How the Very Organized Homeschool Mom Does It All
March 11, 2010 by Bethany
I bound out of bed, full of energy at 6:00 a.m. I read the next chapter in My Utmost for His Highest and the Psalms, then breeze through level 3 of Jillian’s 30-Day Shred workout DVD. I don my chic, size 6, J. Crew outfit. As I saunter into my sparkling kitchen to make omelets and fruit cups for breakfast, my well-mannered teenagers, perfectly groomed, joyfully help to set the table.
Schoolwork is quietly buzzing along by 8:00 a.m., so I decide to start the first load of laundry. After hanging the clothes out to dry, I sweep off the deck and water my spring starter plants. While the girls contentedly self-teach geometry and fractions, I work on an editing job. At mid-morning, we pause for carrot sticks with hummus and a poetry recitation. After our morning recess comes more learning for the teenagers and more work for me.
For lunch, my budding chefs whip up a delicious, healthful recipe from their home economics course. Following a general clean up of the kitchen, we’re ready for our art history lesson accompanied by our classical listening selections. Every afternoon includes a different extra-curricular activity for each well-rounded girl, so my sleek Nissan is always on the go.
A home-cooked meal followed by family devotions sets up our relaxed evenings of enjoying each other’s company as we play Scrabble, Borderline, or Monopoly until bedtime.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!! What’s that? Oh, time to get up. That’s the third time I’ve hit the snooze button on my alarm clock. Too bad, I was having such a lovely dream . . . Maybe next time I’ll be a little more practical about real time organization tips.
Bethany has been married for 16 years, homeschooling for 9 years, and organizing forever. She homeschools her two girls, grade 6 and grade 10, in North Carolina. She is also a partner in Codex Publishing, publisher of The Tutor and classic book reprints. When she isn’t homeschooling or driving the family taxi, Bethany enjoys reading, music, church activities, editing, writing, history, and keeping up with friends.
Our Homeschool Schedule
September 17, 2009 by LisaV
Something that has helped since our beginning days of homeschooling six years ago was developing a homeschool schedule.
We found tips in setting up a homeschool schedule in the Moore Formula Manual, which was a huge aid during our first year of homeschooling. The schedule includes certain anchor points such as wake up time, meal times, and bed time, and other slots for study subjects, work, and service. The anchor points are fairly fixed and should remain consistent from day to day. For example, our meal times are set at 8:00 for breakfast, 12:00 for lunch and 6:00 for dinner.
Our subject areas, in the order that we complete them, are Bible/Music, Language Arts, Mathematics/Art, Reading, Typing/Email, Science, Social Studies, and Health. We complete 3-5 subjects before lunch and the remainder after lunch. We generally rotate the Science/Social Studies/Health subjects so that we focus on one at a time, though the kids enjoy reading Social Studies books on their own after our formal school work is done. The subject areas are flexible, as some projects take longer on some days than others. We generally start our study time around 9:00 and end at 1:30.
A simplified version of our homeschool schedule, including resources and curriculum we are using this year with our 12- and 9-year-old boys, is as follows:
8:00 AM Breakfast and cleanup
9:00 AM Bible/Music
Silent Scripture reading on a schedule
Prayer journals (writing, Spiritual)Scripture memory – AWANA books and Kids 4 Truth
Thursdays: The Usborne Piano Course Book Two
10:00 AM Language Arts
Alternate handwriting, spelling, creative writing, and grammar
A Reason for Handwriting – Levels C and F
Spelling: Spelling Plus Word List
Writing: Jump In
Grammar: Easy Grammar ¾ and Winston Grammar
Rosetta Stone Homeschool Spanish
11:00 AM Mathematics/Art
Math-U-See Epsilon
Art: Drawing and making cards using Usborne art books
12:00 PM Lunch and cleanup
1:00 PM Reading (incorporate Bible, Science and Social Studies)
Monday: Sunday school papers (Bible)
McGuffey Readers: Pilgrim’s Progress and Liberty Tree
Typing and Email (technology, writing)
Mavis-Beacon software
Email Dad Monday to Thursday and grandparents on Friday
Science: R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Life (level one)
Social Studies: Various Usborne and library books1:30 PM Health (incorporate work/service)
A Healthier You, A Beka Book Health Series, grade 7
2:00 PM Speech on Fridays with Dad
You can check out Darcy’s Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop to see how other homeschoolers schedule their days.
How do you schedule your homeschool day?
Lisa (aka Morning Rose) has been teaching her two elementary-aged sons for four years and incorporating study, work, service, and play into their homeschooling days. She enjoys reading, writing, and photography and blogs publicly at Pockets of Time and privately at Scooter and B.
Are You A “Real” Homeschool Mom?
June 9, 2009 by Amy Bayliss
Are you a “real” homeschool mom or do you always put your best foot forward when you are in the presence of moms that you think have mastered the art of homeschooling?
