both by Nancy Lande.  They are Homeschooling: A Patchwork of Days and Homeschool Open House.

Both of these books actually consist of "day in the life" journal type entries by many different types of families, both in the U.S. and in other countries.  They invite the reader to spend a "typical" day in the homes of homeschooling families. 

Like most of these families, our days tend to vary widely, as does real life.  But there is a general pattern, as I try to maintain a "rut to run in" as suggested by Debra Bell, author of The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling, another favorite homeschooling book.  The idea of the "rut" is not to imply that the days should be boring, predictable in a bad sense, or stale.  The idea of the "rut" is to have a basic routine for our days, to eliminate time wasted while deciding what activity, subject, chore or project should come next.

Our routine for this year stemmed from my desire to have more continuity and organization in our days and higher standards for both quantity and quality of learning goals and actual "work" accomplished..  My first goal is to start school each day by 9:00.  That goal is not yet fully realized.  I have raised little night owls that like to stay up late and sleep in.  But it is a goal I am working towards.  It depends somewhat on me getting my own rear out of bed before 8:30 a.m.!

A recent, typical, successful, yet realistic view of a school day in our home.

The alarm goes off at 5:15 a.m. (Note to self: find a better station to waken to than one that will rouse you from a deep sleep to the lilting strains of "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne. Is it my fault they were playing light favorites the night before when I set the alarm only to switch to a bang your head/get out of bed format in the early a.m.?)

Rick hits the snooze button about 4-5 times before he gets up and heads to the shower.  When he comes back upstairs and turns on SportCenter, that is my signal to get up, or throw his pillow over my head to drown out yet another discussion of football, baseball, golf ball, whatever-ball.  It's about 6:30ish by then.

I head downstairs and let the dog out, and the cat in. Then I let the dog back in and the cat back out.  I peer into the fridge and see what possibilities there are for packing Rick's lunch.  After consulting him, I pack his lunch.  He usually leaves no later than 7.

I sit on the couch and try to stay awake enough to read and pray. I am using a daily devotional that my church provides.  I am also reading again A Woman After God's Own Heart, by Elisabeth George.  I sometimes jot down scriptures and thoughts I have as I pray and read. 

By now its usually about 8, and will have a bit of breakfast and check email and my favorite homeschool sites.  Somewhere between 8 and 8:30 I will begin the process of awakening my daughters.  Actually getting them out of bed is a different story.  I could be more firm about this, no doubt.  But since we have the luxury of wakening slowly and gently (most days) that is how I do it.  If I am on one of my let's-get-going-earlier crusades I will be more authoritative about it.  Truth is my girls would probably not roll out of bed til 10:30-11:00 many days and that just will not work.This is, admittedly, an area that could use more structure and discipline on my part, first for myself and then for my children.

So let's pretend we are all up and awake by 8:30.  The rule is if they want to eat breakfast right away, they can.  If they don't want to eat just yet,  they must make their beds and straighten their rooms and feed pets first.  Either way everyone should be dressed (pj bottoms and tshirts are allowed), fed and have made their beds by 9.

We always begin our school day by reading aloud. This is a pleasant (for the most part) way to ease into our academic schedule. We always do Bible first.  We are using Keys for Kids http://cbh.gospelcom.net/kfk/home.php, and will also sometimes review AWANA or personally chosen passages of scripture we are memorizing.  After the story and scripture reading, I will pray, thanking God for all things and asking his blessing on our family and any other concerns we might have. 

After Bible I will continue to read aloud.  We alternate days of history and science.  Right now we are reading Stories of the Pilgrims, as suggested by Beautiful Feet Early American History.  It's a bit young for Katrina, who is 11, but it is a good overview of the daily life and struggles of the pilgrims to get to America and survive here.  On the other days we will read aloud from Abeka science. I try to keep the girls on the same subjects in science.  If there are corresponding chapters in both girls books (6th and 2 grades) we will read both.  We are just finishing mammals, which both books cover.  When we start the "light" unit next week, we will be using only Katrina's book since the 2nd grade doesn't have a unit on light.

