This Classroom Will Now Come To Order!

In spite of my previous post about keeping school in session for the summer, we took a brief break! Vacations are an educational experience of their own kind and we've been on quite a few! The picture above is from our beloved river cabin in northern Idaho.
Now it's time to gain the momentum for school to officially start again. In this post, I offer a few resources and curriculum ideas that I'm particularly excited about:

First, I have a homeschool planner that I ordered from lovetolearn.net. It is an excellent resource! I have used Franklin Covey for years, but finally had to face the fact that it seems meant for people who work outside the home, not for full time homemakers and homeschoolers! I've tried other planners as well, but none really helped me feel as organized as this one. It has a place for weekly personal goals, phone calls, menu lists, church callings, and shopping and errand lists as well as your basic weekly schedule. In this planner (which comes punched for a standard sized three ring binder), I put my science experiment materials needed lists, library book lists, and lists of items needed for history projects. Now I don't need to wander into the school room and locate each separate subject binder to locate items needed for our activities! It's all in one place and if I'm out running errands, I can quickly scan the lists for what we need. Brilliant.

Second, I downloaded yearly goal master pages for each child from donnayoung.org. On each child's page, there is room for each subject, the goals stated for that year, the resources or curriculum to be used and its cost. This has really helped me focus on what I want them to learn for each subject this year, and it has kept me from forgetting some of the great books and games we have on hand.

Third, we're starting Latin this year! Were going to try Prima Latina. I'll let you know how it goes! Have a great time in your homeschool this year!
Until later,
Kristy

Be Legitimate!

My homeschooling affidavit came in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Time to renew our legal permission to homeschool! I'm publishing this post as a reminder to get or stay legal. In most states, this is a very easy task. Make up a letter of intent to homeschool, have it notarized, and send it in to your local school district. A couple of weeks later, the school district will send a certificate of exemption, and you're good to go! Note: This is how it works in my state, your state will differ. For details on how to be legally sanctioned in your state, visit the Home School Legal Defense Association.
Until later,
Kristy

Homeschooling; The Peaceful Path

Every time I tell someone that I homeschool, I almost always hear something like this: "Oh, I could never do that. It would be way too much stress." Or, "I don't know how you do it", "do you still plan on homeschooling now that you're pregnant?" And each time I hear one of these comments, I try to convince whoever I'm talking to that homeschooling is really not that stressful. When I tell people this I'm always met with bewildered expressions that seem to say; "How can that be?"

I think people view homeschooling as a slave-like devotion to the education of your children to the exclusion of all else. I think when other mothers try to envision themselves homeschooling, they imagine a "school day" that begins at 8am and doesn't end until 3 or 4pm, leaving little or no time for housework, baby care, social pursuits, meal preparation, or free time. Visions of a house hopelessly cluttered with science projects, papers, books, and pencils seem to enter their heads, scaring off many moms from the idea.

The reality, based on my own experience and that of other homeschool moms I've met in the community, is that homeschooling is remarkably peaceful.

There is no 7am rush to get everybody fed, dressed, combed, brushed, and out the door with permission slips signed, homework done, and show and tell items accounted for.

There is no worrying about the latest playground drama and how it will affect your child today.

There is no juggling of younger children when you go do your volunteer day in the classroom so that you can stay involved and connected to your child's education.

There are no fund raisers where you need to drive your child around the neighborhood to hawk cookie dough for money that will probably never directly benefit your child.

There is no homework after school is done! I can't imagine having to help with homework after I've put in a full day at home with younger children, housework, meals, etc. No wonder many parents end up yelling at their kids over homework! This is the most stressful part of the day for everybody. Kids are hungry, mom is trying to get dinner on the table, and dad has put in a long day at work. Not to mention the fact that the parents weren't the ones giving the initial instruction, so they have to spend twenty minutes reading the material so that they can explain the concept in a way the child will understand.

I start school at 9am and we're done at noon. I've found this to be enough time to get every subject covered and covered well. As my children grow older, I imagine they will be devoting more time to their academics. However, they will be older, and will require less one on one instruction, and I anticipate moving into more of a guiding, than a teaching role.

Life is stressful no matter what you choose to do. I happen to believe that homeschooling offers less stress about trivial matters. If I'm going to be stressed, I'd rather be stressed about something that matters!

Until later,
Kristy

Testing, testing...

In states where yearly testing isn't required, many home school parents come to the question; "Should we have our child tested?" This is a brief explanation of why we had our first grader tested this year.

