Planning Planning Planning

Our new home school year starts tomorrow, August 1^st, and I have been planning for a while. I have been asked several times....What curriculum do you use?

The answer is that we practice Eclectic Home Schooling. That means we take a multitude of resources and curriculum and create something that fits for us. There are several different types of home schoolers, but there are 6 main types.... Traditional, Classical, Charlotte Mason, Unit Study, Unschooling, and Eclectic.

Traditional- is basically you have a different book and workbook for each subject. A lot of full curriculum sets and your schools run this way.

Classical- (I am taking this directly from a google search): Classical homeschooling is based on teaching children in three stages, called the Trivium. The Grammar Stage (ages 6-10) focuses on absorbing information and memorizing the rules of phonics, spelling, grammar, foreign language, history, science, math, etc. The Dialectic Stage (ages 10–12) emphasizes logical discussion, debate, drawing correct conclusions, algebra, thesis writing, and determining the why’s behind the information. The Rhetoric Stage (ages 13–18) continues the systematic, rigorous studies and seeks to develop a clear, forceful, and persuasive use of language.

Charlotte Mason- focuses a lot on rich literature and living books

Unit Study- Is taking one topic and incorporating all subject around that topic. For example Trains. All subjects will have something to do with trains.

Unschooling- Is completely child led. If one day they have an interest in bugs then you learn about bugs, if the next is about cooking then you cook.

Eclectic- is taking aspects of several styles and creating something that fits you and your child.

If you are considering or have decided to home school I suggest you try different things. Do it for a while, don't rush into it, don't spend $100s on curriculum. You first have to learn how your children will learn and how you will teach. What your vision is for everything may not mess with how your children learn. Be Flexible. You can not plan everything and expect everything to work perfectly. Figure our what is practical for your lifestyle and what the kids respond to.

What I do is plan my top 3 basics. Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic and then let the extra's flow with the day, week, month, etc. with an end goal of what they need to have learned at minimum for the year.

Planning looks different for everyone, here is my idea...Piles, stacks, binders, and not shown my Brother's Brand Printer:

"You might be a bit of a nerd if......you drag a bunch of school planning stuff out into the living room so you can also binge watch "Doctor Who" on  the tv!"

For Math we are using Teaching Textbooks. With math being my weakest subject personally I need something that teaches and grades it for me, a full comprehensive math curriculum and so far TT3 is working well for us.

Writing I have them do a lot of copy work, journaling, and they write on any worksheets they accomplish.

For Reading we read a lot. I read to them, they read to me. They like computer games so I have decided to purchase Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress for them this year.

I like K12reader.com for Spelling

Education.com for a variety of worksheets and computer games

Last year I implemented a schedule of subject to complete each day, and it worked well for us so I will be continuing it.

Monday—Reading, Writing, Math, Spelling, Health & Etiquette, Music

Tuesday—Reading, Writing, Math, Spelling, Spanish, PE

Wednesday—Reading, Writing, Math, Spelling Test, Computer Science, Music

Thursday—Reading, Writing, Math, Spanish, Kid's Choice, PE

Friday—Reading, Science, Social Studies, Art

Music and P.E have not been determined yet for sure, but laying out a list of subject that the kids know they have to do (in whatever order they choose) gives me a plan and them the freedom to do it in the order they want to.

We are a team, working together, Learning As We Grow!

End of our Home School Year

We have completed our first full year of home schooling! 1^st and 2^nd grade are in the books and it was great!

What does ending a year mean for us? The entire month of July for Summer break! This is new to us this year, our first partial year we took 2 weeks, but.....lesson learned we needed a little bit more time. It also means that I do some reports. Please Note: Reports of any kind are NOT required by the state of Illinois. I do reporting for my personal records. If we ever move out of state, if state laws change, if any truancy issues ever arise I want to be able to easily prove what we are doing.

