I wrote a blog post about our homeschooling journey last year that you can read here.
But this journal will be different in that now I’m teaching two little ones at home, at different ability levels. Please don’t take this post as a sign that I have it all together…I can assure you, I don’t. I’m far from knowing it all, but I’m always happy to share our experiences. Daphne is working through first grade curriculum, while Sullivan is in pre-k. Once Daphne entered the realm of grade levels, and we added a three day a week preschool curriculum for Sullivan, homeschool got real. And the truth is, I know it’s only going to get more real… read, ahem, challenging. BUT! In the same breath, I can also tell you that it has been more rewarding, and wait for it, FUN, than ever before.
Sometimes I feel like the word homeschool carries an air of pretension, and I really don’t care for that. Because like I’ve said before, the choice to homeschool is no better than the choice to send your littles to public school or private school, it’s honestly just what works for our family. And chances are, if you’re reading this, you may feel that tug to teach your children at home as well. I truly believe that as mothers and fathers, we make decisions for our children based on what is absolutely best for us and for them, and the choice for how/where/what they’ll learn is no different.
I also don’t want to over romanticize homeschool. It is wonderful, it really is, but somedays it’s also like herding cats… feral cats… who love granola bars and change their clothes 18 times a day.
But for us, homeschool feels good. I enjoy it, they enjoy it, we are learning, growing, stretching in ways that we value as a family, and to answer the question I get the most, we will continue to do it as long as it feels this way. For as long as our prayers for direction lead us to homeschooling, this will be our way.
I began a new curriculum this year with both kids from The Peaceful Press. Daphne’s “early elementary” level is called Playful Pioneers and is a literature based program founded on the Laura Ingalls Wilder books (so far we’ve read four from the series). It’s a four day a week program, but she has a homeschool co-op on Thursday mornings so that leaves us with a bit more to do on Friday’s. Honestly though, we are able to get the bulk of our week done Monday-Wednesday, then she does more learning on Thursday at co-op, and on Fridays we read a bit, and alternate between doing poetry/creative writing, and service projects.
Although we use The Peaceful Press, I supplement and change things around a ton. I do not follow the given curriculum exactly. That’s just what works for us. I like to have a bit of flexibility and add in lessons that coincide with the seasons and happenings around our little farm. The curriculum provides a foundation though, and for that I’m grateful.
As far as supplementation goes, I use Saxon Math for her daily math lessons and we do those every day. I use an Abeka workbook for some of our Language Arts lessons, but mostly I use first person journaling, copy work with parts of speech identification, illustrated narrations, among other things… I was a high school English teacher for six years, so that area is kind of my thing: ). The Peaceful Press has some great ideas for social studies, but I do usually add to them a bit with library books and activities that allow us to dive a bit deeper into those subjects. For science, I love the Farm Anatomy and Nature Anatomy books, as well as the Big Book of Bugs. I also discovered a fantastic online resource this year that I use weekly called Exploring Nature. It’s only $25 for a year long subscription with access to endless lessons on a plethora of nature related subjects. I highly recommend it!
Daphne also keeps notebooks…one for her literature journaling and copy work, and one we call her nature journal. I got this idea from Jodi Mockabee who I had the joy of photographing last fall. She has a wonderful resource called Schoolhouse Curiosities. In addition to journaling, we use thick watercolor paper for certain projects that she spends extra time on once or twice a week. I laminate these pages and we keep them together on a ring. Laminating her work makes it extra special, and to be honest, causes her to work harder on those particular projects. She likes seeing her work all complete in glossy sleeves… it feels very official. (Our laminator is about $25 from Amazon).
