Knitting Socks Scrapbooking beaded bookmarks making earrings making chunky votives
Family Read Alouds
Kingdoms Dawn by Chuck Black
Our Curriculum
On my night stand
Bible
Reread Heart of Wisdom by Robin Sampson
7 Habits of a Healthy Home by Bill Carmichael
Learning In Spite of Labels~ Practical Teaching Tips and a Christian
Perspective of Education by Joyce
Our Father Abraham~ Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith by Marvin R.
Wilson
A Family Guide to Biblical Holidays by Robin Sampson and Linda
Pierce
Good and Angry by Scott Turnasky and Joanne Miller
Having Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver
A Parents Guide to The Spiritual Mentoring of Teens ~Building Your
Childs Faith Through the Adolescent Years by Joe White , Jim Weidmann
Wild Days ( a book about language arts and nature journaling) by
Rackliffe
How to Create Your Own Unit Studies by Valerie Bendt
The Power of Parents words by H. Norman Wright
How to read the Bible for all it's worth by Gordon D Fee and Douglas
Stuart
Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes in You and your
kids by Scott Turnasky and Joanne Miller
You Can Teach Your Child Successfully Grades 4-8 by Ruth
Beechick
A Strong Start in Language
An Easy Start in Arithmetic
A Home Start In Reading by Ruth Beechick
Any Child Can Write by Harvey S. Wiener
" This is what the Lord says: "Stand at the crossroads and look: ask for
the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you
will find rest for your souls."
Jeremiah 6:16
Jun. 3, 2006~ Schooling Year Round ? ~
I have been seeing some conversation plus some have asked me if I plan to school year round. I have tried in the past but it didn't take the first time. So now I am going to try again. I have read in one HS book that they school 10 wks on and 2 wks off. But I saw on lindafay's blogg that they HS 6wks on 1wk off and then 2wks off at Christmas and 7wks off in the summer.I Like this scheduel . I really think this is going to work for me.What have others done? And how did you feel about how it went? I am hitting a little burn out but it is probably more in some ways about life and we can't seem to stop that from happening.bfn. In Him, -Canadagirl
We homeschool year round at our house! I don't have any set number of days on/off, we just try to have lessons every day and then take off whenever necessary. Could be for a dr appt, errands, house reorganizing, a beautiful day, trip to the beach, out of town visit, etc. We also take most of December off it seems, at least we did last year. :-) That way we don't have to feel guilty about any unexpected days off and can just ENJOY it!
Another fav thing about the year round schedule is that we have structure and routine (relatively anyway) every day! The kids and *I* prefer it this way...for our sanity!
Who knows? Maybe this next year, we'll devise some sort of weeks on/off schedule...
Hi canadagirl.Thanks for visiting the BC blog. I have actually visited yours a couple times (thought I left a comment, but maybe I just thought I did too) Anyways, It's so nice to find another BC'er.The reason I did the watcha doing post is because you had posted it here (so I shamelessly copied you) Are ther many other HS'ers in your community? I have been pondering the possibilities of an "alternative" schedule too. I thought maybe even a 4 day week . I'm Still working out the details in my mind.
I am always looking for BC contributors to the blog. If you ever have something on your heart that you want to share, such as some inspiration,insight or even a struggle, I'd love to post it on your behalf. You can also post HS meetings,announcements, conferences etc.. that are relevant to your community. I think regular contibutors are even entitled to a free magazine if I'm not mistaken. No pressure, but thought I'd let you know in case it's something you would enjoy.
I look forward to revisiting your blog and will add you to my "friends" list.
my blog. It is nice to find another Canuck around--even if I am only a half one. (The other half is American)
I read your reader's success story, and my DD recognized the picture of the book as she was looking over my shoulder at the time. I have been reading those books to her just now, and told her I would celebrate too when she reads one on her own. (I was reading those by third grade myself, so you can guess my frustration at her struggles.)
I noticed on your profile that you like to cross-stitch. So do I. What types of designs do you like?
We recently started schooling year round and I love it. We take one week off a month, but the days might not be in a row. Like, for June, we're taking this Monday off, because it's my daughter's birthday, then we're taking the other four days off the week after that. We're not going to do Math and anything tedious during the summer, mainly history and science which are our favs any time of the year. Nothing about homeschooling is like public school, so I definitely don't think we should feel tied to their schedule, ya know? Besides, homeschooling is a lifestyle, not just a way to teach ABC's, so we might as well acknowledge that learning is year round even if we don't call it "school".
So you've heard about my charity group? I would definitely encourage you to do something in your local area. I can give you some advice if you need any. But, I would of course just love to have you join my group!!! Crocheters and knitters from all parts of the world are welcome. We have members in about 10 states so far, so it would fit right in to go international!!!
We Hs year round. I tend to do 6 wks on 1 wk off or 8-9 wks on 2 wks off depending on how burned out I am feeling. Shorter breaks more often help me with burn out. We like to take more time around Christmas (1 month) and we take a month off between school years. Being an organizer myself longer breaks just present too much disarray to our schedule for me.
BTW we are in the S now but originally from East Canada!
Blessings,
Andrea
I feel like we have slacked off for the past few months. We' were still doing a bare bones teaching time but I think that the break was good for me. I'll probably start up again soon. i really like that idea abou the 6 weeks one, one week off and the summer break. Oh...decisions, decisions!! My hubby is from New Brunswick. We'll be visiting there is about three weeks, amd hope to get to PEI for a small mini-vacation with just the two of us. My DH calls it "Mecca" because of my love of Green Gables :) He says I am due to make my pilgrimage! It should be fun.
Blessing,
Michele
I have been on this HS journey of mine (0: I started it all when my oldest was 3 and a half. I didn't do anything complex that early but I do belive we are HSing sense birth.
