Innovation!

This past week, I have been sick. Not like a little sniffle, cough, feeling yuck sick... I have been SICK. Like, can't move from the bed, fever, terrible aches pains and ailments, I think I am going to die, SICK. While this has been happening, not a whole lot of anything else has been happening.. like school work.
 While I am not totally feeling better, I am on the mend. So, today, I made packets. A varied amount of assignments for each child, divided into one week at a time. So far I have 4 weeks done. I slip them into their boxes Sunday night and they are set for the week. Monday- we plan and do group work, then Tuesday -Thursday is individual time with me with each child, then Friday is group work again. I think this will be great!

Anyone Else?

I think the biggest struggle I have had over the past 2 years is dealing with the fact that I have to tote my kidos with me all the time. church functions, lunches out with friends, meetings, they are always there. I get a bit of anxiety from it all at times, because I am constantly dealing with 4 children while maintaining my adult duties. Anyone else have a hard time coping with this all? So far, I have found that if I come prepared with toys, activities and reading the children stay pretty occupied. I also make sure that I get out and about by myself here and there throughout the week to keep my sanity!

Step Back

This being only my 2nd year homeschooing, I still question myself, more than I would like. I also find that I have to prove myself to anyone who questions or inquires about my decision to homeschool. It is easy to try and keep with public school standards. Some examples are : reading levels, math levels, hand writing abilities and so on. I find myself from time to time worrying if everyone is where they should be for their grade level. Then I take a step back. I started homeschooling so my children could learn at their own pace. There are some things they will excel quickly in and some things they will struggle with. It is all a process and why we do the things we do.

Year Round

We are trying a year round schedule this year. I am interested in seeing how it works for our family. The beauty of making your own schedule is just divine!

Here is a glance of my plan:

January, February, March-  School schedule

April- School Break- Except for family projects

May, June, July- School schedule

August-School Break- Except family projects

September, October, November- School schedule

December- School Break - Except family projects.


I don't know about you, but we burn out after a while and our school schedule slacks a bit, and we dwindle off into the land of chaos. I am thinking with a month break here and there, it will help us and give us time to rejuvenate.

Multiple Children

One of the largest obstacles I have found in homeschooling, is trying to manage teaching three different children -three different levels of varied subjects. I was always running, answering 20 million questions at one time and burnt out very quickly. It took me about a year to realize... I need to schedule differently.

We started making a weekly schedule for about everything. From cleaning to one on one time for learning, it works great!!! Mondays- we have combined work, group projects and planning  Tuesdays- My middle boy has one on one time with me   Wednesday -- the youngest boy works with me  Thursday-- My eldest boy works with me   Friday is a combined day again.  I fill their cubbies with work for the week, and when I am working with someone else, the others work on their other projects or do computer work.

It works like a charm!!

Fun Stuff!

Sometimes, you just need to laugh about your life and how others view you.

Character

The past few weeks, I have had a strong impression that we need to be focusing on character. This is the beauty of homeschooling. Along side math, spelling and science, we can teach them and learn together to be good people.  I came across Michelle Duggar's Character Qualities chart. I think we are going to start this in September. I love this! There are 49 qualities. With each quality the opposite of the quality is listed.