The homeschool co-op we enrolled Daphne in this year has been a huge blessing for a number of reasons. It’s called Inspire and is a homeschooling resource available to students aged pre-k to 12th grade. What I love about it is that I am still completely in charge of what I am teaching (they will never tell you what you have to teach – and I also opted out of state testing for Daphne), and I receive funding for anything from curriculum and art supplies to field trips, and microscopes! Another plus is that they keep records of her “attendance” (taken by me), but it provides legal security because we are under an “umbrella” of sorts. Daphne also attends a co-op with other homeschooled kids her age one day a week for three hours. She has an accredited teacher (who we love!) who gives the kids lessons, and the students are also able to have some play time and eat lunch together. It’s the perfect addition to our homeschool life.
We do our morning reading all together, and we first read out of The Ology for our bible study, and then we read from whatever Laura Ingalls Wilder book we happen to be on. I’ve tried letting the kids listen to it on Audible, but truthfully I prefer reading aloud to them. It allows me to engage with them more, and therefore, they engage to the story. After we read all together, that’s when Daphne breaks off for her studies and Sullivan and I will do a lesson together. Daphne always ends our school day with independent reading. She’s reading chapter books, and her current favorites are in the Sophie Mouse series.
She also bakes quite a bit as part of her lessons since she uses math for her recipes, and more than anything, because she really enjoys it so much. Sullivan is also eager to help, and I let them do what they want in the kitchen for a given amount of time, just so long as they clean up after themselves. I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t easy for me to let go completely like that, but once I knew we had practiced plenty of kitchen safety, and gone through countless baking lessons together, I knew she was ready, and it’s been wonderful to see her grow confidence in an area that she enjoys so much.
We also integrate art into the lessons almost daily. I feel like art is always valuable and applicable. It’s also a way to relax a bit in between more strenuous lessons. We have markers, colored pencils, beeswax crayons, and water color paints always out and available to them to use at any time.
Sullivan is an entirely different learner than Daphne. He hops around while I teach…like literally bounces, and I only make him work in about 3-5 minute increments. I began the school year trying to teach him just as I had taught Daphne when she was his age, and I quickly learned that that simply wouldn’t work. I dialed back our “seat work,” and began to create fun “physical” lessons… for example, I will make a trail of letter cards around the living room and he has to call out each letter before jumping onto that card. Or I will line up the number cards and have him place that specific number of trinkets at each card.
I typically work with him for a total of maybe 20-30 mins 3 days a week. BUT, he’s also listening to everything Daphne and I do. He can tell you exactly what happened in the chapters we read yesterday, and he participates in her hands on science lessons and cooking projects. He is often playing with his train set or jumping across the couch, but then three days later can recite exact terms and knowledge from Daphne’s lessons earlier in the week (today he told me what a verb was)… it’s crazy to me! But it’s been so amazing watching him blossom, knowing that we’ve found a rhythm that works for him and gets him excited to learn.
The bulk of his work is centered around recognizing and writing all the letters and their sounds, as well as numbers 1-10. We also integrate lots of books into his lessons, as well as games like letter and number bingo.
This is what a typical week looks like for us
Monday:
(done all together)
- the kids get breakfast and we turn on music
- read a chapter from The Ology
- read a chapter from On the Banks of Plum Creek (or whichever book we are on)
(then I get Daphne going on her lessons)
- language arts – journaling
- math lesson
(I usually put the baby down for her first nap right about now while Daphne finishes her math and Sullivan plays)
- social studies lesson
(as she works on that, Sullivan and I do his lesson for the day)
- science lesson – usually outdoors
Tuesday:
(done all together)
- the kids get breakfast and we turn on music
- read a chapter from The Ology
- read a chapter from On the Banks of Plum Creek (or whichever book we are on)
(then I get Daphne going on her lessons)
- language arts – Abeka page
- math lesson
(I usually put the baby down for her first nap right about now while Daphne finishes her math and Sullivan plays)
- science notebook page or laminating page
(as she works on that, Sullivan and I do his lesson for the day)
- cooking/craft
Wednesday:
(done all together)
- the kids get breakfast and we turn on music
- read a chapter from The Ology
- read a chapter from On the Banks of Plum Creek (or whichever book we are on)
(then I get Daphne going on her lessons)
- language arts – notebook work like parts of speech identification
- math lesson
(I usually put the baby down for her first nap right about now while Daphne finishes her math and Sullivan plays)
- applicable science lesson typically out of the Julia Rothman books
(as she works on that, Sullivan and I do his lesson for the day)
- practical arts lesson like sewing, gardening, canning, candle making, or clay modeling
Thursday:
(done all together)
- the kids get breakfast and we turn on music
- read a chapter from The Ology
- read a chapter from On the Banks of Plum Creek (or whichever book we are on)
Then we leave for homeschool co-op. Daphne stays there for 3.5 hours and Sullivan, Marigold and I run errands.