First, my husband, though he is supportive of our homeschooling adventure wanted some sort of proof that Keller was really learning all he needed to know. I know he was kind of uneasy when he found out how little time was actually devoted to academics (3 hrs. max). He wondered how Keller could possibly be learning what he needed to in that amount of time when the public schools apparently needed so much more of our child's time to do the same. Also, we would skip a day here or there or sometimes even a week during the holidays, or when someone wasn't feeling well. He kept asking me, "Do you think he's learning everything?" I kept saying "yes", but he kept asking. Finally I asked him if it would make him feel more at ease if I gave Keller a standardized national test. This turned out to be an easy process. I ordered the test from Family Learning Organization, administered the test over about a week, and sent it in for scoring. The scores came back about a week later, and that was the end of "Do you think he's really learning everything? How do you think he compares with other kids his age?" In The Well Trained Mind it is quoted "Test results demand respect." I've found this to be true. I must say, it put my fears to rest, too. Even if the test results had been different, at least we could have seen where we needed to fill in the holes.

The second reason why it seemed like a good idea to have him tested was just to get him used to the experience of taking tests. Sooner or later he will have to take one, and if it's not a new experience, hopefully it will involve less anxiety for him. That's it.

I know there are other ways in which to gauge how much a child knows, but as a tool for capitulating any homeschool naysayers, testing still seems to be the gold standard.

Until later,
Kristy

Guidelines for Homeschool Success

Yes, I know that we've only been at it for a year, but here are some things that I've learned along the way. These are my top tips for a successful homeschool.

1. School happens every day. No ifs ands or buts. I have found time and again that if I slack of for even one day, then I will hear about it for at least a week in the form of whining and complaining. When the kids know that chores and school need to be done before anything else, the complaining magically goes away. Your consistency is absolutely necessary if you want cheerful obedience when it's time to crack the books.

2. Get up before your kids! If I make it a point to get up before my kids, I'm so much more ahead. I can get the dishes unloaded and a load of laundry put in and be showered before I need to respond to requests for matching pants, and new hair do's.

3. Be cheerful. If you approach school with a smile on your face and some excitement in your voice, it will be contagious. If you get to the school room use a bored voice and a "we have to get this done" attitude, once again, your kids will catch that attitude too. Come to school as if it's an adventure (which it is), and you'll have excited kids, ready to learn.

4. Choose good materials. It's possible to wrestle an education out of black and white science books from the 1960's that you found at a garage sale, but I prefer to use the exciting homeschool materials that are being produced today. The majority of these are excellent teaching tools with little or no preparation required from the mom. Using the most excellent teaching materials you can afford makes a huge difference in you child's learning. If a program or curriculum isn't working for you, SWITCH IT! That's the beauty of homeschooling, the freedom to choose what is best for your children and you!

5. Throw in some flair now and then. One week this year, the kids were lagging and seemed really bored. In a moment of desperation, I thought up "the school candle". I lit the school candle whenever we started school and blew it out when we were done. I don't know why, but the kids absolutely loved this. Sometimes, my son gets disenchanted with one of his subjects. I find that taking a few days and playing math games instead of doing his Singapore workbook will infuse some life into the subject. When he got bored with writing and spelling, I taught him a few cursive letters and he ate it up! Try to make things fresh every now and then. Sometimes all it takes is lighting a candle!

Happy homeschooling,
Kristy

Happy homeschooling,
Kristy

In Favor of Schooling Through the Summer!

It is so tempting to break for the summer like everyone else! Here, a few reasons why you might want to rethink taking an entire summer siesta.
First and most obvious; kids will forget much less if they continue to work through the summer. I have heard others say that the entire first third of the math books deal with math from the previous year so as to bring kids up to speed from the long summer mental sabbatical. It just doesn't make sense to not keep up! It seems to me that if you go on through the summer, your kids will be that much more ahead in their academics.
Second, you don't have to struggle through that difficult first month or so of school in the fall when it seems the kids brains are still asleep and their academic habits have been forgotten. I always notice that when we take a break for the holidays or some other reason, even if it's just for a week, it takes twice the effort to get everybody going again! If they're already used to schoolwork then you can continue seamlessly into the next school year.
Third, it's fun! By about the third day of summer, kids are bored anyway. Why not continue school with it's science experiments and history projects, math games and journal writing? I have found so far that if I keep it fun and loose and have a good attitude myself, my kids get a kick out of learning! Summer is a great time for all those big projects or educational field trips or day trips that you never seem to get to in the colder busier months of the year. Why not take the kids to an abandoned field and let them do an archaeology dig? Have them set up a small business selling things to learn about money and how to run a business-it could even be something as simple as a table and chairs and a pitcher of lemonade to sell.
Summer is a great time of year. Time for daydreaming, swimming, playing with friends, and time for learning! Make sure you allow enough time for the fun things of summer and add a couple of educational projects and your kids won't complain about summer school!
Until later,
Kristy