I have news for you. They aren’t perfect either!
I always get so amused when I hear other moms talk about how they “love” to homeschool and how everything always works out so great for them. I often wonder what it would be like to visit their home on a week day. I mean we know that mom wouldn’t screech in horror because the house isn’t clean. She definitely wouldn’t send the kids off to their rooms because they are still in their pajamas. And she absolutely wouldn’t throw the textbooks in a cabinet to give the impression that school time had been completed hours earlier because we all know she gets up at the crack of dawn every day!
No, siree, not our homeschool moms. We all have our act together!
Or do we?
I can honestly say that if anyone thinks that we (the cabinet, book hiding, wake up at 9ish, send the kids to their room to get dressed so we look like a good homeschool family people) have it all together they are truly mistaken.
Sure, I have heard the praise from many mothers who like to compliment me on how well mannered my boys are and how well they behave. What they don’t see is that I am holding their favorite toy hostage to insure their behavior so that mom and dad can have a stress free time.
OK. OK. So my boys really are well mannered and I don’t hold toys hostage for good public behavior. This is actually one of their good points but don’t dare ask me about their room! Or the fact that the “baby” is wearing his brother’s clothes because he keeps putting his clean clothes in the laundry room and I now refuse to wash them.
And please, please, please don’t ask me about the moans and groans I get when I mention it is school time, which usually starts around 12:30 (no eye-rolling!)
Now once we get started they are usually gung ho about science projects and civil war reenactments but that is only after I bribe them with M&Ms to complete their math work. I know, I know… BAD MOM!
Jeepers. I guess I shouldn’t mention that I only actually cook breakfast once a week and the rest of the time they eat cereal. I assume I should also keep it a secret that my almost 7 year old hardly ever completes anything and I don’t try to make him.
I cannot fathom that I am the only homeschooling mom out there who goes through this. Is it really all hunky dory? Should I be wearing a retro pattern and singing, “The fields are alive with the sound of music…”?
Am I the only one who has actually considered enrolling the kids in public school just long enough to get the house clean and teach them just how good they have it at home?
Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of homeschooling but on some days it’s the act of it that brings out the worst in me and my family.
These pieces of toast are a wonderful representation of how the days of our week can go at times, from perfect and savory absorbing every flavor to absolutely no good. Yeah, we have to scrape the “yuck” off to get to a small bit of good stuff on those days.
Why? We are all human. We all make mistakes. We must all submit daily to do the right thing, the best thing for ourselves and our families.
I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Romans 7:21-25
I have heard the term, “Don’t speak that!”, one too many times. How can God get the glory for mending something if you never admit that it is broken in the first place?
Now I’m not saying run around speaking negatively. There is a difference between saying, “I can’t do it all” and saying “I’m no good at anything”. One is acknowledging the current status and one is self-hatred. One gives God the glory and one takes the focus off of God. You can tell the difference by discerning with your heart.
Encourage each other.
Don’t jump back and say, “Ah!” with your hand over your mouth the next time you hear a child say they had McDonald’s for lunch and they didn’t have school yesterday. Instead look him in the eye and say, “well your mommy sure does know how to let you have fun doesn’t she?” and smile real big at him and then at her. And don’t wink like you just uncovered her dirty little secret. Showing love will do more for her than telling her she needs to switch curriculum to keep the kids more interested and her more motivated.
Don’t compare yourself to other moms.
Even if her kids are always polite, are mini Picassos, only eat whole wheat and like it, and knew how to sew before they could talk (which was at least 3 months earlier than your kids), just remember that they have some issues somewhere that they are hiding. We have been taught not to express our weaknesses for fear that others will not think as highly of us but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have them.
God gave your kids you as a mom. That means that He did not deem anyone else more qualified for the position. Take confidence in that. He knows what He is doing. After all He did create the universe and everything in it in only 6 days. I know because we have covered this more than 50 times in our various school textbooks!
Give yourself permission to take a break.
When you are a homeschooling mom you are not only the teacher for every pupil and for every subject but you are the PE coach, the guidance counselor, every lady in the lunch room, the secretary, the librarian, the PTA, the fundraiser chairperson, the hall monitor, the janitor, and the assistant principal. Whew! Sign me up for a vacation just for typing all of that but it really does put it into perspective doesn’t it?
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
Genesis 2:2
As long as you do what you do unto God then it will prevail.
I have told you many of my dirty little secrets here today but I saved the best for last:
My sweet, wonderful, friend (eh, um Darnelle, hmm) suggested that I give my children the CAT test to send in to the state for our yearly renewal instead of copying bulks of papers from each subject and submitting lesson plans.
