The Curriculum Choice

Often I am asked by new homeschoolers about how to make an overall plan for the school year. They are looking for the nuts and bolts of putting lots of great ideas together because they tend to get overwhelmed by whole process. I shared the following ideas with a friend and I hope they help and encourage readers here at Curriculum Choice.

I try to emphasis to new homeschoolers that your “school day” extends far beyond the usual school hours. By making good use of that concept you can fit some school related learning into every day of the week and move some of your ideas and projects into the evenings or over the weekends so your whole family can participate.

My Steps to Pulling it All Together

1. Consider what you want to teach. What are the main points of the lessons? What are my goals for this particular year? The process of putting these thoughts on paper in a simple form gives a touchstone when considering what books, resources, and other options to use.

Take an inventory of what materials you have on hand

2. Gather your materials to see what you have and what you might need:

Textbooks or workbooks (if you are going to use these)
Library books (look on your local library website and browse their catalog of books)
Games and Kits
Online activities (Google the topic with “lesson plan” after it or “activities” or “unit study”)
Field trip ideas
DVDs from Netflix

I usually keep a notebook page for each subject as I am planning and record my ideas on paper as I go.

3. Decide which materials best suit your child. Try to figure out which aspect of what you are learning is going to be most interesting to them.

Active learner-Short activities, lots of movement, limited table time.

Some Children Thrive on Reading Lots of Books

Visual Learner-Picture books, videos, lots of art activities.
Avid Reader-Keep a list of books that can fill in your schedule and don’t forget books for subjects like science, history, and biographies of artists and musicians.
Project Learner-Kits, models, lapbooks, and notebook pages are great for this kind of learner.

4. Divide the text, books, activities, and field trips into the desired amount of time. I prefer to move slowly through a book and have them give an oral or written narration every day. When your children are young, working up to one paragraph per book selection per day is enough along with a drawing or a map or something that is interesting to them. I never try to do it all. (see #6)

Combine writing, art, and science into one project

5. Look for ways to connect subjects:

History and literature (historical fiction)
History and art and music (learn about artists and composers from the history time period)
Science and art (drawing diagrams or labs, drawing animals found in your neighborhood)
Math and science (measuring things for labs, cooking)
PE and math (times tables while jump roping, counting repetitions, count as you bounce a ball)

6. Have an overall plan but be flexible.
Decide if any areas are needing extra attention for this school year, make those a priority and perhaps complete them earlier in the day.

Off Season Traveling is a Great Experience

Take the opportunity for field trips-This is one reason for home schooling in the first place. Taking field trips when everyone else is back in school is so enjoyable and far less crowded.

Plan for interruptions-Divide your books into 34 or 35 weeks instead of 38 so you have some wiggle room.

7. Have a plan for things to do when your child is sick:
Educational videos while laying on the couch.
Read out loud to your child.
Listen to classical music while they rest.
Play quiet games.

8. Make use of your time spent traveling in the car:
Listen to books on tape.
Listen to folk music or classical music.
Have a box of books they can read to themselves.
Have a stack of math facts flashcards (keep in a Ziploc.)
Have a stack of sight words to read (keep in a Ziploc.)

Hopefully this post has helped you in some way, either with a few ideas to get started with or a some new ideas to try in your homeschool.

Written by Barb-Harmony Art mom. She also blogs at http://www.harmonyartmom.blogspot.com

Is anybody else beginning to stress a little about high school? Come on, raise your hand higher, I know you’re out there!

I consider myself a pretty confident homeschooler overall. I don’t over-analyze curriculum choices or worry about counting every single minute of every single lesson. I’m a fairly relaxed homeschooler – which is the way I like it. Until, that is, the “H” word begins to hover over my head. Then I start to fret, wondering if our relaxed, eclectic, Charlotte Mason style will cut the mustard when it comes to things like filling out transcripts, calculating grade point averages and getting my children into college if that’s the path God desires.

Some of you may say, “Your oldest is only in 7th grade. Why are you fussing over this now?” Well, as you’ll soon find out from my review, it seems it’s never too early to at least have a plan in mind for high school. And if I want to begin any high school credit courses early (which I do), 7th grade isn’t at all too early to have the plan in place.

So, where did I start looking? I ran across a book titled Transcripts Made Easy by Janice Campbell. She’s a mom of four who has been homeschooling since the late 80′s and currently has two boys who graduated from college early and two boys who are beginning college courses in high school. Because of her experience, success and the simplicity of this book, I have found it to be a tremendous help in planning high school – and easing my anxiety!

Includes reproducible forms!

Transcripts Made Easy is truly easy to understand. Even with 120 pages, it’s a fairly quick read, too. Janice walks you through, step-by-step, how to simply and effectively keep academic records, how to turn those records into a GPA sheet, how to calculate credits and quality points, making adjustments for AP or college classes and how to make sure you are preparing your student for classes that meet state and college-bound goals.

She even includes real conversations with college admissions counselors to help you understand what they are really looking for in an applicant.

