Homeschoolers get a ton of questions from people who don't walk the path of home education.
We're used to it...I didn't say that we like being grilled on the regular, mind you. I just stated the hard truth that we are USED TO IT...(as in, it happens a lot & your question that seems so profound is probably one we've answered a couple dozen times.)
We aren't easy shocked by people's questions, are we?
But there was always one that I answered to varying degrees depending on just who it was doing the asking.
Say it's a nosy next door neighbor who isn't really interested in homeschooling, but is interested in everything going on inside every other house on the block and who always has questions locked & loaded...the answer I give her isn't the same as the answer I give to a mom of littles who is trying to figure out how to navigate the brand-new-to-her world of homeschooling.
But what, exactly, is the question I answer in varying ways??
It's about planning....
How do you plan your school day...or your school year?
How do you know what to teach?
How do you choose a certain curriculum?
Is it hard to get it all done?
These are all differing versions of the same basic question...HOW??
Okay, so I did truly struggle with this for a few years & I knew that as my kiddos got older & took on heavier loads of academic work, I was going to need some kind of plan, or method, or format or SOMETHING to help me do a good job of teaching them.
And over time I developed a method that worked super-crazy-well for our family. (It's also available for purchase over at Amazon...sort of a shameless plug for my homeschool planning system here, but it's also a shameless plug to help other homeschoolers succeed year after year after year...click on the link or see below to pick up a copy & hey, you only ever need to buy it once & then use it year after year after year with kid after kid after kid...okay, shameless plug now over.)
So here are just a couple of tidbits to help you out as you try and plan/schedule/flesh out your homeschool year.
Remember that grade levels are subjective. It's totally fine to plan for your child/ren to study books in each subject area that fit well with their development. It's also fine if the "reading level" of those books vary from one subject or child to another. Don't get hung up on grade levels. Comparison is always a trap & your children are far too valuable to succumb to it. Just say no to any & all worry about "grade levels" for reading materials in your family's homeschool.
Mom, try and use a planner that you like. As in, make it something pretty or colorful...because you are going to be looking at it every day, all throughout the year. It's a good idea to make it something you actually like to see on the daily.
Make sure your children have a bit of say in what they study this year. If they have an interest in marine life, plan it. Cooking? Plan it. The history of the NFL? You can plan that, too. Seriously - it means so much to them when they get to learn about something that interests them...and you can pretty much always find a way to make it fit in with the rest of your academic year...(that is, if you actually want to find a way to make it fit in...).
Okay, those are my helpful tips about planning for today and also let me say one more time, it's totally alright to answer your nosy neighbor one way and a curious mom of little ones another way.
Thanks for taking a moment to read this post & I hope your homeschool year is off to a fabulous start!!
And be sure to find me on Facebook if you'd like to see more stuff like this ~~
All Things Homeschool
AND
Titus 2 Discipleship With Jan L. Burt
(use coupon code "FREEMONTH" & try it out at no charge!)
Books available on Amazon: The Homeschooling Mothers Bible Study ~~~ All Things Homeschool (180 Devotions for Homeschooling Mothers) ~~~ The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner
Lord bless you today as you lean in big time to the promises of God for you!
We're used to it...I didn't say that we like being grilled on the regular, mind you. I just stated the hard truth that we are USED TO IT...(as in, it happens a lot & your question that seems so profound is probably one we've answered a couple dozen times.)
We aren't easy shocked by people's questions, are we?
But there was always one that I answered to varying degrees depending on just who it was doing the asking.
Say it's a nosy next door neighbor who isn't really interested in homeschooling, but is interested in everything going on inside every other house on the block and who always has questions locked & loaded...the answer I give her isn't the same as the answer I give to a mom of littles who is trying to figure out how to navigate the brand-new-to-her world of homeschooling.
But what, exactly, is the question I answer in varying ways??
It's about planning....
How do you plan your school day...or your school year?
How do you know what to teach?
How do you choose a certain curriculum?
Is it hard to get it all done?
These are all differing versions of the same basic question...HOW??
Okay, so I did truly struggle with this for a few years & I knew that as my kiddos got older & took on heavier loads of academic work, I was going to need some kind of plan, or method, or format or SOMETHING to help me do a good job of teaching them.
And over time I developed a method that worked super-crazy-well for our family. (It's also available for purchase over at Amazon...sort of a shameless plug for my homeschool planning system here, but it's also a shameless plug to help other homeschoolers succeed year after year after year...click on the link or see below to pick up a copy & hey, you only ever need to buy it once & then use it year after year after year with kid after kid after kid...okay, shameless plug now over.)
So here are just a couple of tidbits to help you out as you try and plan/schedule/flesh out your homeschool year.
Remember that grade levels are subjective. It's totally fine to plan for your child/ren to study books in each subject area that fit well with their development. It's also fine if the "reading level" of those books vary from one subject or child to another. Don't get hung up on grade levels. Comparison is always a trap & your children are far too valuable to succumb to it. Just say no to any & all worry about "grade levels" for reading materials in your family's homeschool.
Mom, try and use a planner that you like. As in, make it something pretty or colorful...because you are going to be looking at it every day, all throughout the year. It's a good idea to make it something you actually like to see on the daily.
Make sure your children have a bit of say in what they study this year. If they have an interest in marine life, plan it. Cooking? Plan it. The history of the NFL? You can plan that, too. Seriously - it means so much to them when they get to learn about something that interests them...and you can pretty much always find a way to make it fit in with the rest of your academic year...(that is, if you actually want to find a way to make it fit in...).
Okay, those are my helpful tips about planning for today and also let me say one more time, it's totally alright to answer your nosy neighbor one way and a curious mom of little ones another way.
Thanks for taking a moment to read this post & I hope your homeschool year is off to a fabulous start!!
And be sure to find me on Facebook if you'd like to see more stuff like this ~~
All Things Homeschool
AND
Titus 2 Discipleship With Jan L. Burt
(use coupon code "FREEMONTH" & try it out at no charge!)
Books available on Amazon: The Homeschooling Mothers Bible Study ~~~ All Things Homeschool (180 Devotions for Homeschooling Mothers) ~~~ The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner
Lord bless you today as you lean in big time to the promises of God for you!
Great read!! Thanks for sharing such a great read with us. Blog like these will sure motivate homeschoolers in homeschooling their children in best way.
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