Planning for school

Since we are back to school, I thought I would share with you how I plan for school. When I get a new curriculum, I log every lesson into a spreadsheet. Each book/subject gets it's own page. Then as I start to plan for the year, I make a new spreadsheet for the school year. Then I copy each subject I plan to use for the year into it.

This year, Hubby had me put all the info into one big sheet. You can see part of that sheet above.

He imported it into OpenOffice's dBase program. He set it all up into a table called Lessons.

I can go into the table and change the week number if we get behind & don't get a certain lesson done.

He then set up a couple reports for me. The supplies report is supposed to print out any supplies we need for the week, but it it's not working quite right yet.

When I click on the Lessons report, it asks me what week I want. We are on week 4 so I enter "4".

It then pulls up all entries for week 4 by student! It page breaks at the end of each students work. I now have 2-3 pages for each student once I print them out.

I then have 4 binders. In 1, I put a copy of all 3 kids printouts. Then I set up the other 3 for each kid.

Each Monday (or Sunday if I'm actually organized) I print out the assignments. In the front I put the week's assignments for that kid. Then I have a tab for each subject. All printouts for that subject go behind the tab.

Now I just sit back & let the kids take over. They decide what they tackle when. I'm there to help & guide, but I'm letting them be more "in charge" of their schooling. They just have to get their school work done by Friday night. So far, they've been done with almost everything by Thursday afternoon! But then we are only on week 4 of school.

So that's how I planned for this year. Thanks to Hubby, printing the weekly lesson plans is way easier than the way I used to do it (cut & paste cells then print!)!

How do you plan? I'd love to hear from you!

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Homeschool confessions

I've been reading blogs from many of my friends & other homeschoolers on how wonderful their school year has started & how it's going. So I need to share how ours is going for those of you who are having a rough start of it. Here are my confessions about this year:

1. School is off to a rough start. We started in July, but have only been doing Bible, math, reading & grammar. Little history & no science.
2. We've been doing at most 4 days of schoolwork a week, with less some weeks.
3. Recently I've had moments where I've felt like I'm failing my kids as 1 struggles with personal interaction skills, 1 struggles with math & 1 with reading.
4. I honestly am struggling with teaching certain things because I see no reason to except that they are traditionally taught to students. I mean, I don't write research papers, I don't remember any history facts I was taught, I don't handwrite much of anything & I don't use periodic tables or high level math.(If my grammar is atrocious, I apologize.)
5. I'm finding more value in teaching my kids God's Word, reading, basic math, household chores & how to explore things & places.

Why? Why am I struggling? Why is this year different? A big part of it is because I'm going through some health issues. When you have little energy, you focus on the important stuff only.

Deep down I know it will work out alright. We have to do what we have to do. But I feel like my kids are suffering. It has to be hard on them not knowing what is going on with my health & having to do more housework, make their own meals some days & having to help me. Also having Daddy gone during the week has got to be hard on them. Although by now, they have to be used to it.

I feel a little bad not being consistent with school but I know they are smart & will catch up quickly when I get better. I keep thinking about how just 120-150 years ago schooling was different. Basic reading & writing were taught along with God's Word. The rest of a child's time consisted of chores & playing/exploring. Maybe that wasn't so bad...

 

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Life Skills day

Today we had a Life Skills Day. David & I worked on the yard. Jessica & Jamie worked on the kitchen. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures today. Everyone worked hard today. I'm thinking we need to do these days more often. I have so much I need to teach the kids.

I thought I'd make a list of life skills that I'd like them to learn. So here goes:

• Mowing/ weed-eating
• Dishes
• Cleaning kitchen
• Cleaning bathrooms
• Mopping/sweeping
• Basic sewing
• Laundry
• Budgeting
• Cooking/baking
• Grocery shopping
• Planning a meal from start to finish
• Basic exercise
• Basic car care
• Gardening
• Basic home maintenance
• Basic first aid & health care
• Personal hygiene - deodorant, bathing, hair care, etc.
• Basic job prep - interview, resume, etc
• Communication skills - listening, asking questions, getting point across, etc.
• Basic study skills - note taking, outlining, picking out important info, etc.
• Researching skills - how to find info at library, how to find info online, etc.
• Basic computer skills - word processor, spreadsheets, how to use computer, how to troubleshoot, etc.
• Personal safety - in life & online
• Personal Bible study skills & routine
• Apologetics - how to defend their faith
• Manners - basic, eating, interpersonal, etc.
• Organization - household, records, etc.
• Basic tool use - saw, hammer, measuring tape, etc.

I'm sure I'll add a few other over time, but this is what I came up with while sitting here. What skills would you add?

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Record Keeping & Organization

At the request of a friend, here is a brief look at how I record keep & organize records/papers for our homeschool. I am, by no means, the best record keeper or the neatest, but here's what works for me.

At the beginning of the year, I make a rough weekly plan. I don't always stick to it, but it gives me a rough guideline. I've found that I am not a strict schedule person. I tried it & we never stuck to the schedule. I always felt defeated so I threw out the strict schedule.

When we get new curriculum, I make a spreadsheet with the chapter, worksheets & tests listed.

I make sure I have a place to put the date we completed each lesson. Many times I don't fill in the dates/grades until the end of December & end of June. I make sure to date each lesson/worksheet as we complete it.

Sometimes, I also list any supplies we need for our lessons. My spreadsheets are then printed & kept in a notebook.

I use 3-ring binders to keep worksheets that we use. I also tear all my workbooks apart & put them in 3-ring binders. I find the kids respond better to a single sheet than a big bulky workbook.

Here was my desk last year. You can see all my books & binders.

Here are all my past books & papers. I take all our worksheets out of the 3-ring binders at the end of the year. I rubber-band them together by subject for each child. Just recently I boxed them up. I hope to eventually scan them into the computer so I can declutter some more!

The top of my desk holds all of our current curriculum and the next books we will tackle. I keep them where they are easy to access.

Lastly, here is all our supplies. The filing cabinet stores magazines & coloring books. The containers hold crayons, pencils, glue & other craft/school supplies.

I'm not the most organized or neatest person as you can see, but this system has worked for me. Feel free to ask me questions on how I do things or what stuff we use. It seems weird to me to think that I'm considered a veteran homeschooler. But I have been doing this for 12 years. I count the birth of my oldest as my starting point. So if any of my methods help you, feel free to use them.

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