5 Ways to get back to the swing of homeschool after winter break

The Homeschool-mom part of me is excited to tackle the new year, The mom side of me is dreading dragging my children back to the homeschool table...

homeschool book

bereft of bright and shining faces this winter?  Here are a few ideas to get things moving:

  1. switch things up ~ is Bible or Math usually your first subject? Why not switch up the order of things, or move Bible to before school...or?  Make a visual line-up the kids can see and look forward to.

  2. ease into it~ make the first week an abbreviated week, with less subjects, or end the school-day a bit earlier and get outside, or snuggle up for some cozy reading. Or? the possibilities are endless.

  3. Start a new subject~ pull out the study materials you didn't quite get to yet, now is a great time to dive into something new.  Bored with your studies? now might be the time to look for a short-but-sweet unit study.

  4. Try a new schedule ~ things getting really stale?  Make a new schedule, move things around, change the times, shorten some studies, lengthen others.  Now might be the time to try a block schedule, with Science only 2 days a week, for example, and freeing up Fridays for "Art Fridays" or "field trip Fridays". Think a little outside of the box you have made and switch things around, experiment, try a new class.

  5. KISS/Just Read ~ I know for me, I tend to make things way more complicated than they need to be.  I need the perfect unit study, the perfect reference books, the perfect outline and the perfect worksheets.  Sometimes (a lot of the time) simply opening up a good book, reading it, and discussing it gets the job done.  Simple, but true.

Here at {Home} we are going to switch things up, re-arrange our schedule and start new subjects.  #5 was started a month ago, we are reading a Grace Livingston Hill novel and discussing. How about you, are you looking forward to a fresh start?

You know you're a homeschool-mom when...

You know you're a homeschool-mom when...  

1. You find yourself re-purchasing books and materials you have bought and sold before. Sometimes more than once.

2.  You order something you need and after it arrives you find it on your shelves, you forgot you already had it.

 

I'm sure we could start a running list of these!

 

Books I have purchased, sold and then re-purchased later:

  • Usborne Encyclopedia of World History
  • Sonlight "I can read" books
  • Veritas Press History cards (purchased 1st set when the children were very young, sold them, purchased all 4 sets later for Classical Conversations, threw them out, purchased the last set again for Amie's History this year.)
  • Story of the World books
  • Story of the World vol. 1 audio
  • Shurley English
  • Beginner's Bible
  • Mere Christianity
  • Screwtape letters
  • Bob Jones Fundementals of Literature (found it on the shelf after ordering a new one, thought Meg threw hers out...ouch)

 

I know there are more, I just can't recall them, which is probably just as well.

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there you have it, true confessions of a homeschool mom

Homeschool year 2014-2015

Here's the learning line-up this year for

Cliffs of Insanity Day Academy and St. Jenn's School for exceptional teens  :D

I am homeschooling my last two kids.  At one time, I was homeschooling 5....life is looking real different these days!

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Amie 7th grade:

Math   Aleks Math online                     Bible  Apologia's World View Series, we are finishing "Who is God?"

Language Arts    Grammar Rod & Staff 4   Literature & Composition:  Outside class with Biola Star they are using: IEW writing

**Teaching Writing: Structure and Style Seminar Workbook      **The Bronze Bow -Elizabeth Speare  **various book report books
-Institute for Excellence in Writing

Science:  **Oak Meadow Science 6  and  **Quick Reads level E by Modern Curriculum Press

History  Veritas Press online History- 1850 to Present      Geography/social studies/History: online Minecraft class, reading Around the World in 80 days

P.E.  Swimming laps 3 days a week and daily 1 mile walk/runs

Art:  private art lessons                      Music:  private voice lessons

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Demi-Sky High School 9th grade

Math  Aleks Math

Bible  Apologia's World View Series, we are finishing "Who is God?"