What I do is start with this:

I use these grade level lists for both planning and end of year reports. These are non common core lists (that's a different discussion for another time), but this is how I stay on track.

http://nevadahomeschoolnetwork.com/world-book-and-common-core/

Along with this grade level list I write up a summary of each subject for each child with how they are progressing in that subject. I print and keep a copy of any website reports/scores that they complete. I also keep work samples for each month and this usually consists of between 2 and 6 writing assignments/spelling tests/worksheets so I can flip through and see their handwriting progress through the year.

All of this information is kept in a 3 ring binder. If anyone were to have cause to question our home school then I can quickly and easily pull the binders and prove what we are doing. It is also a good habit to be in because as they progress to higher grades then transcripts will need to be kept for college purposes. These reports are NOT REQUIRED for the state of Illinois, I do this for my peace of mind.

With end of year stuff complete it is time for a 1 month brain break. Why only one month and not the whole Summer like most public schools? This is a life style for us. During this month off the kids have done several educational things, it's only natural to want to learn and I don't want to hold them back. Summer slide is a real concern children face. By only taking a short break we significantly decrease the need for review to be able to move on. What works best for us is a 6 weeks on 1 week off schedule because we need little breaks periodically through the year.

Welcome to Summer....Have Fun! I know we will.......Learning As We Grow!

Today is a short post, but I just want to say that LEARNING is everywhere. When we started home schooling this became apparent and I started pinpointing what they were learning with different activities. “Schooling” at home is not all about workbooks, flash cards, and writing assignments; it's in everything we do.

This morning I have some stuff I wanted to get done around the house, but it is still a school day for us and I didn't want to slack on that just to get some organizing done. So I combined the two! From the time my oldest was a baby I have kept all our kids DVDs in a large CD flip case and all their boxes in a tote in storage. I recently went through to weed out a lot of the DVD's they no longer want/like because they have grown out of them.

To most this just seems like a chore, but to us, it's a learning opportunity. My first grader was tasked with this project. By matching DVD's with their cases she was working on problem solving skills, reading, matching, organizing, and we even threw in a lesson about emotions when we get frustrated with daunting tasks.

Kids do these kind of things every day. Learning is everywhere, sometimes you just need to look at it in a different way to realize it.

Happy Learning ya'll.....Schooling as we grow!

It's Spring Break for Us!

Spring Break

Hey, hey, hey to all of you who like to follow our home school journey! I know I have talked about priorities before and how this blog isn't high up on the list of what needs accomplished on a daily basis. I do intend to update about every 6 weeks or so (more if I can). We are currently on our Spring Break! I scheduled us 2 weeks off on our calendar, and full disclosure, even that isn't enough time!

I love Spring cleaning. It does something to my soul when I can get some big organization and cleaning done. We cleaned all the windows inside and out, I am pretty sure I am a weirdo here, but it gives me the warm and fuzzies when I can look out a clear window! The patio is bleached, the outside furniture is cleaned up, and I am ready for the weather to decide it's time for it to be warm for good. We only have a few days left and I still have several things that did not get marked off my to do list... but is there ever really enough time?

Even though we are on break from our regular sit down school time the kids are still learning. Free Learning. They have full access to our classroom area right now to “play” with what they want to. They have certain things they have to help me do during the day (regular chores and helping with Spring cleaning stuff too), but they have several hours of free time. My oldest has put together all the lego kits he received for Christmas (4 of them I believe). My daughter did a headband kit, a bracelet making kit, and she is in the middle of making a tie together quilt. We planted and are taking care of some cotton seeds, and they have done several cooking/baking “experiments.” I love to see all 3 of my kiddos playing well together, and they have been raking up a lot of play time! Barbies, shopkins, angry birds, transformers, playing outside and using there imagination in all of it. As I am writing this I just realized they have chosen to do very little screen time, yay!

Even though I know I am not going to get my entire to-do list accomplished I know we are going to be able to sit down for some school work on Tuesday feeling refreshed. That is the point of our breaks- to rejuvenate! Our schedule is roughly 6 weeks on 1 week off, 2 weeks off at Christmas and Spring, and we will do 4 weeks off in the Summer. This next 6 week stint is a normal schedule, but after our next week off we will be starting a shorter schedule during the warmer months- 3 days a week until mid September. I'm feeling confident with our schedule!

