This is the second post in the 2018 Virtual Homeschool Fair. Susan at Homeschooling Hearts and Minds runs the Fair through January. The topic this week is Our Method of Homeschooling. For this topic, I plan to give an overview of a day in our home. It is from a day this week with some general comments. I don't for one moment think that this is the way or the only way to home educate. This is just the method that works for our family.
I currently home educate my eleven year old and eight year old. One of our challenges but also privileges is that I care for my husband's elderly mother who is bed bound. We have various different people visiting our home every day to facilitate this. There can be a fair few interruptions!
Our day is divided into
- morning time
- English
- maths
- afternoon activities
That looks really simple!
Morning Time
I aim to start morning time at nine o'clock.
Our morning time changes as the children change. However, it always starts with prayer and reading from a Christian book (currently The Case for Christ for Kids). We usually have some memory work on going, currently, this is the Sunday School motto text (Seek the Lord, and ye shall live. Amos 5 verse 6) We then sing a hymn which on this particular day was He reigns, Christ the Saviour reigns.
The second part of Morning Time varies most. Often, we have art appreciation, music appreciation , a science book and a chapter from a book club book on different days. This term, we have a big topic about the First World War so are reading a section (just a couple of page spread) from the Usborne Introduction to the First World War. We read about the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo. This involved a fair amount of referring to the map and talking about the treaty blocks that we had read about the day before.
English
My daughter went to her desk to work independently. She worked on typing and spelling while her brother read to me.
My daughter then read aloud from one of her favourite Roman Mysteries before doing her piano practice.
Usually, her brother then does more English before having a short break but this is the first week of term, and he loves Prodigy Maths so that is what he did. Next week, we should be back to normal!
The children had a break. I try to get them to go outside and today, they played swingball before they were rained off. Break time fits in well as I need to spend some time with Grandma at this point in the morning.
Maths starts with ten questions. This is my own cheap and cheerful invention. I write ten maths questions in the children's maths books, usually, the day before. The questions are items that I want them to revise so they might include some times table questions, simple division and fractions, square roots, decimals and so on.
The ten questions plus a couple of other items also mean that the children can keep working if I am called away. This is the part of the morning that most often gets interrupted. So the children can use
Afternoon Activities
Well, we had to read Return to Rome. After a fair few chapters, we managed to stop so that we could read about the Scientific process before a trip to the park.
We arrive back at the same time as the carers arrive and I help one of them with some blending.
Younger Daughter helps me put together the things that we need for our Home Education group the next day. I show Youngest Son what happens when we mix yeast with boiling water and with warm water and fits in with our reading earlier.
In the evening, there is more from Return to Rome. We will be through this book soon!
This wasn't a perfect day. I would have liked to have fitted in more science activities and more writing somethings to improve for another day.
My daughter went to her desk to work independently. She worked on typing and spelling while her brother read to me.
My daughter then read aloud from one of her favourite Roman Mysteries before doing her piano practice.
Usually, her brother then does more English before having a short break but this is the first week of term, and he loves Prodigy Maths so that is what he did. Next week, we should be back to normal!
The children had a break. I try to get them to go outside and today, they played swingball before they were rained off. Break time fits in well as I need to spend some time with Grandma at this point in the morning.
Maths starts with ten questions. This is my own cheap and cheerful invention. I write ten maths questions in the children's maths books, usually, the day before. The questions are items that I want them to revise so they might include some times table questions, simple division and fractions, square roots, decimals and so on.
The ten questions plus a couple of other items also mean that the children can keep working if I am called away. This is the part of the morning that most often gets interrupted. So the children can use
- 10 questions
- Either Schofield and Sims Understanding Maths workbooks (Younger Daughter)
- Prodigy Maths (Youngest Son)
On this particular day, there weren't any major disruptions so Youngest Son and I also worked on decimals. We used the exercises in the Galore Park Junior Maths 2 book.
Youngest Son and I fitted in a game of Slug in a Jug and Country Lotto. They are both easy for him now but he still asks for them.
We stopped for lunch and spotted a green woodpecker on the lawn. Then there was great excitement as the newly published Roman Quest book, Return to Rome arrived in the post.
Afternoon Activities
Well, we had to read Return to Rome. After a fair few chapters, we managed to stop so that we could read about the Scientific process before a trip to the park.
We arrive back at the same time as the carers arrive and I help one of them with some blending.
Younger Daughter helps me put together the things that we need for our Home Education group the next day. I show Youngest Son what happens when we mix yeast with boiling water and with warm water and fits in with our reading earlier.
In the evening, there is more from Return to Rome. We will be through this book soon!
This wasn't a perfect day. I would have liked to have fitted in more science activities and more writing somethings to improve for another day.
What do my fellow homeschool bloggers have to say about their Homeschool Method? Go visit them to find out!
How Our Academic Co-op Completes Our Eclectic Homeschool by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
A Method to Our Madness by Michele @ Family, Faith and Fridays
Finding Our Homeschool Method by Christy @ Unexpected Homeschool
How We Homeschool by Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
Give Us.... by Annette @ A Net in Time
A day in our Home by Sarah@DeliveringGrace
Lit-Based Education: How We Homeschool by Debra @ Footprints in the Butter
Overhauling Our Homeschool - Adjusting our "How" to fit our "Why" by Sabrina Scheerer @ Kids, Crunch, and Christ
A Day in the Life of a Homeschooler: Expectation Vs. Reality by Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
How Charlotte Mason Transformed Our Homeschool by Brittney @ Mom's Heart
Captain's Log, Supplemental - Our Homeschool Days by Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break
How we get it done. by Kim @ Good Sweet Love
How to Organize Daily Curriculum with the School Cart by Jeniffer @ Thou Shall Not Whine
Learning For LIfe by Lori H @ At Home: where life happens
Eclectic Homeschooling: When It All Comes Together by Jen @ A Helping Hand Homeschool
A Typical Day? by Lizzy @ Peaches@Home
This is the Way We Do Our School, So Early in the Morning by Laura @ Four Little Penguins
A Little of This and a Little of That: Eclectic Homeschooling by Laura O @ Day by Day in Our World
Still Classically Educating After All These Years by True North Homeschool Academy
So what exactly is Life Led Homeschooling? by Dana @ Life Led Homeschool
The way we learn ~ 2018 Virtual Homeschool Fair by Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning
Our Homeschool Routine by Joelle @Homeschooling For His Glory
Homeschool Methods – 8 Tips for the Journey by Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset
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Case for Christ is a great book! My 14 year old listened to his apologetics book on the way to Chicago and enjoyed it. I debated between that and From Creation to the Cross for our next study, but opted for the latter. :)
ReplyDeleteCase for Christ is quite different to anything that we have read before and has been useful and thought provoking.
DeleteCase for Christ kids is a great book for inciting questions.
ReplyDeleteYes, it has encouraged some discussion. I wanted to use it to encourage thought.
DeleteI had not heard of the Roman Quests books- we read some but not all of the Roman Mysteries, so I am interested to have a look at that, thank you for mentioning it!
ReplyDelete