Social Education

I believe that kids have a definite social need. Sometimes as homeschoolers, we focus so heavily on the academic part of homeschooling that we leave little time or energy for cultivating our children's social skills. These social skills are just as important. Why is it important? A person who lacks social finesse as an adult will be hobbled in their business associations or career. They will probably have a hard time finding a wife/husband. They will lack the comfort and happiness that having a set of close friends brings. Many times I have met or observed someone who seems to have all the book smarts in the world but absolutely no social grace. It is almost painful to watch. As human beings we must come in contact with other people, and there are certain rules you have to know for getting along with others. As parents it is our responsibility to teach our children how to be successful social beings. The keys to opening the door to a satisfying social life are good manners.
In this day and age I think the word "manners" has become a synonym for stuffy, antiquated knowledge of which fork to use at a twelve course dinner. This is not what manners are. Manners are thinking about others and what would be the nicest for them. The absolute most important area in which to have manners is conversation. Talking with each other is the way we get to know each other. If you cannot speak to another person without offending or annoying or boring, you will not get very far in business, with friends, or even with family. For an intense study of manners in conversation, I would recommend reading a book on manners with a large section on conversation. Letitia Baldridges Guide to a Great Social Life is a good one, though out of print, I believe. For now just a couple of hints that I've learned the hard way:
First: Think before you speak! In some cases think three times before you speak. By doing this you will avoid embarrassing yourself or others by saying something stupid, unkind, insensitive, or too personal. Always think of the effect your words will have on the group or the person!
Second: A good conversationalist will be genuinely interested in the other person and ask questions about his/her interests. There will be give and take. Neither party should be doing all the talking.
Third: If you know that others in the room have different political or religious views, avoid these subjects. There are so many other topics of conversation that are interesting.

Start with these tips and teach your kids to do the same. You will be giving them a valuable asset.
We threw a last minute Halloween party for the kids on Halloween. We had about sixteen kids come! It is so good for kids to learn how to behave in social settings! Plan for socail activities with your kids. Budget your time for it. It's just as important as Math!

A Word About Homeschooling and Housework

One of the major roadblocks for families wanting to homeschool is "What about housework?" It was a major concern for me, too. While in the research faze of homeschooling, I think I read about every book out there on homeschooling. Each one seemed to give the impression that housework would suffer. It seemed that homeschooling and keeping a clean home just didn't mix. Alas.

This was discouraging to me because I'm a person who needs to have a clean house to be happy. That doesn't necessarily mean that my house is clean all the time. But when it isn't, I feel irritable, short on patience, and inadequate. I know that many people out there feel the same way, and so, a few tips on keeping house while homeschooling.

First, establish a system in which the children are helping out! I cannot overstate this. Children need to work. They need to feel that they are contributing to the family and the home. They need to be trained in basic cleaning skills so that when they grow up, marry and start their own families, they will not be a burden on their spouse and children. I've struggled for years to find a way of getting kids to help that made sense. Until recently, that "system" was just asking and nagging them into it. We tried a couple of chart systems with limited success. I finally found a plan that works for us. It's called Accountable Kids. It's based on the law of the harvest; "you reap what you sow". If they don't complete their chores, they don't recieve basic privileges like playing with friends. It puts the responsibility on them, not the parent. So far, it works for us. Find one that works for you. Make a list of every chore that your kids need to do every day. Get them doing these chores for about a week. Then add weekly chores that are bigger for which they can be paid. Consistency is key here. When kids are doing chores on a daily basis, it's like magic! I can't even tell you how wonderful it is to have the dishes done, the beds made, and bedrooms remaining clean with no labor on my part. When kids are putting away all the toys and paraphernalia that they've dragged out every day, it's astonishing to see how much easier it is to do the more thorough cleaning like mopping, etc.

Second, but equally important; get yourself on a system! For the last five years or so, I've been doing all my laundry on one day. That's about eight loads washed, dried, folded and put away in one day. I tried keeping up with this system while homeschooling and you know what happened? We wound up with mountain of laundry as high as myself and no time to do it. What went wrong? Well, with homeschooling, everty day was pegged for school and basic picking up type cleaning and the day off (Saturday) was supposed to be for deep cleaning and laundry. But instead, it turned out to be the only day that I have to run errands (alone) and it is also the day that two of my kids play soccer. Obviously, laundry was not getting done. Finally my husband took the kids all day one Saturday and I conquered the mountain. The week after that I changed the system to doing one or two loads of laundry a day. Problem solved. Lesson to be learned: If something is not getting done, there is a problem with the system. Rework the way you are doing things until you find a way that works for you. I can email or post my housework schedule for anyone who is seeking help.