Language Arts

Grammar Rod & Staff 4

Literature & composition outside class with Biola Star  using:

*Fundamentals of Literature Student Text,  -Bob Jones University Press       *Brief Wadsworth Handbook 7th edition

*Vocabulary from Classical Roots A    *The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy   *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

*The Hobbit by J.R. R. Tolkien           *The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens      *Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

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History

*a combination of Oak Meadow World History (using Glencoe Text book) and My Father's World 

*Minecraft online class (geography, social studies, history) using Around the World in 80 days

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Science

Outside class with Biola Star using Abeka Lab ManualAbeka Biology

Latin:  First Form Latin -Memoria Press   -DVD's & books      Art: private art lessons

Music: private piano lessons

 Josie 11th grade at performing arts charter school

- after-schooling with First Start French -Memoria Press and  driver's ed with Automobile Club

Meg sophomore at a community college

she works several horse care jobs, at Barnes & Nobles part time and is in the police explorer's program, beside full time college classes.

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still here

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Hey bloggy-friends!  I'm still here...problem is, I've taken such a long break from blogging, I'm not sure how to get back into it.  A huge part of it has been the on-going saga with my grandparents, I felt/ feel like there is  so much drama and negative-stuff, that I'm not sure how to share it without dumping it out and being, well, negative.

but, um here goes....I'll just jump back in.  My grandmother is still living with us, in my front living room.  We were hoping to use some of my grandparents' savings to build her a suite, but we weren't real sure if it was a wise move, so that was part of why we went through conservator court...so that the court would make big decisions like that, because frankly, we are a bit lost with how to manage what little they have.  The court said no.  So....grandmother is living in my front living room, which has french doors on one side, and the other side we can board up.  Things can't stay that way, though, she really needs an attached bathroom. So, we will be moving her into our master bedroom.  Our house is a 1950's house and the master is not really big...she will lose some space in the move, the front living room is pretty spacious.  I think access to her own bathroom kind of trumps spaciousness, though. But only barely.  I'm a bit sad about giving up my room.  Sky and I will move into the front living room.  I love, love, love the big picture window in that room, so I will look forward to that.

I am taking another child development type class, this is my third. I'm planning on getting a certificate for early childhood education so I can be a kindergarten aid or a preschool aid in a headstart-type program.  I was also taking an Algebra class, but I had an epiphany last week that I really hate math and I didn't want to be there.  I thought getting an associate's degree would be the smart thing to do, since I'm taking classes....but I really just want to learn to write better and explore art. Sky said from the beginning that I should just take classes that interest me, and I can see now that he was right.  I was beginning to dread going to class, and for my first exam (which I got an A on) I had to spend a lot of time studying for, that I didn't feel I had.  Amie and Demi have started back up with homeschooling, and then I have the grandparents' care stuff....and so on.  My math class was two evenings a week, so now it is really nice to be home again for those two nights.

*Homeschool

We've started back up, full-swing.  I'll get a homeschool materials post up real soon.  Demi and Amie are busy with a few Biola Star classes, we have our normal homeschool studies, and then art and music.  Josie is back at the performing arts highschool for her 2nd and last year, she will be graduating this year.  Meg is in her second year of college.  She cares for horses in the morning -as a job, just got a part time job at Barnes & Nobles (Yay!) and graduated from the police explorers program this Summer.  She is very busy, and I am so proud of how hard she is working and how responsible she has grown up to be.  She's still not sure which direction she wants to go with as far as law enforcement, it changes...at first it was the horses, then FBI, now she's talking about forestry.  Who knows, but I'm sure it will be exciting.

So, that's a sort of re-cap of what is happening around here.  Oh, did I mention my grandmother has a dog?  We now are a two-dog family.  Sky is thrilled. (that was sarcasm) She's a sweet, small dog.  The transition to having my grandmother and her dog here has really gone very smoothly, my grandmother is a gentle soul, and so is her dog. Grandfather is finally landed in a really nice private nursing home...for now.  He got kicked out the first week, we got him new medication and took him back after a week back home.  So far it's okay, but every time I get a call from that area code, my stomach clenches.

here's a teaser with the homeschool stuff.... Oak Meadow World History, Aleks Math, Memoria Press First From Latin, Minecraft..... (I'll just name drop, since most of you stop by for the homeschooling stuff....I cleaned out my homeschool closet, totally!!  {shriek!!!!!}  I've tried to clean it out each year for the past 4 years, it is finally done. (Sky had to help me, bless that man!)

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Here's a hawk on a fountain I saw during a run (okay, mostly walk....) because,

hawk.....urban....city.....fountain = cool and unusual.  I love my neighborhood.

How's life bloggy friends?  I'm glad you stopped by :)