Homeschooling 2010

Often, people ask what we do for school. There is no way to truly describe our average day, but I have come up with a list of what we are doing this coming year, just to give an idea of what we are learning.

I have learned a lot about curriculum over these past homeschooling years. I really like the ideas I've read about in Susan Bauer's "The Well-Trained Mind," but I am definitely not as rigid as her, and after reading about the High School years, we may be parting ways. I also like to talk with other people and see what they have had success with in teaching their children. I would say that my curriculum choices are eclectic, and while I believe whole-heartedly in the unschooling method and use it over the summer, I can't let go completely during the regular schoolyear.

As my kids have gotten older they have actually preferred more structure. I break down what I want them to do for the year and print out weekly lists that they check off at their own pace. My oldest likes to get it all done as fast as possible, while my second takes his time and gets things done by lunch on some days, by dinner on others, and sometimes gets them done right before bedtime. My younger two are still figuring out their pacing, and I try to help them get things done in the morning, because by the afternoon they have no patience left.

This is my list of what we are doing this year from oldest to youngest:

Math: Teaching Textbooks-Pre-Algebra (This is a new series I am excited to be starting. So far I like what I see, plus my son likes it),

Singapore Math for the others with a little Saxon mixed in to fill in the gaps.

Language Arts: Spelling Workouts for all, A Beka Grammar (at a much slower pace than they recommend....I have 3 boys after all), Writing Strands (They like the structure but not too many guidelines), weekly journal entry, and for the younger kids Draw, Write, Now and Some writing and grammar workbooks at a mellow pace.


Music: Piano Lessons with Theory for my older three and Singing songs with my girl. (I'm stuck teaching them myself this year, since there is no one to teach them; but I feel alright about it now that I decided to spend the money I was spending on lessons on a housecleaner every other week: ).

Reading: Luckily my kids love to read and do plenty of it, but I am assigning specific literature every other week and having them type a book report to keep up their typing skills. They blow me out of the water with what they do in Word Processing. They think it's fun, and they hate to write by hand. I'm also adding a poem a week to my oldest that we can discuss. My younger two will still read out loud to me, and my favorite part of the day is reading to all of them. Right now we are deep into The Long Winter.

History: Story of the World for the younger three.


I wasn't sure what to do with my oldest, so he's reading the Usborne World History book as a springboard into whatever interests him.

Science: Monday experiments for all (we started that last year and I have an earlier blog about it), and Science Detectives for the older two.

Art: A family art project every 3 weeks.

Plus: Critical Thinking, Rosetta Stone Latin and Hands On Equations for the older two, as well as a Surprise day every two weeks.

I do a 4-day school week which leaves one day for Doctor's appointments, visits to the library, playgroup, and field trips, of which we have plenty.

Some days I feel like we have too much to do for school and other days I start to panic that we're not doing enough, but overall I like the pacing we have. It works for us.