-Canadagirl
Hello! Nice to meet you! Were you at the Sheraton this year? Just think - we could have met in person!
When we lived in Terrace we homeschooled year round. We lived in the boonies - no neighbours - and it worked great! We always ended up with company in Sept., and June so it was nice to take time off and not get "behind". I used to keep track of our "school attendance", and we always ended up with the recommended 180 days of school each year. I loved it and felt alot less pressure especially when new babies joined us etc. But now with highschoolers on DEL programs and neighbour kids it's easier to follow the regular school year. :( Oh well.
Have fun and keep in touch!
Thanks for visiting my blog. I will try to keep you posted with any neat organizational tips I can think of! BTW, we are in the process of building a new home also. A big undertaking but fun at the same time!
Blessings,
Andrea
I really didn't have much to say to your observation about reflections but I can comment about our yearly schedule!
This is what we're going to try this year:
Start in July/August (haven't decided yet) and homeschool a full month to set routines
September, October, November take one week off per month (around the holidays or family get-togethers)
December: Take the one week off and take days off as needed
January, February, March, April: one week off each month.
May/June: to be determined, if still hs then one week off. I'd like to take the entire month of June off every year.
I just recently decided to go three weeks on, one week off. With May, June, and December off. So that means we'll get started next month, after the 4th of course. We Yanks have to have time to shoot off fireworks! I'm sure it will get tweaked several times until I'm comfortable with it. I'm already getting attitude from my oldest, but I don't really care what he thinks. If it were up to him, we'd never have school. I don't like things too complicated, just need a little more consistency for the kids and consistent breaks for me! Carrie
I do miss the fire works on the fourth. I also miss having them on my Birthday. Yes, I am a Yank who was born on the 4th. (0: But up here in the Great North we have Dominion Day on July 1st.
So I get the see some fireworks 3 days before you guys do down south.(
I wanted to add my 2 cents worth about the year round thing too! Btw, I loved the "God's Mirror" story. We all need to be looking into God's mirror don't we?
About our year....well, it's been a mixed bag. I say now (after being at this for ever, my oldest being 14) that we school year round. Our state requirements are a minimum of 688 hours. Depending on how many hours a day we count as "school time" it can get done pretty quickly.
We count most everything as school time. If my kids read books all day (which they do, believe me,) then we count that! It's not all instructional time that involves me or my husband. The oldest child could be teaching the youngest, or they could be working on a farm, or volunteering at the library. Anyway....we count most everything as "educational."
But we don't do for instance, science for a certain number of weeks, or history etc. And while I know that it works very well for some to do one week off after several on.....and take off the month of Dec., or whatever, we are not that organized. We might change our ways, LOL, but we find that life dicatates what we do and when. I can plan all I want, and have found that my plans usually get interuppted by life!
Three years ago my oldest son was diagnosed with diabetes, and so we pretty much took a whole year to work on that. It was a complete life changing event for the whole family and so much of what we did that was educational was working on learning how to take care of our son. Each of my children had to learn about it too. We had to learn carbohydrate counting, ratios, all about insulin, how to treat hypogycemia and hyperglycemia, what a pancreas does, what glucose is, and on and on. It still plays a large part in our lives, and always will.
I try to encourage homeschoolers to not emulate the public school in their homeschooling efforts. It just doesn't work well......be a family, not a mini-school. But I also know that we are all different with very different circumstances, so we have to do what works best for US! (It's not good to compare, but yes, for goodness sake, we can get good ideas from one another.)
So, back to the question: Yes, we do homeschool during the Summer, but what that means for us is that we continue to do lots of activites that come along, and enhance our skills for living. We enjoy the outdoors, and the seasonal changes around us, and learn from those.
When the holidays come around, I think it super-charges us! We seem to get into high gear learning all sorts of neat things, and making gifts and baking and just really enjoying that season too.
So, I guess that's why I choose "Homeschooling Is Life" for my motto!
First , I am a daughter of the King almighty and a
a wife to my Handsome of 17 years. A mom of 4 on the go boys 15, 13, 10, and 8. I grew up in the states but married my Canadian sweetheart and moved up north.
We live in the southern part of British Columbia , Canada on our homestead. We have homeschooled our four boys from birth and plan to go the distance till all four graduate from our homeschool. I teach with a Charlotte Mason style and use the Heart of Wisdom Approach. I love to craft! I am a beader, knitter, x-stitcher, quilter. We have been on a journey of being apart of building "The House that God Built". I have been recording our journey on my blog. Go to my links and you will find it. I know God has a lot more instore for us and we just need to follow where our Lord takes us.
Not Written in Stone Blogging Schedule
Sunday and Monday Bloggy Break Tightwad Tuesday Anti Procrastination Challenge Show and Tell Friday Something to Share
I have been seeing some conversation plus some have asked me if I plan to school year round. I have tried in the past but it didn't take the first time. So now I am going to try again. I have read in one HS book that they school 10 wks on and 2 wks off.
What have others done? And how did you feel about how it went?
I am hitting a little burn out but it is probably more in some ways about life and we can't seem to stop that from happening.bfn.
First , I am a daughter of the King almighty and a
a wife to my Handsome of 17 years. A mom of 4 on the go boys 15, 13, 10, and 8. I grew up in the states but married my Canadian sweetheart and moved up north.
We live in the southern part of British Columbia , Canada on our homestead. We have homeschooled our four boys from birth and plan to go the distance till all four graduate from our homeschool. I teach with a Charlotte Mason style and use the Heart of Wisdom Approach. I love to craft! I am a beader, knitter, x-stitcher, quilter. We have been on a journey of being apart of building "The House that God Built". I have been recording our journey on my blog. Go to my links and you will find it. I know God has a lot more instore for us and we just need to follow where our Lord takes us.
