August 5, 2015

the thing about homeschooling

Here's the thing about homeschooling: It doesn't have to look like a certain THING. It doesn't like to look like what everyone else is doing. It doesn't even have to look the same everyday.

Here's the real thing about homeschooling: it's a process. A learning process.

For me and for the kids.

On Sunday I proudly posted this photo to social media:


I couldn't WAIT for school to start so we could start learning EVERYTHING there ever was to learn!!!

Here's the thing about homeschooling: you can't do EVERYTHING. Actually.

I had my whole week planned out. All the things we would learn. All the things we would do!

And then school actually started.

Day one: Everything went exactly according to plan! Well, except for we didn't get history done. Or extra reading. Or journaling.

Day two: We are right on track! Only, no Spanish. Or extra reading. Or journaling...

Day three: Ok, this is just silly. Day three... well, there isn't really a day three. Mm'k?

The thing about homeschooling is you need to be flexible. You need to be able to adjust. You need to be able to say, "We're actually doing enough reading in everything else. We don't have to do extra reading." And, "Maybe we'll get journaling later once we're in our groove. And that's OK."

This is what my vision for our first week was:


Feel free to zoom in and snicker. 

A full day plus swimming, probably not ever going to happen. A full day of school plus a service project*? Yeah right! 

I'm so silly. 

So I reworked my planning sheet, now that we've done a few days. I think it's a little more reasonable, but I bet it will change again. And that's OK. 

(*I plan on writing about this soon. We are planning a service project to do every Wednesday. Our goal this school year is to be intentional about showing love and meeting practical needs. That's kind of my theme for the year.)


I think that we can do a little bit in the afternoons on Wednesday. Like right now the kids are outside eating ice cream sandwiches... that's something...

Several people commented on my cool planning page and asked where I got it or how I made it. I did make it. I used Apple Pages. It was super simple. This is what it looks like:

You're welcome to download it and use it, although probably your homeschooling doesn't look like my homeschooling. And that's OK. If someone really wanted this, I would be happy to edit it to make it more usable for the masses. Comment if you're interested (make sure to leave an email address).

A few things about the changes that you might notice:

-Math is now everyday. We got to Tuesday and Millie begged to do more math. I might be raising little math nerds. Like me.

-Science is now everyday also. Sam is obsessed with space/rockets/etc right now so I figure I might as well do something he might listen to, even if I don't do "school" with him.

-FIAR is gone. I made the sad, sad decision to give up Five in a Row. I expected us to love it, I loved the concept, we all love books and reading... but somehow we just don't love it. Millie wants more (She begs for Express Readers and Math the most), and Sam isn't into it. He loses interest in the book after 2 or 3 times. As sad as I am about it - it's just not for us. It was a great thing this last year, and I'm glad we explored it. I am happy that another missionary mama in Bolivia was interested in it for her son, so I am passing the blessing along and giving it all to them.

Here's the thing about homeschooling: it is one of the most amazing things I've ever done with my kids. I learn SO MUCH. About the subjects, about my kids, about myself. Homeschooling is awesome and hard and fun and frustrating and totally worth every moment.

I heart homeschooling!

5 comments:

Crystal Eno said...

You know I would like to try this. Is there a document that I could do my own editing on?

Cas said...

Crystal, the file was made in Apple Pages, do you have Apple Pages?

Friend said...

Good for you for learning quickly to go with what works for YOUR children and YOUR family! You are an awesome homeschool mom!

Angela said...

Oh, I saw your post about scheduling on the FB page...would love it if you wouldn't mind sending me an editable copy (AngelaA.DPT@gmail.com). Nice job!

Mellissa said...

Now-a-days, students want to learn something beyond text-books prescribed according to the school curriculum, so it cannot be denied that the concept of ‘literacy’ has changed with the passage of time. It has actually helped in the growth of online education system that helps spreading knowledge in a better way.

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