A Glimpse Into What our Homeschool Looks Like This Year

     Well, we have been back to school a few weeks now. We are getting into the groove as much as we can, considering all that is going on. Before we started school last month, I made a very detailed schedule. It included everything the four loves and myself would do from the time we woke up until the time we went to bed at night. My husband was the only one not included in the schedule, since his business hours are so unpredictable.
     I was so excited! Things looked so great and doable on paper. What I did not take into account was a very distractable 7 year old that can't seem to get his work completed within my 20 minute slots that I have allotted for each subject.  He gets the work completed eventually and does a great job, but oh my! Plus, some of the ways I had things ordered were not working well for him.
     Also, my tiny tot has taken this new schedule as a challenge and decided to work on rearranging and consolidating his naptimes... just for me. He is NOT following my schedule. I mean, come on, can't the child read?! He is part of a homeschool family after all. He's supposed to have his first dissertation written by the end of next year! Ha! Ha!
     I also had activities lined up for my two year old. I was quickly reminded, that with an attention span of two minutes, that I would have to have approximately 90 interesting activities lined up for her to stay occupied and out of trouble (sigh). Plus, with four kids, there are often appointments popping up.
     So, the first week was pretty rocky. The second week wasn't much better. Then I decided to change my schedule up a bit to better fit our family. It will probably change a few more times in the next month or so, but that's okay. We will get it right eventually.
     My favorite thing about the schedule is that I can make sure I consistently have time set aside for quiet time. I have time in the mornings to spend reading the Bible and praying. I get to have the calm so that I am more equipped to handle the storm that will begin soon enough each day. I have also included a time for Silas to have a quiet time to read his Bible and pray. I still have to help him with some of the words and comprehension. (He can remember everything I read to him, but has a difficult time comprehending what he just read sometimes.) I also have him keeping a prayer journal. I write the date and the passage for him to read, and if he has anything he wants to pray for, he writes it down. Then he prays. One of his prayer entries was that God would help him to read his Bible everyday. I love how his reading his Bible has made him want to read it more! I hope and pray that he develops this habit early and sticks with it always.
     After that, school begins. Silas is using My Father's World this year. It is a very hand's on curriculum that combines the best of the Classical method, the Charlotte Mason method, and unit studies. It covers his Bible, history, read-alouds, and science. We are doing Adventures in My Father's World, which focuses on U.S. history. We used this last year too, but did not finish it due to the fact that I had a newborn at the beginning of the year and that he was, for the most part, sick for about seven months. So, we just made sure to get math and reading completed. We were about half way through when we finished up our school year, so  this year, we will be able to take our time and really learn our history and geography. I posted the picture a while ago, but here it is again.

     

     We are also supplementing Camden's reading curriculum with My Father's World, for the Bible portion. There is a Bible lesson that corresponds with each letter of the alphabet.

     For reading and spelling, I have chosen All About Reading and All About Spelling. Silas is dyslexic, so he learns better using the Orton-Gillingham method. This method uses a multi-sensory approach to learning. I have been looking for a good AFFORDABLE curriculum that taught this way for a while. When I found this, I was so excited, but on the fence since what I was already using was pretty good. I showed it to my sister-in-law, who is more knowledgeable on the subject than I am, and she read up on it and confirmed that it was a good choice. I ordered it soon after, and am so glad I did! It is working well for us. I also bought the preschool version for Camden, my pre-kindergartener, who really likes it. Bliss, my two-year-old, follows along and gets what she can out of it too. If Camden enjoys it, it is good. Trust me! Here is Silas'.

 

And here is Camden's. He loves Ziggy Zebra!

  



     For math, we are using Right Start Mathematics. It also uses a multi-sensory approach, and really teaches children to thoroughly understand how to problem-solve. It is such a strong curriculum that God definitely had a hand in leading me to. I think it is amazing that God even helps me find the curricula I need for my precious little learners. Friends, God cares about every detail of our lives!

 

     I hope to do some of  level A with Camden. He excels in this area, but we will probably wait until we get better into the swing of things.



 

     All of these are very teacher intensive. I know that with four kids, there are several good curricula that doesn't require near as much of my participation, but I feel that this is what is best for my little ones. I will say that they all require minimal to no prep, so that is a bonus. I am always prayerful in these decisions, and am thankful (but not surprised) in God's faithfulness to deliver. 



     We are also attending Homegrown Kids of Conway, a home-school co-op that meets once per week. It has a large selection of enrichment classes to choose from. Silas is taking art, music, plant science, and a little herbalist class. It just started up, but I am so impressed. It is fantastic! We are also going to Lego club and History Club that meets once per month. 4-H also meets once per month, which is a club that I highly recommend. It has something for every personality type. If you add Church, soccer, harmonica lessons, and therapy twice a week for my middles, you see that we are a little busy. I did not realize until I just wrote it all down. Oh my!

     Homeschooling, therapy, and the extra activities seem like a lot sometimes, but it is so worth it to see my babies grow and get what they need and quench their hunger for learning. I am glad though, that besides Church and soccer (that only lasts a couple months), everything else takes place during a normal "school" day (albeit long day). So, we can spend evenings resting and hanging out. I would rather have one of these to cut down on travel time though.

     Even though this is my fourth year to homeschool, I still feel pretty new at it. Don't get me wrong. I have learned a ton, and feel like I am now at a place that I could help other new homeschoolers quite a bit. I also know, however, there is much more to learn that, for the most part, will just have to come with trial-and-error and experience. I think joining co-op this year will give me the opportunity to learn from other more seasoned homeschool moms as well.