Oh how I love her for the confidence she had in me but let me tell you what a silly, sometimes absent-minded little woman I am…
I give Gevan (11 year old) his test first. We actually only run into a few snags with division and punctuation. Aside from that the kid surprised me with how well he did. He was over three years behind when I pulled him out of school two years ago. Amidst all of the chaos he has actually learned and progressed more in these past two year than he had in any year prior. He still lacks in a couple of areas but he is doing well, very well. Here is his score:
Then there is the nutty but more amazing part of this CAT test story.
I decided to give Brennan (6 year old) the test next. I knew that Jacob (9 year old) would do well and blow through the test with no problem. He is just a fast learner. But, Brennan on the other hand, I knew I would have to duct tape him to the chair just so he could complete it.
Brennan does not like school. Math is stoooopid and reading is meeeeeean! He promises me every day that it is going to kill him. Yes, he actually says, “MOM, you’re just trying to kill me! I can’t do stoooopid math and reading is meeeean!”
So he has school maybe twice a week. (remember – don’t “Ah!” me!) I can’t bear to wrestle him to the table any more than that but it’s funny how he seems to recall almost every fact that we discuss and can read even the most complicated words.
In fact, his absent-minded mother accidentally gave him his brother’s 2nd grade CAT test and realized it only when she was getting Jacob ready for his test and thought it was funny that the 9-year-old was going to be tested on phonics and number recognition. Bren took Jake’s test.
Yes, I did that. I admit it.
I also admit that I wasn’t about to give Brennan another test all over again and I knew that Jacob would score high so I just let him take Brennan’s test and turned them in.
Just breathe. The shock will wear off soon. Don’t tell the state, k?
I have to say I was beyond my embarrassment when I saw his score. Not bad for a 6-year-old, eh?
So, if you get nothing else out of this article but a laugh or two at me then it was worth it. You are doing a wonderful job as a homeschooling mom and you deserve a pat on the back. You are awesome. You are wonderful. And we are going to make it through! I promise!
Married to her best friend and “main squeeze”, Amy Bayliss is a 4th year home/co-schooling mom to three boys. She enjoys writing about the eclectic teachings that bring a glimmer of curiosity to the eyes of her sons. In addition to being the co-owner of Heart of the Matter, she writes for Internet Cafe Devotions. Be sure to visit her blog, AmyBayliss.com and her family’s homeschool blog: Integrity Academy.
My Method to Tame the Madness
May 1, 2009 by Debra
“Mom can I just do [fill in the blank] and then take a break?”
“Do I have to do ALL of this now?”
Do you hear these words every day like I did? I wanted my kids to know what the daily expectations were, but I still wanted them to have a say in how and when they met them. As a result, I found that I often dealt with a lot of negotiating. This exhausted me and I began to spend my summers preparing a new and more elaborate way to cut down the negotiating and make the expectations plain and clear. I tried many different methods, but one of the simplest, The Station Box, is one approach that has stuck because, for us, it works.
The Station Box is simply a portable file box with hanging files inside. Tabs mark where one son’s stations end and my other son’s stations begin. Inside the station files I have placed regular, colored pocket folders. Each colored folder is matched with an academic discipline. They change every year depending on our objectives but this year they look like this for each child:
Red Folder = Penmanship practice
Blue Folder = Critical Thinking/Language skills
Green Folder = Reading
Yellow Folder = Grammar/Writing
Black Folder = Math
Purple Folder = A topical project based on our unit study
Each day the boys find in every folder what they need to complete its contents. I have very distractible kids so I take great efforts to simplify. I rip out the math page(s) for the day and include two sharpened pencils (because you KNOW they’ll lose one) in the black folder. In their green folder I include the book they are reading (either to themselves or aloud to me depending on which son it is) and any follow up phonics exercise or reporting sheet (like a journal or book report form). In the yellow folder I include the manipulatives my youngest needs to learn about pronouns and my oldest receives instructions on how much of his writing program he needs to accomplish that day.
Do you get the idea? It’s all there so that I don’t have to go wandering off looking for paintbrushes or dry erase markers while they … for lack of a better word… spaz out. And because it only contains the one thing they need to focus on, they don’t get overwhelmed by all the other pages in the math book or lose their place in the Latin book and spend the morning looking for it again.
In addition to this Station Box we also incorporate three other things: Bible time, Read Aloud (I read to them) and a lesson (social studies or science) based on our unit. This portion of the day requires my complete involvement. However, once we’re done with this portion they can pick and choose from The Station Box what they want to accomplish and when. Some days we even start with The Station Box.
Because the contents of our Station Box tend to follow a certain pattern (or curriculum) each week, they actually know what to expect and this gives them a greater sense of control. If math just isn’t clicking then they can choose to set it aside until later. If they are excited about what we’re building for our purple station then they can begin there. Because they have this sense of control they usually pace themselves fairly well. And once it’s all done they have access to the privileges they enjoy the most.
