Posted on this category page: Lessons from Our Humble Homeschool

We're trying a new-to-us schedule this year and we're liking it. Just thought we'd share it with you. We began our lessons the first week of August. Our plan is to have 9 weeks of lessons, followed by a 2-week break, and do this all school-year. This gives us a break in October, December (over Christmas and New Year), and in March (near Easter). Our school year will end in late May when we'll take a 2-month summer break. This schedule allows us plenty of school days to meet our state's requirements and gives us long, regular breaks through the school year. We're completing our Autumn break right now. We were all ready for this break and we've enjoyed the time off. Now we're ready to get back to lessons on Monday!

Blessings,

Posted on this category page: Lessons from Our Humble Homeschool

The new craze in the homeschool movement is Workboxes developed by Sue Patrick. Before I get into our use of them I want to highly recommend you see her site (www.workboxsystem.com) and purchase her book if you're interested. I bought the e-book which I got instantly and was able to begin setting up our workbox system right away. There's also at least one workbox yahoo group out there. I'm a member of this one (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/workbox_fun/). (I can't figure out why my hyper-links don't work???)

I came across a blog in May whose author mentioned her use of workboxes and I was intrigued. I now believe it was no accident because the workboxes have transformed our homeschool for the better. My youngers don't know "school" any other way, but my olders tell me regularly that they love the workboxes and they prefer "doing school" this way.

I've had to adapt the idea because we are short on space. With 6 blessings and another on the way, I cannot possibly have a shelving system for each child in our classroom, or even spread throughout our home. We use a file box per child with 8-12 envelopes inside each box. We call the file box their Workbox and the envelopes their Pockets. Here's what we do:

 1. I fill the boxes each night or early in the morning before lessons start. I start with their schedule grids, schedule folders, pre-made tags, and workbox pockets. I use my lesson plan lists (by subject) and their schedule grids (by child) to fill each pocket. (Sue talks about the schedule grid in the book.) In the pockets go any worksheets or paper they need. I also include workbooks, picture books, novels, file folder games, math manipulatives, special tools like post-its or permanent markers that are not readily accessible, etc. If they are doing something that I cannot put in the pocket, I will put a note like “Meet me in the kitchen for a special snack.” When we play games, I will put a piece of the game in each child's pocket (ie, a bingo card). I do not put textbooks or everyday items like pencils, crayons and glue sticks in the pockets.

This is my spread of "stuff" getting ready for a new school day. Missing here is the schedule grid and my lesson plan lists.

This is a schedule grid. Each child is assigned a different color and I use their colors for everything.

This is my box of tags which go on the pockets and on the schedule folder. These took quite a bit of time to make, so allow yourself some prep time before you begin using the system.

2. I combined a few aspects of the workbox system into one schedule folder for ease and organization. On the front cover is the child's name and their 3 "Help, Please" tags. (Sue explains these in the book. They have worked in helping my children to be selective about interrupting me with questions.) Inside the folder is their schedule on the left and a place to collect tags from their pockets or centers that have been completed. This gives them that visual inspiration to keep working because they can see how much they've done and how much they have left to do. If an assignment requires my input (like teaching a math lesson) I add a "Work with Mom" tag to the front of the pocket. They are allowed to ask any questions they need to while they're completing a Work with Mom pocket.

This is the front of a schedule folder.

This is the inside of a schedule folder. You can see the schedule on the left. I made extra tags that I leave at each center so they can add those to the "Done" side once they've completed it. They also have number tags attached to their pockets which also go on the "Done" side.

This is a pocket with a "Work with Mom" tag.

3. These workboxes are ready for the day. (This was a light day for my kindergartners. The toddler's box is filled with different toys each day.)

4. The children check-in at the start of our lessons. They like this step. It helps them get into the mindset for learning. They also like to tease each other if anyone forgets to check-out at the end of the day that they “slept in school.” We start the day in our Morning Center. We pray here, say the pledge, look at pictures of our baby’s development, do our counting and calendar activities, and read a couple stories. Even the big kids enjoy this part of the day.

