We often receive questions about how the Cycles work. 

Because of this we decided to call the "Cycles" in our Rainbow Curriculum "Color Years" with hope that it will alleviate some confusion. The reason we originally called the years "Cycles" is because they may be used more than one time as you homeschool. If you use Cycle 1 for your child's Kindergarten year it is entirely appropriate to cycle is back through and use it again when they are in 5th grade as the workbook is entirely different and the content is covered in a more in-depth manner. The Rainbow Homeschool Program is the same. You may cycle back through the Color Years more than one time in your child's education. In order to hopefully help further explain this here are some hypothetical stories- one about the Jones family and one about the Smith family. 

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The Jones family has 5 children. They have decided to homeschool, but the prospect of homeschooling 2 children, taking care of toddlers, a baby, and adding children to schooling each year is rather daunting to Mrs. Jones. She is excited about the idea of homeschooling and very much wants to point her children to Jesus and teach them from the Bible. She begins to shop for homeschool curriculum and is quickly overwhelmed with the cost of Christian curriculum and the stacks of books she is considering ordering. How will she teach Sally about Africa and Tommy about the United States? How will she study the life cycle of a frog and the moon phases all in the same week? She comes across That It May Go Well and breathes a sigh of relief! She afford Christian homeschool books AND teacher her children the same content at their grade levels?!

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Here is the Jones Family's journey through TMGW:

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First year homeschooling:

They use Cycle 1.

Mrs. Jones gets the Cycle 1 Teacher's Guide for herself. 

She gets Sally the Cycle 1 2nd-3rd Grade Workbook.

She gets Tommy the Cycle 1 Kindergarten Workbook.

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They have a sweet school year studying together, Tommy learns to read and Sally's handwriting improves all while hiding God's Word in their hearts and doing fun projects together. 

 

Second Year Homeschooling:

This year the Jones family uses Cycle 2.​​

Mrs. Jones gets the Cycle 2 Teacher's Guide for herself. 

She gets Sally the Cycle 2 2nd-3rd Grade Workbook. Note: Sally is in 3rd grade this year, her work is similar, but much of what she is studying is different, her penmanship and Bible verses are different, and more is expected from her for her writing practice.

Mrs. Jones gets Tommy the Cycle 2 1st Grade Workbook.​

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Third Year Homeschooling

Since Cycle 3 of TMGW turned into the Rainbow Homeschooling Program Mrs. Jones prepares to use that. She is excited about the online options because she is adding her 3rd child to homeschooling this year. 

Mrs. Jones decides to order the Parent Plan Book so she has a paper list to check off as she works through the school day with her kids. She chats with her kids about what they're interested in learning about, looks at the lessons available in the Online Homeschool Program and writes in her Parent Plan Book what countries they'll study from Africa, what Creation Concepts they'll study from each unit, and what art projects the kids are interested in trying. 

She gets Sally the RED 4th-5th Grade Workbook.

She gets Tommy the RED 2nd-3rd Grade Workbook.

She gets Peter the RED Kindergarten Workbook.

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The Jones Family continues using TMGW. They go through all four Color Years of the Rainbow Homeschool Program and decide to continue using it. They are thrilled to go through the Bible again, starting in Genesis. Mary, Mrs. Jone's 4th child started Kindergarten when the family was doing the Yellow Year so she is particularly excited to learn about Creation and Noah's ark this year. Sally, Mrs. Jone's oldest child, used the 4th-5th Grade Workbook for the Red and Yellow Years, the 6th-8th Grade Workbook for the Green and Blue Years, and she will use the Red 6th-8th Grade Workbook this year for 8th grade. Not one of her school years was exactly the same. She had different memory verses for memorizing and writing, her writing assignments got more challenging each year and had variety within them, she studied different continents, countries, and Creation Concepts each year, making for a well rounded education. She did many different Art projects and has settled into the Handicraft of knitting. She prepares for high school knowing God's Word very well, loving Jesus, and having had an engaging education on a wide variety of topics. 

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The Smith Family's journey with TMGW:

The Smith family has two kids. Mrs. Smith did the That It May Go Well Original Preschool with her son John. He's ready to start Kindergarten this year and she decides to use the Rainbow Homeschool Program.

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First Year Homeschooling:  

Original Preschool​

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Second Year Homeschooling:

Mrs. Smith decides not to get a paper copy of the Parent Plan Book, but does want to record what she studies each year with her kids on paper. She prints the planning pages from the free to download Parent Plan Book. She downloads the app and marks "complete" what they've studied/as they work through the Promises Family Bible Plan and Daily Unit Memorization & Reminders. 

She gets John the RED Kindergarten Student Workbook.

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Third Year Homeschooling:

Mrs. Smith gets John the YELLOW 1st Grade Student Workbook

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Fourth Year Homeschooling:

Mrs. Smith gets John the Green 2nd-3rd Grade Student Workbook.

Her daughter, Ruth, is starting kindergarten so she also orders a Green Kindergarten Student Workbook.

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Fifth Year Homeschooling:

Mrs. Smith orders John the Blue 2nd-3rd Grade Student Workbook.

She orders Ruth the Blue 1st Grade Student Workbook. 

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After finishing the whole Bible with John by the end of his third grade year Mrs. Jones is so happy with how much John loves God's Word, and she is also delighted with her own knowledge of Scripture. Reading the whole Bible was something she had always wanted to do, but it felt overwhelming for a busy mom. Mrs. Jones also feels like she needs a break from her phone/technology and the family has a trip planned to visit several states over the summer so she opts to use TMGW Cycle 2 instead of repeating the Rainbow Homeschooling Color Years. In Cycle 2 the family will study the USA again, after studying it for the second half of the Blue Year. Mrs. Smith is happy about that because she wants her kids to know more about the states they plan to visit and more history of the USA before their trip. She orders the Cycle 2 Teacher's Guide for Herself, the Cycle 2 4th-5th Grade Student Workbook for John, and the 2nd-3rd Grade Workbook for Ruth. She is undecided about next year- she may do Cycle 1 or she may start back at the Red Year of Rainbow Homeschooling. She plans to pray about the decision and see how God leads her!