It’s not foolproof, because we all have days when everything seems to take forever, but I’ve found that it’s helped all of us stay focused, remove undue stress, and know exactly what needs to be accomplished. And who wouldn’t benefit from that?
Debra Anderson has been married to her true companion for 14 years and has three sons under age 10. Debra’s passions are education, art, her husband, church ministry and missional living — not in that order. She has served as her co-op’s coordinator in Portland, Oregon and loves connecting homeschoolers in relationships to one another. Debra has her seminary Masters degree in Christian Education and has always home educated their boys — even on the hard days. She maintains a blog at www.emergent-homeschool.blogspot.com.
Featured Homeschooler: Carol
March 8, 2009 by Nikowa
Please welcome this week’s Featured Homeschooler Carol from My Heart’s Desire!
You live in my favorite place in the world, Colorado! Tell us about your nature studies.
Nature study for us is taking a walk on the 75 acres where we live, driving down the road to one of the lakes or hiking trails. We bring a sketching tablet, pencil and colored pencils with us. The kids choose what they want to study, and draw it. We look up the name of it at home in a book or on the Internet. We love to be outside, but this year we haven’t taken advantage of it like we should have.
You stay so busy with three ladies, one son, being a physician’s assistant and homeschooling! How do you keep from being overwhelmed?
Who says I am not overwhelmed? I am often overwhelmed! You forgot to mention that we work with a missionary organization called Youth With a Mission too. I try to keep my priorities straight, family always comes first. I do all my outside work in one day.
What is your favorite curriculum?
This year I’m using My Father’s World for the first time. We are enjoying it. Until this year we used Sonlight, which I still like a lot too. I am using a mix of both this year really. We homeschool with a Charlotte Mason flair using living books, narration, dictation, short lessons, etc. I love it and so do my girls.
Could you share with us what a day at your house would entail?
Weekdays we get up between seven and eight, try to eat breakfast, get dressed, make beds and straighten rooms and start school by 8:30. We always start with our Bible lesson. This year the two oldest are memorizing the book of James.
Next we do math (Singapore Math and/or Miquon), language arts (Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serle and/or Sonlight Language Arts 3 for my 9 year old, and Intermediate Language Lessons by same author and Writing Strands 3 for my 11 year old) and spelling (Sequential Spelling). 
We take a snack break about 10 am and then the girls read their readers – mostly from Sonlight and MFW book lists. While they do this, I do some learning activities with my 4 yo daughter +/- my 2 yo son. I am using Sonlight’s PreK 4/5 program with her, plus Singapore Early Bird A math, Developing the Early Learner series and Before You Explode the Code books A-C.
After reading the older girls finish their assignments in the above lessons and then we may do our history reading or science. My oldest daughter will write a short summary of what we read into her history notebook. We usually then go to have lunch at the dining center with the rest of the YWAMers (see #1) where my husband is the main cook.
After lunch we come home and the older girls have a bit of free time while I read to the younger two and put the baby down for his nap. Then we do history and science if we haven’t yet, the girls take turns on the computer doing Rosetta Stone Spanish, and then it’s getting close to time to prepare supper. We have been having supper at home, lately, but six months out of the year we also eat supper at the dining center.
After supper the kids get ready for bed and I read a read-aloud to them – usually a fiction book, from Sonlight or My Father’s World. The kids can color or do play dough or just lounge while I read, and we often have hot chocolate or another treat to make the time special. We all love this time. Daddy often will read separately to the youngest two and put them down to bed before I finish the reading for the oldest two. I then pray with them and they go to bed around 8 or 9 o’clock unless we are really into the book and read late!
What is your favorite Bible verse and why?
That is a hard one! I suppose it would be Psalm 37:3-4. It has been an anchor for me when times get hard here. It isn’t always easy to live in community with other Christians, but the Lord has used this scripture to tell me to trust Him, stay put, and FEED ON HIS FAITHFULNESS. He has really shown us His faithfulness since we joined YWAM 3 years ago. I like all of Psalm 34 and 37 actually.
What is the one thing that you’d love to have for your Homeschool?
A piano teacher, a voice teacher, and nice kids who lived nearby that would play with my kids on occasion.
If you could take your family on any educational field trip, where would it be and why?
We would like to go back to Mesa Verde and stay for about 3 days, do their junior ranger program, camp nearby, and see all of it. We visited there last August and the few hours we had just didn’t do it justice. We’ve been studying a lot about the Native Americans and this would fit nicely into what we are learning. I also enjoy taking my family on missions trips, which are always educational too. Last time we went to Guatemala for 12 weeks.
How do you teach different learning styles?
My oldest daughter, 11, loves to write, draw, etc. and so I let her do things that require writing. My second daughter, 9, struggles with writing so I let her do much more orally. When she was younger I had to let her go outside a lot between subjects and run a lot of energy off so she could focus better. Now she has a much longer attention span, but she is much more auditory and oral than visual. She likes to draw some too, so she will more often illustrate what she is learning than write about it, and she will do oral narrations rather than written.
