Day 14—Preparing for the Week

This post is part of a series showing the realness of homeschooling---the ugly, frustrating, and wonderfulness of it all. 

Most Sunday evenings you can find me preparing for our upcoming homeschooling week.   I spend much of my summer vacation choosing curriculum and lesson planning, but I’ve still found following a few steps on Sunday night help our week to run smoothly.     

1. Look over lesson plans
• I spend some time looking over lesson plans I’ve created and the lesson plans that come with some of the programs we use.   Some plans may need adjusted according to the skills we are currently focusing on.  
2. Decide on our weekly goals
• While looking at our lesson plans I decide on our goals for this week.
• It is unusual that we would be able to accomplish everything listed in our lesson plans. This time gives me an opportunity to  look at the assignments, readings, and activities planned; and I think about the things that we absolutely must accomplish, the things that would be nice to cover but aren’t necessary, and the things that don’t meet our needs at all.  
3. Look at our schedule this week.
• It would be such a comfort if each week was an exact eight to three schedule every day of the week.   Unfortunately our schedule never seems to follow that schedule.   Field trips, monthly dentist appointments, lunch dates, and public school holidays are just a few things that affect our schedule.   This week a friend needs a ride to the train station Wednesday morning, so our schedule that day will need to be adjusted.   Friday afternoon we may have out of town guest causing our week to end early.  
4. Adjust lesson plans to fit into our schedule
• Looking at our goals and our schedule I fit in our must do assignments and as many of the it would be nice activities.    I try to keep in mind I tend to over schedule—but that is still a work in process.
5. Pull resources
• I try to be organized with most things we need on our bookshelves, but occasionally I need to dig through some boxes in the garage.    And a few times a year, there is something I can’t find when I plan for it!   It is good to know that before I need it; I am saved from spending time during our school day looking for it and can figure something else out.  
6. Start the week off right.
• I can now go to bed knowing we are ready for the week.   No need to wake up Monday morning feeling that I need to scramble to get things done before my girls get up.   

All Quiet on the Home Front

This post is part of a series showing the realness of homeschooling---the ugly, frustrating, and wonderfulness of it all. 

Today was a quiet day.    I-E hasn’t been feeling well so I let her sleep in while E-R and I worked on Megawords.  E-R passed her test and was able to move onto the next unit.
  
I-E was still snoozing at that point.   E-R worked on to her online math class.   I tackled making ten pounds of apples into three jars of applesauce. 

I’ve noticed that if left to their own devices E-R and I-E work on math for longer than the one hour each day I require.    So why do I not leave them to their own devices more often?

E-R made herself some lunch and read for an hour while I-E took a long bath.   I cleaned the kitchen.  

E-R and I-E both worked on history at this point.   Yesterday we read and discussed the sequence of events that took place during the Revolutionary War.    Today, they worked on a paper about those events and worked on finishing up their reading on that period of history.   I canned a batch of jam.
 
That summed up our day.    It was a quiet slow lazy kind of day.   Why do they mostly happen when someone is sick?   Why don’t we plan to have them just because?  

The Beginning of School 2010/2011 School Year

 N started school two weeks ago with his trig class at the college.   And then we met with our beloved Mrs. Stout who helped set up a plan for the year that puts N on track to graduate at the end of this school year.   He went home with his packet of work for his first high school class of the school year, 11th-grade english.   This last Tuesday A-M started her second year of school at Foothill.   She's taking drama, dance, honors english, algebra II, honors world history, honors chemistry, and honors spanish.   Busyiness has already filled her world.

Today began our homeschool.   In the past, I've taken great pleasure in planning our schedule and fitting together like a puzzle how we would use each minute of the day.  You know what?   I must be tired, because this year I turned this aspect of our school over to my cute not-so-littles.  

Most of our first day consisted of them planning out next week and fitting in when they would work on each subject.  

We'll start out our days with Memory Time (from 7-7:45) all together. 

E-R's schedule

7:45-8:00---Spelling

8:00-9:00----Read Lit book and free reading

9:00--9:30---Math lesson

9:30--10:15---Language arts with I-E and mom

10:15--11:00---Thinking skills

11:00-12:00---Lunch

12:00-12:30---Homework time*

12:30-2:00---History

2:00---Homework*

* Homework is anything she is assigned such as math and english lessons.

Next week science isn't scheduled but in future weeks will alternate with history time.

This planning was very stressful for E-R, but I am sure that is will be much become much easier for her in future weeks.   I also think she will have much more time during her day than she thinks to work on her math and english. 

E's schedule

6:00-7:00---Free time or math

7:00-7:45---Memory Time

8:00-9:00---Work with Mom on Language Arts

9:00-10:00---Homework for Language Arts

10:15-10:30---Spelling

10:30-11:00---Reading

11:00-12:30---Lunch

12:30-2:00---History

2:00-2:30---Clean-up

On Fiday--Instead of History, Art

I-E's schedule

6:00-7:00---Building Thinking Skills

7:00-7:45---Memory Work

7:45-8:00---Spelling

8:00-8:30---Lit reading

8:30-9:00---Math

9:00-9:30---Math Lesson

9:30-10:15---Language Arts with Mom

10:15-11:00---Monday The Story of Western Civilazation, Tuesday through Friday Homework

11:00-12:30---Lunch

12:30-2:00---History

Then on Monday, Wednesday,and Friday---shower!

Over-all our scheduling time was a bit stressful, but E did say that he enjoyed planning out his time.   I-E said that now she realizes why I spent those three weeks hunkered down with the computer planning out our year.    Isn't a little stress worth-it, when it brings about some gratitude for mom and her work?

We did complete some math and history, but the highlight of the day was our Dig! Discover!Display! Kit.   It has become a tradition to start out our school year with one of these kits.   This year E picked the crystal mine kit for us to kick off the school year.

The kids have exspecially been looking forward to this Friday for a reason that has nothing to do with school.   Papa will be home after a long two weeks working in Europe!   They plan to take him to Jamba Juice when he gets back into town!    

How was your school experience this week?