Friday:
We use Friday’s for either …
- field trips
- service projects – we visit the nursing home residents, give McDonald’s cards to the homeless, bring treats to the fire station, or a care package to someone who might need it
- poetry, painting, or creative writing while listening to classical music, drinking tea, and burning candles we’ve made
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FAQS
- How long will you homeschool? For as long as it feels like the right thing for us!
- What do you say to people who may not be supportive of your decision to homeschool? I honestly haven’t ever encountered this! Everyone has always been very supportive in my family, and my friends as well. I think we all respect how each other parents and we all understand that we make decisions based on what is best for our own kids, and no one knows your kids better than you. I would encourage you to stay firm in your convictions if this is the path you have chosen, and if you are met with negativity, offer to let them join you on a school day. Often times people doubt what they don’t know much about. But honestly, at the end of the day, it is your decision, and as long as you and your kids are happy, then you just can’t ask for more than that!
- How long does your “school day” take? We typically begin by 7:30am, but many times if they are in the middle of some pretty intense imaginative play, we start later… I never want to interrupt that! I think play is their key responsibility at this age. Typically, we can get all of our planned lessons done in about 3 hours. Now somedays that lingers a bit and it’s noon before we are wrapping up, but most of the time we try to be efficient so that we can get outside and play! And I will also add that Sullivan is definitely not working that entire time. He’s mostly jumping on furniture, being a “super spy,” tackling Marigold and trying to make her laugh, and when he’s bored with all of that, he goes outside. It’s quite a life that four year old leads: )
- Whoever wakes first turns on music. We use our google home and play pandora stations… our favorite stations are: Coffee Shop, Matt Redman, Ingrid Michelson, Regina Spektor, and French Cafe.
- Do limit TV? We don’t turn the TV on in the morning anymore. I do let the kids watch a little dvd during midday quiet time. Our favorites are Curious George, Little Bear, and Wild Kratts.
- But are your kids “socialized” enough? This is one of the questions I get the most…typically from people who have never met my kids: ) For some reason this was never really an issue to me, so I have never done anything out of the ordinary to ensure that my kids are socially competent (whatever that means!) I talk to my kids all day long, they talk to one another, we go to restaurants and they order their food, they participate in age appropriate classes with other kids their age as well as “authority figures” other than my husband and myself, Daphne attends her co-op, we have personal friends and family with similar age children and they play together, and basically through all of that, they’ve been socialized to the point that they can easily make friends with other kids and are not afraid to use their voices. We teach them manners at home, and they utilize them daily. I think that building confidence, and teaching manners, respectfulness and kindness, is a sure fire way to socialize your little ones at home in a way that allows them to be friendly and kind to other people old and young!
I hope this helps anyone who feels drawn to homeschool but also intimidated. I always hear mothers say, “I would love to homeschool but I don’t think I could.” Fear is the number one reason why those who are drawn to homeschool, don’t. But I just want to encourage you by saying that if your heart is being pulled to teach your babies at home, don’t be afraid. You will be the best teacher your child could ask for. You will teach them more than you intend because you will be in a constant state of teaching. Since I have all three of my kids with me all day, we are always talking, teaching, learning, most of that not even falling within the confines of our “school day.” Just remember that much like motherhood, homeschooling requires flexibility, adaptation, and a whole lot of grace!
Please feel free to reach out anytime if you find that you have more questions for me!