Interview by:
Nikowa is a 2nd year homeschooling mom to two boys. (Ages 9 and 5) With her “learning never ends” philosophy, they have an eclectic year-round approach to learning. When she’s not teaching, she enjoys photography, organizing, cooking, reading, and knitting. She is a #1 LOST fan and watches UGA football too! (Go Dawgs!) You can visit Nikowa at Knowledge House Academy.
Featured Homeschooler: Traci
February 8, 2009 by Nikowa
Please welcome this week’s Featured Homeschooler, Traci from Traci’s Christian Cottage!
As a veteran homeschooling mom, do you have any suggestions for those just starting out or considering homeschooling?
Relax. I think most just starting out get so tense, worried & nervous about the whole process of homeschooling that they don’t enjoy much of it.
Also, know that what curriculum you start out using, may not be the one you stick with: and it’s ok! Just make sure you are mindful of what is and is not working for your family. If your child is in tears using the highly recommended math program, then that isn’t the math program for you! It’s ok to switch and use what works better for your family.
You have a graduate! First of all congratulations! You must tell us, looking back-what would you change if you could?
Other than follow my advice above to relax when starting out; the only thing I might change is getting started earlier with music and foreign language. These two things seem best learned starting from a young age. Also to make sure your child is involved in some extra curricular activities or groups; as these can be very important to certain colleges. Not unlike being involved in clubs, student counsel or whatever in a public school setting – same goes for homeschool students if they were active in similar groups in the homeschool community or in the community where you live doing volunteer work, sports, choir, etc…
What are your top 3 must-have’s for the homeschool?
My top 3 must-haves would be:
1. a computer & printer (with internet connection, of course)
2. a solid knowing of your child’s learning style – as this will help you in curriculum choices
3. join a support group. Online and/or offline – but connecting with other homeschoolers & getting that support is invaluable!
What do you like to do in your own “free” time? What are your hobbies, etc?
I have a lot of things I like to do, but seem to rotate & do them in spurts as the urge strikes me. 
One of my greatest hobbies/loves are dogs. I have six dogs – 4 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels & 2 Shih Tzu + 2 cats. A few other things: I also make all our own soap using the cold-processed soapmaking method, I sew, do machine embroidery and love to bargain shop.
Have you ever had any negativity regarding homeschooling? If so, how do/did you handle it?
I’ve not had any negative remarks really made to me; other than the usual “I could never homeschool – my kids would drive me crazy” comments. My parents were a little unsure of homeschooling at first, but it’s been 12 years now, so they’re used to it. LOL
What has been your favorite field trip so far?
We don’t do a lot of field trips; but we enjoyed Meramec Caverns this past summer and plan to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder home in Mansfield, Missouri this spring. We have been using the Prairie Primer unit study this year, based on the Little House books.
Interview by:
Nikowa is a 2nd year homeschooling mom to two boys. (Ages 9 and 5) With her “learning never ends” philosophy, they have an eclectic year-round approach to learning. When she’s not teaching, she enjoys photography, organizing, cooking, reading, and knitting. She is a #1 LOST fan and watches UGA football too! (Go Dawgs!) You can visit Nikowa at Knowledge House Academy.
A Glimpse into My Homeschool Life
January 7, 2009 by Guest
Me, I start out with too much of this.
And not enough of this.
Usually, an empty this.
And, lots of this.
I’m loving that!
This is too good!
Sometimes we create.
And I love that we get to do this.
We appreciate things like this.
And play with this.
Add a dash of that.
And tons and tons of this (my personal favorite).
A little bit of this.
And a little bit of that.
Check out my article on page 36 of the new flipbook edition of Heart of the Matter Magazine.
Michaelyn Smith, aka The Nester, is a home stager and redesigner who firmly believes that when it comes to home design, it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. She offers fun, easy and inexpensive projects for the lazy perfectionist on her blog Nesting Place. When she’s not rearranging her furniture or making tassels, she and her husband stay busy homeshooling their three boys.
A Day in the Life of Homeschooling Boys
January 7, 2009 by Darcy
While I would love to be able to say I am one of those moms who has her days planned out, an organized schedule of events, or at least an agenda, the truth is that our day is often a series of tangents and bunny trails. Not to say we don’t start with a plan.
The idea is this:
Wake up, fill our bellies, make ourselves presentable, do our morning chores.
Get the tough stuff out of the way: math and phonics sheets. Read pleasantly, eat lunch, and read some more. Play nicely.
The reality goes more like this:
I am woken up by the sound of a herd of elephants running the halls at least a good thirty minutes before I am ready. I trudge myself to the bathroom to get ready, very careful not to look at myself in the mirror.
