Have I mentioned that we homeschool? If you haven’t picked up on that, I’m sorry. Honestly, I’ve been a bit hesitant to talk about it too much. It may be my misconception, but I sometimes feel as if educational choices can cause divisions. Or maybe I just want everyone to “like me” too much, so I leave {major} things {like us homeschooling} out of the conversation. But if you popped in to our home 9-10 months out of the year, you would see that the majority of my day is devoted to homeschooling our children.
As I interact with more and more people through this blog and social media, I am growing my self-confidence and determination to just share us. Not to worry about “what others think” or “if they’ll like me.” Because I know my heart seeks only to encourage and inspire others through this blog. So…I plan to share more about our daily life, and that includes homeschool.
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This past Monday, we began our eighth year of homeschooling. {I promise to get into the why and how in the future, but for now, just bear with me as I start here.} We now have a 5th, 8th, and 10th grader. Wowzers! They’re getting old…and so am I!
I thought that I would give you a little glimpse of our first day and some changes that my heart so desperately needs and desires in this season of life.
First, let me say that I absolutely love the ages that my kids currently are. Yes, I loved having babies to snuggle and littles ones with insane curiosity for the world. But, I am loving the independence, confidence, growing personalities, and fun of this stage.
I also need to admit something: I have some major regrets from our early homeschooling years. Maybe it was the frazzled mom with too little sleep stage that consistently threw me over the edge. But I have been convicted lately not to use any excuse. I need to confess my faults to God. And I’ve done that. He has been so faithful to give me a new vision for the future of our homeschool years.
I have found some incredible inspiration from Sally Clarkson, Sarah MacKenzie, and Simply Charlotte Mason. My heart desires a peaceful, restful, and inquisitive home-learning environment. Sadly, I have not always cultivated that. But, with the Lord’s help, I am on a mission to daily work towards that this school year.
What does our first day of homeschool look like? Well, first, I let the kids look through their curriculum for the upcoming year. I spend a lot of time considering their learning styles and personalities as I purchase individual curriculum. Sometimes, I consult them, other times, I just make the final decision on things.
Next, we spent a little time organizing our pencils and such. Every year, this changes and this time, I decided to use a simple cloth basket with 4 individual containers. It will sit right in the middle of our table. We also use a simple pencil sharpener that is on a shelf {one like this, because our electric one died}. Click HERE for a similar basket.
Over the years, we have followed many books and curriculum for character building. Why? Because we feel this is so important. Giving our kiddos something to strive for instead of a “just be good” has made all the difference.
This year, I am making it more personal. Instead of studying a list of character traits {which we’ve done for the past 7 years} we brainstormed a list of all that we could think of. I then challenged them to think about this list and to consider which one they could focus on for the next few months. I told them to keep it in their mind and that I would have a private conversation later in the day with each child. {And I did. Can I tell you how proud I was that each child recognized a fault in their life and have committed to focusing on it? We worked out an individual plan on how I can support and come alongside them for their individual character trait.}
The next new thing we discussed was the fact that this momma needs help. Daily. I love my children, but they enjoy any free moments that I give them to do whatever they want. All while I run around doing all the things: cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. I admitted that I needed their help. {Plus…I wouldn’t have so much cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. without 3 kids. Ha!} They were on board with helping. And even though I already had a list in my mind, I “let” them help me brainstorm how they could pitch in. My request is that when their individual chores and school are all done, that they check this list {and talk to me} to see how they can help out. Free time will happen when we’ve worked together as a family…and momma isn’t feeling so overwhelmed anymore.
Can I just tell you that even a few days in, that this has been amazing? Children really do enjoy responsibility and contributing to the family. I just needed to admit my inability to do it all and let them step in. This has empowered them to step up and I have enjoyed the confidence that this list has given to each of them.
And yes, I totally taped it to our refrigerator because you know, everyone will see it there.
Another new idea that I am incorporating this year is a group copywork time. We will spend 5-10 minutes on this daily. I decided that the gospel of John would be perfect as the kids will be focusing on this book in their Bible quiz activity.
My goal has always been to do a read-aloud with my children. If I am to be honest, sometimes I do awesome at this. And sometimes I fail. We started a book {“Echo“} on our vacation, so I am using this CD to buy me a little time of sitting and reading, but also get some good family reading time in. By the way, we are loving this book and the audio version is so enjoyable.
After some “fun,” they asked what was next. I asked them what is the minimum that we do every day. To which they replied, “math and reading.” A math lesson for each of them and some personal reading time rounded out our day.
Oh and I also spent some time with my 10th grader discussing her subjects and the frequency of each. I gave her a very heavy workload in 9th grade with the hope that 10th grade would be less subjects, but more in-depth study. Considering her learning style, personality, workload, and what is possible to accomplish in a day, we worked out a “time schedule” for each subject. Anything that takes beyond these time frames, may become “homework” in the evening.
And then it stopped raining just in time to run outside for our obligatory first day of school photo. {And do you see my kiddo all the way to the right…he’s 13 and obviously, “touch” is not his love language. Ha!}
That’s it! Our first day of the 2018-2019 homeschool year. It was a fantastic day and I am trusting God for a year full of inner and outer growth…for all four of us! ♥
xo,
Leigh
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