Summer School

We do school year round in our house.  But our summer schedule is much more relaxed then during the colder months of the year.  In the summer, we have a basic schedule that we are free to disregard if we decide to spend a day outside in the sun instead.  We sleep in a little longer, stay up a little later, etc.  The only thing set in stone during the summer is morning devotional.

The day starts when everyone is up.  At the latest, I let the girls sleep until 10AM, but we're usually up around 8AM.  We get breakfast and wake-up enough to do our summer devotional routine.

Summer devotional starts with prayer and a hymn.  Then I read from the scriptures to the girls for 10 minutes.  Next we do our memorization boxes.  Finally, we read from our movie book we're currently working on.  That is the only part set in stone.  From our movie book, depending on how we're feeling, we'll typically read anywhere from 10-45 minutes.

The rest of the schedule changes depending on the day, but follows this general format.

The older girls that can read do personal scripture study and from literature I have assigned them for about an hour, while the younger ones spend time reading scripture stories and picture books with me.  If we already have our math curriculum for the next year, the girls do three lessons a week so they don't lose what they've already learned and have to relearn it in the fall.

We also like to do unit studies during the summer that coincide with fieldtrips we're planning or subjects the girls want to study.  We've already done a Japan unit study this summer (I'll post about that later) and plan on an art one next.

When we decide we're done with school for the day, we work together to get chores done quickly and have lunch around noon.  Then we have the rest of the day to pursue whatever perks our interest that day.  Swimming, walks, water parks, arts & crafts, etc. 

After getting the idea from another homeschooling mom in the community, we plan to also try to let the girls have more say in our daily activities this summer.  At the beginning of devotional each day, after prayer, we want to let the girls each pick something they really want to do.  We will try our best to work it in that day or week.

K12 Groove

So, our K12 language arts programs for the girls arrived last Monday and we were able to start class on Tuesday.

Rose is in the second grade and her language arts program is very straight forward. It is also very time consuming for me, as I have to be with her for every second of her lesson. It is a similar situation with her math – simple and straightforward, but I have to sit next to her and do it all with her. In total, her lessons take one and a half to three hours each day (depending on her attitude), not counting preparation time.

Rebekah’s in the fifth grade and her lessons are much more involved, taking a lot more preparation time. Thankfully, she is able to do several of her lessons, including math, on her own with my just checking over her work and answering the occasional question. This is good for two reasons. One, it means she can be completing part of her lessons on her own while I work with Rose. Secondly, it enables her to work at a faster rate. This is especially good because she is repeating 4th grade language arts. So she has double lessons in LA everyday so that she can start 5th grade LA in February and be caught up by the end of the school year.

I spend each evening with their books, reading through the lesson plans online, gathering materials, writing out Rebekah’s assignments to do on her own, and any other prep work that needs to be completed.

Our daily schedule is pretty straight forward. We get up early and have breakfast, then get dressed and start chores. At 8:30am, whether chores are done or not, we start school. When we’re finished (usually before lunch), the girls finish their chores and then have free time.

Now that we’ve had a week to get our language arts and math schedules down, we are ordering our science curriculums and will add them on when they arrive. I hope to add on history, art, Mandarin and some sort of sports later in the year.

Husbands & Homeschooling

Today was a good and bad day.

Good because the girls and I maintained our morning schedule. I’m up at 5 and have an hour to myself. The daughter helping with breakfast is up at 6, the rest of the kids are up at 6:30. We’re done eating and dressed by 7, when we start our chores. Done with chores by 9, then read scriptures for 15 minutes and personal reading for 30 (morning reading is done silently to ourselves). All of this is done before Daddy gets home from work (he currently works 3:30 – 9:30AM).

Then Daddy comes home and usually causes a ruckus – this is why we need to be done before he gets home, because nothing gets done after.

I got very frustrated with him tonight when we were supposed to be doing our family reading time just before bed. I was reading chapter four of Charlotte’s Web and the older girls were listening attentively until Daddy decided to start goofing off… So we didn’t finish the chapter. After the girls were sent to bed, I kind of laid into him about needing to set an example for the children and that reading time is serious as it’s one of the homeschooling activities.

Will see how things go tonight.

Happy Days!

Today was an excellent day in the course of establishing our daily routine! Everyone got up on time, ate quickly, got to work on chores and we were done by 9am! I was so happy with the girls. After the chores were done, we read scriptures for 15 minutes and then whatever we wanted for a half hour.

Tonight, I read chapters two and three of Charlotte’s Web aloud to the family. Rebekah and Rose were attentive, but Rachel was being kind of a pain. Not sure what I can do to get a 2-year-old to be quiet during reading time at night. Will have to work on that. Robin (7 months) kept squealing during reading time, but it was nice to know she felt involved. After I finished, Dad read Mosiah 23 from the Book of Mormon aloud to the family. Then it was time for family prayer and bed.

If we are able to follow the morning and bedtime routine everyday this week, then I will add journals (for penmanship) to the routine next week.

Tentative Subject Schedule Outline

Daily Activities

• Personal reading time silent
• Personal reading time aloud
• Scripture reading time aloud
• Family reading time aloud
• Family scripture reading time aloud
• Flash cards – alphabet, colors, counting, states, capitals, countries, presidents, prophets, multiplication, subtraction, addition, division, body parts, etc.
• Math
• Journals
• Life skills - chores, cooking, etc.
• Physical education - play outside, take a walk, bike ride, etc.