**side note.- I need a schedule. I know some home school families work best just taking it one day at a time, but I need a schedule of days to work and break times. It keeps me and the kids accountable. We are serious about schooling at home, this is not a free for all Summer break all year long situation like some people perceive. There is a thing called Unschooling that is basically interest based schooling, only following what the kids want to learn when they want to learn it, and that is totally fine if that is something that works for you and your family. Even though we “kind of” do that with some of our subjects; for Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic I need to know that we are progressing at socially appropriate pace.*

So now that Break time has been covered lets look back at what we have been doing and where we are going from here...

My oldest, 8 year old 2^nd grader is doing Teaching Textbooks 3 for Math. I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but I really like this program and so does he. It's a CD-Rom program that keeps a grade book, goes through lessons and then quizzes him. I can sit in and listen to lessons with him and I can go in and delete lessons or problems so he can do them again if needed. I am letting him work independently with the program and after each lesson I check if he missed anything. If he did we go back in and redo those problems and talk about why he got them wrong. I/we do not fix quizzes. So whatever grade he gets on his quiz is his grade for that lesson. He knows if he isn't confident with all the material covered in the lessons then he should not take the quiz and move on yet. It gives him control of how fast things are covered and I get the reassurance that he is learning what he needs to in the right way. I am not confident in math personally, so I needed something that would teach him and I could be there for backup.

He is reading through the “Diary of a Minecraft Zombie” book series, and he really likes it. I think it is so important to find books that the kids want to read. His reading speed and confidence has noticeably improved because he is eager to read these books.

My daughter, 7 year old 1^st grader, is doing a math workbook and worksheets with me for addition and subtraction, money, and time. For reading we are still working through the Usborne Reading Library and some of the Billie B Brown books. She finished the Hooked on Phonics 1^st grade kit, but we frequently go back through and look at certain lessons again.

My oldest is an independent learner who likes to take the reigns, but my daughter needs me to sit and be more involved with her. Her confidence isn't strong, she needs reassurance that she is doing it right and if she doesn't think she is she gets emotional. They both have very different learning styles!

They are continuing to take P.E and Music class at our local grade school. Their Spring music program is coming up soon and they are very excited to be a part of it.

Everything else we do together. Science projects, social studies, history, etc. are all interest led. If they find something they are curious about we explore it. Writing is journaling and a little bit of copy work, which they both are not a fan of. Art is pretty much free reign creativity, but we do some crafty projects together sometimes too.

For now we are learning Spanish on YouTube with repetition and memorization. The alphabet, numbers, months, days, etc we are learning through different songs. I have found a couple of good programs that I want to start to delve more into the language, but I want to get some basics down first- as this is new to me also.

I also want to point out that YouTube is an amazing tool for every subject. Seriously, you can search anything and there is a video explaining or singing about it!

The kids help each other and they frequently “play school” and teach each other, which I think is such a great thing because it not only reiterates things for them, but it is also teaching my 2 year old. He can already do his alphabet and count to 10 and its all because my older two are teaching him. Looks like they are going to be the ones to home school him haha!

Learning as We Grow ya'll and loving every minute!

**If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. The point of the blog is to give those who are interested in the subject of home schooling our point of view, and to keep family and friends updated on our adventure.**

My family and I just returned home from a little visiting trip. We were in the car about 11 hours each way so I decided to take advantage of that time and read/watch a couple things I have had on my back burner of homeschooling research. I wanted to talk about them a bit here. First I want to state the obvious.....I support homeschooling. It is working for my family and my kids are thriving in the year we have been doing this. That being said I do not believe homeschooling is for everyone. If you curl your nose at the thought of stepping outside of the traditional box of public school, if the thought of being with your kids all day every day is nauseating, if you have no desire to be an active participant in helping your kids learn....then read no further because schooling at home is not for you.

