Our Sixth Year of Homeschooling: (2018-2019)

Softly falling rain in the middle of July offered a welcome respite to the hectic days of growing, harvesting, and yard maintenance. The break reminded me that, as much as I love summer, I need the physical break that comes with the cold months. I watched in happy anticipation as the first few yellowed willow leaves floated to the ground. Thoughts of warm drinks enjoyed with good books and long crafting sessions under the comforting glow of my desk lamp teased my mind.

My reverie was short-lived, as usual. I shouted another warning in the direction of the kitchen: "If you guys don't stop arguing about your chocolate milk and be quiet you're going to start schoolwork!"

A full chorus of groans ensued. As terrifying as this thought was to my boys, I couldn't help feeling a thrill of excitement. School was just around the corner! The boxes of books had begun to appear on the front porch, and to a bibliophile like myself, they may as well have been boxes of gold. The peacefulness of the rain was just the backdrop I needed to start planning how we were going to make this the best year yet.

Our School Room

Fast forward to mid-August, with school looming around the corner. August 20th was the day on the calendar. Most of lesson planning had been completed, with just the last few weeks of 6th grade grammar yet to be ironed out. I somehow always stretch it to the last moment, but this year it was without anxiety. Last year we got to week 15 and the phonics column of one of the planners went blank. I had forgotten to finish it! And you know what? We lived. The last two homeschool years--one just moved to a new house, pregnant, and finished up late with a newborn, the other with a small baby and a terrifying month of influenza and recovery from it--were an especial challenge. I feel like after that we can handle whatever this year throws at us, by the grace of God.

By this time the excitement I experienced had mellowed to an inevitable sadness, akin to the anticipation of saying goodbye to a dear friend. How could it be that summer nears its end and it seems every year as though we barely get to enjoy it? I am not ready for the house to get sealed up against the cold, for the donning of boots and jackets, to look out on a yard stripped bare of its lush greenery, and to wait months to bask in sunshine so warm it gives you goosebumps. I hope it's my excitement, and not that sadness, that wears off on my children.

"Remember: education is largely a matter of the heart."

~St. John Bosco

At the risk of sounding clichéd, I have always had a love/hate relationship with homeschooling. Don't get me wrong, it's mostly love. But it can easily become drudgery if I don't take care not to let the lesson plans become our slave masters. It's helpful for me this time of year to reread Sarah Mackenzie's book, Teaching From Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace. I've also prepared for this upcoming school year by reading her newest book, The Read Aloud Family. It inspired me with some great ways to make our year funner and more relaxed, while focusing on what's really important for us. For example, making a big pan of brownies or a bowl of popcorn and setting it on the kitchen table to enjoy during our read aloud time. Friday afternoons are reserved for trips to the library. Wednesday afternoons we craft. We also have a heavy history year, but fun history, not full of tests and date memorization. History is stories, and without it we would have no other subjects.

My Homeschool Background

I was that odd child who loved school (most of the time), though going to school gave me great anxiety. I attended local public school through 3rd grade, which highlighted for me how average I was. Even back then I had an overwhelming compulsion to perfection, and it was a thorn under my skin that those couple students always had their worksheets done way ahead of everyone else. In kindergarten I was well enough ahead of some classmates that my teacher sat me next to them to help them read. By 1st grade I was so shy that I couldn't bring myself to read in front of my classmates, which resulted in my placement in a remedial class with the slow learners. It allowed me to get comfortable with a much smaller group of kids, and before too long I was put back in the regular class. By 3rd grade I was in an excelled spelling group, with plenty of friends, but I always felt sick Sunday nights before school, always felt anxious climbing aboard the school bus. To this day the smell of diesel exhaust brings back those feelings. I remember in 1st grade skipping ahead in my math book to see what was coming, and feeling such anxiety thinking of all the ways I could fail, and wondering how would I ever keep up with everyone? I don't remember telling anyone my fears, thinking they might actually realize that I wasn't as smart as the other kids. How horrible is that?!

When my parents started homeschooling for my 4th grade year that anxiety was removed for me. I could do my best without worrying how I placed amongst my peers. I could lose myself in my history book and literature and didn't have to jump at the sound of a bell. I dove into my workbooks with relish. Best yet, I had the time I wanted to spend with the menagerie of animals my Dad always kept on our acreage.

Flexibly Designed Just For You

My favorite thing about homeschooling is the ability to focus on each child's strengths and interests, and to quickly identify weaknesses and areas that need special attention. We aren't bound by a schedule, but often take breaks to run outside when the mental atmosphere gets too foggy indoors. Some boys retain information better if they are active while listening to lessons, and can often be found drawing, coloring, or building (or pacing back and forth with a play sword) while I read. We can freely learn unimpeded by peer pressure, bullying, social anxiety, and fear of failure (for the most part) at home. Mornings are for the skill subjects: math, grammar, phonics, etc. Afternoons are for content subjects like history, literature, science, etc. and more enjoyable academic pursuits: experiments, crafts, baking, nature studies, library trips, and experiencing life. Children learn best when they are actively engaged in their own learning process.