I shout from the bathroom, “Walk in my house, please!” The running slows to a mall-walkers pace for about 3 whole minutes.
I throw my hair in a ponytail, put on my “school uniform” – yoga pants or jeans and a comfy shirt. No denim jumpers for this mom! And then I mall-walk my way to the bright spot in my morning…a Francis! Francis! X5 espresso machine. (Most people credit the success in their homeschools to a book or curriculum, I credit both the success and happiness of our homeschool to the Francis!Francis! X5.)
After a triple shot latte has begun to make me human again, I can finally assemble thoughts. I rush through cleaning the kitchen while the boys eat, and give them some expectations for the day.
“Today, when we’re done filling our bellies, we will do our chores, and get started with school. When your math work and Explode the Code
“Mom, we know about globes!” interjects my eldest.
“Not globes, Thee Globe… as in a theater. Want to take a guess why it’s called The Globe?”
My youngest, with a mouth full of bagel, shouts, “Be-taws it’s on a globe!”
“You’re getting warm…” I tease, “… better get that work done so we can find out.”
They beg for vitamins, forget to clear their places, unload the dishwasher in tandem, and have to be reminded three times that school starts in 10 minutes… 5 minutes… 2 minutes… before I shout:
“ALL BOYS REPORT TO THE KITCHEN!”
We have a dedicated schoolroom, but it’s been declared to have uncomfortable chairs, so it’s to the couches we go.
My oldest complains for three minutes before I give him the look. My middle son declares everything “too hard” for a good, solid seven minutes, before giving in and completing everything without error in less than 30 minutes. So much for “too hard!”
While they are working, I try not to hover. I take out the garbage, retrieve missing shoes, wipe smudgy 5-year-old cheeks, load the dishwasher and microwave the same cup of coffee four times before finishing it triumphantly.
When math and Explode the Code are out of the way, I pile my youngest on my lap; the other two crowd around and we usually start with history. This year we’re finishing up The Story of the World 2
We talk about The Globe and Queen Elizabeth and then my oldest reads the corresponding Magic Tree House book to his little brothers. They demand to know why Queen Elizabeth’s teeth are all black. This leads to talk about dental hygiene, loose teeth, The Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and soon they are shouting which Lego sets they want and all three are talking at once.
I excuse myself to the bathroom and manage to turn a one-minute pit stop into three long, luxurious minutes. Soon the cat is sticking her paws under the door, demanding to be let in because she wants to drink from the sink while I wash my hands. Spoiled kitty won’t drink standing water!
Math, phonics, and history are done and an over an hour and a half of school has already passed. I ask comprehension questions from today’s chapters while I check off what they’ve accomplished on their chore charts, then I grab the lit choice; currently it’s The Railway Children
My oldest two usually fend for themselves for lunch, but my youngest demands frozen waffles. I convince him a grilled cheese would be better and give him “Mickey Mouse cheese” to keep him occupied.
We eat, clean up, and I remind each boy that he can choose either a science or lit free reading choice from his book pile. I pick up a handful of preschool-level books and Trouble and I point out colors, count, try and find letters that match, or sometimes just read before I turn him loose to play. Twice a week we play with the Handwriting with Tears wooden pieces, and do a page or so from his Kumon books. But mostly, preschool is just reading and talking.
The boys read about space, planets or whatever interests them and I am off to check email and try and whittle down my design queue from my small, home business designing blogs (come visit me at www.graphicallydesigning.com). I return emails until the boys announce that they are done reading. I ask them to narrate something about what they just read before they go off to play Legos while I work. It’s never quiet so I can listen to their boybarian noises while Photoshop and I spend the afternoon together.
Today I hear from the boys’ bedroom, “I’m Sir Walter Raleigh…you be Queen Elizabeth!”
“No way! I’m not being her…she has black teeth!”
And I laugh knowing that if they remember nothing else about Queen Elizabeth they’ll at least know why they oughta’ brush their teeth.
Check out my article on page 38 of the new flipbook edition of Heart of the Matter Magazine.
Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.
An Unplanned Delight-Directed Homeschool Day
January 7, 2009 by Robin
This is a sample of typical homeschool day for us. Our study took on a life of its own going in several unplanned directions (lessons running amuck is norm for us).
I teach using a combination of several different teaching methods (called the Heart of Wisdom approach) I have used these methods for years and rarely think of them being different methods. Just as when I am fixing a meal I rarely think of the different methods used (chopping, mixing, blending, frying), I focus on the end result. This morning was a combination of unit study, delight-directed, writing to learn, and thematic studies.
This morning (teaching two boys, ages 6 and 7) we read The Narrated Bible “The Final Week: Monday” (pp1442-1443)
We spent a few minutes on Jesus cursing the fig tree which lead us into a discussion of fruit and fruit trees. We touched on, but did not go into detail on, the barrenness of the priests and the house of Israel.