For our less textbook structured homeschool, my favorite sections are those that help me justify unit studies, field trips, 4-H, service projects and the like. There’s even an entire chapter dedicated to teaching you how to name less traditional classes, how to assign them the appropriate credit, and even how to assess them so that a grade can be given for the GPA. Ah, what a relief! I won’t have to turn into Textbook Tina afterall! (Not that there’s anything wrong with textbooks – most of the time they just aren’t our style.)

With the reproducible forms included in the book, you can easily begin noting high school level courses for credit, even if you start them a year or two early. And if you’re already in high school, but still looking for a system that works, it seems it’s never too late (or too hard) to jump into the record keeping provided in TME.

Transcripts Made Easy can be purchased as a softcover 8 1/2 x 11″ book for $21.95, or as an e-book for $18.95. Both are very fairly priced!

-Written by Cindy, Eclectic Charlotte Mason mom of Three. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and Shining Dawn Books.

moth Being a mother of five, I am often asked how I manage our homeschooling day. Some are just curious and others are hoping to see if there is anything that we do differently that might help them manage their day. Each family functions differently, and each mother desires a smooth-running home. But the consistant theme that I have seen with unhappy homeschool mothers is that they cant keep up with their work load.

Managers of Their Homes is a time-proven method that helps homeschooling families schedule their God-given priorities so that they can accomplish all that they set out to. It is particularly useful for larger families, but works with families of all sizes.

The first chapter tells you why you should have a schedule and it dispels the myth that you cannot gain a victory over your circumstances and time usage. The next chapter is about how to have a successful schedule by planning a daily devotion and depending on the the Lord, while trying to accomplish the Lord’s agenda, instead of on our own strength. This chapter is followed by insructions on how to schedule:

children’s days
school
babies
chores
kitchen
priorities

After reading through these chapters you will begin to see the light and probably will be ready to get to work setting up a schedule with all the helpful ideas that are provided.

“My initial investment of time making my schedule has paid off with interest.” Lorrie

“When we are on our schedule, there is much more peace; we get more done and I don’t feel stressed by making decisions all day.” Pauline

The next chapter, Planning for the School Year, is especially helpful as it instructs you in prayerfully assessing each child’s strengths, weaknesses, and goals before you put the pieces of the schedule together.

There are a few chapters next on scheduling the summer, challenges you may face in your schedule and what do you do when you have the inevitable interruption. The chapter on implementing the schedule helps you get it all together and encourages you to tweak it as necessary until it is comfortable. Then there is a Question and Answer section where the families that tested this method asked questions and the answers for every question imaginable is provided.

My favorite part of this book is the section of actual schedules that moms have used. I personally used this section immensely when planning our schedule. Also, another helpful component to this book is the worksheets that you fill out in order to visually see the hours in your day and how you are choosing to spend your time. You quickly realize that there ARE enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that God has laid on your heart to implement in your family.

“It’s so pleasant and easy I find myself thinking, ‘What am I doing wrong; this is too easy!” Robyn

“Making and using a schedule has helped me, and there were people who thought I was hopeless!” Sherri

The final step is completing and displaying your family’s schedule and there is paper provided for you to make a chart with 30 – 60 min. time slots to proudly display on your wall in a central location so each child can see what they are expected to do next.

I look forward to creating my new schedule each year, as we add the next child and need major adjustments, or tweak it a little to add different responsibilities. It always helps me begin school with a good attitude instead of beginning with the feeling of defeat before we even start.

Please visit the Titus 2 site to purchase Managers of Their Homes, and see the other products that Steve and Terri Maxwell have written.

Written by Brenda, Classically Eclectic mother of 5. You can find her writing about her homeschooling journey at Tie That Binds Us.

vic-mom Something I always recommend to new homeschoolers is to write a family mission statement. The value of a mission statement for a new homeschooling family is irreplaceable. I also strongly believe that Mom and Dad need to sit down apart from each other (or vow not to peek) and write separate lists of what is important to them. Then, convene together and take the time to discuss and learn from each other. For seasoned homeschoolers, a good idea is to go over your mission statement each year and see if anything has changed.

Below is a list of things to think about discussing for your mission statement. These are a starting point and you should certainly add to and take away as you see fit.

religion, will all, none or some of your books be written from your religious background? Will you expose your children to other religions.
budgeting, will you be budgeting school books or using the library?
sports, are athletics important to your family and who will be involved?
socialization, are you concerned with whom your children are around, and are you planning on creating the type of “socialization” that you believe is good for your child?
philosophy, which philosophy do you lean towards? (Do your homework)
college, are you raising college bound children or not?
involvement, who will be involved in raising and educating your children? (hubby, you, friends, family, other moms, co-ops, state standards)
siblings, will you be educating siblings together or separate?
history, history is a messy ugly story some times, how will you teach history?
timeframe, will you homeschool for two years, until high school or all the way through?

A mission statement may also include future goals that you want to set for each child and character traits that you want to instill in your children. Take the time to work through these issues before they become issues of contentment. Being on the same page as your husband is the best place to be when homeschooling and raising children in general and if there are things that you can not agree on, I would advise to leave it alone. Address it at a later time and be happy with the things that you have agreed on!
Written by Brenda