2013 Archives - Growing In Grace

Our 2013 Routine

October 16, 2013Tracy

I love getting a glimpse behind the scenes of someone else’s household, not just for curiosity-sake but for ideas. So, I’m offering up the same privilege. Here’s the behind the scenes look at our schedule for mornings and homeschool. Yours doesn’t need to match mine; but if you’re wondering how to “fit it all in,” here’s my routine for some ideas.

My Morning…

begins at 5:30 a.m. with a cup of coffee and the Lord. This is my hour of power, my time to meet with God for those new mercies He’s promised to give each morning. I spend time studying the Word (I’m in Romans, currently) and praying.

At 6:30, my ipod alarm sounds for me to jump in the shower. I have thirty minutes here to make myself presentable, and another 15 minutes or so to get breakfast for everyone. Then, at 7:15-ish I wake the kids and have them dress and make their beds before coming down for breakfast. Their “chores” are simple: brush their teeth and hair, make bed and put pajamas away, sweep crumbs under the table or wipe the bathroom counters.

Our school “bell” goes off at 8 a.m., and everyone is expected to be on time.

Our School Day…

starts with prayer and our calendar time in our upstairs space. Then, we bring our boxes downstairs to the table for “Memory Period.” This is my time to go over our memory work: Bible, Latin, and History. Most of this is set to music, so in essence, we sing different songs and chants for about 15-20 minutes.

Bible: Teach them the Faith catechism songs and their AWANA work

Latin: Song School Latin songs

History: some flashcard facts (using an ipod app) and our timeline chant (Veritas Press timeline facts from a youtube video)

We end this period with any particular announcements that I need to make to both of them about their work.

8:30

Oldest goes off to do his independent work and his Reflex math game (for math facts review). Middlest begins her time with me. We start with her math and finish with phonics, reading, and cursive. I also assign an art project or motor skills activity for her to complete during my time with Oldest.

9:30

Middlest begins her project/activity while Oldest begins his time with me. (When Middlest finishes, she has the rest of the hour for recess up in her room.) We go over his work pages that he did during his independent time and cover new concepts. Then, we move on to his language arts—phonics, spelling, and grammar on alternating days. We’ll finish with some reading if we have time, if not we save his reading for a break later in the day or after lunch.

10:30 or 11

Sometimes Oldest’s time takes a little longer, so I keep this time a little flexible from day-to-day. During this time, we’re back together. And it’s time for some hot cocoa! We go over some very basic map work (from Story of the World [SOTW]), and I start their SOTW audio lesson. Usually, we’ll do a coloring page or other activity during the story or after it is finished. I’ll also ask some review questions after the story to highlight what I want them to remember (and to make sure they listened).

Following the audio, we’ll do a read-aloud from the Tapestry curriculum. This is either classic literature (i.e. King Arthur) or Church History (biography of Martin Luther). Sometimes I will read, and sometimes Oldest will do some of the reading.

11:30-ish

It’s time for our extras. This alternates on different days of the week. Two days are devoted to science, two days to Latin, and one day to art/music.

Noon

On a good day, we’re done! On other days, we’ll wrap up anything left after a lunch recess. But by noon, it’s definitely time for a break.

And what’s the Littlest been up to all this time? He’s either napping or playing with an activity. I try to find at least one special activity for him daily, either from pinterest or from the Flowering Baby curriculum that I have for him. And Middlest loves to play with him for me; she’s a big helper. He wanders in and out of our lessons, sits in my lap or on my hip, goes off to play, sits in his high chair for a snack or some “coloring”, and then takes a nap.

I also have certain ipod activities or activity pages for the kids to do if I get interrupted. When the phone rings, when Littlest needs a diaper change or has gotten into trouble, the kids can stay busy for the 3-5 minutes that it takes for me to get everyone settled again.

After School…

our schedule varies from day to day. But essentially, the kids play—sometimes with me, sometimes on their own—until about 3 p.m. Then, everyone is down for either naps or quiet time. Most of the time, the older two get quiet time, which is a time to work on projects, play in our art bag, or listen to audio stories. This lasts until 4:30 or 5. It’s my time to get a few things done, or welcome people into our home.

Then, 4:30 begins my dinner prep routine, followed by supper, some family time, and bedtime. That’s my day, roughly. There’s always the unexpected that pops up and throws the day off, but this is our go-to, the ideal we are striving for.

Now, I ask that you pray for us. This is a schedule that works well for us, so please pray that we can maintain it as much as possible, and that I have the wisdom to tweak it when needful.

Thanks! It’s good to have friends on this journey.

Making a Beginning

October 2, 2013Tracy1 Comment

It was with much excitement and a little trepidation (on my part) that we began school this week.

"Places everyone!" My big 2nd Grader and K5 Kid. — “Places everyone!” My big 2nd Grader and K5 Kid.

Though the first day of homeschool always gives me some butterflies and nerves, this year I was especially nervous. Perhaps it was the fact that I’ve spent the last month or more moving rather than preparing. Perhaps it’s just the fact that I have two in serious homeschool this year (2nd grade and K5). Or perhaps it’s that Littlest is toddling into a lot of trouble lately.

But, in spite of it all, our first day was a roaring success. The schedule ran smoothly, the lessons were enjoyable, and the kids were as excited at the end of the day as they were at the beginning—maybe even more excited!

The only one who didn’t enjoy the day was Littlest, who hasn’t been feeling up to snuff lately. He opted for a long morning nap, instead; and I definitely rejoiced in that unexpected grace.

This was supposed to be Littlest's activity for the morning, but Middlest decided she wasn't too big for this kind of fun. — This was supposed to be Littlest’s activity for the morning, but Middlest decided she wasn’t too big for this kind of fun.

