“Not” Back to School Blog Hop: Curriculum Week

Thanks to the good folks at Heart of the Matter is hosting a "Not Back-to-School Blog Hop. I so love this time of year. It has become a tradition as well as a necessity in our adventure. Because this Blog Hop always helps me organize my plans and is the skeleton for our required state yearly Notice of Intent (NOI) homeschool documentation.

The theme for this year is character building and simplicity. We did not finish some core programs last year due to hospitalization and family issues. We needed this summer off and I did not want to rush through the material in May. Some of what you see may look like a little like last year.

I will be trying something new this year. I call the concept layering. Instead of starting with all six subjects on the first day of school I am going to start with three basics and add on one additional subject in three weeks. This allows us to slowing expand the day as opposed to just jumping back into the jammed back schedule which leaves me wiped out and the family in chaos.

Here we go....

Bible and Character Development

Positive Action for Christ's program Growing with God. And weekly review with church provided material from Studio 252.

We are considering AWANA, but it may make the schedule to intense and not leave time for play dates and down time.

History

Will continue with Story of The World program Volume I, Ancient Times. We stopped with the Phoenicians and will be picking up with the the Greeks and Rome. Then we will move into The Story of the World Vol. 2 (The Middle Ages) with the accompanying Activity Book and CD. Volume 2 covers world history from the fall of Rome to the rise of the Renaissance (AD 400-1600).

The projects and Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History links were a big hit last year. We will start a Timeline Notebook this year and using the first week for review parts of Volume 1.

Language Arts

Sonlight Language Arts for Grade 3 will include good literature and

“ Includes full schedule, teaching helps, separate parent instructions with full answer and definitions, reader schedule, dictation, spelling, creative expression, and student activity sheets.”

Grammar
We will still use living books from the series “ If you were” to supplement Sonlight grammar.

Spelling
We began http://www.all-about-spelling.com/in late September.

Handwriting

Handwriting without Tears Cursive Writing

Additional resources for literature Beyond Five In a Row and what ever takes our fancy at the library.

Math

We went through two different mathematics curriculum last year until we found our solution with Math Mammoth.

We will add if need with lectures from Khan Academy , Math Games and Stuart J. Murphy Math Start for Visual Learners .

Fine Motor Skills/ Life Skills

This is still an area of concentration we will :

• Creative coloring

• Learning Chess (pincer grip)

• Knot So Fast (Think Well Game)

• Free Typing Game

• Montessori Activities and even more and just a little bit more

Geography

This was difficult because I did not want to max out on the states at his age. He loves playing Scrambled States of America and absorps facts fast. He is addicted to How the States Got There Shapes .

So I was going to leave states as just fun time and do one country a month for world geography using Expedition Earth: A Journey Through God’s World . We will listen to music of the country a couple of times of the four weeks and end the month with either dinner out or homemade meal from this country.

Physical Education

We are enrolled in a Homeschool Physical Education co-op class and martial arts. Whew!

Music/Drama/Art

Our primary resource will be Grace Abounding The Core Knowledge Anthology of African-American Literature, Music, and Art (AAALMA).

We are enrolled in a local art co-op class and visiting museum exhibits throughout the year. The National Gallery of Art has a great homeschool program were you can borrow material and get free online tours

Still need to find a music class we can afford but we will be taking part of in free concert/play venues in the area. The search is still on for individual instruction but we do have an at home drum program. As well as alternating sources with a musician month using Classics for Kids and AAALMA.

Science
We are enrolled in a accelerated local co-op class and visiting museum exhibits throughout the year. We still have Real Science 4 Kids Pre-Level Biology to complete but we will take our time. We have a month of things to do just with the microscope.

Remember plan subject to change due to real life events.

Blessings

Not Back to School Blog Hop: A Day in the Life

It is the final week of Heart of The Matter's Not Back to School blog hop. It has been an great month of sharing and learning with and about homeschoolers all over the world. Thank you to all the families that open their homes and hearts to the bloggersphere. This Blog Hop is a great database for new homeschoolers and veterans who need a little inspiration.

This week's theme is a Day in the Life. We're supposed to share what our average homeschool day looks like. We do not started school until next week, but I would like to share with you our plans.

