Homeschooling....Our Way....

Most of my friends and family do not homeschool....nor do they ever want to.  I think many of them wonder what we do all day.  So, I thought I would give you a little glimpse into a "regular" day at our house during school time.

My kids all get up at different times, so we use that to also determine our individual school start times.  That way, everyone gets the right amount of sleep and I have time to work individually with everyone when necessary.  L-Girl is the first to rise and almost always, the first done with school.  D-Man is next, but since his courses are more difficult and take more time, he finishes school last.  A-Man and A-Girl are both pretty slow to make it downstairs in the morning.  A-Girl does not like to be spoken to for a while after she gets up - so she usually makes her breakfast and just sits quietly at the kitchen table for about a half hour or so before she is ready for any human interaction.  I gotta say, this sounds like me and my older sister growing up.  My dad was super cheerful and annoying back then....now I think he is enjoying his retirement and sleeping in!  Anyway, my two A-children are the latest starters, but since A-Man is in Kindergarten his "real school" doesn't take too long, so he is usually done second.  I spend my time kind of floating between the bigger kids and assisting, when necessary.  When Rainman is off or working evenings, we usually just split the kids down the middle - he takes 2 and I take 2.  Our goal is to get them to be pretty independent in their school work to teach them good skills for college where they won't have someone looking over their shoulder all the time to make sure they meet their deadlines and complete their work.   Rainman writes out lesson plans for all the kids, so they know everyday what they need to accomplish....they are welcome to do more than assigned - but not less.

That is my dining room table under the piles of books. 

This is my art work.

In case you were wondering, no, we don't actually eat in here anymore....

It is where A-Girl and L-Girl normally do their school work.  Their brothers keep their school books in here, but rarely do their work here.

A-Man does his school at the kitchen table....

He is learning to read and his school sometimes helps him along by showing pictures.  In the picture below, he was learning that adding "ing" to words to create an action....so, he went along reading the words that go with the pictures and did really well sounding them out, but, when he got to the middle one in the bottom row...

He "read"  kangarooing.  Cracks me up.  That is one of the fun parts of homeschooling - getting to see the light bulb go on when they "get" something - whether it is reading or algebra....there is not mistaking when they finally get it....oh, and getting to laugh when they try to take a short cut in reading and just look at the picture....thus, kangarooing!

Our oldest is using a new literature based curriculum this year which means lots and lots of reading.  Including history books, historical fiction, biographies, poetry, etc.  I would have loved to have been taught this way.  Would have saved my mom from all the not so real sick days I had growing up!  Yes, mom, I am finally admitting to faking it a time or two....or three or four....heh....heh!  Anyway, this is him on a typical morning....

This is our swing on our screened porch.  The mornings in Georgia are a little chilly, so he takes his blankie....I mean, blanket with him.  (Recognize this Karen?)  Notice the little pudgy hand on the far left....

His little sidekick, V-Girl, usually joins him.  Sometimes, I try to keep her inside with me so he can concentrate better - but neither one of them goes for it.  If she is sleepy, she will let him just cuddle her while he reads.  Again, wish I could have done school with a cute little baby in my lap.  His Science curriculum is done on the computer and we all participate in his experiments....even S-Girl and A-man.  I am curious to see how much of this big kid stuff they will retain for when they are older.

Where is S-Girl in all this?  Well, when all the other kids were little and we were doing school with older siblings, I would encourage them to go watch Sesame Street, Barney or some other kid friendly show while I taught.  You know, just to keep them out of my hair?!?  S-Girl will not do it.  She is under foot the whole school day.  She usually just plays house or some other quiet game while we learn....but she is always listening.  Sometimes she will ask to "do school" too....

This is her working on "her" letter.....S!

I do read-alouds sometimes for all the kids (i.e., Little House on the Prairie or  Anne of Green Gables) and lately have been doing a lot of aloud reading for D-Man (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer). The thing I have found the most interesting is she and A-Man are around when I am reading aloud to D-Man, they are usually doing something else, playing, doing school work, etc., but when it comes to discussion time where I ask D-Man about certain things or people in the book....they both pipe in with the correct answers.  What is that saying....Little Jugs have Big Ears....or something like that!

We have the kids take standardized tests every year so I can reassure myself that we aren't screwing up the kids academically and also test and grade their papers throughout the year.  Some homeschoolers think that grades limit kids, but I need them for my piece of mind.

I love homeschooling, even though there are times that I would like a break from my kids, I really wouldn't change it for the world. 

Just this morning, I got time to snuggle with all of them for a few minutes when they first got up....yes, ALL of them....although if any of D-Man's friends read this....I didn't mean him (wink - wink)  There were no rushed breakfasts and scramble for shoes....or hollering to hurry up so nobody missed the bus.  Just us learning and figuring out stuff together.....like I said, I wouldn't miss it for the world!