I have had a few people ask me why I never posted my homeschooling schedule and favorite curriculums, so I thought I'd do that today. I think it might be a little long because this is one of my favorite topics!
First of all, if you are homeschooling or considering it, you should know without a shadow of a doubt why you are doing it. Don't base your reasons on fears, schedule conflicts, or even on discontent with your school district. Most people who do, end up putting their children back in public or private school because they don't have a Biblical conviction to homeschool in the first place.
The Word is always the best place to start. Below are my homeschool verses that I stand on. When I would begin to doubt I was doing the right thing or that I was doing a good job (and you will have these days!), I would go to these verses for encouragement.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Ephesians 6:4
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Isaiah 54:13
All your children shall be taught of the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Jeremiah 10:2
Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
1 Corinthians 11:1
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
Psalm 144:12
That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
Proverbs 23:26
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
As to my schedule......well, it depends on the time of year. We generally do school year round. We take off in June to get ready for and attend Vacation Bible School. We also take off in November because Billy Joe is normally on vacation for hunting season. Throughout the year we take off for various things like Homeschool Co-op and field trips, so in order to complete each lesson for the year, we go year round. Also, for us, a Rule of thumb is, if Daddy is home, we are off from school. He is normally off a few Fridays a month. At this very moment, we are done with all subjects except Math. This is unusual for us. We did really good this year! (We needed to celebrate so we have been sleeping in late and starting school at about 10ish!) Our school year normally begins (or at least that is when they start the next grade) the first of July.
Every day, no matter if we are doing school that day or not, we read our Bible together over breakfast, and most days, do a history lesson.
Bible- We are reading straight through the Bible and read a chapter or 2 a day. (My girls ask some interesting questions, and sometimes we have to spend time looking up answers about places and cultures, or calling Mamaw and Papaw a.k.a. Bro. Shannon & Mrs. Julia, our pastors, to get answers.) We also work on whatever scripture passage we are memorizing. It just so happens we are working on Mark 16:2-8 for Easter right now. We make motions to help the little ones! A few times a week we go over catechism questions and character qualities, reviewing the ones we have already learned. (We love Truth and Grace Memory books from Founders Press for catechism! You can look them up here.)
***We also have prayer time. I keep a journal of all the prayer request they have and divide them up between them. Each one takes a turn praying, then I pray for each of them, their future spouse, and children. We love going back to see where God has answered prayers. This has really encouraged them to pray more by themselves as well.
History- Mystery of History is the. best. by. far! We love it! This history curriculum parallels Biblical history with world history. It is recommended that you make a timeline so you can keep up with all that you have learned. Did you know that Jonah was alive while the first Olympic Games were being held? The lessons are interesting but not too long, the activities are fun, and it is set up to use with multiple grades at once. Because of the projects, I count this as art as well! ☺ (When you have 4 different grades, this is wonderful!) Do yourself a favor and check it out here.
(I must show my gratitude to Naomi Chance for getting me hooked on this.....love you, my sweet friend!)
If we are in full on school mode, I wake up about 6 a.m. and read my Bible, maybe blog, read my favorite blogs, and get breakfast ready. The girls get up around 8. It normally takes us 1- 1 1/2 hours to do Bible, memory, prayer, history, feed all our animals, and gather the eggs. (We do live on a farm!)
About this time, we settle down to do math.
Math- My 7th grader (Kati) and 5th grader (Kera) use Teaching Textbooks. It is on CD-ROMs. Basically it teaches the lesson, grades the work, and gives the tests. WHAT!?!( Insert Happy dance!) Next year, my 3 oldest will all be using it. (You can check it out here.) My 3rd grader (Kelanie) and 1st grader (Kat) use Rod and Staff Math. I like Rod and Staff because the presentation is simple and has a great deal of repetition for a solid foundation in the fundamentals of math....however......I have found that in later grades they really don't have enough Geometry for my liking! I don't love Geometry, but I know it is fundamental to Math. You can look at all Rod and Staff Curriculum here if you're interested.
Now it is time for English. (Kat, my first grader, plays phonics and math games online during this time.)
English-I use Rod and Staff English for grades 3rd, 5th, and 7th. I would eventually like to find a curriculum for my older girls that have more writing prompts in it, like Abeka, or find a supplemental writing to add on to Rod and Staff. For the first semester of school, I gave my girls a writing prompt, and they wrote in a journal for a few minutes. (I guess I let that go by the wayside.) If you hate sentence diagramming, Rod and Staff is definitely not for you!
Then we do Spelling. Well, at least the three oldest do. While they are working in their Rod and Staff spelling workbooks, my first grader and I do reading on the couch together. We are using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. (Look at it here.) On Thursday, we do a spelling pretest. If they make a 100, then they don't have to test on Friday. They work hard to not have to test on Friday.
Spelling-Rod and Staff
Handwriting-1st and 3rd graders used Rod and Staff Handwriting
Reading- For the first semester we used Rod and Staff reading books and workbooks, each for their own grade level. The second semester we picked novels we wanted to read, and I made up worksheets and activities for them. The last book we read all together was Little House in the Big Woods. There are countless worksheets and activities online for free. The girls took turns reading out loud and it gave us a break from the monotony of worksheets!
By now it is lunch time and we are starving, and we are ready for a break from school! This week, while the girls are eating, I read them a chapter out of Growing Up Duggar by Jana, Jill, Jessa, & Jinger Duggar. The girls all wanted to read this and we only have 2 working Kindles at the moment. There was a big debate about who was going to get to read it first, as Kera is an avid reader and therefore, the kindle hog!. One of those working kindles are mine, so no one gets to use it other than me (And Billy Joe if he wished....but mostly he doesn't, and I am thankful!)! I decided to read it to them all at the same time to keep the peace, and am really enjoying it in the process.
I normally let them have a few minutes to run outside if it is good weather, and then it is back to work.
Science- This year we used a 6th grade Rod and Staff Science book. Kera (5th) and Kati(7th) did the same one just to make my life easier. Kat and Kelanie would listen sometimes, but they didn't answer the questions or take the quizzes. If the lessons seemed too complicated for the little girls, I would send them to practice their musical instruments. Next year, which starts in July, we are starting God's Design for Science Curriculum from Answers in Genesis (Ken Ham). You can look at it here.
Schoolwork is complete!
The little girls are sent to complete their chores, while the big girls practice the piano and guitar. After Kati and Kera finish music practice, they complete their chores. We love Chore packs I purchased from Titus 2 Ministries. I have Homeschooling With a Meek and Quiet Spirit, Managers of Their Homes, Managers of Their Chores, and Managers of Their Schools that they have published and have learned a lot from them. You can look at all of them here.
Generally, it is about 2-3 p.m. by the time we are finally finished. Each day, one of my girls help me cook supper. (Except Wednesday because we are rushing to get ready for church, and with the exception of days we have something to do and are hurrying to be somewhere.) Then it is time for Daddy to be home!
I love spending every day with my girls. Just a few years ago, I was not nearly as organized and did not have quite the vision I have for my homeschooling that I do now. It was frustrating and overwhelming. Thank goodness for a Godly husband who leads our family, The Word of God, and Titus 2 women who have poured into my life. Now, I cherish every moment that I get to be doing what I know I am called and created to do!
God is Good!
I have read and reread this post a million times to make sure that this homeschooling momma did not have spelling and grammar mistakes, but, well, I am human. There will probably still be a few! Don't hold it against me! LOL! Have a great weekend!
