When do I clean: Changing Perception

I try to never sound like an expert in homeschooling or home keeping. Woefully, I am neither. A friend of mine once said, “I could never do all you do.” My response, “Don’t worry, I can’t either.” I have years of homeschooling under my belt along with years of curriculum evaluations, curriculum writing, article writing, planning, and teaching. Yet, every year is a new adventure. For that I am thankful as it would be quite dreadful if the school year were routine. I also have years of home keeping experience but I must confess the years have not made me … Continue reading →

Packing it all in the day

One of the first questions a new homeschooler asks is how to pack in all the subjects plus extracurricular items and activities in the school year. It can feel overwhelming to plan out all the subjects for one child much less several. However, once you take a deep breath and plan out each one individually you will find it becomes easier. The more subjects you can share between your children the easier time you will have as well. Here is an example of my middle school student’s outline of the year. The outline is sparse but it is the skeleton … Continue reading →

Scheduling Your First Grader

My child will be entering first grade this year. I love the first few years of elementary school. The kid in me loves the stickers, the hands on activities and the fun. However, it is a time for developing a basic foundation for serious learning. It is most likely the first year your student will have a schedule to follow and more courses on her plate. Here is an example of my first grader’s schedule. I am not an expert but sometimes it is helpful to see someone else’s basic outline. I know I have gleamed quite a bit from … Continue reading →

The Well Planned Day: A Planner for Homeschoolers

How do you resist a planner called The Well Planned Day? If there is anything I need in my homeschool it is a well planned day. I may not be the most organized person. I may have scraps of paper on my desk with notes to myself scrawled all over. I may lose a pen a day. Yet, when it comes to homeschool planning I may actually fool you into thinking I am one of those homeschoolers who has in the bag. Yes, I appear to have it together and if I stick to my planner I may actually pull … Continue reading →

Sabbeth Week Schooling Schedule

Normally I schedule my homeschool in nine week intervals consisting of three terms. I have been happy with that set up and have adjusted as necessary as I do not hold fast to the vacation days I plan. I try to make room for unexpected events, sickness, burn out days, sunny days, or whatever may happen in my little world. I also take summers off to give myself and my kids a break. I have considered not taking summers off but in nine years it has yet to happen. While, I have been content with my three term schedule I … Continue reading →

Homeschool Letter of Intent

It is time again to send out letters of intent to homeschool to the superintendent in your local school districts. Not every state requires a letter of intent so you must check your state laws if this coming fall will be your first year homeschooling. The letter of intent seems daunting to many first time homeschoolers. Questions range from what should be included to how to format the letter. The letter of intent is the first step to filing legal paperwork regarding your homeschooling choice. What is a letter of intent? Simply, the letter of intent is exactly how it … Continue reading →

Creating and Documenting Your Own Learning Objectives

If you want to create goals for your child’s education and document her progress, creating learning objectives for your child is a good place to begin. Where do you find learning objectives? You can find learning objectives for schooled children on each individual state’s Office of Public Instruction or Education. These learning objectives are generally available in packages that focus on one aspect of the curriculum, such as science. You can look through the package to find the grade level your child is at, then you can determine whether or not he is meeting those grade-level expectations. If you want … Continue reading →

Why Use Learning Objectives in a Home School?

Yesterday I defined the learning objective. Today we’ll talk a little bit about why you might use a learning objective. Learning objectives might seem a little academic, but they can be useful tools for parents and children. Look at the learning objectives over many grade levels to get a sense of what conventionally-schooled children are learning and when. For some subjects, the learning objectives can seem quite arbitrary. Some subjects like writing have a logical sequence of learning, while others like social studies are much more arbitrary. It doesn’t particularly matter what year a student learns about early twentieth century … Continue reading →

What is a Learning Objective?

If you’re new to homelearning, you may wonder how homeschoolers gauge their children’s progress as they move through different grade levels. While some families unschool and do not follow external learning objectives, other families prefer to follow a curriculum. This is where learning objectives come in. A learning objective is one small part of a much broader curriculum. Centralized educational programs have a curriculum that is broken down grade by grade. Within each grade, there are topics that connect with each other. These are subjects. Subjects like science, literature, social studies, and mathematics are taught as distinct subjects and are … Continue reading →

Coming to an Understanding of Yourself as a Learner

As a homeschooling parent, you likely have a good understanding of your child as a learner. Your child will have strengths, as mine does. She loves to run and kick a ball, and her verbal abilities are fantastic. Your child will have things to work on, as mine does. Her interest in reading is intermittent, although she’s plugging away at it. Your child will have interests, as mine does. She loves birds and baking, for a start, not necessarily together. But have you thought about yourself in the same way? Some of your reasons for homeschooling might lie in your … Continue reading →