Time To Start A New Year 2013

I'm finally out of summertime holiday mode, and back into school preparation.  I've just about managed to put away all the camping gear, newly washed clothes, and seventeen packets of cup-o-soup, but now I have to tackle THE SCHOOL ROOM.

Out go all the books about medieval history, and in come those about the Renaissance.

Out go the papers, books, scrap books, and exercise books from our work last year, and in come the new folders, binders, composition books, pens, paper, glue, scissors, and boxes of crayons.

What a mess in the meantime!

Out with the old, in with the New

But wait?  What's this?  You mean, things aren't as chaotic as they first seem?

Guess who's got a new label maker?

My hope is that more books on display in neat categories might encourage more browsing . Still not sure what I'll put in the drawers at the bottom.  These used to have activities and crafts, most of which the kids have outgrown.  They might be a perfect place for the art supplies that currently live in the utility room, but I sure hope they don't encourage Rocky to paint on the carpet again!

Meanwhile, here is a very exciting book shelf:

CM Live Middle Ages Core Texts

These are the core texts for the CM Live Middle Ages course which I teach, and which Killer is going to take this year. I'm very proud of him.  Most students don't read these books till they're in college, and Killer is only 10! (I may have to carve out time to read them with him, though)

Finally, tidying up got delayed when I was inspired to work on our daily schedules.  About three hours later, I had finished the first draft of Phoenix's schedule: 

A Year 8 Schedule based on Ambleside Online

Phoenix is my eldest, and a natural scholar. Her brothers and sister will have shorter schedules than this, though they will be almost identical up until lunchtime. 

This one is heavy on the humanities, especially geography, because that's Phoenix's personal forte. I printed it out, but haven't edited it -- so, who knows if all the timings add up!

Roll on September 9th, when we officially start.

How to Homeschool 4 Children at the Same Time, Part 2

My previous post was about the morning schedule I've devised in order to juggle the homeschooling of my four children, aged 12 to 5.

Now I'm going to look at some afternoon schedules.  One thing to notice is that I have more time with my Year 7 Ambleside Online student, that I've scheduled in some free time for the younger ones, and that we have instituted a new 4 o'clock tea-time session, where we share a pot of hot tea, some cookies, and a low-key learning experience like music appreciation or picture study.

All this is based on the Charlotte Mason method of education, and one which suits my humanities background really well.

First, let me show you the afternoon schedule for my Year 7 student.

Afternoon Schedule for Phoenix
(Ambleside Online Year 7)

One-on-One with Eldest Child

You will see that, after lunch and violin practice (and some chores which I haven't indicated), I spend some time reading with her.  She is someone who has always relished the chance to sit with me and listen to my reading aloud to her, audible learner that she is, so I tried to maintain this connection with her.  It's a lovely time to discuss things that aren't relevant to her younger siblings, which may include issues like whether I believe in Arianism or Athanasius' teachings (a topic that arose from the "Saints and Heroes" reading), or more personal issues like the coming of puberty and what she can expect as she gets older and her body changes (a discussion that came out of studying population control in Singapore).

Any chance to carve out some personal time for the eldest child is a real bonus in a too-busy homeschooling family.

Block 5: CM Live

You may also notice that, after our time together, she has another block on her own, doing something labeled "CM Live".  This is my newest venture into on-line tutoring, or as I like to call it, on-line co-operatives for homeschoolers.

I won't spend too much time on it, but basically, there seemed to be a call amongst AO Yr 7 students to get together to discuss their difficult literary selections like Beowulf and Chaucer and the like, yet to circumvent the issue that they live great distances from their peers.  Thus was born "CM Live".

Have a look to see if it's something for you and your children in the future.  You can be assured that your child is part of an on-line homeschooling community that's safe, stimulating, and scholarly because I'm a teacher who has taught to university-level in the past.  

Phoenix has three sessions in a week to work on CM Live because it involves reading a primary text, two secondary texts, an optional novel, and writing some narrations in the on-line environment, as well as keeping in touch socially with the other 18 students in her class. It's amazing to be able to interact with people all over the world, and though she's in England, she's making fast friends in Texas, Alabama, Massachusetts, and even Germany.