This is what our first Friday afternoon looked like after our library trip. It was blissfully quiet! Aidan devoured both books he checked out overnight and walked back to the library Saturday morning to return them. (We only live a block from the library.) He brought home two more in their place.

Aidan and Gavin reached a milestone this year and were entrusted with their first-ever library cards.

This year is our 6th year homeschooling, and while the subjects are getting more difficult, schooling in general gets easier. I have to admit, the first three or so years felt a bit like reinventing the wheel in trying to figure out how schooling worked best for our family. We've finally hit our stride in knowing how to get it done. Granted, this year I had to stop planning every 5 minutes to remove Addie from whatever odd predicament she had gotten herself into, which slowed me up a bit.

And a week doesn't go by that I don't daydream what it would be like sending them to school and having a peaceful house during the day. But I love that I get this time with them that many others don't get with their children. I learn right alongside them. We've all heard people say, "If I could go back I'd try harder" or something similar. Well, I get to do just that! With maturity comes a different understanding of topics, and I get to relearn things that I may have skimmed over in my youth to get to the funner things.

Books: Where We Get Our Curriculum

Most of our curriculum is from Our Lady of Victory School, with a few substitutions. We use the Faith and Freedom Readers from Seton Home Study. Our Latin is from Memoria Press. We are still doing the Ancient Cultures (Volume 1) of Connecting With History from RC History. For grades 1-3 we use OLVS's Lepanto Math both because of the ease of use compared to Saxon Math, and because it's more affordable. In grades 4 and up we use Saxon, and I'm happy to say that we finally got Aidan to the point where he enjoys math! Finding the right academic path can be a long, frustrating journey, but the payoff is so worth it.

The 2nd, 4th, and 6th grades books

These are the Beginner and Grammar level books for Connecting with History, combined so we can cover KG-6th grades at once. It's a salvation history course, illustrating how secular history lines up with Biblical history and how the birth of Christ was the point from which all history is measured.

Reference sections

The Syllabi

Aidan is in 6th grade this year...we have a middle schooler! Yikes.

At the front of each grade's lesson planner I write the list of subjects covered in that particular grade, the books used for each subject, and the abbreviations used for them. I write an asterisk next to the consumables that I have to reorder for the next student. Many of our workbooks run around $15 each, so as often as possible I have the boys write their answers in a notebook.

It took me 5 years to come up with this solution, but to avoid making any marks in the official lesson plans this year I printed a homework checklist for the boys to check off when they complete an assignment, either for the day or week. It is working fantastically.

Gavin is now in 4th grade.

Liam is in 2nd grade.

Ian is doing preschool work, with materials we have on hand that will help prepare him for kindergarten next year. I printed up a progress report for him as well. He was so excited to be included in school prep this year that he was the first one to have his teeth brushed and be in bed the night before we started school.

Lesson Plans

I order the large lesson planners from Michele Quigley's shop (one for each grade). They are laid out for a 36 week school year with a two-page spread for each week. We reuse lesson plans, though they get so used and abused over the course of a school year that I've had to rewrite several. Last year I became so fed up with one child's carelessness with his plans that I cut all the pages out of the spiral binding and put them in plastic sleeves and into a 3-ring binder. This year I had to rewrite 2nd grade plans.

Grading

I finally taught myself how to use Excel to print our own report cards! In previous years I had to make do without the fancy grid, or used the underline feature in the Word program...or pen and ruler. It's ok, I'm laughing too. I grade homework daily and keep both weekly progress reports and quarterly to stay on top of how the boys are absorbing what we cover. And yes, I grade attitudes as well. That grade determines what kind of extracurricular activities they do or don't get to participate in. 

This grading wheel has made grading pretty simple. We go over all wrong answers in daily homework to correct misunderstandings, and any homework graded below 75% has to be completely redone. This is my version of "no child left behind".

How We Plan Field Trips

We belong to a homeschool nature study group that meets four times over the course of the school year. We also occasionally attend homeschool workshops through a local museum. And informally we plan other educational trips with homeschooling friends as time and interest allow. Many places are happy to give tours to small groups if you just call and ask.

"A school without music is like a body without a soul."

~St. John Bosco

Though I'm not musically inclined, I think it's a vital part of education. For music we are subscribed to the free Sacred Music studies from Traditional Catholic Living. If any of the boys showed interest we would have them take music lessons. Sports seem to be higher on their priority list for the time being.

Our School Room

I just want to clarify, if you are considering homeschooling you do not need a designated learning area. The beauty of homeschooling is that learning happens everywhere. We began this endeavor in a barely 1000 square foot house with a bookshelf in the corner of the dining room. When we moved here two years ago the fact that there was a spare room downstairs was just icing on the cake. Here's a quick tour of our learning hub for any of you who were curious how the room is organized. And by way of a full disclosure, I'm an awful speaker, which is why I will never join the masses of VLOGers. I forgot to say half the things that occurred to me. The baskets on the small book shelf are for our read-alouds, currently reading books, and library books. There's a caddy on the big bookcase next to the history books for pencils, erasers, markers, scissors, rulers, etc., and the Boxcar Children box on the bottom holds puzzle pieces. The cabinet also holds learning manipulatives.