We continue reading aloud.  Right now we are a third of the way into These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  We finished Little Town on the Prairie recently and to my suprise Katrina wanted to read the next book in the series.  I am pleased because she was not at all interested in the books that tell of Laura's early childhood.  Laura is about 16 in the book we are now reading, which is infinitely more interesting to her than the ones where she is 5-10 years old.  I hope someday they will read the earlier books as well. There is so much insight into the pioneering life in the earlier books.  Katrina is attending an 1880's schoolhouse this month. She will spend an actual authentic school day there,dressed as an 1880's girl, eating lunch from a tin pail, writing on a slate and participating in an old fashioned spelling bee.  Because we are reading the Little House series, she has a good idea on what things were like back then.

All this reading together snuggled on the couch takes about a half hour.  My voice can't go much longer even with Katrina reading part of the science.  During science and history Jadyn (7) will often play quietly with a small toy or else try to escape only to be ordered back to listen.  She often appears not to be listening but then will ask a pertinent question while I am reading or right afterwards.  As long as she is quiet I will usually let her move around, draw or play with a little toy, to occupy her hands.  It seems to help her concentrate.

More on the rest of our school day later. 

I tried something new when I scheduled our homeschool weeks this year.  Last year I noticed that by Friday, things around the house were starting to deteriorate, just in time for the weekend. We were doing chores daily but the deep cleaning and straightening were not up to par. So I would either skimp on the academics to make time for catching up around the house, or unenthusiastically make a list to do on Saturday of routine chores vs projects and family activities, our preferred way to spend our only truly free day.  I am a person that hates to start a home project when the daily chores are not done.  I also don't like to go out when things are not caught up around the house.

So this year I scheduled Friday to be a *light* academic day. We do our Bible lesson, and read aloud together.  We do a bit of math and some independent reading and such and we are done! That gives us the rest of the day to clean and organize and prepare for the weekend, and sometimes go to the library or park. Or sit at the computer and blog

My goal is to complete *school* in the morning and then quickly whip the house into shape for the weekend.  That leaves the afternoon to do other things. 

Why did it take 6 years of homeschooling for me to figure this out?

Note: This only works when I actually do it.  Right now I am getting nothing done.

We've had a couple weeks here where school was not really up to par.  We've just been "getting it done." 

My daughter's best friend is moving away this weekend.  7 hours away.  Her mom happens to be a very close friend of mine.  We are, in essence, both losing our best friends.

In light of that we have been spending more time with these friends, or at least my daughter has.("My" friend has turned into a packing-to-move-house-is-on-the-market maniac :)  Daughter's friend is also homeschooled and we have taken advantage of that by taking little day trips and spending as much time together as possible before they leave.  I have been scheduling, and doing all academics,  but have not been very motivated to do more than the minimum.  Just enough to count it.

Today, I planned for more than we have been doing.  And doing it all was hard.   After feeling like a slacker mom for the last 2 weeks, today we put our nose to the grindstone a bit more.  It was like exercising after a 2 week break. (maybe-I don't exercise that much) I didn't OVERdo it, I just didn't UNDERdo it.  It seemed to take forever, we weren't into it til about halfway through.  We "slogged" through the subjects.  Somewhat sluggishly at first, feet dragging.  But as we went on, our higher goals inspired us. OR at least inspired me, and fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately, from my children's point of view) my ambitions are their goals, at least for now. Finishing was its own reward.  The feeling of accomplishment, of a productive day of learning,  was motivating in itself.

My dad used to say "You have to do it, so do it right and get it done."  Schooling at home will not always be fun (I bet you all just shot straight up and said "I did not know that!") 

Someday, I may just be able to come right to the point without pontificating on it quite so much.  As I concluded the thoughts above, a quote from a far more eloquently spoken and less verbose person than myself came to mind.  So I will leave you with that.