I shared last week how this year was based on a visual plan. A way for us as a family to see where we were spending our time. The first draft did not have a lot of time to school.

So we downsized what we were doing outside the home to bring the focus in our the family and learning this year. If we find this schedule is to socially light we can add play dates and other activities to it later.

Key to being happy this year is to start the day with a plan. We have a schedule so then I pulled together my own planner based on the more complicated system from last year. It to was downsized to include monthly calendars, daily work plan with workbox numbers and subjects. I have a section for notes but would like a computer program to log in the books we have read.







So that's what our days should look like. Most importantly this year will be a focus on the students needs and the family needs. Blessings.

What is Mom going to learn this year?

We always have great goals and plans for our children for the school year, rightly so because this is our job. However we often forget to stop and say what will we learn this year? What are our goals? Is the homeschool plan or curriculum supporting the family goals for the year?

My friend Faith (that shall be her internet name) and I took the challenge this year to plan our homeschool year in advance. What we did not want for ourselves or our children is a mother who is burnt out and tired before November. We spent days planning and outlining what we wanted to do for the school year. We prayerfully made daily and monthly schedules to share with each other. It was wonderful and energizing but most importantly flaw revealing.

First where were we on the schedule? What are we going to learn this year? When are we taking care of ourselves? What are our goals? I am not speaking of the vague "going to get in shape" goal. We are looking for scheduled self care time and learning opportunities outside of home education. What new skill will you have at the end of the year?

I challenge you look over your photos from last school year. How many times are you actually in the picture? How many events are there where it is just you and your friends? Homeschool conference only counts as a half a point. :-) If you are in the photos only with your children and less than 20% of the time maybe it is time to schedule so "me" time.

I know what of I speak because I am the chief offender in this offense. My goal is not to separate from my family but to cherish who I am as a person, mother, wife and loved child of the most High.

Secondly there was way too much outside activities going on and not enough education time. I know sounds really strange coming from the women who was freaking out earlier this year about her only child not being around other children, but it is true there was very little time for quality schooling on the schedule.

Take a look at the schedule before adjustments. All the green areas are home education blocks. If you look at my curriculum plan for 2010 they don't seem to match up right?

How in the world was I going to do all of that learning with less than 8 hours a week with a real life child with emotions, meltdowns, good days and bad days? Plus we all know how much learning actually happens after you leave the house for the day, none. Because you are tired (If you have ever driven on the beltway in DC you understand this.), the kid is drained and oh that little aliment called "Do I have to?" kicks in after lunch.

Finally we realized that we had planned out days excluding our husbands. Where is Dad in the schedule? What is he doing? How can we include him in our day?

So as we gear up for another year I am looking at the whole home while planning not just the school. It may mean school starts a little bit later this year but it will mean a more focused year.

A Change Is Gonna Come

I have been in prayer about what is to become of this blog. It has become clear that this should be a virtual space to record our homeschooling journey. Which means it will be incorporated into our school year plans with timely updates.

To that end let me share that this is planning season. Planning season for homeschoolers is exciting time because everything is fresh with new possibilities and grand goals. The trick I have found in my three years of homeschooling is to embrace those grand design, explore them and put them down in revision 1 of the plan. Then back off, give it a day and think about your life. Who are you? Who are your kids? How many outside activities do you plan on doing? How long will they really take? Where are the potential rabbit holes or unexpected cool field trips likely to happen? How your household actually functions? Then adjust the plan to this reality. Thereby avoiding complete homeschooling meltdown when things do not go as planned. Remember it is homeschooling so keep it SIMPLE and FLEXIBLE.

Part 1: What worked and what didn't work last year.

FIAR kinda worked last year but is planning intensive in order to support ds's learning style.

I honestly didn't think I had the time this summer to pull all of it together. But the other options are outside our budget right now, so I made a choice to slow down our summer plans to incorporate planning days. That is right days because I had to adjust my expectations of getting it done all at once.

