Since this is a homeschooling blog I will take a few posts to discuss - surprise, surprise!! - Homeschooling.


We have been back to 'schooling' for a few weeks now, and are starting to get a bit of a feel for a gentle routine that will be manageable and simple and hopefully not to stressful on everyone.

It will basically be:

Get up, morning chores.

9ish, read bible together and discuss, work on memorising bible verse.  Then read together, Mondays "the thinking toolbox", other days whatever the current readaloud is - currently "Amos Fortune".

Older children do independent work, handwriting, typing, while I work with the youngest on reading, sight words and phonics.

Morning tea break then maths at the table, hopefully I can keep an eye on everybody at their different levels.  Youngest does less maths, a bit of printing then goes and plays. 

Older children do some form of writing, copywork, dictation, own choice - I like to mix it up a bit.  Then three days a week spelling and two days some language exercises. 

After this the children do a bit of research work, read non-fiction library books.

We have lunch and a bit of peace and quiet afterwards.  On Mondays we have swimming lessons, Tuesdays and Thursdays I am doing a bit of informal science (chemistry), Wednesdays we have an outing of some sort, often the library.  Friday is sports for the older children every second week, or visiting or just staying home. 

My oldest son is becoming a bit more independent, he will be working about 20-30 hours at a local hardware store, so has a certain amount of work assigned to him each week he needs to accomplish at his own pace.  My second son has different needs as well, he does a bit of economics.

Hopefully we get time for more reading, some puzzles and some board games, and some fun sort of activities outside, but this is a basic framework.  Of course, there is always 'incidental' learning going on, just by living life together and talking through out the day.


Now this all sounds nice and orderly and calm and peaceful.  But I live in the real world.  This is the ideal and it often doesn't go all as planned.  Sometimes my home resembles a zoo more than a homeschool.  I have squabbles to sort, attitudes to address, laziness to motivate.  It is nice though, to have a bit of a pattern to our days, it helps us function a lot better.