Jul. 20, 2007 - a schedule
OK - I've been trying to come up with a daily schedule...I read MOTH last year before C was born and I had high hopes of following a schedule so that our days with a newborn (and 2 other children under 5) would run smoothly. However, I do not schedule my babies...in the beginning I nurse on demand and let them sleep when they want to sleep...Once the baby is a few months old I start to look for their natural schedule and then I try to plan our day based on that. So now that C is napping regularly and I need to prepare to homeschool R I guess it's high time that I at least come up with some sort of plan for how our day will flow. So here it goes:
5:30am Mommy up (exercise, quiet time/devotion, shower)
7am kids up (am chores: make bed, get dressed)
8am breakfast
8:30am circle time (calendar, devotion, poetry, prayer)
9:30am C down for nap (til 11am)/R & A watch tv/movie
10am LA & Math with R/A play at table
10:30am RTL Time with R & A (til 11:30)
12noon Lunchtime
1:30-3pm Quiet time
4pm Journeys time (Read aloud program)
5pm dinner prep
6pm eat dinner
7:30 C bedtime
8pm/8:30 R&A bedtime
I have to admit, I am not looking forward to waking up at 5:30am...that part of the schedule may not fly - I just know that I really need time alone with God and also some exercise time before the kiddos wake up, or else it just won't happen...For now I want to try this schedule and see how it works.
Also, I have decided that we will officially begin school on Monday, August 13th.
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Jun. 21, 2007 - Starting over
Well, a lot has changed since I last blogged about 10 months ago. Our not-yet-born baby is now a healthy, active 8 month old boy! And we didn't really do much homeschooling last year, we tried but I quickly found that ds was not quite ready for the structure. So here we are...I have been planning for next year and I have changed my mind a few times about what we're going to do, but here's my current plan:
ds5.5: WinterPromise's IRTL, WP's Journeys of Imagination (Read-Aloud program), MUS Primer, Singapore Early Bird Math Workbooks, WP Accel K LA - plus some reading from History for Little Pilgrims & Usborne's First Encyclopedia of History
dd3: WP IRTL & JOI, some Rod & Staff Preschool Workbooks
ds8mo: hanging out
I really want to keep up with this blog, I mainly want a record of how our homeschool journey is going and also a record of what all 3 kids are up to...but we'll see how it goes.
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Aug. 12, 2006 - learning as we go
OK, so I thought my ds was ready for some "gentle" schooling, so I chose MFW-K, we're currently on week 2 (the moon), and I am realizing that I really need to cut out some of the work. He loved the first 2 weeks of school, we did a 10-day creation unit - basically just learning about what God made on each day and drawing a picture depicting that. He got to cut & paste and write some numbers and draw or add stickers to make the pages. Two weeks ago we began the regular units, the first being the sun/"s". He really enjoys reading all of the books we get from the library on our subject, but he tires quickly when it comes to practicing the sounds and writing of the letters and numbers. So I have really cut back on these items, he's still only 4.5. I just finished reading MOTH and for his schedule I have 15 mins of math right after breakfast (MUS), 15 mins of handwriting (basically one page of ETC or MFW) right after lunch and 30 mins of us learning about the MFW subject of the week (whether reading or doing cool projects). We'll try this and see if it fits him better. My biggest concern right now is that he learns that learning is FUN!
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Jun. 21, 2006 - the current plan
Knowing that a new little one will be joining our family in October, I have decided to begin ds4's prek homeschool adventure shortly...my current plan is:
*Math U See Primer (began on Monday)
*MFW K - will begin on July 3rd - we have VBS every morning next week and the first MFW unit is on Creation and lasts for 10 days
I've also been trying to get institute some other habits into our daily life that will hopefully help keep us semi-organized:
*I've been doing weekly meal plans and grocery lists for about a month
*I've posted a chore chart for ds4 (making bed, clean up toys at night, helping with lunch 2x per week, emptying bathroom trash) and we've started giving him a small allowance
So far so good...
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Jun. 3, 2006 - My first entry!
I have been chomping at the bit to begin homeschooling my oldest ever since he was about 1 year old. I have been researching everything homeschool since then. I am really drawn to the Charlotte Mason method, it just sounds so fun, and I really want my kids to learn to love learning. Even though he'll only be 4.5 in the fall, I have purchased the My Father's World K curriculum. He knows all of his letters, taught himself to write his own name, his sister's name, plus "mommy" and "daddy"...I guess that means he's ready for letter sounds and eventually reading! I think the MWF curric seems to be a gentle approach to learning and it looks like a lot of fun too. We'll see how much we actually get to do, I am due with baby #3 in October, plus I have a feisty, red-headed 2 year old daughter to keep me busy.