Here is my attempt to plan with Five In A Row (FIAR). All items highlighted in gray were completed in 2008-2010. Items in green are planned for this year.
Five In A Row 2010-2011 School Year Plan

Homeschooling Only Child: Panic Attack Number 554

It has been a couple of months since I have freaked over homeschooling our "super singleton". Because he loves people and is super social it never really get the feeling of him being lonely. Everyday we leave the house post school time to do something with friends park day, filed trips, three days a week co-op classes, birthday parties, church and when we have time play dates. This week was no exception we are on the move, but I decided that today I needed a day at home. This has not gone over well at all.

He is an extrovert who loves people. He is open and caring to all kids, which has been tough because some kids are just down right mean. He plays with kids of all ages and doesn't mind playing the prince with his girl friends as long as he can have a light saber and slay something.

He is innocent, because we believe children should enjoy childhood. He really can't get way some kids are mean to him. He is Texas loud and enjoys life.

But I worry does he need to be around children all day? What would be the benefits? He could not downshift to do age level school work. I know because he has told me last week "Mom okay I got verb and nouns...way are you waiting let's do some adjectives and essays." He like most boys doesn't have the social skills to be grade skipped in a traditional class room. Boys tend to find the tender heart, youngest, innocent and small in size boy to pick on.

In public school he would have to sit still and learn. His energy level is to high for that at his age. He just doesn't fit the program. My husband didn't fit the program either and spent so much time in the office he knew how to answer the phones.

A great private school with a small class that moves and learn would be great. But who has twenty grand a year for private school?

Most importantly AGAIN I have prayed and God said this is our journey. Right now he plays with roughly 20 kids everyday. His lessons are individualized and at his pace. He is full of joy and thriving. Sure he would love to play all day, what seven year doesn't? He is strong willed and determined but knows how to work with a group.

In the last year he has had classes in:
-Castle Building (learning about communities)
-Emergency Responders (safety classes with visit from firemen and police officers)
-shop classes (he knows how to hammer )
-cooking from the food pyramid
-newspaper writing (the final was a newsletter)
-Masters of Art
-science co-op (experiments & lessons on the planets, simple machines,light & weather)
-Puppet Class (writing a script and performing)
-Free classes from the Smithsonian on flight
-A tour of the Capital with passes into both the Senate and House Chambers
-The Smithsonian Natural History and Air and Space events
-Free concerts

So as I write this my panic attack is wearing down. I can breathe, God has provided faithfully. I again need to work on trust and real faith. Which is not unique to having one child or ten.

Also I am becoming slightly frantic about planning next year and stressing about finances. I think it all coming to a weak point which is my confidence about homeschooling an only child. Fear is a cancer that can eat at you and take over all your sane thoughts an actions. Maybe this which my memory verse should be:

¹⁰ So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

¹³ For I am the LORD, your God,
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.

—Isaiah 41:10,13

Renae wrote an excellent article on "The Faith It Takes to Homeschool".

Free Menu Planning E-Book

We all love free right? I really need to get back to planning weekly menus. It saves time and gas. (Less trips to the grocery story.) Enjoy!

Getting Back To The Basics: Homeschool planning 2009

This week was originally meant to be my homeschooling planning and printing week. Last year I had a comfortable chair, a desk, headphones and time to listen to the homeschool conference as I printed out material for the next year. It was a peaceful beginning to a rather peace first half of our school year. This time things are different…much different.

I have been in whirlwind all week trying to find the right planner and to pull together the "right" curriculum because this year it counts. TS is first grade and with new state laws he will be tested at the end of the year. In my mind I had to cover it all, not miss a thing because this year is the beginning of "real school". But I have found myself tied up in knots and can't seem to make even the simplest decisions.

Homeschool planner: Should I buy it or custom make it? Should I do online? Should it be bond or spiral?

Homeschool curriculum: Should we stick to what was working and add in elements or go totally with a boxed curriculum? I printed out the school curriculum how am I going to teach all of this with my current curriculum? How do I fit co-op into our day? How we going to fit lunch into our day?

Homeschool location: Since we have moved we no longer have a homeschool classroom.

Old Classroom

How will that effect TS's concentration? I still have boxes unopened and things to unpack to make this place a home. How can I do that while homeschooling? How is the workbox system going to work in this small space?

I have spent hours blog hopping looking for answers and making list. You should see my bookmark list from this week alone…..89 entries for just planners. I felt so helpless and swamped I actually considered public school. I think public school is great if it fits your child. It does not fit our child and I know he would be miserable after the social aspect wore off.