The reward of a thing well done is having done it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you have been homeschooling for any amount of time, you know that rough days are part of the package.  They are gonna happen, period.  You will oversleep, the kids won't want to get up, the phone won't stop ringing (and you won't stop answering it),  bad attitudes will reign (yours and theirs), there will be sickness, boredom, restlessness,  the cat will throw up on the rug, sisters will fight like...sisters (that want to throttle eachother), and your 6th grader will still insist on reading aloud as though there were no such thing as puctuation.  Just roll right on past those commas and periods. Your second grader will be unable to retain the fact that 6+4 is the same as 4+6 and that looking at the first letter of a word and running down a list of words that begin with that letter is not an acceptable speed reading method.  That new curriculum you just spent beaucoup bucks on hasn't made history any more thrilling than the $5 reading guide you already had.  Assignments that should have been completed by lunch are dragged out til their presence on the table is threating to push back dinner til who knows when?  And oh yeah, what is for dinner anyhow?  You will wonder some days, in desperation,  if there are any redeeming qualities about a Sponegebob marathon that you could count for something, because it's raining,  and you are fresh out of creative ideas to keep them occupied.

Sometimes our family experiences all of these things, or similar things, in the same week, and more often in the same day.  They are a part of homeschooling that cannot be separated, because they are intregal to life.  Homeschooling settles us squarely in the middle of life and the real world, which some insist we are avoiding.  Ah, would that we could,  avoid the annoyances of life and the real world.  But no,  as aggravating as all of the above can be, I would not really want to skip right over these trials and frustrations.  How much sweeter they make the good days (and moments). And honestly there are few days that are completely trial ridden or completely uptopian...for that is not how the real world operates. Days on end with no challenges or frustrating moments would indeed ill prepare anyone for life in the real world.  Being at home all day with children, teaching them everything from math to manners, grammar to Greek,  writing to worshipping does not lend itself to a constant  idyllic existence. But that isn't really the goal anyhow.  At least it's not our goal.

A few of my favorite homeschooling moments from today:

Letting the girls sleep in after a later than usual bedtime last night.  Late bedtimes and sleeping in are not good options when you are in government school.

My 7 year old daughter and I taking a walk to identify leaves while her older sister had her piano lesson.  Me, carefully trying to identify trees by their leaves and bark and choosing a sample leaf from each tree; while 7 year old runs wildly from tree to tree grabbing handfuls of colored leaves, presenting them joyfully to me to "take home for our clection"! (collection)

My 11 year old daughter begging me to read a chapter aloud with her in science (A Beka, yes!  We have a winner!) and learning more than we ever thought we could or should about domesticated and wild canines.  Cuddled up on the couch the whole time. Practicing for an old fashioned spelling bee in an 1880's one room schoolhouse in November.

Same 11 year old daughter reading to 7 year old from a chapter book based on a kid's movie, after I refused. (OK-I was driving and even if I wasn't I detest children's books based on Disney or Pixar movies, although I often like the movies)  11 year old patiently reading aloud 3 chapters of this book, while little sister sits in the back seat talking to her rubber snakes and lizards, having quit listening after the first 5 minutes.

The excitement and pride of an emerging reader who is finally starting to "get it".  Smiles, hugs, great job stickers, and requests by the new reader to "read it to you again, Mommy"!

Reading aloud a letter written by 11 year old (as a writing assignment) demanding "my monkey back"! when she really meant to demand her "money" back!  :~) from an errant mail order book company.  Laughing uproariously with her over it. "I want my MONKEY back"!!

Going to the playground to meet friends only to be stood up (they forgot, it happens :~) and having a great time just playing together. Pretending to eat cedar chips at 7 year olds "fast food restaurant" under the slide.

Snuggled on the couch, praying for Poppy (who just had his gallbladder out) and thanking God that he is home now and all better,  and for all of our family.  Thanking God for the rain, the autumn, our many friends, and all of his blessings, which could never be completely listed, including sharing our days, the good parts and the hard parts. 

So yes, I love homeschooling today for all these reasons and tomorrow I will love it for the same reasons and a bunch of new ones too.  It will also make me crazy for reasons new and old.  That's life!

I think it was Black Beauty, in his memoir by the same name.  Anyhoo...

A few weeks ago I was gung ho to start the new school year.  Man, I was an organizing, list producing, lesson planning, excel spreadsheet making person.  I was ready to go.

