A Few Things I Have Learned after Eleven Years of Homeschooling

1. Trust yourself.

Try not to second-guess yourself too much. I know. I have done it too often. But the thing is, if you do the research and think about how your family functions, how your kids learn, how much time you have for instruction and grading, you will be able to figure which curriculum to use and what homeschool style will work for you.

2. Don't be afraid to switch curriculum.

If a particular curriculum just isn't working for your student, find another one. This can be tough on the parent, but I feel that if they just aren't "getting it", it is better to switch and try something else. Math is the subject that my kids have the hardest time with. We have tried multiple texts, but we ended up back with what we started with. After trying the other texts, my son decided to stick with the beast he knew. Figures. 

3. Do what works for you.

Try not to feel pressured by the success of homeschooling friends and the way they homeschool. This is a real temptation, but just remember that to be successful you have to do what will work for your family, not someone else's family. It is better to get inspiration and ideas from others than to try to change who your family is and how they learn.

4. Always bring a book to read - everywhere.

This for your own sanity and self-education. It also sets a great example for your children.

5.Be a lifelong learner.

Demonstrate your love of learning for your children by always challenging yourself to learn. Read ahead on the list of books you have for your kids to read in high school. I know you have a list going - at least in your head. Or enroll in a MOOC like Coursera. I have really enjoyed some of the courses I have participated in. I will discuss some of them in a later post.

6. Find or start a homeschool support group that meets your needs.

When we started homeschooling, I went in search of a support group - like all the books suggested. I found a couple of groups in our area, but they turned out to not be right for us. There were a couple of other families in the group who felt the same way and we started our own group. We have a growing and active group that our kids have grown up with. I can't imagine trying to homeschool without the help and inspiration of these wonderful families. We older homeschooling moms have watched our kids grow up together and head off to different colleges, but the bonds they created are still strong.

7. Take a deep breath - it will all work out.

Sometimes it is hard to believe that everything will get covered, learned, cleaned up, done. There will be messes and chaos and struggles, but there will also be laughter, fun, peace, learning and love. One of the beauties of homeschooling is that we don't have to adhere to rigid schedules -- unless rigid schedules are what work for you. I have had to learn to give myself a break and just let the worry go. Amazingly, my oldest graduated homeschooled high school and will be starting his sophomore year at college. Somehow, we got through it all and he is doing very well. 

Things we did in June

June was the beginning of our "summer". Since we homeschool year-round, we usually spend the summer finishing up our work and reading. I also spend the summer preparing for the next school year.

Books I read in June:

Endangered by Jean Love Cush
You can read my review here.

Baudelaire's Revenge by Bob Van Laerhoven
You can read my review here.

The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank.
You can read my review here.

Favors and Lies by Mark Gilleo
The review will be posted in August.

What Strange Creatures by Emily Arsenault.
You can read my review here.







Among the books read by my daughters in June were:

Galen and the Gateway to Science by Jeanne Bendick

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster








Epidemics Deadly Diseases Throughout History: Malaria
Holocaust Memories: Speaking the Truth

Summer Reading

Currently I am reading The Great Books by Anthony O'Hear.

The History of the Renaissance World

I was so fortunate to be one of the lucky winners of an ARC of Susan Wise Bauer's next book in her world history series - The History of the Renaissance World. I am so excited to have the opportunity to read it before it is released. We use this series for our high school students and I have been waiting not-so-patiently to add this book to our curriculum. By the time our upcoming freshman needs it, it will be published. I am currently reading the book and will post a review once I'm finished.

Trying something new. . .

Now that the oldest has been accepted to his preferred college and is finishing up the remainders of his senior year of high school at home, I have been looking back and pondering what I want to do differently with the younger two students. Each student is different and I must work with each one to fit their curriculum to their needs and interests. But generally, I like to be somewhat consistent in how we school.

I use The Well Trained Mind as my template for our homeschool. I find it to be the best in explaining the method and in giving examples of curriculum to fulfill the needed coursework. I also believe that it is the most complete and ambitious vision of what homeschooling can be.

My kids don't seem to enjoy math very much and we tried various math curriculum with the oldest and Saxon Math seemed to work as well as any other. With my upcoming freshman, I am considering switching to Jacob's Elementary Algebra. If this doesn't seem to work, we will probably fall back on Saxon Algebra 1.

