Homeschooling through illness

When mom or one of the kids has a cold, it is a good idea to lighten the school schedule for a few days to give everyone a chance to rest. But when the illness takes days or weeks to diagnose and even longer to treat, it is impossible to stop schooling until we get well.

Last Thursday morning, we were working on a Spanish lesson and I began to feel sick in my stomach. I spent two hours in agony but then felt better. This has happened several times over the past few months and I was sure it wasn't food related so I decided to go to the doctor. I spent half of Friday at the doctors office and was exhausted that afternoon so still no school. Appointments for various scans filled the next week and I was feeling poorly so we didn't try to do any school work. A week and a half has passed with no school and now two more appointments will kick off our new week.

My kids have got to do some school so I am trying out some modifications to teach them with less stress. Here are some of my ideas and I would love some suggestions from you.

1) Workbooks: we occasionally use Explode the Code for reading and Kumon workbooks for math, so the kids are at least familiar with the format.
2) DVDs: Our Spanish lessons are on DVD. We are finishing up one and starting a new level which is hard but if the kids at least watch, they are getting good exposure if not really learning.
3) Experiments: We have several of the little Usbourne science books. I can mark a place in one and someone can read it to the kids and have them do the simple experiment.
4) Audio books: Our history program book is also available as an MP3. I'll burn that to a disc along with the activity page from the Story of the World book.
5) Classes: we attend a homeschool co-op one morning per week and the science museum homeschool science class one afternoon per week. We also have music class for an hour every Friday and visits to the YMCA for PE.

Now I just need to write down the assignments and have them ready to go in a box to take to the house of the kind person who is going to watch my kids on certain days.

Any other ideas to help keep up school work during this time?

Planner Section 5: School

Lesson Planning Diagram

As a homeschool family, this section is one of the most important to keeping my days running smoothly. The first page in the section is a weekly plan. I made a list of the subject we wanted to cover and the time needed to commit to each per lesson (usually 15-25 min.) Then I made a chart with five columns, one for each day of the week. I divided the columns into three rows: morning, afternoon, evening.

Morning activities tend to be done with all of the children, afternoon activities are done when the baby is asleep and evening activities are for the whole family.

Finally, I plugged the subject names from the first list into this chart. It became clear that I was trying to fit too much in, so I limited our morning activities to an hour and a half, the afternoon to two hours and the evening activities to an hour.

In the end, I had to prioritize the list of subjects* I was trying to study with the kids and eventually reduce the number of days we do art and history, the two lowest priorities right now. As the kids get older and more independent we'll make more time for these subjects. At this point I just want them to learn the basics and learn to love exploring my Father's world.

*My list of subjects for 1st grade is Bible, Reading, Math, Spanish, Science/Nature Study, Music, Cursive Handwriting, History.

Homeschool Lesson Planning: Long Term or Short Term?

I have tried a few ways to keep our homeschool lessons on track. I started out on paper, writing down what should be done in each subject on each day for the next month and I tried Homeschool Sked Track, a free online lesson planner and grade tracker that helps you plan the whole year at once and track grades. Neither worked for us at this stage in homeschooling.

Finally I combined the paper method with the organizational style of Sked Track to make my current planning program. We have been using it for seven months now and it has worked beautifully for our family and here is how you can do it.

Start by getting out all of the books you use for school. For us, this includes MFW 1st, MFW K, Right Start Math, Story of the World, etc. I also keep on hand my Planner turned to the weekly outline (Monday we do this this and this subject, etc.)

Then create a document in a word processor and enter these headings:
Week of: January 9-13 (this is at the top of the whole document)
Day: (this goes at the top of each page)
Morning: (these three go on every page)
Afternoon:
Evening:

Now you can plug in the subject names that you do each day, ours is from the weekly outline:
Morning:
-Bible
-Memory Work
-Spanish
-Housework

Afternoon:
-History
-MFW K
-MFW 1st
-Math

Evening:
-Kindermusik
-PE

Save this as a template so you only have to create it once and can copy and paste it as often as needed throughout the semester.