 In and Out pockets and cards.

 5. Next, the children gather their workboxes and move to our work table. They love the anticipation of seeing what's on their schedule and what "surprises" are in each pocket.

6. We've had a very difficult couple of years with my husband away from home often due to military obligations and my cancer incident last year. Our homeschool became, "Just the facts Ma'am. Nothing but the facts." In other words, the fun stuff went out the window and we focused on dry basics just to get by. What I love about this system is that it has restored the "fun" in our homeschool. We incorporate lots of centers and learning activities that we just couldn't make time for before. It also allows me to teach multiple grade levels and still have time for one-on-one interaction with each of my children. It's amazing!

Luke working on a geography center.

Lucy after completing a science pocket chart.

Leif working at the center table making a book mark.

Levi at the listening center listening to a book-on-tape.

Lily at the art center.

Leah at the listening center.

10. As they complete their work, they turn in any paperwork and workbooks to the “Done Basket” on my desk. They put their empty pockets into the “White Basket” on the floor so they’re ready for me to fill again.

I LOVE this system. It works well for my organization-craving brain. There’s a place for everything so it’s easy to keep our classroom clean. Both my children and I know what is expected for the day. Teaching my kindergarten level children, including one with special needs, how to use it has been a little bit of a challenge, but that is to be expected at their ages. Lord willing, by next year they’ll do this without thinking about it! Also, filling the boxes daily is difficult. I haven’t settled into a pattern with that yet. However, I believe the Lord led me to this because I need it this year!

Blessings,

Posted on this category page: Lessons from Our Humble Homeschool

As much as I LOVE homeschooling, I've never been more ready for summer break than this year. Whoa, what a year we've had! Half-way through we moved to another state with new homeschooling requirements. While I was initially a little worried that we wouldn't be ready in time, I am now thankful for the fact that this state (Alabama) has a shorter school year than the state we moved from (Michigan). Normally we school most of the year anyway, taking off only a month for the summer; but this year we are breaking with the public school children and I am glad! Although I intend to return to our lessons in early August (earlier than the folks here), I'm excited about a 2-month vacation this summer. Here's to relaxed mornings and keeping up with my laundry! Maybe

Blessings,

Posted on this category page: Lessons from Our Humble Homeschool

I've received a lot of pressure to mold our home school into a wonderful, hands-on, natural learning environment as opposed to a copy of a traditional classroom. Most of this pressure was from myself, some was from others. But I have found that as our personal circumstances have changed, so have our learning needs.

To begin with, we have begun our homeschooling walk in a state that has granted homeschoolers a lot of freedoms within our right to teach at home. We are not required to take standardized tests, turn in grades, or even keep attendance records. I LOVE this! It allows me to do my job (teaching my children) in the ways that are best for US without worrying about meeting the state's impersonal requirements. So we have tried many different approaches over the past 6 years with the goal of raising godly, intelligent children who love to learn. Just when I think I've found something that is going to work for our family, we have another major change in our lives and I have to switch gears again.

Currently, I have 6 children and a husband who is deployed stateside with the military. When my husband left, my responsibilities increased exponentially. Balancing homeschool with housework, meal prep, toddler care, yardwork, oil changes, etc. is quite challenging. We are also looking at the probability of moving to another state in the near future. We're not sure where we'll be, but very likely in a state that requires much more than we are accustomed to. In order to get "on track" before we make a major move, I have begun to keep more detailed records of what the children are doing. (Up until now I have just kept ALL their work in a file box. No attendance records -- we're always "here." No grades. My opinion is that if it's not A-level work, they didn't "get it" so we do it again.) This year I am grading their work and keeping records, although we still do it again if they don't get an "A." I am keeping attendance, marking them absent on days they were sick and we legitimately did not do anything that could count as a learning experience.