This summer we are trying something we haven't done in quite awhile. My kids are all good readers and prefer to read books on their own.  However, I will be reading Sophie's World out loud and then we will discuss together. That is the plan, anyway.

We will continue to school year-round and take short breaks throughout the year.
Their music study will continue with private lessons.
I think the biggest change will be that I am going to try to add much more literature that we all read and discuss together, not just one student and parent.

I am still trying to figure out the best way to tackle Latin study. Nothing we have tried has really clicked with all of us. I am considering Wheelock's Latin this year - but we will see how that goes.

Something Old is New - SchoolHouseTeachers.com

When I started homeschooling way back when, there was The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. It was a staple for many homeschooling families. I thought we were past the need for this particular resource. Well, I think I may have been wrong. The Old Schoolhouse Magazine now has a wonderful membership required website called SchoolHouseTeachers.com. I just recently joined and have been really pleasantly surprised by just how many resources there are available.

The Schoolhouse Planners are pretty amazing and if you like a paper planner, they include pretty much everything you could hope for - including high school planning, many reference sheets and several different versions of calendar pages that should suit pretty much everyone.

I am excited to start using the French and Spanish lessons and worksheets as supplements to our current book-based curriculum.

I think the resource I am most excited about is the Classics-Based Writing Course for Middle and High School Students by Janice Campbell. I have used some of her curriculum from Excellence in Literature and have been quite impressed.

I have barely scratched the surface of what is available at SchoolHouseTeachers.com, but I am looking forward to exploring and implementing some of what I find in our homeschool. Stay tuned for more updates soon.

~AGeeky Mom
http://schoolhouseteachers.com/dap/a/?a=20601

Where have I been, you ask?

If anyone is out there who cares or is curious, yes, we are still here and we are still homeschooling. This school year has been crazy busy. My son is a senior and we have been focused on all the many things needed to get ready for college admissions.

Over the summer he finished up his testing and did very well. His SAT scores were pretty impressive - I was even a bit surprised at how well he did. I have been working on compiling course descriptions, reading lists, and transcripts.

Now that he has been accepted to the college he wanted, he is finishing up applications to a couple of other colleges - just in case and just because. Now the focus is on maintaining his grades and finishing up all his coursework.

Oh, the things I have learned in the last several months! I will begin working on suggestions and maybe even a couple of templates that may be useful in college preparation.

~AGeekyMom

Summer

I don't know where I got the idea that life would slow down once summer got here. I must be crazy or something. I have been crazy busy with driving the kids to swimming lessons, tennis lessons, music lessons, etc.  We just got home from our week long vacation in Door County. We had tons of fun, but I'm still catching up on laundry. Considering that I did laundry - twice! - while we  were there, I can't figure out how we never seem to have enough clothes and yet there is always laundry to be done. There is some kind of paradox here, I think.

Anyway, summer is almost half over (how can that be??) and I'm going to post some summery photos now.

Cave Point County Park

Whitefish Dunes.

We have more swimming and tennis lessons and college visits coming up later this summer. And then I have to prepare for next school year.

One more beach photo to hold on to:

Can you say "fish boil"???

Is all that Latin study worth it? (Yes!)

As a homeschooling mom, I have always had a slight worry that I'm not "doing it right". At certain times of the year I'd get these "What if" thoughts. What if we didn't  do enough science this year, or math or the kids didn't learn enough - you know, the usual kind of things moms worry about. But because we homeschool, who could I blame but myself? And the kids - eventually they get old enough that you really can't blame yourself anymore because you can't do the work for them. You can't make them learn - you can give them every opportunity and resource available, but you can't make them learn. I've had faith in my choice of classical homeschooling for several reasons: 1) this is the kind of education I would have chosen for myself if I had been able to; 2) this type of education stands the test of time; 3) the resources I consult are quite thorough and provide a similar education as some pretty impressive prep schools. These are only some of the reasons, but they are as good as any.

