Tag: homeschool

Catching Up

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We are back to school this week after taking the last two off. That of course involved a bit of catching up, especially on the things I let slide before our trip. I had a few papers to grade, schedules to print, spelling lists to make, and catching up on filing everything away. I decided to do a few things differently this year in regard to paperwork, and that change really started with my choice of homeschool planners. I’ve tried so many different options and none of them have worked. All of them lasted a few weeks and then I would get off track and never be able to catch up again. This year I wanted to go with an online option in hopes that it would help me stay on top of things, and it seems to be working. Currently, I am using the online planner from Well Planned Gal. I put all our curriculum choices into the program at the start of the year and now I simply sign on and check off what we have done. The best part for me is that at the end of every week I can print off a schedule with all the things we’ve done and put that into our records books. I am not actually required to keep records in the state I live in, but I like to keep a little something for myself. This year I am using 3-ring binders, one for each kid, and weekly tabs to put a few papers behind. I start with the printed schedule and then add math tests, spelling lists and tests, history and science notes, and any writing papers they did. Other things like their grammar pages are in a spiral notebook so we leave those there. In years past I have really struggled with deciding what to keep and what to toss and this system has made it so much easier. I toss their daily math work and keep their weekly tests and we don’t end up with piles of math worksheets everywhere. Of course, before leaving I just shoved everything into a pile on our desk and left it there. So yesterday I took a little time to update my planner and make sure everything was entered into the system. I then took time to grade and put all the papers into the appropriate notebook behind the weekly tab. Lastly, I printed off and made new spelling lists and other weekly worksheets for the kids. It seems very simple but just doing those few things has really helped keep our homeschool year on track and our paper mess to a minimum. I think both the new planner and the 3-ring binders will be a permanent addition to our homeschool.

Home and Back Again

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One of the big benefits of homeschooling is the ability to have a flexible schedule. This last week we took some time to travel to Texas and be with my family that I haven’t seen in a few years. It was WAY overdue. Our trip started with a 17-hour drive. On top of the drive, we were pulling our camper which adds a few extra hours to the total drive time. To say we were exhausted is an understatement, but after two days we made it home. Since this would be the only holiday we were home for my mom went ahead and planned Christmas and a birthday party alongside Thanksgiving. We pulled into her driveway and were greeted by a house completely covered in Christmas lights. My mom has always done the holidays big. We spent the next week eating too much food, laughing a ton, and really just soaking in time with family. There really is nothing like time with your family to sort of re-ground you and remind you of who you are. Especially if like me, you don’t live anywhere near them. It felt so good to actually be a part of the family holiday celebrations again. I am so thankful that we didn’t have to rush this trip. Homeschooling allowed us to take our time and just hang out. We didn’t have to be home by a certain time and we ended up staying an extra day because we wanted to. Once we were back in our home our break was extended to give us a few recovery days after another two-day drive to get back home. In total, we took two weeks off school and it is all scheduled in the yearly plan. I love the life that homeschooling allows us to live. We get to do so many amazing things together and we get to do them on our own time. This time it was a trip to Texas. I can’t wait to see what the next adventure will be.

First Curriculum

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When we first started homeschooling my oldest was in Kindergarten and I had absolutely no idea where to start. I wasn’t confident enough in myself to make things up or piece together a curriculum. This led me to look for an all-in-one or boxed curriculum. After lots of research and contemplation, we started out with BookShark. https://www.bookshark.com/level-a-all-subject-package. The all-in-one package comes with everything you need. For a nervous mom, this was perfect. Each subject comes completely scheduled out for you so there is no guessing what to do each day. It also has step-by-step instructions on how to teach the subject, and often it will even tell you exactly what to say. This was what I wanted and was so very helpful for those first few years. On top of being open and go BookShark has other great qualities, and the best one is its book selection. The base of our home library was built the first few years we used BookShark. In fact, the books in the kindergarten package have been some of our all-time favorites. For instance, James Herriot’s Treasury for Children is still to this day one of my favorite read-alouds. For a first-time homeschooler, BookShark was a great choice and one we stuck with for a few years. Although we have made changes curriculum wise, I still think starting with BookShark was the right choice for me, and it’s one I do not regret. Homeschooling can be very overwhelming in the beginning and that fear has stopped people from trying. So I would say anything that helps you start is a good thing. As you gain knowledge over time you can adjust as needed. I think that’s pretty good life advice in general, get started and adjust as you go. If you’re new to homeschooling find something to help you start, and if you’re a seasoned homeschooler remember that the curriculum doesn’t own you. You can always change it if you want to!

How We Got Started

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We started our homeschooling journey when my oldest was in Kindergarten. The previous year he attended an in-school Pre-K and at the same time, I was introduced to the idea of homeschooling by some new friends. The only thing I knew about homeschool was that my sister did Abeka’s video program for a few years when she was a high-level gymnast. Overall this was still a pretty new concept for me but in my heart, it felt right. Getting my husband on board was a whole other thing. He, like most people, only knew of homeschooling from outdated opinions and stereotypes. However, he trusted me and he let me try. We both kind of figured Kindergarten would be a good grade to test the waters. I hoped I couldn’t mess up too much at that point. That first year went really well and because she wanted to, our youngest joined in. She is only eighteen months younger than her brother and so it was really easy to find something for her to do alongside him. There have been hard days and even hard seasons over the years but it has never been a decision we regretted making. I am so thankful for all the extra time I have had with my kids. This school year will be our seventh year homeschooling and as of right now we plan to continue for the foreseeable future.

End of the first-year celebration