to rewrite your vision for a meaningful life.