For the past few weeks we have become very relaxed in our homeschooling. We are still managing 3-4 days max a week. Since dani is attending a summer reading program we have shifted our direction and added ALOT of reading time. She is doing exceptionally well. And we are still learning..... Have a great weekend!
Today we began a summer reading program with the UM. It was all I expected and more. I entered the classroom enviornment a little apprehensive. My daughter would be "evaluated" to see if she would meet the grade level. As I have mentioned before she is only 5. And I began homeschooling back in January. Pulled her out of her PREK4 school and the rest is history. I have been working hard with her when it comes to reading. I strongly believe when your child knows how to read the rest becomes so much easier. So I felt confident and decided to sign her up for a level 1 or grade 1 reading level. I believed that she was ready and if not she can always be placed back to her real level. So long story short, she was evaluated and accepted. I felt rewarded that the time and effort has been paying off. She felt great and extactic. Aside from the bond your child and you create when you read to them, they just absorb so much. It was a good day. Blessings
Scheduling.....
This was my first concern by far when I began researching How and If I could homeschool my girl.
I recall asking a few parents who were already homeschooling to tell me their secret.
I soon realized there is no secret.
Our homeschool days are scheduled into 4 days a week. Those four days can vary from Monday-Thrusday (ideally) or sometimes we add an extra day, Saturday to complete a specific project.
Most days we begin by 8:00 am. And we are completely done before 10:00 am. By that time we both get ready and I head out to take care of our businesses.
I have realized that I need to "back off" a bit when it comes to her lessons. She is only 5 years old and we are currently doing MFW K curricula.
I want her to have her afternoons off, to play and be a child. Most days she will have her quite time beginning at 2pm thru 3:30 and she can read, nap, or just be still.
This way I can "catch" up on house chores or finalize any paperwork that might be pending in my desk.
I usually set out lesson plans and activities on Sunday afternoons. I separate each lesson on a daily folder where I can just pull out on the morning of our lesson. This way, I feel more organized and prepared.
We usually start our day with Bible time. I choose as part of the lesson a verse to read and memorize and we continue from there. I don't time our lessons. I don't want restrictions when we are working on a particular subject just for the sake of getting the others done.
I only decide to "move on" when I see that she dwaddles on a particular material. I remove it and make a note to present it later on the week.
I take time off for sickness, as we did this week. She has only 2 "school" days. But we were able to complete all four days into 2. If that would not have been the case, well, there is always next week.
I have learned to follow God's lead when it comes to scheduling. You can plan and schedule all you want, but if you don't have God leading you, everything becomes a chaos.
Happy learning.
Blessings.
One of the challenges I have faced in homeschooling is the monotony that can come from week to week. There are times that I am preparing the lesson plans for the week, and I feel like "not this again...." And so when I do not make any changes and present my daughter with the daily plans, she exclaims; "but I already did this". So in order to just get over this phase I have for this week at least, put down the MFW lessons, and made my own. Adding "fun" stuff that will keep her entertained and focused. I believe that learning should be fun. I have also "relaxed" a bit and added the board game Boggle Jr. Even though we are playing a game, she is learning. I must say that breaking away from the norms or "un school" myself is very hard. On a good note is that I have an idea of what I want to teach for first grade. I emphasize "idea" because I know that the closer I get, my mind will tend to change. I guess I just need to take one-day-at a time. I am planning to school thru the summer so we can finish up our K curriculum. I will continue to do a 4 day week and enjoy the rest of the day outdoor (weather permitting). Have a great and productive learning week. Many blessings.
This week we are on Lesson 13 of our MFW Curriculum. What I enjoy so much of it is that I get to supplement on the math and add some fun stuff as well. We are studying the letter C. So she has five words to learn and memorize and they all start with the letter C. So what I did is I incorporated flash cards with the translation of those words in spanish. So she learns both words in english and in spanish simultaneously. I have also been generating a word search with the words of the week. She really enjoys it and it challenges her greatly. I have also added more bible devotionals. This is the part I enjoy the most. We both get to study and meditate on a verse a day. This week we have no big projects. I have been sick for a couple of days and my energy level is very low. I wish you all homeschoolers a successful learning week!
