Schooling this year has been so much more laid back than last year. As a result we have had a better year, made some great memories and I think the kids retain information much better when it’s learned and experienced with a restful mind.
I rarely plan! I know what we need to get done and go with the flow from there.
Weekly goals:
4 Language art lessons- We have been using The Good and the Beautiful for this and absolutely love it. I’ve added a spelling board game that we play and my daughter has 2 pen pals that she writes to and I count that as her handwriting practice. Once or twice a week we do some in the cursive handwriting without tears book. My 5 year old will technically enter Kindergarten this fall (but who really knows what grade their homeschooler is in anyway!!) has been going through the K program and is doing really well. This program includes art and geography in the lessons also. We do a lot of reading as well- independent and read aloud.
4 Math lessons- We are using Math lessons for a living for both kids. They love it. When there is a concept they need more review on we will go to other resources in other texts but usually online videos and/or games for practice and reinforcement.
History- The original plan was 2 lessons a week (Mon and Wed) using TGaTB History and for a while we did more than that because the kids loved it. But the last 2 months have been so busy that there hasn’t always been time for it which at their ages I think is fine. We do talk about history frequently in current events or books we are reading or holidays happening etc…
Science- Same with History we planned on using TGaTB for science and do 2 lessons a week (Tue and Thurs). We tend to go for a week or two without doing any then do 4 or 5 lessons in a day. Which is more fun because they enjoy it and the topic isn’t dragged out as much. We did the Arthropod study first then the Human Body study.
Art- We talk about artists and types of artwork in the LA curriculum. The kids have also been attending a weekly homeschool art class. I originally wanted to have one artist per month that we studied and probably will just not right now.
Music- My daughter loves music- guitar, piano, singing…. Piano lessons we did for maybe 8 months but they were so expensive and I know the basics so I decided to try and do that myself. It’s something we don’t always make time for but is fun when we do. We have read a chapter book on Mozart and did a unit study on Bach as well. We borrowed the ‘Music around the World’ box from the lending library and talked about and listened to different music from different cultures.
Practical- I try to make sure my kids are involved in cooking, cleaning, caring for animals and have even taught them a basic sewing stitch. This sounds like I do a lot but most of that is normal every day life and the sewing was maybe 2-3 times this whole year.
Creative- We have created a you tube channel for my daughter and she has posted 3 videos. I would like (once I’ve learned myself!) to teach her how to edit her own videos. We started in Jan doing “Family Presentations” each month and videoing them. We did Jan, Feb and March but have so far skipped April and May. We have yet to edit them or post them. It took me 5 months to edit and post the videos I made for my daughters You Tube video. We are trying to be more purposeful about working on these things as we are always happy when we do. Even fun things feel like work when you are tired and theres the option of a really entertaining TV show or Movie at your fingertips almost constantly.
At least 1-2 days a week they complain about having to start school but once they get going its usually very enjoyable. There are hard math moments but not every day so I take that as a win. I want them to enjoy learning and see it as a lifestyle not as something they ‘have to do’.
I’ve learned that on days that we have an activity, class, co-op or play date to not try and squeeze in what we would normally have gotten done that day. (Yes I used to try to do that- must mark off to do list!)
Hurring out the door (hurrying anywhere) is so frustrating for all of us so I try to avoid that as much as possible. Which is why homeschool is so beautiful for a family. We live, learn and grow together at our own pace.
I’m sure a year from now I’ll read this blog and find numerous face palm moments at myself because my future self always does that to my past self. But that shows positive growth and maturity right?!