We spent a few minutes on Jesus clearing the temple and a discussion of money changers and unfair weights and balances (something I was recently studying so I shared what I was learning).
When we got to the part where Jesus explained “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies it only remains a single seed.” This started my wheels turning. We have been saving watermelon seeds for planting. I was not ready to plant so we just discussed seeds, planting, vines, types of watermelons, and Jesus’ sayings about the seed. I bought them to the dining table. We discussed the seed dying, estimated the number of seeds and compared the size of a watermelon to the seed.
The boys copied “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies it only remains a single seed.” for typing practice (copywork).
Meanwhile I went out to the barn to find a piece of wheat to illustrate the lesson. I usually see wheat in the hay but today couldn’t find one piece. So I went on the Internet to print a picture of wheat. The next two-plus hours turned into a science/history/language lesson on farming methods and the evolution of grinding mills.
I found and printed an image of wheat and a threshing tractor. As soon as I found the tractor, I knew I had hit pay dirt and could expand this into a delight-directed study as both boys are tractor crazy.
I used Google video search (which is quickly becoming part of our school day) to find several online videos on threshing and grinding wheat and corn. Each video is only a few minutes so we watched several.
- Threshing wheat in India
- Threshing at a farm museum thatching straw
- Threshing beans with a combine harvester (patented in 1834)
- Threshing wheat in the Middle Ages with a stick
- A snake coughing up a hippo (OK, not related, but the boys found it fascinating!)
- Grinding whole wheat (electric mill)
- Threshing wheat in 12th century England
- Water wheel powered grain mill
- Ancient Indian wheat grinding machine
- 1905 corn grinding machine
- Hmong woman grinding corn with stones
- Grinding corn with a gas engine
- Several modern tractors and threshing combines demos
We used Google image search to find images of threshing, milling and tractors. We used Scrapbooking to Learn methods and Scrapbook Max to create scrapbook pages showing changes in threshing and milling from Bible times to modern times.
David remembered a book on tractors and got it so we could examine the combine harvester. This lead to another Google image search and two more scrapbook pages of the steam engines and the modern combine harvester.
As the boys worked on the scrapbook pages, I read the book Johnny Appleseed aloud. I had the book out from the day before (ran out of time to read it) and had no idea it would fit with today’s Bible/history/science study.
When the boys finished the scrapbook pages they started playing the interactive game “How Things Work In Busytown.” Huckle and Lowly and other characters build a tractor, harvest wheat, mill the wheat, grind it into flour, and measure it to bake bread. I have to admit it would have been even better to grind my own wheat and bake fresh bread to wrap up the theme. But I gave my electric wheat grinder to my daughter years ago (no time to bake since I started writing. I now buy bread).
The reminder of our school day was structured with phonics and math.
This is pretty much a typical delight-directed day school day. We always start with Bible. Our phonics and math times are structured workbook time. And I have a large pile of history- and science-type books (like Johnny Appleseed) in the school area to read based on how the day goes. We were finished with school work by noon.
I’m a semi-structured homeschooler and the rest is, as they say, by the seat of my pants. Now, for those of you gasping at how I am probably missing large gaps, I can assure you I do have an overall plan and touch on all the required history and science topics (we’ve been homeschooling 20 years). We just do it a little differently. I try to encourage a love of learning by looking for a spark and fanning the flame.
You can read more about Delight-Directed learning here. Download a 10 pages (PDF) on Delight Directed Teaching here.
Check out my article on page 42 of the new flipbook edition of Heart of the Matter Magazine.
Robin Sampson has been homeschooling for 20 years. She and her husband Ronnie are blessed with a “yours, mine, and ours” blended family of eleven children (ages 6 to 34) and thirteen grandchildren (ages 1 to 12). She is actively teaching the two youngest children still at home. Robin is the author of the Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach and a business owner. Please visit her at www.heartofwisdom.com.
What a Day, What a Day!
January 7, 2009 by Guest
People often ask me what it’s like to home school a first grader (Cameron, age 7) with two other small children (Zack, 4 and Eliana, 2) at home. After this little ditty, they might be sorry they asked. But here’s A Day In The Life Of This Home Schooling Ma And Her Troops.
Waking Up
7:18: Ma wakes up to the sound of her eldest son stomping across his room to mine, barking some kind of inane question like, “Mom! Can I get out of bed now?!”
7:19: Ma mumbles something to the effect of “Hmmmmphhh-aaaa-gooooo-giiit-sa-cereal. An-waash-tee-vee.”
7:25: Zack joins his brother to watch the tube.
7:28, 7:35, 7:42, 7:48, 7:52, 7:57: Cameron runs up the stairs, down the stairs, up the stairs, down the stairs, up the stairs, down the stairs, each time taking a second to shout “Ma! Get up!”