Now, to test the theory! My oldest is in eleventh grade this year and we are right in the middle of all the college testing. What fun that is! I haven't done a lot of testing for him and I was a little worried. We gave him test prep practice, strategies, etc., but basically put faith in the overall education we have tried to provide for him. After seeing his first attempt at the ACT, I have to say I am quite pleased. He easily exceeded the benchmark scores for all subjects. His English and Reading scores were 99%. I feel that this is due to his Latin studies and all of the Great Books reading he has done over the years. He stopped studying Latin after 9th grade, but he had worked through Latina Christiana I and II and about half of Henle I  before we switched to Latin for the New Millennium  from Bolchazy for high school. I feel strongly that any Latin is better than no Latin.

My daughters are currently working through Latina Christiana I and First Form Latin from Memoria Press. I plan to continue their Latin studies through at least 9th grade using Latin for the New Millennium. I hope they will continue on to Latin for the New Millennium Level Two. The description of Latin for the New Millennium from the website:

This new complete introductory course to the Latin language, suitable for both high school and college students, consists of two volumes, each accompanied by a teacher's manual and students' workbooks. The strategy employed for teaching and learning incorporates the best of both the reading approach and the more abstract grammatical method. The choice of vocabulary in each chapter reflects ancient authors commonly studied for the AP* Latin examinations. There are exercises designed for oral use, as well as a substantial core of more conventional exercises in each chapter. The readings, pictures, and supplementary inserts on cultural information illuminate Roman life, civilization, Roman history, and mythology, as well as the continuing use of Latin after antiquity and its vigorous literary tradition in such periods as the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Each chapter also includes derivatives, the influence of Latin vocabulary on English, and selected proverbs or common Latin sayings.

This will be my high school choice for the girls because it so much more interesting and we found it to be quite fun to read some of the readings for translation and recognize the story -- from Shakespeare! (He borrowed heavily from the classics, you know.) But again, any Latin is a good thing, in my opinion. My kids have learned more grammar through their Latin study than through their English grammar curriculum. The enrichment materials are great too!

 I loved From Romulus to Romulus Augustus

and The Original Dysfunctional Family.

Other favorites were/are:

Once Upon the Tiber

To Be a Roman

The enrichment books helped to make life in ancient Rome interesting and accessible while studying the hard stuff - Latin grammar.



My Guides and Inspirations for our Classical Homeschool

I don't know that I would ever have thought that I could homeschool if I hadn't found The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. This is the book that got me started and the one I refer to every single year when I plan out our year. I used to attempt to do everything suggested, but I have since gotten over that need. This is my "homeschooling bible".

The Latin-Centered Curriculum by Andrew Campbell is another of my favorites. I love to refer back to this book when I forget why I'm doing this.  There is a lot of information about a true classical education and the reasons for striving for this type of education. The format is nothing like TWTM - it doesn't follow a four year cycle, but it has some great ideas and curriculum suggestions. I tend to try to blend suggestions from both books for our school plans. This book is available at Memoria Press as well amazon.com.

Climbing Parnassus by Tracy Lee Simmons is a great resource on classical education and is quoted extensively in The Latin-Centered Curriculum. If you want to learn the history of classicial education and some well researched reasons for following it, this is a great resource. This book is available at Memoria Press as well as amazon.com

Norms & Nobility by David Hicks is another great resource on classical education. This book tends to deal more with high school education rather than applying classical education to elementary age students. This book is available at amazon.com

I have also used Ambleside Online for book lists when my kids were younger. Ambleside is Charlotte Mason inspired, but is quite useful for schedules and book suggestions.  I think that Charlotte Mason and classical homeschooling work very well together, especially in the younger years.


The Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project is a wonderful resource for classic children's literature. I have used so many of their books over the years, especially for children's versions of greek and roman stories. I highly recommend this site.

Where does the time go?

I can't believe that it is already April! Our school year is just zooming along. Have I mentioned that we school year-round? Well, we do. In our first year of homeschooling I followed the local school calendar and we took off the two and a half months of summer break. And guess what? We had the issue of my son forgetting "everything he learned" from the year before - just like the public and private schools have each fall. Sooo, after that first year we have gone year-round. But don't worry, we take breaks throughout the year to relax and re-group. Since my kids are involved in music and ballet, we have a lighter schedule during their busy months and it all works out.

 Despite knowing that I have all summer to make sure the kids complete their work and are ready to go on to the next grade level, every spring I feel the anxiety hit -- will they be ready before the school year ends? This is typically when I start planning for the next school year too.