Block 6: Tea-Time Slot

Finally, she finishes her school day with the family-friendly wind-down time of hot tea and cookies, and painting flowers or listening to music or studying a Renoir painting.  Something together, and low-key.  The kids are enjoying this so much that they are keen to boil the kettle, pour the tea, set out the cups and milk and biscuits.  I can see they have really taken a liking to the routine, and are missing it the days when we cannot attend because something else has interrupted it, no matter how cool a field trip, or how special the friendship of someone who drops by.

Child Number 2

Now here's a glance at my second child's afternoon schedule:

Killer's afternoon schedule,
(approximately AO Yr 5)

Unlike Phoenix, Killer has only a half-hour slot with Mom in the afternoon, to read a variety of rock-solid medieval-based stories to go along with our history focus on Our Island Story.

Children number 3 and 4

Finally, the afternoon schedule of the youngest two.  Currently, I'm reading "Seabiscuit" to them after lunch, and then they are free to do as they like (whether it be their daily ration of computer games, playing outside, filming themselves on the camcorder, making good use of their toys, or whatever else they may choose -- today it was trying to shoot bubbles with the hose-gun, resulting in the sudden need for a hot bath).

Rocky and Timmy's afternoon schedule
(Ambleside Online Yr 2)

Again, you can see we finish the school day with our Block 6, Tea Time.

Free Reading

The last thing I'll say is that each student has a list of free reading to choose from.  For the younger two, that means books I read to them after lunch.  I haven't yet made the transition to reading on their own yet, though I'm sure that will be coming this year some time, particularly in the case of Rocky who's nearly 8.

The schedules aren't rigidly adhered to, but a useful guide, and just by using them over the past two weeks or so, I have noticed a vigorous attention to purpose, and a satisfaction that comes with being productive in our studies.

Phoenix was nearly in tears on Day One when she saw these multi-coloured charts, but within a day or two, she was singing their praises.

"I like the feeling that I'm getting so much done," she said. "And it's fun."

High praise indeed!

How Do You Schedule Your Homeschooling Day?

Personally, I like the idea of "routine" rather than "schedule" -- I'm quite a free-form person at heart, but have had to get more structured for my kids' sakes.

So, I've gone with the "middling" description of routine, so it's still a bit flow-y without being chaotic.

Maybe it's still a bit chaotic

We wake up about 8 (or so ...), and while the kids have breakfast and do their morning jobs (normal toileting like getting dressed, brushing teeth, as well as chores, which include some that are done every day like emptying the dishwasher and some that are the same each day of the week, like putting out new toilet paper rolls in all the bathrooms on a Tuesday), I get my own breakfast, throw on a load of laundry, and have my quiet time.

We start promptly at 10 every day. First, it's prayer and Bible song and Bible reading and Bible memory verses. This is followed by history.  We're currently reading this book: The Story of the World: Ancient Times v. 1: History for the Classical Child (Story of the World: History for the Classical Child).  We follow that with science (Jeannie Fulbright's Anatomy and Physiology).  

Strengthening the muscles
of our hands

Sometimes, the Fulbright is a bit dense for my younger ones, so they might drift away to do some colouring, drawing, or work in some kind of workbook like Thinking Skills.




Then the kids break up into separate categories -- my oldest and youngest play together for 15 minutes while I do maths with my 9-year-old, and the 6-year-old does her copywork and map skills or handwriting or art (depending on the day).

Busy Timmy's favourite part
of the school day is playing
with Phoenix all by himself

Then my oldest does her math while I help my younger two with their math, and 9-year-old does his copywork, guitar practice, and map skills/handwriting/art.

My younger two finish off their work-day by watching the Spanish language videos called Salsa. I read to the older two from Plutarch or Shakespeare or Robinson Crusoe or poetry. Then the 9-year-old finishes with Salsa while, some days, I do dictation with my oldest one by using a Geography textbook that she enjoys studying from.



By now, it's easily lunch time.


