How Do You Do It: Planning Homeschool

I'm not an expert on anything. In fact, I'm not sure what qualifies one to be an expert...there's always more to learn. That said, I have some experience in a few places. And I get asked often, "How do you do it?" So, I'm starting a new series to explain how I do things. I'm not committing to posting once a week or even once a month, but whenever I get around to it I'll answer a question about how I do it...whatever "it" may be. So, if there's anything you're curious about, just ask...

For some reason, I'm starting with the thing I probably know the least about...planning homeschool. But I did say I'm not an expert...



Gebel Family Homeschool is only a few months old and everything about it is still evolving, but in general this is how I plan. Every day we do math and vocabulary. The rest of our subjects are connected to whatever unit we're studying. I plan a unit or two ahead...and it goes something like this...

Once I have a topic in mind I do a catalog search of the local libraries to see what books they have on the subject. I also do a google search as well as looking on the sites of some of the homeschooling blogs I follow. If I'm looking at space I might also search for astronauts, weather, the solar system...related topics that can give me ideas. I use those searches to come up with a book list, web sites to visit with the kids, movies to watch, foods to cook, and activities to do. We don't necessarily do all this with each topic. Once I have all that info it gives me an idea of how long I think the unit will take, too. But I'm willing to give it more or less time once I see how the kids are enjoying it, or not.

During all of this I sit down with my planner (seen above) and bracket off the week(s) for a particular unit and the gist of what I want to accomplish that week. If I want to build a moving box rocket ship during the first week of space study, it gets penciled in...but it's always subject to change.

I didn't photograph the next page of my planner, but after the monthly pages there are weekly pages. On those I write down each day what the kids have done. Washington doesn't require me to keep detailed records so this informal way of tracking them works well for now.

And that's how I do it. Our units are very organic and based off their interests, my interests, holidays, family plans, time constraints, and trying to find a balance of things that make everyone excited about learning!

How do you plan your homeschool days?

Just a Little "How Do You Do?"

So, how do you do? I'm doing pretty well these days. I feel mostly relaxed and am not worrying (too much) about where we're going to live in Washington in a mere six weeks. I have to admit, though, that I have done a little looking at rental places. I like to look. There's no harm in looking. OK, I've even sent out a couple emails to find out more details on a few places. But I'm not worrying. If we haven't lined up a place a month from now...then we'll talk.

What else have I been up to other than trolling the web for rental homes? Mostly, I've been working. That's right...I'm a homeschooling mama. It's a job! :) And I'm attending my first conference. It's an online convention: The Old Schoolhouse Online Expo. If you're just hearing about this, don't worry you're not completely missing out! You can go in and browse the vendor hall now, without buying your way into the convention! You can also order the downloads that will be available after the close of the expo. And if you're like me, and just getting into homeschooling, you might find these sessions highly informational! I've probably attended about half of them and taken almost 20 pages of notes! This morning I was looking through my notes, getting ready for today (the last day of the expo), and realized I need to weed through all that I've learned and really pick out what I want to work into our lives and what I'm willing to wait on. Even the prospect of that excites me! I'm a planner and am really enjoying designing our homeschool.

That's about it, ladies and gents! Even though I've been in New York for 4 days now, I haven't been running in 16 directions. I took one day to visit all our parents and I've been huddled in the corner with my computer since. Tomorrow should be a relaxing day - finally one without rain - so I'm hoping we can all get outside and enjoy it. And I'll be getting together with some old high school friends tomorrow night. Sunday we're going to see Thomas the Train, that should be fun. But thus far, we're not overloaded. I like that.

One thing I am doing, though, is counting down the days until I get to see Scott again. (Miss you!) He was around during the last move and moving out of the house without him and traveling so much with just the kids has been fun, but so very different. We've been sharing stories with him, but we're all excited to see him again! And, we're under two weeks...yay!

So, that's our lives in a nut shell. I hope you're all doing well today too and maybe you can take some time to listen to the birds outside your door too. That's the melody I have playing right now. That and a truck from the gravel pit! Have a great weekend!

Learning Along The Way

We're on the road. Well, technically, right now we're in a hotel. But we've left Georgia. We're in South Carolina. We'll make it to Maryland tomorrow and do DC this weekend! I can't wait!

So, lessons have I learned on this day?

