I think as moms we often live in the zone of “tomorrow”. There is just so much to do today and we are getting tired. Tomorrow is always there, promising more time and new energy. Like Annie, it seems we bank our hopes that the “sun will come out tomorrow”.
The bad news is that tomorrow just keeps hopping ahead one more day, and some very important things keep getting scheduled for “tomorrow”.
Kindergarteners are great!
Kindergarten has got to be my favorite year of homeschool: sweet little eager minds so anxious to be big and to learn and everything! Come with me through a day of teaching a kindergartner at my house.
After morning scripture study, bath and dressing, breakfast, chores—it’s school time. At our house, that is at 9:00 AM. We begin with a pledge of allegiance, patriotic songs and reciting our memory scripture verse. I like to talk about manners or safety, using The 21 Rules of Our House. We also enjoy reading aloud—today it is a chapter of On the Shores of Silver Lake, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (For other good read-aloud books for your kindergartner, see Honey for a Child’s Heart.)
Mothers ask me why some years, we don’t take a break when it comes to homeschooling. I wonder that myself! I guess the answer is that homeschooling is just regular life at our house. We have done it so very long, that it is part of the routine. It is easy to keep at it and it gives order to every day. Yes, I do ease up a bit in the summer, mostly in the amount of preparation I do as a teacher. During the school year, I feel more desire to really put in some effort to prepare such things as science experiments, unit study lessons and the like. When summer heat and activities arrive, I am more flexible. Some mornings we garden or go to yard sales or do service instead of homeschool. Gardening is a very important subject in our homeschool; a basic life skill! We get our basic homeschool subjects done every day too. The children do it as automatically as they brush their teeth and say their prayers. This has been part of our daily life since they were infants, and it just continues year round, rain or shine, summer or winter.
Question:Interruptions seem to be the order of the day . . . each and every day. How do you manage homeschool when there is the phone, doorbell, visitors, dentist appointments, holidays, and more. Sometimes I feel there’s just not time to do schoolwork!
Every mom who home schools eventually experiences the nagging suspicion that she is not “covering everything”! I found myself trying to cram every subject into each school year for fear of leaving something out. When I thought about Health and realized how important it is to teach our children proper nutrition, then I put that into the schedule along with Math and English. Then I considered Logic—oh, that was very necessary too! Reading a “National Geographic” article was enough to start a guilt trip that I’d forgotten to teach them about the Renaissance! And on it goes. Aarrgh!!
My college kids, goofing around
I started thinking about having my children work towards their general education degree during the homeschool high school years when my eldest son, Daniel, turned 19. A teen is studying the basic general education subjects anyway, so why not go in more depth, learn more, and receive college credit as well? Courses such as World Civilizations, English Literature, Biology and other general education courses are taken in high school and then repeated a few years later at college. So many of the subjects are the same during high school and general education levels of college that it seemed sensible to just study these subjects once and do it well, rather than study them in the high school years and over again shortly in college at a high tuition price.
Homeschool Prom
Junior high years, the grades 7th and 8th, are usually a “make it or break it” for your homeschool. This seems to be the time when most children exit homeschool for that big public school. And it may be the worst time they could possibly attend school!
Here are some tried and true ideas that really work well in homeschooling!
Homeschool Campout!
Since my children really hit it off best with other homeschooling children, we began to search for homeschooling friends by organizing outings such as picnic park outings, sports days, art class and other fun activities. It always amazed me how a child that feels “out of it” at church or community class with a room full of children that go to public school can bond as friends instantly with other homeschooling children. They truly have so much in common! They have lots of talk about, and so do their mothers!
Today I thought to myself, “If I didn’t have kids to teach, I’d go back to bed.” Ever feel that way? Teaching children really helps us to do our best—doesn’t it?