Only thing was, I didn't have all of my *stuff* yet, meaning I was camping out by the mailbox just waiting for the Abeka fairy to bestow quiz and test books on me.  Finally everything came.  I eagerly added columns to my spreadsheets detailing just how this new booty would be added to our already about to bust schedule.

And then I lost it.

We are supposed to start Monday.  I am not ready and I don't wanna.  Foster baby has a doctor appointment at 2:00 that day. So we have to stop school by 12:30 to get ready and leave by 1:30.  I still have lots of photocopies to make and not much time over the weekend to do it.  I *can* be ready but I have lost my mojo.

So in conclusion, I don't know if we are starting Monday or not.  We'll see.

First off-I thank God and know that he is in control of each situation.  I can see His hand in all things. 

First of all, my back.  I had surgery for a ruptured disc exactly 7 years ago.  About 3 weeks ago I re-injured it.  Went to the doctor, had an MRI.  In the meantime he started me on prednisone to lessen the inflamation.  The pain went away.  It has been a week since I have been off of the steroids..  The pain has not returned!  I went to the neurosurgeon a few days ago and we looked at my MRI.  You can clearly see the disc is ruptured and compressing my sciatic nerve,  I don't know why I am not in excrutiating pain anymore...well, yes I do!  God is good!  My parents have me on 2 prayer lists at their church (if you knew my parents and my childhood you would know the fact that they are in church is a miracle in itself!) Plus friends at church have been praying for me. Yet it never occured to me that I would be pain free without surgery!  I don't know if the pain will return or not. If it does I will probably need surgery.  But either way I thank God for every pain free day he gives me.  For anyone who suffers from sciatica, you know what a big deal this is.  Only thing is...now I need to do all those things I vowed I would do as soon as my back felt better.

Like this >>>>>>

Secondly...our foster baby.  We have had her since she was 4 weeks old.  She came to us 2 days before Christmas.  She is now 8 months.  Her birth mom saw her once but is no longer in the picture, at least at this point.  Rick and I have always been like minded in wanting to foster only since we started, not adopt.  I love this baby whole-heartedly.  She is not mine however, I know the Lord has forever parents for her.  Sometimes I feel guilty for this...wanting to love her and keep her for her parents to be...especially when people keep asking me "Why don't YOU just adopt her?"  I would do that if I felt a clear call from the Lord.  But I haven't heard that from Him.  Meanwhile, a single lady has had 3 visits with baby.  Last one was an overnighter.  I could tell when I picked baby up that prospective mom was overwhelmed.  Later I called her and we had a nice long talk.  She still wants to visit to see what will develop, but in the meantime was struggling with feeling overwhelmed, unsure and some pressure from friends and family to keep baby.  I told her NOT to be pressured by ANYONE to adopt this child! I told her to take time to get to know baby and realize that babies are overwhelming, at least initially to adoptive and birth parents alike.  In parallel to encouraging this young woman I am more feverently praying that God will clearly lead baby into the right home of His choice for her.  I know he will.  I thought she would be gone within a couple of weeks but now it seems she will be her at least thru August or longer.

Finally, our finances.  We just read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and are starting to implement the strategies.  At this moment we have never been closer to broke than we are now.  I am used to having money in checking and money in savings to fall back on and altogether right now we have less that $100 in both.  That has never been before.  In times past this would have thrown me into a worry fest and I would be obsessing over it.  But I am not.  We have food, our mortgage is paid and payday is next Friday.  I am actually excited to see what will happen next, what God will do or what he will teach us.  Perhaps I had too much trust in having a few K's in the bank to fall back on. I still want that.  But I know God can and will provide all of our needs.  We have been tithing pretty regularly and He has blessed us in unconventional ways such as $50 worth of meat for $5 several times.