I'm also using ALL textbooks. Yikes! I used to desire to learn "naturally," without "artificial" textbooks or divisions of subjects. I am finding now that with all my other responsibilities I don't have time to make sure learning "naturally" happens. My children are too young to be independent learners. They still require a lot of my attention and instruction. And without the guidance of a textbook curriculum, I have found it impossible to ensure they are learning enough academically on a day-to-day basis. Life skills are easy to teach every day. So are character issues and even Bible study. But the academics will easily slip through the cracks without a solid plan. So I am unashamedly leaning on my trusted curriculum to guide us through our "school" day. I have found that when I use the curriculum to teach our academic core subjects, I am freed of the responsibility to research and pre-read materials from an assortment of sources as I used to do in the past. I have saved myself a lot of time and effort. I have chosen curriculum from a conservative, Christian publisher so I know I can trust the content. Using the curriculum also limits our school day to a designated amount of time, which frees up the rest of our day for other necessary and desirable activities. What "school" may lack in the fun department is easily made up for in family time later on.

Our home school looks very much like a traditional classroom this year. I am brushing aside all the pressures of what we "should" be doing, both internal and external, in order to do what is best for us. Hmm, "best for us"? Isn't that why we started on this road to begin with?

~Layla

Posted on this category page: Lessons from Our Humble Homeschool

When I first started researching homeschooling before officially making the decision to do it, I decided right off the bat that whatever I did, I was NOT going to be an "unschooler".  I wanted a very structured, literature-based approach and was leaning toward classical or Charlotte Mason. 

Since making the decision to homeschool (about 5 years ago) we have tried just about every approach there is just trying to find the right fit for our family.  I'm learning that even though something works one year it may not work the next year.  The dynamics of our family change every year with all the differing developmental levels of our children.

In my last entry I described our current approach.  It is theme-based, literature-based, and interest-based.  It is extremely flexible because of our family situation.  And it is working for us.  I have considered it somewhat of a living books approach (leaning toward Charlotte Mason) because we are reading many quality books and doing some narration and hands-on learning.  I am quite pleased with the compromise I have come up with.  The best of many approaches, I like to think.

So the other night, I was reading on Ambleside Online (a free online Charlotte Mason curriculum) and discovered a paragraph which perfectly described our homeschool.  According to AO, we are a Delight-directed/Unschooling family.  Egads!  How did I get here?!?!

However, even though I was turned off by this approach in the beginning, I now see the benefits of it and am reaping them!  I guess the moral of the story is "Don't judge a homeschooling approach before you try it.  You may just use it and benefit from it someday!"

Cheerio!

~ Layla

Posted on this category page: Lessons from Our Humble Homeschool

Homeschooling is a challenge in our family.  I learn a lot by trial-and-error (don't we all?).  I would like to share some things that have helped our homeschool days go more smoothly with 3 toddlers "underfoot" during school hours.

* "Interruption" is the name of the game!  Expect to be interrupted -- many, many times!  If you're expecting interruptions, it is much less frustrating when they happen.

* Flexibility is a must!  Very, very few things will go according to your plans. 

----Practical application 1:  I have learned to write my lesson plans in list format rather than by the week or by the day.  (I write lesson plans only for core subjects math, phonics, grammar, etc.)  For instance, I type a list of all the lessons in our Saxon math program and keep it in my lesson plan binder.  As we complete a lesson, I highlight the lesson on my list and write the date next to it.  This way if we only do 3 lessons this week instead of 4, I don't have to adjust my plans for next week.  I just continue on in the same list.

----Practical application 2:  I have changed the way we do unit studies.  I guess its more of a "living books" appproach.  I allow my 2 older children to choose the topics we will study, alternating between the two of them.  I order a handful of non-fiction books, a dozen or more fiction books, and 2 or 3 educational DVDs from the library on each given topic.  We read the books and watch the DVDs as a family.  I log the books and videos on their reading list.  During our reading, either the children or I will be inspired to do a project or two on the topic.  (Sometimes projects are suggested in the back of the books or on the DVD.)  These projects are logged in their notebooks.  Sometimes they will conduct an experiment, put on a puppet show, copy a poem, draw a picture, create a sculpture....  The possibities of learning activities are endless.  The point is, I don't plan these ahead of time anymore.  Planning for oodles of projects took a lot of time and led to disappointment if we weren't able to get to all of them.  Instead, we are inspired as we learn.  I just log our work afterward.