First Day Highlights

We started our memory work review with a video of last year’s memory work. The kids had a blast watching themselves recite our timeline from last year, and it was a fun way to review. We’ll keep doing that much of this week until we feel fully refreshed and ready to add some new facts.

Middlest loved her new phonics lessons. We explored how the letter sounds are made and began our cursive work with a little magic! She used her wand to practice the strokes before we actually wrote on paper. I loved having my teacher curriculum on my NOOK! I wasn’t quite sure how I would like that format, but it was fabulous. Now I wish that all my teacher books were like that!

Middlest practicing her cursive strokes with a little ribbon magic!

Oldest really liked all of his school. When I pulled out his Essentials workbook, he actually kissed the cover; he was so excited to begin again. Of everything, however, I think he liked his audio-history with Story of the World the best. Jim Weiss will read the bulk of their history this year, and I’m very grateful to him for that convenience.

Our first maps of the year! Mediterranean Sea, Rome, and the boundaries of the Roman Empire.

We also took a hot cocoa break during our combined lessons. I’m thinking that may have to be an everyday occurrence. It wasn’t just cozy; it really made the second half of the school lessons something to look forward to. It set the mood for us as we transitioned to history and science (or art and latin on alternate days).

Curious about what we’ll be learning this year? Click the link to see!

The Official 2013 Homeschool Tour

September 27, 2013Tracy

Remember just a a few days ago?

This was my school room. But I’m so grateful that I can say (with school set to begin in just a couple of days), that our school space is complete! Voila!

My school space has downsized from a full room to a corner cabinet. But I really love the space, and the lessons the Lord is putting to the test: namely, learning can happen anywhere.

We will be doing a lot of our actual work at the kitchen table. Praise the Lord, I had spent tons of time brainstorming ways to streamline our homeschool to make it ready to move. God knew! Both the kids’ daily lessons and my teacher materials are all ready to go in easy to transport containers.

So, are you ready for the official tour?

Our new home is 2-stories, something the kids were super excited about. Apparently, the stairs are the main attraction at our house. And it just so happens, that this cabinet at the top of the stairs was the perfect spot for homeschooling. Though most of the actual work will happen downstairs, I’m leaving a chair upstairs for when one of them might need just a little more peace and seclusion (i.e. Oldest).

The kids each have their own bin that includes a couple of key workbooks and their week’s worth of lessons. {Read more about how I organized their daily assignments.} The bins are grab-and-go ready; their pencil bags, dry erase boards, and other essentials are stored underneath a handy space saver that I used to use for my dishes. (Totally upcycled!)

On the other side are my teacher files and a basket of books for our year. Again, my file includes daily-use items {read more about my amazing teacher file—I love it!}, and the books we can easily grab out and place back as we need them. But, by storing them in this basket, the books didn’t take nearly as much space as if I’d lined them up library-style.

In the middle is our calendar-time charts. We’ve been using these same charts for about three years now, and the kids still love them. The calendar on the right is an A Beka Book product from their homeschool charts. The chart on the left is totally homemade to teach days of the week, chart the weather and seasons, etc.

Of course, inside the cabinets are manipulatives, curriculums, supplies, flashcards, and other fun activities.

On the wall is my magnet board and a Martha Stewart adhesive pocket. The pocket is where the kids turn in their work to me. We used this system last year, and it worked really well. Plus, it takes up way less space than a paper tray.

We magnetize our mapwork, making our map labels with cut up index cards and adhesive magnet tape. Oldest loved learning his maps this way, so my challenge was finding a magnetic place to put his maps. This was my board last year, but I sacrificed it—for the cause, you know.

Our last feature upstairs is our cork board and posters. Nothing super impressive here, beyond the fact that it is all hung with command hook adhesive. That’s right—no holes.

Oh, and here’s my favorite part of all, folks. This last picture is the view of the upstairs from my couch. Notice what you can see of all of our homeschool stuff.

Nothing! We are totally invisible, flying under the radar. No posters, cork boards, books, nothing. Which means when school is over and stored away for the day, I sink back on my couch with my cup of coffee, look up and say, “Ahhhh.”

The 2013 school year may now happen. I’m ready.

The end at last

May 24, 2013Tracy

Well, we did it! We finished up first grade and kindergarten—final report cards and all.

Even though we have not yet had our official end, our end of the year celebration, Oldest finished his last first grade math lesson and test last week, and we’ve absolutely, totally felt like summer-time ever since.

Right now, all of our “school” has been preparing for our unit celebration and end of the year party—reviewing flashcards for our trivia game and completing projects for display and presentations. It’s been a fun way to review and wrap up the year, very unstructured and unschool-ish.

Middlest is working on some Roman paper dolls, and together we made a very simple diorama for her to place her dolls in.

Oldest decided he wanted to tell the story of the Punic Wars. He’s really gotten into the Hannibal and Scipio conflict. So we made an over-sized map (the one he’s been studying with magnets) and he’s setting up the battle with medieval men, legos, and toy elephants. It’s going to be an action-packed retelling.

Meanwhile, I’ve already been super busy planning the next year. Our state’s book fair is today (Eek! Today!!! I’m so excited), so I’ve been tweaking spreadsheets and comparison charts that I’ve been working on for months now. I go to a book fair with lists, prices, and diagrams all ready.

I’ve also gotten to a few household projects that have been looming over me for awhile, like going through all the winter clothes and outgrown items.

It’s been a more relaxed, yet very productive kind of week. But next week is a different story. Next week, I’m going to be like Moley from Wind in the Willows. I’ll say “Hang it” with all the projects; let’s go outside!