[I never did like mornings.]
Morning Routine
8:00: After listening to Eliana belt out “UGGHH” every 28 seconds from her crib, Ma finally pulls her sorry self out of bed. Then she fixes breakfast and smiles at the three bed heads who have So Many Loud Things To Say So Early In The Morning. The kids trash the entire kitchen with spilled milk, dropped silverware, and banana peels.
8:30: Next comes bath time, but only if there’s a high Stink Factor and/or a high Going Into Public Probability. But regardless, Zack and Ma usually have a nice conversation about wearing the Batman shirt for the eighth day in a row, Cameron gives his teeth the once-over, and Eliana toddles around misplacing the clothes that Ma has so nicely laid out for the boys.
9:00: Ma and all three troops head to the glider rocker, where we “fervently discuss” who will sit where and which Bible to read, and then we settle into a story (or six). Ma tries to work in a three-point sermon each day about Loving Each Other Despite The Fact That We’re All Miserable Sinners, Especially When Our Siblings Dare To Even Think About Touching Our Things. Good stuff like that.
[Oh! And that 9:00 thing? That's on a good day. You know, about once a week. Most of the time it's 10:00. We don't exactly ride the Speed Train 'round here.]
9:17: Prayer time. Eliana claps her hands together and says “Duh!” which I can only assume is her shortened way of saying, “Dear God, thank you for this Blessed Person You Have Given Me As My Mother.” Then Zack adds his prayer of thanks for the food, vitamins, and fire hydrants, and Cameron simply waits for the “Amen” so he can be the first to say, “Canwehaveasnacknow?”
9:31: After that deeply spiritual experience, Ma gets the youngsters settled with snacks on the couch, giving them strict instructions to Watch TV.
9:32: Eliana bounds off her seat, attempting to place herself Smack Dab In The Center Of Ma’s Attention.
Morning School
9:45: Ma and Cameron sit down to “do school.” More Bible reading, memory work, art appreciation, poetry, handwriting, workbooks, critical thinking activities…the whole nine yards.
10:00: Snack.
[And lest you think we accomplish all our learning in 15 minutes, ha ha, ha ha, ha ha ha! Morning school usually takes a good couple of hours, and that is all done around changing diapers, loading the washer, staring out the window, cleaning up messes, ignoring the phone, and breaking up fights.]
Midday Break
11:30: Prep for lunch and make a stab at the disaster that I like to call “breakfast.”
12:00: Eat lunch and converse about boogers, frog noises under the chair, and just what exactly constitutes an acceptable burp at the table.
12:30: Ma cleans up and does phone/computer work while the troops are (for once!) not asking for a snack and are occupied.
1:00: Ma reads books to the younger two while Cameron reads on his own or creates some kind of construction-set-masterpiece that Ma will likely trip over when she heads down the stairs.
1:30: Ma settles Eliana into the crib for her nap, and then spends a full sixty seconds in praise and worship over the loveliness, the holiness, the gloriousness of nap time.
1:40: Ma fixes two heaping plates of snacks for the boys and then piles them and herself on the couch.
Afternoon School
1:45: Ma reads and reads and reads out loud until she is either “a little hoarse” or falling asleep. [And I betcha didn't think you could fall asleep reading aloud, HUH!?!? Well, don't laugh.] [The kids are used to their old, tired Ma.]
2:30: Ma takes a little snooze, while the boys use this time to practice their best car zooming noises. [And I betcha didn't think you could catnap with all that noise in the background, huh?!] [Ma is used to her young, energetic boys.]
3:00: Time for Math, or Science, or whatever needs to be done.
Bewitching Hour
3:30: Eliana wakes up. Chaos reigns as Everyone Needs Ma And They All Need Her Now.
4:00: TV to the rescue as the boys watch whatever edutainment happens to be on. Ma “talks” to Eliana while busting around the house catching up. [As if I could ever catch up with all that needs doing 'round this house.]
4:30: Dinner prep. More TV for the kids if it has been one of those days or if dinner requires more effort than slopping some grub out of the crock pot.
Evening Routine
5:00: Geriatric family sits down to eat.
From there, it’s a blur until bedtime. At which point my seven-year-old asks me the same question he’s been asking every night for two years: “Mom? Whaterwedoin’ tomorrow?”
School, son. School. With a whole lotta chaos in between.
But in all the chaos are my children—three special kids who I get to know and watch grow, and that is a beautiful, blessed thing.
Check out my article on page 40 of the new flipbook edition of Heart of the Matter Magazine.
In her day job, Lisa Smith attempts to transform her three children from super-charged emotion-bombs into contributing members of society. And in her “free time,” roughly 11:00-11:30 p.m., she saves the world (i.e. “writes”) via her website, www.stretchmarkmama.com.
