If you are reading this, I can only presume you are either interested in homeschooling or already doing it. The first thing I'd like to say is, "Welcome! I'm glad you stopped by!"
The second thing I'd like to say is: I hope you aren't looking for the right way to homeschool. I say that because that's what I did when I was getting started. I looked at other homeschooling moms that I thought were doing it "right" and I wanted to come over and see how to do this thing called school-at-home.
I will let you in on a secret—no one does it “right.” In fact, some might say I’m not even doing
this blog post right, that I should just be doing a laundry list of my daily
homeschool stuff. Maybe so.
But I want to be sure you know that homeschooling moms
are all doing it the best way they can, with the grace of God upon them. We are
not a group of women endowed with incredible amounts of patience, nor are we
all expert teachers.
I would never want you to read what I write and come away
feeling like you need to do homeschooling a certain way. Please don’t compare yourself to me, or anyone else on this blog hop. It isn’t designed to make you
feel less-than or guilty. Or even to be a "how-to." It’s just a peek in our windows for a day. That’s all. Please
don’t make it more than it’s meant to be.
Our homeschooling family consists of me, my husband, our three
kiddos, and the dog. (I include the dog because she's been a part of science experiements.) We've been homeschooling for about seven years now.
I called this post what I did because I am first and
foremost a wife. And, because my husband works different hours during different
days of the week, and those daily hours vary during his four-week rotating schedule,
our homeschool days are driven by when he is working.
Kyla learned some math, science and physics today, along with some aeronautic info, so that was school for her (the workshop was 5 hours!). And in the middle of the aviation workshop, our whole family joined everyone to tour an airplane and then go to Meredith Field to watch the NASA guys fly model airplanes. It was fun. Cold, but fun.
Tonight, Iain had baseball batting practice and Kyla had an art lesson. Sara went with me and did her math lesson for tomorrow, so now she's ahead on math and can get some other work done.
Today wasn't a normal day, since Glen was off work. Our mostly normal schedule is: get up early, everyone has quiet time, eat breakfast, do chores, and then we begin each day together with Bible reading (we’re in Acts now, and just read about Stephen), and we review the scripture we are memorizing for the week. We also use a book called, “Window on the World,” which is a list of people groups or countries and a prayer guide for them. We pray for one country each week, while learning the capital, language(s), imports and exports and other facts.
Next, Kyla does her personal Bible study (she's working through a Kay Arthur (youth) study on the gospel of John), then she does her math and grammar. Sara and Iain take turns doing math first, with the other reading aloud to mom (or dad, if he’s home like today). Then Iain and Sara do their grammar worksheets.
We break for lunch, then after lunch I read aloud to everyone. We just finished up “The Phantom Tollbooth,” by Norton Juster. Next, I want to read “From the Mixed-Up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,” by E.L. Konigsburg. And I will, if it really IS available from our library like their website says it is. (Or maybe I'll just buy a copy! Homeschoolers always need more books, right?)
After I read aloud, we do history or science (alternating days) all together, but we didn’t do that today because Glen was home and he took Iain outside in the sunshine to practice pitching before he goes to his batting practice tonight. We also spend time reading books associated with the (history or science) lesson or doing lapbook activities or crafts or science experiments. Right now, the kids are working on their science fair projects for our THESIS homeschool co-op's science fair, on April 19th.
Kyla works on typing, while Iain and Sara do their map skills/geography workbook lesson. We also work in cursive lessons, as time permits.
And sometimes we play games that reinforce things we are learning, like Quizmo for math, and Scrambled States of America for geography. We also play American Trivia Family Addition, for US History.
I grade everyone's math at the end of the day (if I didn't do it during lunch), and they fix what they got wrong.
If there aren't evening activities and Glen is working, we go to the library on Monday or Tuesday (they are open until 8:00 pm).
It's hard to nail down a schedule for my daily activities, since one day my husband works 9-6, the next it might be 11-9, then he might be off for a day. But this is a general idea of what we get done on a daily basis. I try to have a time schedule, but I don't let it run my day. I don't want to miss the teachable moments or learning opportunities that present themselves daily, just because I'm cracking the whip to "stay on time." That just turns me into a drill sargent, and it's no fun for me or the kids.
I think that's the key to keeping your sanity—making school
as fun as it can be!
Check out what a day is like in the lives of these other homeschooling moms:
Clockwise from top left:
Lorrie @ Life and Lessons Learned,
Selena (that's me) at Campbell Clan,
Kathleen @ Positive Adoption,
Audrey @ Everything Beautiful,
Charli @ WV Urban Hippies,
Tracey @ Building My House, and
Maria @ The Joyfully Frugal Home
(All of these moms (except me, of course) are in my blog list at the right.)
And stay tuned! We'll be blogging on Tuesdays and Thursdays in April about these topics:
- How do you organize your day?
- Why or how did you get started?
- Homeschooling styles and/or curriculum choices
- What didn't work for you?
- My biggest frustration.....
- How do I feel about socialization?
- Blogger's choice
love that you keep your husband as your priority. you are very wise my dear. i have long since believed--the strength of your marriage determines much about the future for your children--even in the areas beyond education.
ReplyDeleteI second Lorrie. I also am glad you mentioned some resources on here that you use, like Window on the World. I may have to check that out. I also like that you alternate subjects between days, like science and math. Being a 'regular public schooler' for Troy and Danielle, sometimes I get caught up on school covering all subjects all day. I'm going to incorporate alternating subjects as Liam gets older. Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree! Your example of making Glen a priority has helped me focus on that in my own life. :) And thank you for sharing your day!
ReplyDeleteI agree with these ladies, Jerry doesn't work a 9 to 5 day. Sometimes we don't see him for days on end. When he does have a day off, I have to reset my inner time-table and see what he wants to do! Great reminder and confirmation.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it is important to find our own homeschooling style. None of us are ever going to be perfect, but we can school according to our kids needs and our personality! Great post. You tied us all together!