We have had such a nice spring so far. Everyone wants to be outside. My herbs and flowers don't seem to remember that we are bound to have more cold and frosty nights.

 The catmint looks nice.



Next up will be lessons outside. The younger ones love to take all their books and papers and sit outside and do their work in the gazebo. I used to be skeptical that they would actually do their work, but they have proven me wrong for the last several years.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life this week…

I'm feeling overwhelmed right now. So much going on with the kids and their schooling and activities and oldest's job. The whole fourth grade to eleventh grade spread is really taking a toll this year. 

In our homeschool this week…

I am trying to catch up on my grading. This is a never-ending task for me. I need to re-group. I am doing some reassessing of what we've done this year with the idea of making changes.

I am inspired by…

literature - always.

My favorite thing this week was…

finding out that my daughter made it to state for piano competition.

What’s working/not working for us…

Not sure exactly what threw us off this year -- looking at everything to figure it out.

Things I’m working on…

As stated earlier --- grading, grading, grading.

I’m reading…

The Thirteen by Susie Moloney. Just finished Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers. Looking forward to reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Our new puppy, Watson.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life this week…

We have had the week off from homeschooling, from ballet and from work. We did have guitar lessons, a birthday party, a sleepover to attend and the heater tuned up.

We basically were as lazy as possible.

In our homeschool this week…

We have had the past two week off from school. We will start back up on Monday.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

I have learned over the years that it is better to take time off during the holidays than to try to work through weeks that you know are going to be very busy or stressful. That time off will pay for itself several times over.

My favorite thing this week was…

Time to read for pleasure. I have really taken off this week -- no grading, no planning, nothing. And I refuse to feel guilty for it either. There will be plenty of time in January to catch up on my grading.

Things I’m working on…

No projects at the moment. But I am trying to be more organized with my blogs. This will be a work in progress though.

I’m reading…

Graveminder by Melissa Marr and Climbing Parnassus by Tracy Lee Simmons.

Finally!

The Nutcracker is finally over! Our lives have been taken over by rehearsals and then all the  performances. I love that my daughers really love the whole process and they love dancing in the productions, but all the work and driving back and forth just takes over our lives for a few months. Now things should settle back down to some semblance of normalcy. Whatever that might be.

The Homeschool Mothers Journal (4)

In my life this week…

Halloween was fun, but so busy. Halloween being on Monday really threw a wrench in our school week though.  Oh well, go with the flow.

In our homeschool this week…

This week is just another shortened week due to Halloween. My older daughter is participating in NaNoWriMo this year, so she has been writing furiously. She worked through the workbook before and had her characters all planned and an outline of her novel ready to go.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We are all about Nutcracker rehearsals these days. A large chunk of our weekends are being spent in ballet rehearsal. The girls love ballet and I love that they love it.  But as we get closer to Nutcracker season, the rehearsals start coming fast and furious. One plus, I have lots of reading time.

My favorite thing this week was…

Well, it was technically last week, but I really loved Milwaukee Ballet's Dracula on Saturday night.

Things I’m working on…

I'm working on giving myself a break. I am trying to give up some of the pressure I put on myself to be constantly "caught up" on all the grading and planning for our homeschool. The planning is pretty much done for this year, but the grading is never-ending.

I’m reading…

Bunheads by Sophie Flack and Stasiland by Anna Funder. I just finished The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman and I really liked that one.

I’m cooking…

ha! As if. (My husband does most of the cooking around here.)

I’m grateful for…

my husband - for being such a kid and loving Halloween as much as the kids. Also, he indulges me when it comes to books and technology. Gotta love that.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal (3)

In our homeschool this week…

We are finally getting into a routine for this year. This was our first full week of school. We are adjusting to our new schedule and I've added weekly chore lists to the routine instead of just randomly assigning chores as needed.

I am inspired by…

my homeschooling friends.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

My daughters have auditions for The Nutcracker this weekend. They get so excited every year.

My favorite thing this week was…

My new Erin Condren planner!  I had to go back to my own planner -- I just cannot do the homeschool planner thing. I love my new planner! It has everything I need -- which includes tons of space for writing my schedules, to-do lists, etc. I know they are rather expensive, but I think they are totally worth it. I put some clear packing tape on the month tabs and it is holding up well.  This is the planner style I bought. I just love the quote on the front.

