What Our School Days Look Like Now

I have been homeschooling for a while. Two years this time. Two years my first time. A total of four years. I am not quite a veteran, but I am not a newbie either. I guess you could say that I am a betweener. What I do know is this: I have tried just about every kind of homeschooling there is. We have done online schooling (K12). We have done one curriculum for all subjects (Lifepac). I have tried out the Classical Method of homeschooling. (Think Susan Bauer Wise.) We have even tried unschooling. (Think John Holt.) I have tried (and am currently settled on) an eclectic version of schooling that molds a little bit of this with a little bit of that and allows us to create a completely unique educational setting just for us.

Homeschooling families are no different than those who wage the public verse private school battles. We can be very critical of one another and how each chooses to educate their children from home. I have heard and read unschoolers say unkind things about those who choose to do book work with their children. I have heard and read of families who choose to learn by textbooks say unkind things about unschoolers. To me, it doesn't matter how one learns - as long as the learning that is taking place is in the best interests of each individual child and their family structure. I have seen some amazing unschoolers and their children thriving in their environment. I have seen some families who choose the "schooling at home" method (as it is sometimes - usually negatively - referred to by others) as excellent examples of what homeschooling - learning - should look like. On the flip side - I have seen the worst in all different types of homeschooling styles too. I have witnessed those families that my public/private school friends use as examples of all that is wrong with homeschooling and why it shouldn't be allowed.

I have always tried to do what is best for my kids at each stage in their learning seasons. Some seasons minimal book work has been done because there were so many other learning opportunities around. Other seasons we have used book work as our means of education because it is what has made the most sense to both Bob and I, but also to them. The greatest gift that homeschooling offers is that it allows a family to change their flow to fit the family's needs at any given time in its life. I have never doubted (at least not for very long) that the whole entire time my children have been homeschooled  they have been learning and growing and becoming the people they are meant to be - even when the days might not look like what their peers look like.

At this stage in our homeschooling journey we have found a happy medium. No longer am I stressing out over getting each subject done for each of the kids. Nor are we allowing our days to be completely unstructured. Instead I sat down with them and asked them which subjects they felt that they should be doing. I also told them that I would allow them to do each subject as often as they would like to during the week. I wanted to give the kids a choice in how their education looked to them because I know (from experience) that if I demand that they do 'x' subject 'x' times a week and they don't want to do it - it will become hell for both me and the child in question. I was surprised by the subjects the kids chose to do. I thought for sure they would only do a couple of subjects a couple of days a week with independent learning sprinkled in here and there.  We have been on this schedule for many weeks and it is working very well. Instead this is what they chose:

Andy

Math - M, T, W, Th

Science - T, Th

History - M, T, W, Th

Logic - T, W

Cursive - M, T, W, Th

Spelling - M, T, W, Th

Writing - M, W 

(with a paper due every other Friday)

Grammar - M, Th

Josh

Math - M, T, W, Th

Science - M, W

History - M, T, W, Th

Logic - T, Th

Latin - T, Th

Spelling - M, T, W, Th

Writing - T, Th 

(with a paper due every other Friday)

Grammar - M, W

Braille - M, T, Th

Sarah

Math - T, Th

Science - M, W

History - M, T, W, Th

Logic - T, Th

Latin - T, Th

Spelling - T, Th

Writing - M, W 

(with a paper due every other Friday)

Grammar - M, W

Braille - M, T, Th

Elizabeth

Math - M, T, Th

Science - M, T, W, Th

History - M, T, W, Th

Spelling - M, T, W

Grammar - T, Th

A few notes:

Sarah uses her braille writer to write her papers. I copy her essays down for her on paper as she tells me word for word what to write. Then I read the paper back to her and (after making corrections with her)  she uses the braille writer to "write" her paper. (She is currently working on a paper on presidents. I will write up a blog and show you what her papers look like.)

I also read Sarah her other assignments and she repeats back to me the answers. So for math - I will read the lesson to her and then go through each question. She will recite the answers and then I will write them down for her in her notebook. (I have heard that there are math books in braille, but we are no where near that stage yet, so we will continue on as we are.)

Elizabeth will be picking up more subjects as she goes on to fourth grade. For now, the five that she has keep her plenty busy.

We use a 4 day school week so that the kids can have Friday to catch up if something came up on a particular day during the week and they aren't able to get to something. (This happens rarely, but it is nice to have this type of flexibility.)

This system works like a charm because they kids know what they are to do each day. They don't fuss because they picked out what they wanted their schedule to look like and I don't freak out because I am no longer trying to tackle each subject with each kid each school day. I am confident that they have the best of both worlds - both the academic rigor that I feel is important for them to have - and the flexibility that is what makes homeschooling so cool. (Oh, and I get to have these 4 amazing beings with me every day.)

We have found a huge homeschooling community here in Las Cruces. It is nice because we have so many activities to choose from and so many different types of families to exposed to. The longer we live here the more things we find out about. Right now we are involved in two books clubs and a couple of park days where the kids get to just hang out and play with one another. There is also a co-op I am thinking about joining in the fall that will give my kids even more opportunities both social and educational to broaden their horizons. It has been a blessing to say the least.

So, there you have it. That is what our school day looks like.