Well...it's race day in Darlington, SC this weekend. I thought that I'd be all relaxed about this little leg of our trip and not make reservations or even plan on where to stop tonight. Well, we made it to 20 minutes Southeast of Darlington. The first exit we looked for rooms at was booked. Thankfully we did get a room at the second exit. And in time for Survivor. (yay!)

Jace thinks I'm cool. Since today was his last day of school he gave me the Mother's Day card he'd made rather than waiting until Friday or Sunday. He basically wrote this: "My mom is cool. She whistles like the wind. She lets us cuss. My mom likes to cuddle with me. And she lets me buy Nerf guns with my own money." Isn't he too sweet! I'm thinking he threw the cussing thing in there hoping the power of suggestion would work for him!

Tyler can sleep through a gymnasium of Kindergarten, 1st graders, and 2nd graders yelling and cheering for their teachers. We spent the whole day at Jace's school today for his field day. All morning we were outside playing. Then we came in and had lunch, after which we went to the gym for class activities. After the classes all competed in tug o' war the teachers and parents got out there. I, unfortunately, couldn't go because Tyler was sleeping in my lap. And he slept through all the rowdy, loud, shouting. I couldn't believe it!

If you don't strap Tyler into his car seat, he will sit in it anyway and not get out and play. Very smart boy. For about 15 minutes after we left the school Tyler kept saying, "Ut-oh," and I'd ask him what was wrong and he'd grunt something unintelligible. He didn't sound too worried or hurt so I'd just say, "OK...you're all right." Finally, Gracie looked over and told me Tyler wasn't strapped in! Too much focus on snacking and not enough on safety before hitting the road, I guess. I promise to pay more attention next time.

Teachers have one exhausting job. Not only did I spend today in Jace's class, but I was in Gracie's yesterday. They've just completed 1st grade and pre-k. In Gracie's class of soon-to-be-Kindergarteners, there were kids reading words and kids learning to identify letters or name the last letter in their name. In Jace's class there are reading levels ranging from 4th grade down to whatever level is still learning sight words and phonics. We reviewed odd and even numbers in 1st grade this morning and not everyone got it right. We talked about odd and even numbers yesterday in Gracie's class and not everyone got it right there either, but some did. I didn't fully realize the range of students teacher's have to teach. And then there are the maturity levels. Both classes had kids who listened the first time and kids who didn't listen the fourth or fifth time. Both classes had kids to sat quietly and waited for the next instruction and those who couldn't sit quietly even if that was the instruction. I've known that teaching is a tough job and one that I've always had great respect for. But after two days in the classroom...I'm going to write personal thank you notes to my kids' teachers. They were given wonderful attention these past few years and I don't think the thanks I've already given was enough.

Well, I guess that's as good a lesson learned to leave off on as any. Tomorrow's a big day, fully of driving and chatter. Wish us luck! Have a great weekend and a fabulous Mother's Day!!!

A Man With A Plan

I was talking with my mom yesterday and learned about a scary blessing that happened recently with someone I used to go to church with. Long story, short...there is a couple who's son and his family live just down the road in a small town. The granddaughter asked if she could spend the night with Grandma one night. Her parents not only agreed, but decided that they'd stay the night too. That night their furnace exploded and their house, with all of their belongings, burnt.

There's no denying, at least in my mind, that God works in ways only He understands.

Although I haven't been through anything as frightening as my home blowing up, I have experienced God's hand in my life. One of the biggest ways He has moved me is the past three years.

Very shortly after I moved into our current home I felt like maybe we'd made a mistake. There were a few things I had on my list of wants, things way up at the top, that I didn't get in this home. And I started wondering if we should have bought a place "way out here," as everyone here says. Then I drove 2 hours a day for an entire school year to take Jace to preschool. I really questioned our decision then.

Rather than getting frustrated or down about my long drive to being a stay at home mom I consoled myself by remembering that God has a plan, and living in this not-so-thriving-whatever-the-opposite-of-metropolis-is city must be somehow part of His plan.

I think I figured it out, at least part of it...I'm sure there's more. See, at the very beginning of that first year here, at Jace's preschool, I met Kelly, who's son was in Jace's class. She pulled him out to homeschool him shortly after we met. But I'm guess that enrolling him in that school to begin with was also part of God's plan. We needed to meet somehow, right? Kelly happened to organize a mom's group. I started going and met some incredible women.