So last night after a marathon of printing and planning I went to bed praying for guidance and this morning I got this in my email from Alpha Omega:

"If you're starting your new school year depending on your own abilities, be careful. Only the Lord can show you those things that will make your homeschooling truly successful. As you depend on the Holy Spirit, you will not only discover wisdom to teach, but you'll also have your eyes opened to see all that God desires for your family. "Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God" (Psalm 123:1-2a). Lord, forgive me for my foolish pride that fails to acknowledge You as Lord. Open my eyes to see Your plans for our family this homeschool year and teach me to constantly depend on You. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Menu Planning December 8th

I am joining the good ladies over at "I'm An Organizing Junkie” for Menu Plan Monday this week. I am trying to get back to some sense of normalcy.

Monday-
breakfast: GF Waffles, cherries and turkey bacon and Simply Apple Juice
lunch: grilled chicken strips, grape tomatoes, baby carrots and water.
dinner: Super Easy Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce
With Gluten-Free Rice Noodles and Salad

Tuesday-
breakfast: GF Gorilla Munch, Clementine oranges and soy milk
lunch: Hormel’s Natural Turkey, baby carrots, tortilla chips or GF pretzels, organic Lemonade
dinner: Gluten Free Oven Fried Chicken, baked sweet potato and broccoli


Wednesday-
breakfast: GF Gorilla Munch, apples, turkey bacon and soymilk
lunch: Hormel’s Natural Turkey, baby carrots, tortilla chips or GF pretzels, organic Lemonade
dinner: Crockpot Guidemom Chicken and Salad

Thursday-
breakfast: GF Brown Rice cold cereal, grapes and milk
lunch: grilled chicken strips, Organic Applesauce and tator tots
dinner: Baked Skinless Drumsticks, Sweet Potatoes, Corn, Romaine Salad

Friday-
breakfast: boiled eggs, smoothies
lunch: leftovers
dinner: Slowcooker Chili with and GF corn bread

Saturday-
breakfast: Van’s GT Waffles, turkey bacon, Simply Apple Juice, Watermelon
lunch: Homemade Pizza
dinner: Turkey Meatballs, string beans, brown rice

Sunday-
breakfast: bananas smoothies, Gorilla Munch
lunch: Cuban chicken and salad
dinner: Steak, Corn, Brown Rice, Simply Apple Juice, Watermelon

Customer Service Homeschool Style

Part of my homeschooling planning was to ask TS what he wanted to learn this year. We did this last year and at the end of the year, we manage to cover both his and our goals.

I have his learning style, the curriculum and basic plan but to make it more meaningful I try to individualize the experience base on his input.

This is what TS wants to learn in 2008:

• Learn to play the drums
• Learn to use the Camcorder to make movies
• Learn more about how race cars work
• Understand what astronauts do
• Want to learn how to build with rocks
• Learn about track and field and play track and field with friend
• Learn how to swim
• Use Lego’s to build cars and things
• To play on a boys soccer team
• Have an Olympic playdate with all my friends
• Learn martial arts

Energized

The conference last weekend was powerful and life altering. There were too many “Ahh” moments to put in one post. I cannot thank the team from Heart of the Matter enough for their time, incredible talents and openness during this conference. The speakers were AWESOME. Here were experienced homeschooling parents who have followed their callings while educating their children. They spoke as both parents and professionals answering questions and even supplied their email for follow-up questions. The recurring theme was “You are not alone in this adventure. We are more than capable of educating our children. Homeschooling is a great adventure, relax and enjoy the adventure with your children. And remember to be Flexible.”

To that vain I have been reading suggested material, praying, planning and enjoying my child. I will post more later this week as when I complete my 2008 planning.

I leave you with this new fixture in my son’s room.

I am Loved.

I am wonderfully creative

I am safe

I learn and discover new things every day

I love to learn new things!

I am powerful

I have a place of stillness within me

I am whole and perfect just the way I am

“God within me is my power.” We are always loved and safe if we

only turn our awareness to the Almighty in prayer.

I am willing to forgive

God is always with us, surrounding us.

I am living a life of beauty, purpose and promise.

I am made in the image of the Most High

I Believe in Me