This stuff is probably not that interesting to anyone but me, but it does me so much good to write it all out and acknowledge His hand and provision and protection in our lives.  I am a firm believer in Christ, although I aspire to be more so. It is a goal of mine to mature in my Christian walk.  These things in my life are just reminders that we do not walk alone.  Lord, increase my faith!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Right now I am reading at least 4 different books. They are

Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey

Raising Lifelong Learners by Lucy Calkins

Organizing Plain and Simple by Donna Smallin

The Prayer that Changes Everything by Stormie Omartian (ok, I haven't started this officially but will this weekend)

Plus various teacher's manuals in preparation for the school year.  Plus magazines and such. I have another short stack of books to rotate in as well...

 I read in short bits throughout the day.  I am interested in all of these topics but I am starting to wonder if reading so many at once is really good for my already short attention span.

I am the type that will read only the sections of a book that interest me.  I skip around.  I always intend to read a chapter a day neatly through from start to finish but I rarely do that unless its fiction.  And it's been a really long time since I read any adult fiction.

In case you are wondering about any of the books above here is my short take on them...

Financial Peace-A must read to go along with The Total Money Makeover (still kinda reading that one too, so make it 5 books!) How to actually get out of debt. This guy is a Christian and he really knows his stuff. He truly promotes good stewardship.

Raising Lifelong Learners-I like this book...it has lots of good ideas. I don't agree with everything the author suggests, her parenting style and mine differ greatly. For example she tells a child that has a bad attitude about helping out (chores) that they are not to do the chore til they can do it with a happy attitude.  Riiiiiiggghhht.  At my house a bad attitude about chores will get you more CHORES.  But there is some great info in this book about motivating young readers and writers.

Organizing Plain and Simple - this is a good *bathroom book* :~)  It has lots of tips, organized by category, about how to simplify, declutter and organize your home, family, and life. If  I spent as much time DOING IT vs READING about it I could have my own HGTV series. But I like it.  There is some good info in here as well.

I haven't started Stormie's book but will this weekend.  I plan to read this one cover to cover.  I need continuity and discipline in my prayer life and hope this will have some insight for me.

Like I said, I have several more books just waiting in the wings.  Having lots of books going at the same time with more to choose from makes me happy. Reading them all at once is probably not good for my ADD brain but oh well.

Anyone else do this?

No.

I don't make plans that far in advance. And if it does happen, it won't be til....not any time soon. I can tell you that right now I don't plan for Katrina and Jadyn to ever go to "regular" school.

Whenever people ask me about sending them to school in the future, it makes me wonder what they are thinking. That I can't possibly teach the harder subjects like higher maths and sciences? Since most of these folks don't know my educational background, they are assuming that I am not qualified to teach, at least not at the higher levels and not the more difficult, involved courses. For all they know, I could be a ph.d in something....

Or are they thinking that I am sheltering my girls for now and need at some point to let them experience "the real world"? What about the PROM for pete's sake? Do they think that daily social interaction of the type experienced only in schools, and outside of ones family, positive or negative, is essential to being a well-rounded citizen/person?

I have had 3 people in the last week ask me if I planned to send the girls to school in the future.

Since I don't know which question they actually wanted to ask(could have been both) I will answer both.

#1 How will I teach the higher level courses?

Here is a secret I learned the first year I taught. Shhhhh...don't tell anyone. Teachers have books with all the answers in them. They are called teacher's manuals. OK, so it's not a secret. Most people know that teachers have teacher's manuals. I also know that there is more (much more) to teaching than just knowing the answers. The books I use not only give the answers, they also show me how to teach a new concept, if need be. For the ones that don't, I am intelligent enough to research things myself so that I can present them to my children and help them to learn it as well.  (Does anyone here think that PS teachers actually KNOW all that stuff?? No, they have teacher's manuals to help them, and have to learn ahead of their students in many areas)Working with my girls I can discern what approach to take for any new concept, and change it to suit their learning style. As my friend Beverly says "I only need to be 5 minutes ahead of them!" And in reality I have re-learned and reinforced many things since beginning to teach my girls. Not that I didn't "know" these things, but when you study something to teach to your child, you really learn the why's and how's that you may have missed in your own classroom experience. I hate to think of the things I learned in school, especially the upper grades, when I just wanted OUT of there, just long enough to pass the test (or not) and quickly forgot. And what's more, I am aware of that tendency. Learn, test, forget. Does Katrina remember every part of the cell and what it does? She did a few months ago. Does she now? Probably not. But we have established a meaningful framework to build upon in the future. In other words, if I think it is important that something be retained permanently, you can bet that we will re-visit it again, in greater depth, and with as much real-life meaning and application as I can add. History is another good example. Never liked it. Hated reading about dates, kings, presidents, wars etc. It was so long ago, doesn't even seem real, much less relevant. I started to feel the same way about the textbook history I was using with Katrina. Booooring. Then we discovered historical fiction and biographies. We are developing a sense of (American) history time periods...slavery, the underground railroad, early pioneers, revolutionary times, the plight of Native Americans. We can put faces and personalities with these times and have a framework to use as a point of reference....Quaker girl kidnapped by Lenape indians in mid-1700's...that was before Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867. Laura was born not long after slavery was abolished. I know these things, and more. And so does Trina. And we are learning more with each page we read together. I could go on and on about this, but for brevity's sake, I will leave this alone for now.