* Involve the little ones whenever you can.  In the mornings, the toddlers are full of energy.  This is when we do our living books studies.  The toddlers are able to sit with us while we read or watch a video.  Often, they are even able to do the projects with us.  For example, big brother and big sister may put on a puppet show for the little ones.  This reinforces what the biggies are learning while entertaining the littlies at the same time.  Many times, the littlies will color a picture while the biggies are drawing or writing.

* Use butcher paper.  My toddlers love when I pull out a long sheet of butcher paper and spread it across the floor.  I hand each of them a crayon or a pencil and let them draw to their heart's content.  (I'm always nearby to be sure no one eats the crayon or pencil. )  This will buy us 15 to 20 minutes.

* Take advantage of quiet time.  After lunch, I put the youngest 2 down for a nap.  My 3-year-old no longer naps, but he will ly down on the sofa near us and watch a movie.  This is when we do our core subjects which require more concentration.

* Utilize novelty.  For the purpose of controlling messes in our home, I took all toys out of my children's bedrooms a couple years ago.  I organized them all by type (Star Wars, Strawberry Shortcake, kitchen, sports, blocks, etc.) into plastic, lidded tubs.  I keep them in a storage room in the basement.  Each child is allowed to have 1 tub in his/her room at a time (which means 5 tubs can be upstairs at once).  If someone wants a new tub, he must make a trade.  All of this to say that when a "new" tub comes upstairs that hasn't been there for a while, it is like brand new toys to toddlers!  So when we are doing a detailed project in the morning or when a little one just won't go down for a nap, I am able to pull out a tub of toys, set it in the middle of the room, and let them play.  They are usually content for 20-30 minutes.  If we're not done but the toddlers are bored with those toys, I help them clean it up and trade for a new tub.

I will add to this list as I come up with more ideas.  So far, these things have made a huge difference in the success of our school days.

~ Layla

Posted on this category page: Lessons from Our Humble Homeschool

I just cannot settle on a teaching approach. I guess I'm still in the process of figuring out our "style." I know for certain I've been very consistent with our Bible, math and phonics lessons. It's just everything else that changes often. I'm spending some time during our summer break evaluating what we've done and where we need to head in the fall. 

I've been doing some unit studies.  I intentionally created very basic units because of all the little ones (and therefore all the distractions) we have in our home; however, I still feel that we are somehow missing the mark.  I'm going to experiment with another approach this fall.  I'm leaning more toward Charlotte Mason, I guess.  I tried CM in the past....  I'm less concerned about putting a label on our lessons as I am about making sure REAL learning is taking place in our home.

I also want to focus more on the arts. My eldest son, 8, loves to draw and create sculptures. He just made an abstract object tonight, in fact, that is sitting in my garden window in the kitchen. He used an empty milk jug, an empty juice bottle, some package labels, scissors, and A LOT of staples. I didn't get a chance to ask him what it is yet (his cousins are staying over tonight -- they're all sleeping in the tent in the backyard with my hubby right now ), but I'll be sure to inquire in the morning.  Anyway, I want to include more art projects and fundamental concepts (color, line, perspective, etc.) in our lessons.

My eldest daughter, 6, loves to sing and dance and listen to music. We've had her in dance classes in the past, but I have some concerns about the program and won't be re-enrolling her this season. I'd like to get her started playing piano. Although we cannot afford formal lessons right now, I did take a piano class in college and could at least get her started on the basics for the time being .

As I pray through this "dilemma" I will make a decision and post again on our progress.  Until then......

~Layla