We home schooled during the height of the pandemic (2020-2021). Our daughters were 8 and 10 at the time and we had just moved from CA to ID. It was something we wanted to try anyway, and then the whole "remote learning" thing was the final push we needed to take the plunge. Overall it was a great experience, but ultimately we ended up back in the public school after the pandemic waned, which in Boise was the '21-'22 school year.
For Language Arts and Classical Literature curriculum we went with BookShark, which worked well for our kids. This was heavy on reading and grammar/parts of speech. We also added an optional spelling module. Our kids were already good readers, but this upped their game. Two years later and their teachers still remark on their excellent reading comprehension, grammar, and spelling.
For Math we used Singapore Math and had mixed results. Youngest DD is strong in math and excelled working at her own pace, ending the year above grade level. To this day she's still a grade level above and will likely start honors math next year and continue from there on an accelerated track. Oldest DD, on the other hand, has long struggled with math. I didn't realize the extent of the problem until we started home schooling and it became clear that she was at least two grade levels behind in most areas, three in certain others (E.g. number sense). It was a struggle, but with remediation to fill in gaps and a lot of extra work we got her *mostly* back to grade level. I have no idea what her previous schools in California were doing, but I strongly suspect they were simply passing her on to the next year teacher.
We loved the freedom home schooling provides. DW and I are both FIRE so we incorporated a lot of educational outings into the "classroom." For example, a backpacking trip where the kids drew detailed pictures of plants which we later looked up and wrote about, and catching fish that we dissected (dovetailed with anatomy lessons) that we then cleaned and cooked for dinner as a cooking lesson. And trips to places like City of Rocks, ID to enrich learning about geology and history.
During winter/spring we got our lessons done in the morning, ate lunch at home, then went up the mountain to our local ski resort twice a week for PE. With about 40 days of skiing the kids became quite proficient and this is something we still enjoy doing as a family.
Why did we stop home schooling? Both of our kids needed more outside socialization. To be fair, the pandemic was a major factor. But also, our sense was that both kids would benefit from more structure, and instructors that are not their parents :) Plus, our local public schools are *wonderful* and within a short walking distance, so it just made sense to switch. Through school our kids have made really good friends in the neighborhood and have become much more integrated into the community, which is something we value.
In hindsight, if we could do it again I think we would have outsourced more of the work. Things like paying for STEM labs, specialized math instruction, and more of the arts... though again, the pandemic was mostly to blame for these not being an option at the time.