These incredible mama's supported me through a stressful pregnancy and exhausting first year with three children. We talked about faith, parenting, school, kids, education...life. We had play dates and ladies' nights. I think I only made one ladies' night, but the offer was there! I learned a lot and grew. Growing is always a goal of mine...so I'd call it a success!

At the end of the day, or of the past three years, I think the bigger picture is that I'm going to homeschool next year. I think maybe all of this was to bring me to a place where I'm willing to, and realize I'm able to, homeschool the kids. I wouldn't have gotten to this place without all I've learned through my mama's group. I think God's plan is working.

So, whether big or small...take notice of how God is at work in your life. And don't forget to give him a smile and a wink when you can finally way, "Oooohhhh. That's why we moved to Georgia and fought with gnats for three years. OK, then. But couldn't you have led me to this realization without three months of 3-digit temps? Yeah, you're probably right...I probably wouldn't have have picked up on more subtle hints." God likes smiles and winks.

;-)


:-)

Should I Jump In?

Why not? I'm not going to jump in to homeschooling the kids next week, but I am jumping into my planning for next year. Yay!

I considered waiting until we get settled in Washington, but for a few reasons I've decided not to. First of all, I'm going to have plenty of unpacking and setting up our home to do. I don't really want to tackle that and figuring out what, when, where, how, and why I'm going to teach the kids for the year. Secondly, we aren't likely to get into a place there until July. I know that school doesn't start in the Pacific Northwest until September, but I'm eager to get started a little earlier than that. We're putting a lot of miles on the ol' minivan this summer and the kids are going to be ripe with fresh knowledge and excitement after traveling up the East coast and across the Northern US. I want to capture that momentum. Besides (and thirdly) I've got plenty of momentum of my own right now.

A year ago when the thought of homeschooling crossed my mind I felt extremely overwhelmed with the thought of staying with my kids 24/7 and being solely responsible for their academic upbringing along with every other aspect of it. But now I don't worry about that so much. Now I don't worry about that so much. In fact, since considering the option of homeschooling seriously I haven't felt overwhelmed at all. I've felt excited, but not in over my head.

Until now...but just a little bit.

I just found myself with papers scattered around me on the couch and six different pages open, all to try to figure out where to start and what to write on all these papers!

I've looked at so many websites and read a few books, flipped through others. I've learned a few things. One thing that I was happy to read early on is that I can't teach the kids everything. I think that's great news! They'll learn a lot in the Gebel Family Homeschool but they'll also learn in any number of other ways and they'll still never know everything. No one can. Good to know.

I also learned that when looking at the abundance of information out there about homeschooling take what appeals to you and leave the rest. That's the reason I've only flipped through a few of the books I've gotten from the library. Not everything seems like a good fit for me, as teacher, or for my kids, as learners.

So, with these two things in mind,here I sit with six fantastic sites and blank planning pages to fill out...

1. Our Busy Homeschool has become one of my daily reads. I'm inspired by most everything I read there. Tristan uses a year round school year and unit studies to educate her five kids.
2. Donna Young has a ton of planning tools (forms, lists, articles) to help you get organized and stay that way. She has a great step by step approach to planning for beginners. And that's me!
3. The Homeschool Classroom also has lots of information about getting ready for a new school year. The specific article I linked you to assumes that you're preparing for the new school year as your finishing the current homeschooling year. Since I'm not in that situation, I've tweaked some of the suggestions to fit our lives. For example, with our upcoming move, I'll be missing homeschool conventions here in Georgia and there in Washington. Attending convention is a common suggestion and one that I think would be a great way to really immerse myself in the homeschooling world. Lucky for me The Old Schoolhouse is having an Online Expo. I'm registered and excited!
4. Curriculum Choice has a "New to homeschooling" button that provides you with a wealth on info, including how not to feel overwhelmed and how to write a family mission statement. I don't know if we'll get a mission statement in print before Scott leaves for his school in two days, but it's surely something I'll be working on over the next few weeks. I'll be working continually on not feeling overwhelmed.
5. and 6. There are two homeschooling methods that intrigue me. I'll probably lean toward using unit studies but with a dash of Charlotte Mason Education thrown in (if it's possible to toss in such a wonderful and in depth learning program).

So, here I am...jumping in feet first. Now that I've outlined my online resources for you I feel ready to start writing something. But, that will have to wait until tomorrow...it's past my bed time.

Good night for now. I'll keep you posted on the planning of our family school soon enough...sweet dreams!