Another thing I want to point out is that you have to be flexible. If the idea you have in your head about what home schooling should look like doesn't work for your kids you MUST be willing to change things up. You will learn right along with your kids, sometimes you will teach them new things, but most of the time they teach you new things as they explore things that interest them. You do not have to keep up with or slow down to keep on track with what the same age level students are learning in the local school. The great thing about humans is that they learn at different paces because each person is unique. If you have a pair of twins one may read quicker and faster than the other, while the other is better at math. They do not need to be at the same level at the same time....and that is perfectly normal!

I watched “Class Dismissed” and I read “They're Your Kids....” and here are my thoughts:

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In one of the homeschooling facebook groups I follow one movie is mentioned and recommended frequently... “Class Dismissed”. I bought the documentary DVD (if any of my local friends want to borrow it get a hold of me). It follows one family through their decision and some of their research for homeschooling. It was insightful and some of their struggles hit home with some of my own. There are so many ways to school/educate your children, I think this documentary is a great starting point for those who are considering different options or who have just begun their journey. 

Here are a few youtube links for “Class Dismissed” Trailers:

Official-https://youtu.be/0FMrQXkFCxA

Trailer 2- https://youtu.be/vL0kZ69LwNw

Trailer 1- https://youtu.be/74fO06CU6xY

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“They're Your Kids: An Inspirational Journey from Self-Doubter to Home School Advocate” by Sam Sorbo

The first part of the book talks about the governments role in our education system, and I will admit some of these things made me physically nauseous. The book starts out very politically anti-government, socialism, dictatorship comparisons, even some conspiracy thrown in there....but sometimes we need hit with the big stick of possible truths. There are a lot of facts written here too, including years worth of unsuccessful reform- notably 2001: No Child Left Behind Act, 2011: Race to the Top Fund, and 2013: Common Core (Take note these major changes were implemented AFTER, or possibly during our [as parents] later years, in public school.....today's school experience is NOT the same as ours.)

The more I learn about common core the sicker I feel. Please Please Please research common core. It is NOT just a new way to do math, which has been detested by many math professionals. The English and especially History changes are just as, if not more, damaging. Do you know about the new Human Rights? Do you know about some of the major text books companies making wording changes for the original Constitutional Amendments? Do you know about the important historical events that are now being left out of textbooks? 

Here are a few quotes from within the book that stood out to me:

“How could I home educate? I'm not capable! The question is, if you graduated from your public high school, maybe even a good college, and ended up incapable of instructing a nine year old, what hope do you hold for your children who you send to public schools? Education should be contagious, not constrictive. Doesn't your own sense of inadequacy compel you to protect your children from enrolling them in the same kind of institution that clearly, by your own tacit admission, failed you?”

You like the idea of a small school because of the small classroom size. You know a smaller group setting, say 10 kids to 1 teacher, has a higher probability of holding those kids more personally accountable to learn and digest the material instead of just being passive grazers giving those children more of a chance of slipping through the “cracks” of the system. Well imagine a one on one or a two on one teaching experience. You are going to know whether your child actually absorbed the information that you just went over, no test necessary. (this is paraphrased because I forgot to make note within the book and didn't take the time to track it down again.)

“Compare school to buying a house. You walk through it and love it. The inspector says it's great, the neighborhood is right, and so you purchase it. You may not realize until after you've moved in that the roof leaks or that it's drafty. You can repair the roof or apply caulking. (Hire a tutor.) The draftiness is caused by a faulty design of the heating system. Buy a few sweaters. (Hire a therapist for the kid.) But eventually you discover the house's foundation is defective and twelve years later (graduation) the building starts to sink. (Your child can't hold a job, because of low self-esteem, or high self-esteem, and no one taught him anything about the skills needed to hold one, or, worse, he doesn't even know to desire independence, because the government education bureaucracy taught him to revere the government-as-provider. His education was steeped in entitlement, recycling, and nature conservation.) Luckily, a good homeowner's insurance policy covers the foundation issues. But little will mitigate the deficits in your child's education. He's moving back home. The future of our children is at stake, and parent's have blindly entrusted the care of their kids to those who, on a broad scale, have proven to be mediocre, at best. Would you knowingly hire an average or less-than-average builder to construct your home? Are your children more valuable than your home?”

