A Peek At Our Homeschool


                                           
You may wonder what our homeschool looks like.  You may not, but I'm going to talk about it anyway.  Blogger's prerogative.  :)  (where's an emoticon when i need one?)

I imagine some people are interested in this, particularly because most people we know send their kids to public school.  What do those crazy homeschoolers do, anyhow?

Although no day follows an exact schedule, we generally follow this routine:

9:00 Breakfast


I usually read a devotional or Bible story with the kids (best done if I eat breakfast before the kids arrive).

Get dressed, brush teeth and hair, play.

9:30 Youtube Morning Routine

Kids' Praise songs, science videos, days of the week song...whatever we're trying to learn that week.  Kids seem to learn best when the topic is put to song.  And they can get up and wiggle, dance, or kung fu to the music. Sometimes we practice the Pledge of Allegiance.  We may include brief science videos.  Whatever floats our boat that day.


10:00 Begin School Rotation


I have a preschooler, 3rd grader, and a Kindergartner, so each child needs one-on-one instruction time.  How do I do it?  Well, this is the first year I need to teach two children, so I bring in a lot of technology to help us all out.

My kids rotate between seat work at the kitchen table, computer time or iPad time, and play time. 

3rd Grader - Begins core subjects.  Spelling, Reading, and Math.  This year we have added grammar and writing.  We work for about 1 hour.




Preschooler - Computer time on starfall.com or abcya.com Pre-K games.  He learns more by playing these games than I could teach him any day.  These are great websites!





One day a week, my mother-in-law comes to teach our boy.  He has so much fun!  I can't seem to figure out how to do much with him while I'm adjusting to teaching the two girls. I'm so thankful she spends this special time with him.



 Kindergartner - Plays Kindergarten games on Starfall or Phonics Island on the iPad; starfall or abcya.com kindergarten games; or plays in playroom.  Notice children on computers are wearing headphones.  I think this is very important for all kids to be able to concentrate on what they're doing without constant distraction from the other kids playing computer games, etc.


11:00 SWITCH

3rd Grader plays with Preschooler (or teaches preschool skills) while I do seat work with kindergartner.  -or-
3rd Grader works on allinonehomeschool.com, or plays 3rd grade games at abcya.com

Kindergarten - We start with calendar time, singing the days of the week and the months of the year again.  Then we work on writing, reading, and math.  Sometimes we practice tying shoes.  This takes 1/2 to 1 hour.

                                         Name-writing practice with sidewalk chalk


12:00 BREAK

If everyone (including me) needs a break, which we usually do, we have "recess." 

The kids go outside to play and I fix lunch or I go out and enjoy the sunshine with them. 

The first few weeks of school, my third grader developed a taste for volleyball, so we sometimes "volley" a beach ball over the clothesline during recess.  They might draw a chalk village or just play on the swing set.  We've got to enjoy the nice weather while it's still around! 



We eat lunch somewhere between 12:00 - 1:00.  During lunch, I read our history book.  Right now we're reading Stories of the Pilgrims.  We're currently crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the Mayflower and have just met Oceanus, who was born during the crossing.  The kids don't realize this is part of school.  They just love to hear stories read aloud.

1:00 FINISH UP

After recess and lunch, we finish whatever subjects remain for the 3rd grader.  Usually, that means spelling.  The other two play.



2:00  REST TIME

We all do something relaxing for an hour or two.  This may mean napping, playing in the playroom, reading library books about tornadoes or whatever our current interest is.  Lego, Highlights, Kids National Geographic, and High Five magazines are easily accessible.  We might play board games or get out Play- Doh.  On select days, video games are played during rest time.



                                         A preschool/kindergarten fave: Sink or Float?

4:00 SNACK AND PLAY
 
We all have a snack and chat with each other, then I send the kids out to play while I wash the dishes or do laundry or check Facebook and e-mail.


Then we have dinner, downtime, and do the bedtime thing - ending with bedtime at 9:00.

 
This is what we do currently.  It works well for us.  We may change things as time goes on, but if you were to stop by for a visit this week, this is what our homeschool looks like. 


If you would like to know specifically what books/curriculum we use, please ask!  Leave a comment.  I'd be happy to chat with you. 


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