What’s working/not working for us…

For the last several years, I have printed out daily school lists for the kids. At first, this worked well, but as the kids have grown up, it has become just too much added work for me. So, this year, I made up lists of weekly assignments for each course and each kid is responsible for keeping track of what they worked on in their individual planners. So far, this is working pretty well. This gives me the freedom to grade their work when I have time rather than rushing around and being stressed each morning.  

I’m reading…

War and Peace (still)

A Feast for Crows

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (long term reading project)

I’m grateful for…

our homeschool group. We had our first ever Mom's Night Out last night and it was so nice to sit around and just talk with other homeschooling moms. We made a point of not talking about the kids for the first couple of hours and just focusing on ourselves, eating some yummy snacks and drinking a lovely sangria.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. ~Henry David Thoreau

The Homeschool Mother's Journal (2)

In my life this week…

This week I'm just trying to relax emotionally as I prepare for our new school year. The oldest is finishing up his driving school classes, middle kid is finishing up summer ballet class, the youngest is reading - a lot.

In our homeschool this week…

I have been trying to get organized for the new school year and at the same time finish up the few remaining things for the current year -- we homeschool all year with short breaks throughout the year.  I'm doing some things differently this year and I am working on the kids' weekly schedules for the coming year.

Things I’m working on…

the kids' weekly schedules for the new school year. Organizing the school room.

I’m reading…

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

I’m grateful for…

the ability to homeschool my kids.  Gratitude for this hits me every year around this time.

Short break

I am sorry for my absence lately.  I have taken a break from some of my responsibilities so that I can focus on making plans for the new school year. Also, I need to give myself a bit of a break so I can get mentally ready for the new homeschool year. We have been doing this for eight years and I find I need a short rest before beginning the new school year since we school year-round.

Now that my youngest will be in fourth grade, we are trying something new regarding scheduling and I am creating weekly schedules for all of their courses. Updates coming soon.

Family Movie Night - Who is Simon Miller?

What a great idea! I just found out about NBC's upcoming family movie night feature "Who is Simon Miller". It looks like a lot of fun.

The Millers were an ordinary family living an ordinary life. That is, until the day Simon Miller went missing. Now wife Meredith, daughter Sarah and son Kevin must embark on a perilous mission to find him. But what they soon discover creates more questions than answers. This heart-pounding thriller takes you on a family's journey and tests the limits to which the Millers will fight for each other—putting their trust, loyalty and forgiveness to the test.

http://www.vocalpoint.com/SimonMillerBlog

http://familymovienight.com/who-is-simon-miller/

Paranormalcy: A review

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
borrowed from library
Description from Goodreads:
Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal

My thoughts:
There has been a lot of hype around this book.  I've had it on my YA to be read list for a while and I finally got around to reading it this weekend.  As with many YA books, it is a fast read. Personally, I like a fast read every once in a while.

The main character is Evie and she is cute, smart and funny. She also has the unique ability to be able to see through all the glamours of paranormals. This makes her extremely useful for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. Evie has grown up within the IPCA and this life is all she has known even though she wants to go to high school and have a (somewhat) normal life. She thinks she understands what the IPCA is about and why she works for them. Things are called into question when a shapeshifter appears in the agency and events cause Evie to begin questioning what she has always accepted as the truth.  I was happy to see that Evie is able to learn from her mistakes and takes her friendships seriously.  When Evie is presented with the opportunity to attend a high school for a day, she is downright giddy with the lockers, classes, the students, etc. It was quite amusing and endearing. 

I thought the way Evie's perceptions of the various paranormals is called into question and how she manages to start changing how she thinks about them is well done.  Since this is the first book in a series, I am hoping that exactly what Evie is and her role will be explained in the next books. The story is interesting enough and Evie is a charming enough main character that I will read the next book. I am curious to find out where White is going with the plot line as well as what she plans to do with the paranormals.

This book is pretty tame regarding boy/girl relationships and language and I would have no problem with my daughters reading it. In fact, one of the funny and endearing things is the way curse words are replaced by "bleep" and why. It is quite cute.