“The unions are the worst thing that ever happened to education because it's not a meritocracy. It turns into a bureaucracy, which is exactly what has happened. The teachers can't teach and administrators run the place and nobody can be fired. It's terrible.” -Steve Jobs

“Money runs the show, and that's why many are convinced it can fix the system. They're not only wrong; they're one hundred and eighty degrees wrong and thus, are part of the problem, though some of them don't even know it. Misuse of money has broken the system, but human greed is why it's broken and greed can't be repaired. The education establishment must return to being more about the advancement of education in our children, and less about power and money. And the only way to do that is to wrest the power away from the institution, bringing the educational responsibility back home.”

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” -George Orwell

“Our rights as home schooling parents are only as strong as the rights we have as free citizens. Sadly there are those in our country who choose to abdicate choice to the government, allowing it to dictate our everyday lives, despite its proven inefficacy.”

“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” -Robert Frost

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -Benjamin Franklin

“You will ever remember that all the end of study is to make you a good man and a useful citizen.”

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So as you can see I took a lot from the book and movie I watched this past weekend. I have had other recommendations made for books similar to this- the self help, build your home school confidence, and common core awareness types. But honestly I am already there. I have confidence in myself because I know my kids. I know when they know something, I know when they understand, I am willing to do different things to peek their interest. I can read and research and try different methods. We are changing our entire life style and learning has become a part of our every day life, not an 8:30 to 3 day job work experience.

We are Schooling As We Grow and we are doing it together!

Off topic food for thought………..I think the biggest lie I tell myself, especially on a low key Saturday or Sunday is: “I will just do a couple things then I will sit down and relax for a while.” Then when those things are done its “well the kids are playing nicely I will get a couple more things done.” Then when those are done it’s “I should really be taking advantage of the fact that everyone is playing so nicely. I’m on a role, I will just knock some more things off my to-do list, and then I will sit down and relax for a bit.” After all of that is done the day is over and I don’t even remember the last time I sat down.

I also want to take a moment to mention that as much as I would like to go on a political rant, I will refrain (for the foreseeable future). This is a blog I started so people can follow our home schooling journey, not for me to express my political views.

Priorities. That is what it is all about. I’m sorry to say this blog is not close to the top, so I update whenever the priority list gets down close enough to this line item haha! On January 2^nd the kids and I celebrated our first full year of home schooling! Woohoo! By celebrate I mean we had an entirely normal day with no extra celebrations except for acknowledging at the beginning of the day that it was 1 year. No big deal, it’s just a little milestone, but it is still a milestone so I wanted to write up a little post about our year.

So the question I get asked ALL THE TIME is…How is homeschool going?

The answer is…Good. I don’t know what exactly you are asking when that question is posed so the answer is simply…Good. The kids are not driving me insane. They are not running wild and tying me to chairs or locking me the bathroom. They are not eating junk food all day, watching Spongebob in 3 day old clothes, or becoming illiterate mutes. I am not stressed beyond belief, going bald from pulling my hair out, and I am not sick of spending time with my kids.

I am enjoying the opportunity I have to watch them grow and develop. Every day they are learning something new. We are truly learning as we go. Learning about each other and our different personalities; different learning styles, different interests, strengths and weaknesses. I am learning right along with them and that is one of the great things about schooling at home. Do I know everything to teach my kids? Nope. BUT I do have a good network of knowledgeable people, I do have resources, and I am eager to learn and teach just as much as they are.

Another Question……Do I follow a good Curriculum?  

No. I think that is the one that surprises people. I have looked into some all-in-one curriculum such as aBeka, Sonlight, BJU and we may do something like that when the kids get older, but for now I wanted something a little more erratic. I don’t want to sit down at the table and talk and do workbooks for hours. I don’t want them confined to one space for all subjects. I want to be able to follow them when their mind latches on to something not be stuck with a grade level. For example-states and capitals. My first and second grader know the name of all the states and their placement on a map, and are currently learning capitals. We found a couple of app games that they ask to play all the time. That doesn’t fall into their grade levels in an all-in-one curriculum, but it is something they WANT to learn about.