#Won't my girls miss out on the great socialization in school? How will they learn to live in the real world? And what about the prom?????

My son (19) who was not homeschooled, told my 9 year old daughter last week that she needed to go to school to learn how to deal with bad people. Let that sink in. Now granted, he is only 19. But that underlying thought that children must be in school in order to deal with difficult people(sometimes known as "the real world") makes no sense at all. Put them in school so they can learn how to deal with difficult (or bad) people? Why not just put them in jail, they'd really have to learn to get along there. Ironically, he told her this when she was annoying him and he was upset with her. Obviously it didn't work for him.

Socialization? Can't recall the times I was told to stop talking. "We are not here to socialize, Sandy!"

Perhaps some socialization in school is positive. Especially if you are very smart AND good-looking, athletic etc. If you happen to be all of these and also kind to the students that weren't perhaps some of the socialization was positive. However if you were average, fat, non athletic or different in any way not appreciated by your peers, forget it. I still say most of the "socialization" you get in school is negative, bad for self-esteem and that school is not a good place to learn how others should be treated.

And where in the real world is school ever replicated? Jobs and careers don't separate people by age. "I work in the 40 year old department, where do you work?" The real world is all different ages, backgrounds and beliefs. My girls are out in the "real world" every time we go anywhere, while their peers languish in the artificial environment created by schools where everyone is the same age within a few months, usually.

more later.....

Originally published 4/14/2005

It's been a while since I addressed this topic and I really did not finish it last time. I was talking about questions I have been asked about how long we will continue to homeschool and the things my children are supposedly missing out on. The last one was The Prom. I should put them into public school, surely by high school (!), so that they can attend The Prom! Being exposed to drugs, swearing, violence, sexual pressure and secular humanism (for 4 years) is a small price to pay for a fancy dinner out and a dance afterwards! And the prom itself is often characterized by drinking and promiscuity on that special night. If not, why all the be-safe, after prom parties organized by concerned parents?

Let me just say first, I would never base my the important decision of how my children will be educated on a "dance". And to be honest, that's all it is, a dance. Now to be sure, it is a wonderful experience for many people, (mine was...eh.) but I truly believe the whole thing is overblown. It's one night for pete's sake. Will my girls be permanently scarred if they miss it? Will there be no other special evenings in their lives? I certainly believe there will be! I must interject here also, that a special evening for junior and senior homeschool students is held each year. Formal attire. A wonderful meal in a lovely, sophisticated setting. Warm fellowship. A gracious induction into the "adult" type social. (not that I ever go to anything formal nowadays! I think most folks don't regularly...) And should they be invited to a prom at a public school, perhaps we would allow it, based on the escort and the situation. But put them into school so that they don't miss out on this supposedly irreplaceable right of passage? That is hardly a valid reason.

Originally published 5/26/2005

Apparently I was wiped out of the system recently.  Fortunately, I had my main posts saved elsewhere.  So when you read about "Are you sending them to real school at some point?" remember that they were actually written sometime last year...

Not that it matters...I still would answer in the same way, perhaps more succintly or with more conviction...