Weekly Activities

• Science 2x
• Fieldtrip 1x
• Game & Puzzle Afternoon 1x
• Spelling test 1x
• Research paper or book report 1x – Rebekah only
• Arts & Crafts 2x
• Creative Writing 2x
• Library 1x

Monthly Activities

• Social Studies Project 2x
• Health education 1x

Progress Is Being Made

Yay! The girls got all their chores done in two hours today! Happy days! Thus we were able to go to the library. Our library is being renovated, so harder to find things right now. But the girls were able to find books for their personal reading in the morning and I got a copy of Charlotte’s Web to read aloud as a family at night. I read it to Rebekah when she was a baby, but have not read it to any of the others. And of course, my husband has never read it. The girls got me to promise that any books we read that have movies made; we will have a family movie night and watch it when we get done with the book.

I’m at a loss for what to do about a curriculum. We got very lucky and were able to get the Saxon math programs we needed for dirt cheap from other homeschoolers that were done with them. But I haven’t had any luck with anything else. I’ve found several curriculums that I would love to try, but they’re too expensive, especially with my husband not having a full-time job yet (wonderful economy). For now, I think the best course is to use the internet to provide science lessons and experiments for us to all do together, work with the Saxon math, and then read various books from the library on other topics. Some of the books I’ll have the girls do oral reports on to the family and others write reports. Our local library has kits that have lots of picture books on a particular subject. I think we might get one of those each week this summer and check out some harder books for Rebekah on the same subject. For penmanship, I am thinking of journal and creative writing. The creative writing, I’d fill a jar with various ideas or themes. Have the girls draw one and them give them a specific amount of time to write on the subject.

Success & Failure

Today was a good day for Rebekah, not so much for Rose. It took Rebekah and me less than three hours to get our chores done, and tomorrow will be even better. Rose fought me all day and never finished her chores. Here is how I have decided to handle her stubbornness. When it comes to the public rooms of the house (kitchen, dining room, living room, hallway and bathroom) – we will clean together and it will be done each day. Chores that involve their bedrooms, I leave to them to do. If they do their chores, they get privileges. If they don’t, they don’t. In July, when we start lessons, we will stop cleaning at 9AM every morning whether done or not. If they’re not done, they will have to complete them after lessons for the day before they can play, watch TV, play computer, go outside, etc. Fighting with Rose doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Maybe if she sees her sister getting to play while she’s stuck with nothing to do she’ll start doing them without fighting me.

Day Two

Today was a heck of a day on the homeschooling front.

First, we over slept (I’m supposed to get up at 5, the daughter helping w/ breakfast at 6, and everyone else at 6:30). We finally rolled out of bed closer to 9am. I blame it on the activities yesterday. We were wiped.

So we finally got out of bed and had a late breakfast of pancakes and bacon, followed by 45 minutes of reading to ourselves. Fifteen minutes are dedicated to personal scripture study and the remaining half hour is the person’s choice. I read some more of Guide to Homeschooling and Atlas Shrugged, Rebekah worked on a Charlie Bone mystery and Rose read several picture books from the library. Rachel took turns in everyone's lap, having them read some of their book out loud to her. It was a nice, relaxing time.

Then we got started on our house cleaning routine. We got a lot further than yesterday and would have finished but had to stop to get ready for Rebekah & Rose’s ballet recital dress rehearsal. So at 3:30pm, we stopped working and the girls got costumes and make-up on. Rachel & Robin stayed at home with daddy while I took Rebekah & Rose to rehearsal. We were there for almost four hours! I was so glad when it was finally over. But by the time we got home, ate something and got the girls to bed, it was 10pm. So I suspect we’ll have another slow day tomorrow that will also end early for their recital. Thankfully, ballet is all over for the summer and we can get down to business after that.

One of Dad’s uncles wrote me an e-mail today and suggested a book for learning how to teach. It’s a great resource and I’m so glad he reminded me of it. Teaching, No Greater Call is a book published by the LDS church primarily for Sunday school teachers, but it has principles that are true for the teaching of all subjects. It’s available in its entirety online for free and a wonderful resource I recommend to all.

First Day of Homeschooling

For our first official day of homeschooling, it was a holiday. LOL

But I wasn’t planning on lessons for the first month of homeschooling, so it’s okay. For this first month, we are going to work on establishing a house cleaning routine in the morning. First, we go room by room and clean all the public rooms together. Then the girls clean their bedroom and I clean mine. I would like us to develop a good rhythm so that we can have all the basic housekeeping done by 9AM each morning. Then we’ll be ready to start our lessons for the day.

Obviously, this is going to take some practice. As such, I was not surprised that we did not finish before 9AM today. But the girls were very good about pulling their weight and I’m sure they’ll get better with practice. But the rooms that we did clean look very nice, which does this mother’s heart good. I think the girls enjoy cleaning together better than being given an assignment to do on their own. This way we can talk, sing and laugh as we go.

After cleaning, I did some cooking and then we went on a picnic for Memorial Day. For our ‘lesson’, we went to the local veteran’s memorial. I don’t think we’ve ever taken the girls to one since they became old enough to understand what they’re for. It gave their dad and me a chance to discuss with them those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. They wanted to know if their Uncle Bobby, a marine, had a plaque somewhere. It’s good to see them relating what they’ve been shown to their own lives; so we explained to them that he doesn’t but that doesn’t mean his service has been worth any less.