- I feel like I am getting to the point that I am really comfortable with our home learning process, but KM is in the midst of her "middle school" years and I need to really let go a bit to allow her some more independence in her studies. I took her opinion into consideration when I made all of her curriculum choices and allowed her to make the final decision on which programs we would use. This will also be really helpful since I will have not one, but two little ones around my house this fall so she will really need to be a bit more responsible for her own time management.
- I am going to be more flexible with our schedule. I upgraded to the Homeschool Tracker Plus late last spring and I have spent all summer inputting lesson plans and outlines so that I can reschedule things with a click of the mouse! We are also getting to the realization point where it suddenly dawns on you that lessons really don't have to be only Mon-Fri. There have been times this summer were KM has opted to get her lessons done on a rainy Sunday so that Monday she can spend the day in the pool with her friends - and it has worked out FABULOUSLY!
- I am going to be strict about 3 Stay Days a week! This is for my sanity as well as KM's attitude, as she tends to get REALLY cranky when she is overscheduled. We will also really need to stick with this in order to stay on track with her lessons, as there will be times when we can't work on something with SC running around and wanting to be right in KM's space - see #4.
- Setting a routine with the little ones. Last year SC got really into coloring and working right next to KM, but as our summer has progressed SC has gotten to the stage in development where she wants KM to stop what she is doing and get right into what SC wants her to do - this is not going to fly come the fall! The tricky part to this is dealing with the newborn -GC- and my sister's rotating schedule so that I don't have the kids the same days each week. I think we are going to work it out where we will have a Week 1 Schedule and a Week 2 Schedule. On week 1 I will have the little ones Mon, Tue, & Sat and Week 2 Wed, Thur. Since our coop is on Mon I think it will work out that we will have the first day be our go day and the second our stay. So that Wk 1 Mon & Wk 2 Wed will be GO Days and I will plan somewhere - park, playground, library, museum something every other Wed and then the Wk 1 Tue & Wk 2 Thur will be STAY days and I will plan art and craft activities, backyard science things, and games for SC to do in the morning while KM works independently. Then I can work with KM in the afternoon during SC's nap. I am optimistic that GC will still be little enough, at least through the winter that I can have her either in the sling or seat right with us. Come next spring when she is starting to crawl we may need to rework a bit again, but for now I think this plan is going to go very well! KM has her lesson books in baskets on a shelf organized by subjects and I am thinking of setting up a somewhat similar system for SC - with like play-doh in one bucket, art stuff in another, instruments in another - so that she feels like she is doing the same type of thing as KM.
Our homeschooling experience has brought so many wonderful changes to our family and our lives. As each session goes by and we prepare for the next it is so exciting to see how our lifestyle has changed since we began this journey and how much we continue to grow with each passing season!
What will you be doing differently this year?
4 comments:
I saw this question too! I have been thinking about it as well.
It sounds like you have some wonderful ideas.
Sounds like you have some great ideas :) How old are the little ones? Play dough is a great way to occupy preschoolers so long as they can be supervised. Man that stuff makes a mess!! LOL!! Another great thing is some of those color wonder markers and color wonder fingerpaints. They are clear and don't make messes :) When I had more than one little one running around I always would keep a snack basket in a place where they could reach so they could help themselves to a healthy snack. I would only put a couple of things per child in there for the day.
Anyway... This year we are changing from Math-U-See to Saxon math for all three of the "school aged" kids. I just didn't feel Math-U-See was complete enough, especially having a 12 yr old who is looking towards high school in two years!
I'm also going to use Story of the World this year. We have never used a history curriculum. I've always made up multi-age unit studies loosely based on the What Your__ Grader Needs to know series. I figure I was planning on doing ancient history anyway so we are starting with vol. 1 this year :)
We are also adding some M.I.T classes into the mix this year. We are always trying to strike a balance between out of the house too much and not at all. We keep mornings for ourselves and we do not go out. We focus on home, family and work in the morning. Afternoons are free and so that is when I schedule a class or two. We will have art weekly ( I teach a homeschool art class) and then MIT once a month and there is a possiblity of a classic book group.
That's about it :)
Leigh - it sounds like you are going to have another great year! The little ones are 2 mo. & 2 years. So the littlest will just be in the sling 90% of the time. For the 2 year old we do use the color wonder products and LOVE them!
We have also started using SOTW as an intro for each topic and KM really likes. I am making the finishing touches so that I can post our curriculum picks the beginning of next week!
We may actually run into you - our co-op has been looking into coordinating some classes at MIT - I heard talk of Wed...hmmm - I will have to keep my eye out!
Thanks for stopping by!
G
Well, this will be our first offical full year of homeschooling. We started after Christmas last year. We will do Singapore math and Story of The World also. I just didn't touch much history at all. It just doesn't interest me too much *gasp*. I'm a science/nature girl haha!
Other than that, we are going to try a modified, laid back version of the workbox idea. Just to make sure we are covering certain things more often :)
I love seeing what others will be doing. I love your idea of staying home days, we will definetly have those! The boys want to do wrestling this winter, so it will be harder than but it's a great idea!
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