homeschooling howsitgoing: Week 1

Since people often ask "how's it going" related to our homeschooling adventure, I figured I'd attempt to do a weekly/bi-weekly/at-the-very-least-monthly recap. Plus it will help me remember everything once I need to prepare our portfolio for assessment. :) This post will be a little longer since I'm including some feedback on the materials I'm using for this year.

Another question/comment I often get is "I don't know how you do it?!!!" One Word: Jesus. (That is, for anything I do reasonably well with a modicum of grace and my sanity somewhat in tact).

• week one started out tensely (on my part) but ended much more relaxed. My tendency to fear failure and not measuring up in God's eyes - or other people's - caused me to have knots in my stomach for several days. Call it challenge #1 of homeschooling - not feeling like a failure if your children aren't as fill-in-the-blank as other children. There's no blaming it on the school system because you are the school system. But then I got a grip and realized God got us through the first year and if I just trusted Him a teensy little bit, He could get us through this year too.
• with having two children in school, I'm realizing how important it is to have a workable schedule. I'd purchased a great resource, "Managers of their Home" which provided great ideas and encouragement on setting a schedule specifically for families who homeschool (though it also has great ideas for families who don't homeschool as well). Currently, my three favorite tips from this book are having "daddy tapes" for the younger children, having consistent chores for each child (along with consistent times for these activities) and changing most activities after 30 minutes. What's a daddy tape, you ask? A recording (sound or video) of the dad reading/talking/singing/praying over/sharing whatever comes to mind to the child. I'm hoping Dave can work up to recording a 30 min tape per week for Luke since he's the one most at loose ends during school time.
• oooh wait, make that four favorite tips - rest time. Schedule a consistent rest time everyday for everybody. Can anyone say "Amen?!" I'd gotten away from this since Brie, Reese AND Luke no longer nap most days. But for almost two weeks now, I have all of us in separate rooms for 30 min. doing quiet activities like reading or sleeping.

Curriculum Wrap-up:

• we start the day with "time with God" - reading something, relating it to the Bible, worship song. Still haven't hit on the perfect reading selection yet, but it's a start.
• next is our walk or other physical activity to get the wiggles out.
• Brie gets 20 minutes of math while Reese does workbook activites (phonics and writing practice). I'm using a Montessori-based program called "Shiller Math" which is great because it addresses 4-5 main learning styles. Reese gets 10 minutes of math while Brie completes her spelling and grammar work.
• I tried a new spelling workbook with Brie this year because the one we used last year (which we both loved) was expensive. I hated the one I purchased after just one week. But, happily, it was very cheap and I found a great online resource at superteacherworksheets.com and it's free!
• Brie starts grammar this year and we're using "Easy Grammar." She thought it was boring and hard at first, but I think she's warming up to it. :) I really like the layout and this was highly recommended by another mom who homeschools.
• our other Language Arts will be a hodge podge of things. This week we read "Brown Bear Brown Bear" which B, R, L all have memorized. :) A book I purchased, "Peak with Books" has all sorts of guided questions and suggested activities for favorite children's stories. For "Brown Bear" we drew a scene where all the animals might be found and I traced, colored and cut out the animals and glued them to popsicle sticks. Then B, R, L put on a play for us and Issy and Dad and Mom using the animals as they recited the book text.  They threw in some improve solo performances as well. I also have B and R doing independent reading from the McGuffey Eclectic Primer and other level-appropriate books. The McGuffey series is one that dates back to the 1800's (it's last revised edition was in the 1870's, I think) and I love the format. The lessons are in short manageable chunks that I think will help B's confidence in reading. I also love that the kids are using the exact same text as children more than 100 years ago were using.
• we're studying insects this month and got "in the field" experience by "encouraging" a grasshopper to hop by gently prodding it with a stick. It finally found refuge in our sedum. :) We also read this great book, "Oddhopper Opera." It's perfect for reading aloud and so much fun that I'm contemplating buying it. Brie drew a picture of a honeybee and Reese did one of a ladybug.
• we eased into things this week and will start our full schedule next week. As much as we accomplished this week, I wish I had more time to spend one on one with each of our children and more fully explore all the things we're learning about.

That's a wrap!