Now for Math I do want a solid program so I have found a program that I am really liking: Teaching Texbooks. It is a spiral program as opposed to Mastery, which is exactly what my 2^nd grader needs. That just means that some of the concepts introduced in lesson 1 and 2 will show back up in lessons and quizzes in lesson 20 and so forth as opposed to learning one concept and moving on without having to review previously learned material. The first set in the program is TT3 which is for 2^nd/3rd grade level. It is a CD-Rom program with a lecture, practice problems, and graded problems in each lesson. After a few lessons there are quizzes. My oldest and really liking this program and I really like that it is all done and graded with reports for me to review. If he has a problem with something I can delete and make him do the lesson again. My first grader is still doing grade level workbooks right now until she is ready to start the TT3 program.

I have a list of subjects that we cover in a day or weeks’ time. Practice makes perfect, repetition leads to memorization, hands on leads to understanding. We are progressing and it is GOOD! Am I worried about keeping on track with public school....No. Why? I believe the Common Core Standards (which is not solely just a different way to do math) is a little more vigorous in the early years than it needs to be. I want them to love learning. I want them to be eager to learn something new. I want to teach them how THEY learn best, which may or may not be in that straight line the CCS think it should be. Education is more than making the grade on those standardized testing. It is more than meeting quotas before deadlines. An interest and love for learning is what I want for my kids, that is why 1 year ago we stepped out of the box. 

If you have any questions about a specific subject or you are curious on how we do certain things please feel free to ask!

We are Schooling as we GROW!

What do you do on Christmas break? For me and my house….we deep clean.

We took about 2 ½ weeks off our home school schedule for the holiday. It was originally supposed to be 2 weeks, but I also do home day care so I had some extra kids a couple days due to weather and before public school break ended. One of the perks of schooling at home is flexibility!

We had a great Christmas with the kids raking in several school related items as well….much appreciated!  

I always take the week between Christmas and New Year’s off from babysitting to regroup and clean up the chaos from the holiday (and let’s face it the entire year), and this year was no different. I spent the entire week washing walls and baseboards, shampooing carpet, organizing bedrooms, reorganizing furniture, and other general deep cleaning. 

I like to start my year off with a clean house, because Lord knows I cannot keep up with everything all year. My family is physically drained from my chaotic cleaning, and honestly I am too, but it emotionally helps me so much that it is so worth it. There is something about having all the cleaning done all at the same time that puts me at peace. Is that weird? Last night I sat down in the recliner, for the first time in pleasure all week. I looked around and let a pent up sigh of contentment deflate my stressed mind.

Not having a clean house stresses me out. I can barely keep up with the daily and weekly chores so the bigger jobs keep getting put on the back burner. It is a huge de-stressor to have all those back burner jobs done (well the ones that pertain to cleaning anyway). 

Along with refocusing all my attention around cleaning I also decided to take a break from social media, Facebook in particular. I have noticed lately that I am cruising facebook when I definitely should be doing other things, and it is wasting time that I don't have. The first few days I thought about checking it several times. I was curious at what I was missing. Other people's lives were happening and I was missing it....what!? It was actually in the back of my mind more than I think is healthy. I am glad I took a break and from now on I am going to try to limit my cruising time. My life and home have to be a bigger priority to making sure I am keeping up socially. So to those that read this blog who are also my facebook friends---I am sorry if I have not "liked" or commented on your status. If I didn't, chances are I didn't see it. If it is something you want me to know or see feel free to send me a message!

So now with some of that pent up stress released I am ready for us to throw ourselves back into school stuff.

Today is also our 1 year anniversary for Home Schooling! WooHoo!! I will have a separate post about his later….

I am spending the day planning our next couple weeks and getting some worksheets printed. I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to what 2017 has in store for us… Schooling As We Grow!

I challenge you to de-stress! Do what you need to do to let out your own sigh of contentment! 

Thanks for reading!