The kids play some computer game after lunch, and then if it isn't a day for shared art with a friend, or Spanish conversation, or music lessons, or a friend is visiting, then we'll get back together and do either art appreciation or music appreciation or something from the Keepers Club manual or just bake/cook/(in good weather, play in the garden).

Friends AND Baking:
The Best!

I also make it a habit to read to each child before bedtime, so that's when we get to our free reading from Ambleside Online (as opposed to the mounds of books they free-read on their own that aren't necessarily on the AO list). Many nights, I try to get Daddy to play a board game with them while I go for a walk.

There are lots of variation on this theme, but we stick to the general idea most of the time.

I've tried much stricter schedules and have written them all down and ticked boxes, but it always seems to move back into this undulating ebb and flow of education being simply an atmosphere and life (and a bit less of a discipline!).

AMAZING resource -- Montessori printables -- a $3000 value!

If you want a great resource for your Montessori school, homeschool, co-op, or even just for your primary-school aged kids in general, then this is it.  Hundreds and hundreds of .pdf printables at your fingertips.

Bought separately, you'd spend over $3000, but the CD-ROM is available for just under $600.  Once purchased, you can continue to purchase future files that she makes for 50% off. Visit the Montessori for Everyone website.

I tended to use the 3-part cards.  These are brightly coloured pictures, words, and a third card with pictures and words together.  Once you print them out on card and laminate them, then your child can practice matching the pictures and the words together, and then check them with the "control" card to make sure the answers are correct.

That makes these items self-correcting, which is great for a child's learning and independence.

BTW, I've had to withdraw the offer to give my copy away free: it infringed Lori's T&C's.

One Kind of Daily Schedule

I have been home-educating my children for over seven years now, and though I have dabbled in various curricula from unit study to biblically based, they all have one general thing in common: a sympathy to the methods espoused by Charlotte Mason over a hundred years ago.

If you want to know more about the Charlotte Mason method, you can Google the name, or start off with this website.

In the meantime, I thought I would share with you the kind of schedule that my son, Killer, has responded to so well over the past year.

I have made it myself using the "table" function in Word, printing it out, and then laminating it.  That way, he can use a water soluble pen to mark through his work every day, then wipe it all off for the next day, to start over again.

To reproduce it here, I had to save it as a JPEG in "Paint", so it's got a bit garbled in translation.  I think you can get the gist of it, though.

Having a Heart-to-Heart (on the way to Ikea)

I had the privilege of driving with my son to Ikea the other night in order to return a damaged item.  It's a two-hour round trip, and gave us some valuable one-on-one time.


On the way, I thought I'd ask him how life was going.  He's only 7, so I'm not sure how much detail I was expecting.


Nevertheless, he opened up to me.  "I just wish I did my work better."


Mommy-probe got into high gear: what do you mean by work? work, as in chores at home? work, as in homeschooling?  And when you say you want to do it better, do you want a schedule?  Something written out?


He was pretty quiet after that, so I gave him the low-down of what our homeschool schedule was going to be like this year: the Bible study, the history, the map skills and math and art.


"And you'll have a project this year.  Something for history, when we're studying World War One."


"I could do something with poetry," he said.  "Like make computer stick people do the actions."


Brilliant!  He's reading poetry, and it's about his history topic, and he's combining it with his love for animation and computing.


So in my mind I've established his long-term goals and schedule till Christmas, and my intuition is to leave him to get on with it.  


Oh, no, no, no!  Not boys!  You see, it's been tried in Norway for years, this idea of setting a work plan for individual students and them letting them get on with it, but they've discovered that boys are falling further behind the girls when they employ this strategy. 

The study makes the following generalizations: boys don't do well with self-regulation and taking responsibility for their own planning: instead, they like when a teacher sets clear learning objectives, short-term tasks, and tightly timed activities with clear targets.  Boys want immediate feedback, tend not to collaborate or discuss, and often put things off till the last minute.

Boys like immediate feedback

Of course, these may not be true for all boys, but in my struggles to get "Killer" peaceful in his school work and productive, they may not be far wrong.


Now it's not exactly back to the drawing board -- more like, back over to the computer to watch "Killer" make his stick figure animations and continue to encourage him in his poetry project.


This could be really good.  I must tell him so, often.