Long term planning is done by My Father's World and Right Start Math because we know we want to complete the entire books within a year. So I do the short term planning to determine which days of the week we will be completing lessons and working towards our goals.

Leaving it all behind: Making time for nature study

Piles of laundry and dirty dishes are like anchors that keep me inside when the weather is beautiful and my children are calling me to join them outside. I find Barb's Outdoor Hour Challenges truly challenging because I can't seem to find time to get outdoors with all the housework that remains unfinished.

I would like to take on a new challenge in 2012: to recognize that the housework will always be there but my children will not. It helps to also remember that being outdoors in nearly all weather conditions present in a temperate climate for just an hour is a boost to our health. As if I need more excuses to get outside for a little bit every day, my kids will not forget the efforts that I make to show that they are more important than the house. They make the house a home and I am happy to find ways to show it.

I have always enjoyed reading the Outdoor Hour Challenges and I think they are ideal for our family. Beginners are to start with the first five challenges and then visit the web site to join in the current challenge. I purchased the ebook with the first ten challenges to feel like I "own" this project. The book was only $8.95, a modest investment in what I hope will be a life changing activity.

Next, I created a section in our family planner for nature study. This is not just another subject in school. This is something that I hope will enrich relationships and strengthen our bodies.

Finally, I have to wait until Tuesday when we have time to start. This is a holiday weekend and we are far busier than I expected. The weather will be quite cold on Tuesday which will test my committment to this challenge :-)

The best laid plans: creating your own home planner

For years, I searched for a calendar/planner that would meet the needs of our busy homeschooling family. I even purchased a more expensive Day Timer brand product hoping the extra investment would get me a more useful tool. It just didn't work for us.

So, I decided to build my own home planner that would help our family run more smoothly. Here are the components that I used with links where you can print them out for your own use.

1) A sturdy 1.5 inch binder: I started with a cheap-o 1 inch binder from Dollar General and it broke within a couple of months. This planner will be carried, stacked, dropped, etc. so get something that will protect your investment.
2) Cover: This will distinguish your planner from other notebooks around the house. Use scrapbook papers and embellishments to make the cover a work of art that you will look forward to seeing every day. You can change it out mid year if you have a spare moment!
3) Page protectors: For pages that do not need to be modified on a regular basis, a page protector will keep them looking neat for frequent reference.
4) Adhesive tabs: Page protectors stick out further than regular paper so the usual binder dividers will not work. Make your own with adhesive tabs attached to the edge or a page protector.
5) Section 1: Calendar-- I modified the templates available on Wincalendar.com. I increased the size of the calendar cells and added a section for notes each month. You can download my modified version here.

I'll add more tips and downloads as I complete my 2012 home planner.

Learning on the go

Every Friday we attend a homeschool music class 30 minutes from home. The hour round trip drive plus any other running around we do throughout the week could take a chunk out of our learning time; but we don't like to waste time staring out the window!

I make a family learning CD to take in the van with us. The content changes monthly depending on what we have been studying at home. Most of these songs are available for download on Amazon.com or Songs for Teaching.com

1) Bible Verses (we like Steve Green's "Hide'em in Your Heart" album)
2) Science facts (especially Lyrical Learning)
3) Spanish (two tracks from La Clase Divertida and then one or two from Sara Jordan)
4) One hymn
5) One classical piece (or a single movement if the whole piece is too long for our drive)

We hear these over and over during the month and the kids love to sing the songs to themselves while playing in the afternoons.

We also keep other CDs on hand:
1) Story of the World (our favorite history book)
2) Audios book downloaded for free from Librivox.org
3) An audio Bible

I would eventually like to have an MP3 Player but for now, the we are happy burning one CD per month and saving a bit of money.

What do you like to listen to in the car with your children?

Thoughts on Television in the Home

(This is the 2nd email forward that my husband has sent me in 10 years, so you know it must be important!)

The Stranger

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger... He was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies. He made me laugh, and he made me cry.

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home - not from us, our friends or any visitors. After our long time visitor stayed longer he became more daring however, and even got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol but the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing..

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name?....

We just call him 'TV.'