So…got the curriculum…now what?
We like routine and have to have routine…so I homeschool with a start time of 8-8:15 am (we have farm chores to do first). I schedule the day out and then, if needed, roll and adapt as we go. For us, this is what we need. If we don’t start the day and have a rhythm/routine to it, we don’t get much/anything done. (Yes, if I don’t get started, none of us will start…speaking from a few days of experience with that.) So, we had to go with a more scheduled approach because…1. I am teaching boys who want to get done sooner than later so they can go be army guys in the backyard or jump on the trampoline… 2. We have coaching/athletic activities that start at 3 pm. So, we are driven by the schedule at the back portion of our day.
When the boys were younger and one was doing school and the other wasn’t yet, I had an activity box for the younger that I gave him when I needed 10-20 “uninterrupted” minutes of learning for the older. I also did school things intentionally during the younger’s nap time. If this is a challenge for you, just keep trying to think outside the box. School doesn’t have to start at 8 am and end at 3 pm. In fact, grade level helps identify a general amount of learning time early on (K= 1 hour a couple days a week, First grade=1-1.5 hours of learning, 2nd grade= 2 hours of learning…and after that, it is up to you and your learner. ) So, try a couple ways and you will quickly find what works for you.
And, I’ll mention here that allowing time for the kids/students to play is actually still part of the learning process. At younger ages, our boys more often than not re-enacted a history lesson after we were done with school (using Legos, army guys, or just outside with their soldier gear). This helps solidify the details and allows for greater depth in their understanding of the topic the next time they learn it. One of our sons loves marbles and roller coasters. He has learned more about potential energy and kinetic energy from making marble tracks than any book he could have read 100 times about these energy exchanges. Math games, word games, history games, science games, spelling games…all well worth the time they “take up”!
For planning…Every year I start with a lesson plan print out. But I only print one a week…because I constantly determine how to refine the plan based on how fast we are moving through one thing or how slowly something else is going. I continue to make adjustments…sometimes from week to week all year long if I see that someone seems weak in an area that I thought we had mastered or if the boys seem to know something with greater skill than I thought they did. I like to think that it shows I’ve become flexible!
And, while overall it sounds like a lot of “stuff” to cover, the lesson plan sheet for each week breaks down the daily plan. We do not do all the subjects every day. For example, we would do phonics review on Monday and Wednesday while doing Grammar lessons on Tuesday and Thursday and a quiz or other Grammar lesson on Friday. And, we could be flexible during the week to do four Grammar lessons and one phonics review as well if needed. We do math 3 days a week but cover a total of 6 lessons usually. Find what works for you and yours.
If you are homeschooling a high schooler, one very helpful place to search is It’s Not That Hard To Homeschool with Annie’s years of experience…www.notthathardtohomeschool.com. She has homeschooled several of her kids through high school and can calm the overwhelmed parent with her “this is easier than you feel it is” approach. And she has so many printables, resource connections, and helpful tips throughout the website. There are many high school resources, but I was drawn to her helpful “simplify the process” approach.
There are a lot of different ways to get to the end result. Find what works for you…and keep climbing!
