| Also see: Record Keeping |
| School in a Box Our homeschooling has grown closer to unschooling over the past two years since taking my daughter out of preschool. This partly has to do with the personalities involved, partly to do with budget, partly to do with the vast number of resources available to us (libraries, programs, field trips, homeschool groups, and cultural opportunities in a large metropolitan area). So homeschooling has not resembled school much at all. Hence my daughter's comments when I told her school begins next week (she didn't know what I meant): "I don't want to go to school!" "We're doing homeschooling." "I don't want to do homeschooling." "I don't want to do school at all." So I told her I have something for her. Then I whipped out my version of "school in a box" ;) . A box of index cards containing 5 brightly colored sets of "subjects". (We are beginning 1st Grade.) First we read all the cards. Each has a large handwritten subject written on it (in u/l) with Sharpie markers in Montessori style: blue for consonants, red for vowels. Most of the cards have suggested activities to choose from listed on the back (ruled) side. Then I had her go through and pick one card from each color group. I told her that is what we are going to do for school. She thought this was a fun concept and was quite enthusiastic about it. (We just happened to have these brightly colored cards at hand, but I think they were a big part of the appeal.) The groups and subjects were not in any particular order. And when I asked her what her favorite subject was after going through them, she told me it was Math. We will put finished work in binders divided by subject. The index card system is flexible, so it will be easy to add or subtract subjects/activities. ------------------- NEON GREEN: (We will pick 2 from this group.) Latin: Learn chants/responses from Mass Use Mass programs to learn a few words Review the spelling/pronunciation compared to English Math: Review quantities Simple addition Subtraction Measuring Sorting Geometric shapes -- review, draw Spanish: Review from materials (books), short session Handwriting: Practice one or two letters properly formed [our 1st yr. for formal handwriting] Poetry: Read poems Pick one to memorize Copy it in notebook Catechism: Read aloud Teach prayers Discuss theology Lives of the Saints Pope, Bishops, Priests, Brothers, Sisters, Missionaries, Lay people Spelling: Use of dictionary Phonics: Vowel sounds Vowel blends Consonant blends Identify number of syllables in a word (oral) Grammar: [I had to explain what this one meant] Parts of Speech Capitalization Punctuation Complete sentence Paragraphs Reading: Assisted reading (of anything) Bible: Read from children's or adult Bible Discuss Pick a verse to memorize Write it in notebook NEON ORANGE: Read Aloud [ruled back blank for now -- for listing books to choose from] Read Aloud Read Aloud PINK: Music: Listen to music Learn/sing songs Musical notation Play instrument Fine Art: Books Pictures Internet Museums Crafts: Cooking: Sewing: Geography: Maps (including local -- to house, to neighborhood) Map puzzles Globe Books Map work -- relatives, friends, famous people, stories, Bible stories Flag and Map sticker books Community: Family Neighbors Our city Government Politics Our state United States World Missions History: Read aloud Work on History notebook (with timeline) Talk about lengths of time Dinosaurs American History History of our state Bible history Science Nature: Study snails Leaves Nature walk/observe, draw, write Birds Rocks Astronomy Animals Creative Writing: Write a story, song, poem, book NEON PINK: Dust Sort Toys Vacuum Dishes Water Plants Make Bed Clear Desk Call, Write, or Email: Grandmas and Grandpas Thank you notes/calls Cousins NEON YELLOW: Tennis Ballet Swim Soccer Dance Park Contributed by "Loyola Mom" from California |
| I plan my school year by cross-referencing what MODG recommends with what Seton reccomends and with what I know my children need to progress in a challenging way. For our school day I use a modified verison of Managers of Their Homes; i.e. I use a grid with 1/2 hour blocks of time and fill in all the subjects, meals, chores, until a "daily schedule" arrives. I'm also an avid attachment parent, so even though I have a detailed schedule...I really only use it to create the "flow" to my day. Sometimes our day starts at 7 am, sometimes at 9 am--but it always follows the same flow...for e.g. we always have 30 minutes of quiet time after lunch--whether lunch finishes at Noon or 1pm. Having a checklist of what we need to accomplish each day helps life run more smoothly. A well rested mom pulls rank on any other technique! (Mary F. from Wisconsin) |
| Although we vary our lesson planning style slightly from year-to-year and subject-to-subject our most successful so far has been the most simple. I started with a basic course plan of subjects to study and then develop that into a set of books to be studied. We set up a schedule where the children will either spend a certain amount of time or work through a certain number of pages for each subject each day. I appreciate being able to adjust as we go without throwing our whole schedule into a tizzy. (Alicia from WI) |
| I plan the subjects for each child & then list the books/materials
needed. I always include some "if time" subjects, which rarely get
done. From this list, I prepare book orders. I try to order the books
in May or June, so I can do the lesson plans during the summer & be
ready to start by late August without last minute rushing. For my
lesson plans, I use Excel. I'm planning that I'll do the
time-consuming ones during the summer (probably about 30-32 weeks of
plans, figuring that some time is lost for extra teaching of a
difficult concept, field trips, sick days, etc.). I'll also do the
repetitive subjects during the summer (e.g., Spelling has the same
5-day cycle in our house). Within the school day, I let the kids complete their assignments in almost any order they wish. This works fairly well, as some like reading subjects early in the day (before the brain is completely "on") & one is willing to work with me early in the day, so my time for one-on-one work isn't being wasted. When days run smoothly, it's likely to be the day in which we followed our schedule for one-on-one time with me. Chores are the last column of the plans for the week. (Colleen from California) |
| Save your library receipts for future use with the younger kids, then you will know which books you used with the older kids for that time period in history! (Martina from IL) |
| Although I do a great deal of lesson-planning at the beginning of the year, I make up my children's daily to-do lists on a weekly or even daily basis. This allows me to adjust things as necessary and incorporate chores into the list (which is nice since some chores are the same every day and some change a lot). I print them up on the computer and start with the previous day's list, so I only have to do a little adjusting each time. It's also fun to play around with occasional illustrations and some fun typefaces. (Alicia from WI) |