Good luck on your homeschooling adventure. Remember that the home still needs to be run. Find a schedule and routine that helps you get things done, and don't overwork yourself. Forgive yourself of shortcomings as you would others. It may not be fun to scrub toilets and iron shirts, but there is satisfaction to be had in knowing that the home is a nice place to be, a refuge from the outside influences and stresses of the world. Until later,

Kristy

Curriculum Overhaul!

Okay first, I know it's been a long time since I last wrote. This is why. There began to be a lot of eye rolling from Keller each day while we homeschooled. It seemed that every correction I tried to make was met with a tantrum or a huge sigh. When it was time to move on to a different subject I got more rolled eyes and sighing. After a couple of days of this I started thinking to myself "This is not what I set out to do. I didn't start this so that my kids would come to hate learning! Something is wrong." So I put myself on a mission to make homeschooling fun!
We had been doing Saxon math. I'm sure that Saxon is a great math program for many homeschoolers. It just seemed to be too slow and boring for Keller. As a matter of fact, my four year old daughter Ella was doing the assignments right along with him with no problem. I had to erase everything that I'd heard about Saxon and start fresh. I decided to try Singapore Math. The price was reasonable and so I figured that if it didn't work not too much money would be lost (unlike with Saxon). This simple change worked like a charm for math.
Next, I needed to mend our writing program. I had been writing a scripture verse on our whiteboard and having him copy it. This was taking twenty minutes and a lot of cajoling to get him to finish it. Once again I researched different ways to teach basic writing skills. I heard about getting kids into journaling. I told Kell that we would be making a journal that someday his children and grandchildren would read, and they would be able to read about his life someday. He said "Can we start RIGHT NOW!" Case closed.
Reading had become a major chore as well. I was having him work on the Phonics Pathways book every day for about 20 minutes. The solution was so obvious I'm almost embarrassed to write it. All I had to do was find a book on his level that he wanted to read. This turned out to be the Frog and Toad books. He's flying through them and his reading is amazing. When we were working on straight phonics I was amazed at the seemingly very simple words he was tripping over. I think he was just bored and wanted a story! It took me way too long to figure that one out.
Right about the time I debugged these subjects, I finally implemented the long awaited history and science lessons. These are a huge hit and the kids look forward to these subjects every day! About a week ago Keller said to me, "I like doing this better than going to school. At school we only got to do a few seconds of math." Hooray! He's enjoying it and loving learning. That was the goal. It is so fun to hear my kids talk about the things that we've been learning together. I'm so glad I'm able to hear their insights and connections they make from the things we've studied. We are blessed and so happy to be homeschooling! Until later,
Kristy

Welcome to my blog. My name is Kristy and I homeschool my son, Keller 6 yrs., my daughter, Ella, 4 yrs., and I have a third child, Mary, who is 5 months. My purpose for writing this blog is to encourage and invite other mothers to join me in homeschooling their own children. There is nothing more fun! Learning is delicious to me. I want to pass that on to my kids.
I can recall so many times in my own education in the public school system being bored with learning. It wasn't until after my school career ended that my real education began! I homeschool because I believe that children are best educated at home by "a loving mother teacher." I borrowed that phrase from Diane Hopkins, the founder of lovetolearn.net in her booklet "I Love Homeschooling!"
Though I am a newbie at homeschooling I want to encourage anyone who has the slightest interest in homeschooling. Do it! You will not be sorry. For those who think they are unqualified, think about this: you have been educating your child since birth! Who taught him to walk? Talk? Feed himself? You are your child's best teacher. Whether you realize it or not, he is looking to you first. He is watching what you say and do. He sees you when you're stressed and frazzled and he watches how you act during such moments. He takes these actions for his own, good or bad. His attitudes, beliefs, and feelings are shaped by the things you do and the emotional climate you set in your home. Homeschooling will strengthen everyone in the family, including you! I've been struck lately with how much more patient I am since we began homeschooling. Since I know I am the main example my children see during the day, I think twice when tempted to lose my cool. When I was young, one of my friends mother's had this written on her kitchen wall: "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" How true this is! Mothers, let's stay in control of our own selves!
I feel like I'd better state that I am a member of the LDS church. I believe in God and Jesus Christ. I believe that God has a plan for each and every one of us and that each soul has worth in God's eyes. These beliefs and attitudes will be apparent throughout my blog. It is who I am.
I reach out with love and support to anyone of any faith who desires to begin this great adventure of educating your children at home. I'm excited to begin this blog and hopefully entice someone out there to try it and to also sprinkle a little spice and humor for those who are already on the homeschool path. Until later,

Kristy