NOT Back to School: A Peek into Our Homeschool ~ Day 3: Our Schedule

Welcome to this year's NOT Back to School Blog Hop. This year I am giving you A Peek into Our Homeschool. 

Day 3: Our Schedule

Welcome back to our home.

So glad we didn't scare you off, please, come back in.

Thank you so much for helping us unbox our curriculum yesterday!

If you weren't here to see all the materials we will be using, I invite you to check out yesterday's post: A Peek into Our Homeschool ~ Day 2: Our Curriculum.

So, you may be wondering how we are going to fit it all in.

Technically, so am I. I think I have it figured out though, and thankfully, as homeschoolers, we have learned we can be flexible.

Here is a tentative schedule:

We will be following the same sort of schedule I started last year, though I have tweaked it a bit. Tabitha has become more independent and does the majority of her reading alone in her room. We'll see how that works this year.

There are days when we go to the Y in the morning, and days when we go in the afternoon. So, this of course changes up our day. Sometimes the older girls will stay home and get school work (and maybe extra chores) done, other times they come with us.

Here's a bit of an explanation to our schedule. 

Of course, I need some "me" time, so I try to wake up early: 5:30 or 6 at the latest. I haven't been doing very good at this recently, so I am hoping to get back on track once the school year starts up in two and a half weeks. My alone time will be when I can have my own personal devotions and work on my blog. 

Then the children are woken up. The wake up times are different each day. Monday's we don't have to go anywhere in the morning, so they can wake up a bit later, 8:00. On Tuesday and Thursday they need to wake up at 7:00 because we have to leave at 8:00 to get to the Y. On Wednesday and Friday, they don't have to wake up until 7:30 because we don't have to leave until 8:30. On Wednesday's, once co-op starts, we will need to be out of the house. However, until then we will use the time as make-up time, hands-on work time, etc. Every day at wake up, they are given two fifteen minute timers. By the time the first one goes off I need to be seeing movement upstairs. By the time the second timer goes off, they need to be making their way down the stairs for breakfast. While upstairs they are supposed to get dressed, make their beds, and take care of their laundry (which means putting the clothes that are in their pile away). They have to check off the chart I made.

After breakfast they need to brush their teeth and do their morning chores. The chores on the yellow cards on the left of the chart are the chores they are to do. These alternate weekly. Technically, the "Wipe Bathroom Sink" has been changed to "Empty Dish Drainer."

If we have to zing to the Y, they will do the chores when we get home.

On Monday we will start our school time as soon as chores are finished. We will start with Bible time and move into our 3 routines. These routines include computer time (which means math, reading, Latin, grammar, and MemVerse for Bible memorization for the older girls), Mommy Time (where I will work with the younger two on writing, spelling, drill time, and possibly some kitchen work), Exercise (where the younger two get on the WiiFitU), and Spelling (I'm probably going to print out spelling work from SchoolhouseTeachers.com, still not completely sure).

This is a tentative copy of the routine. This has changed up quite a bit from last year, especially because Tabitha isn't joining in with this routine. We used to only have two routines, which last 30 minutes each. This year, I am trying three. The children alternate between them. 

Monday is the only day when routine time is before lunch. Every other day we go to the Y in the morning, so it will be after lunch.

While I make lunch the children watch their show. After we eat lunch they clear the table, wipe it, and do their dishes. On Monday they will have a bit of free time after chores are done, seeing as they have already done some school work. The rest of the week we will go straight into Bible Time and those Routines I mentioned above.

Then, later in the afternoon (and into the evening on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday) we will follow the My Father's World schedule from the Teacher Manual for our history reading, science reading, any notebook work, art, music, and reading of our "Book Basket" selections. 

While I make supper one child gets to play their WiiU game. Supper is around 5:00. On Monday and Wednesday we will head to the Y for Zumba after dinner. On the other days we will get chores done and they can have some free time before we have to work on the readings and schoolwork that haven't been done yet. Then there are showers and read aloud time. 

So, I'm sorry if that was a bit confusing. I think I have it figured out. It's the only way I could make it work so I could get to the classes I want to get to at the Y. 

Of course, who knows what we will have to switch up or add in due to being on the Homeschool Review Crew, or if the classes change at the Y.

Thank you so much for stopping by to learn a bit more about our family and homeschool. Tomorrow I plan to share a look at how our schedule works. You may be wondering how we fit all these things into our day. Believe me, sometimes I wonder that myself.

Here are some of the participants. CREW @ Homeschool Review Crew - 2019 Annual Not Back to School Homeschool Blog Hop 
Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses - ABC of Homeschooling
Dawn @ Schoolin' Swag - Adding Fun to Your Homeschool Day
Erin @ For Him and My Family - Large Family Homeschooling
Lori @ At Home Where Life Happens - Learning Life Skills
Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling - Homeschooling the High School Years
Monique D. @ Early Learning Mom - Homeschooling With Autism
Yvie @ Homeschool On the Range - 5 Days of Upper Grades Homeschooling
Abby @ Making Room 4 One More - Time Management for Homeschool Moms
Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool - 5 Days of Homeschool Questions
Amy @ the WRITE Balance - Year-Round Schooling
Annette @ A Net in Time - Homeschooling.
Betty @ Lets Get Real - Homeschooling High School
Cassandra @ My Blessed Mess - Eclectic Homeschooling Kimberley @ Vintage Blue Suitcase - Roadschooling with a Teenager
Yvonne @ The Life We Build - 5 Days of Relaxed Homeschooling
Destiny @ Some Call It Destiny - Encouragement for the Homeschooling Mom
Cassie D @ Deputie Tribe - Homeschooling 6 Taking Care of YOU


Don't forget to check out the other posts linked up below!

NOT Back to School: A Peek into Our Homeschool ~ Day 2: Our Curriculum

Welcome to this year's NOT Back to School Blog Hop. This year I am giving you A Peek into Our Homeschool. 

Day 2: Our Curriculum

Welcome to our home.

We'd love to have you pop on in.

We are so glad you are here to help us unbox our curriculum.

This is our core curriculum that we will be using.

They used to get more excited. Of course, they also used to allow me to take their pictures. Now, it is quite a struggle.

I told the children to choose a couple of the things they are most excited about. Harold is excited to have his own book about animals. He'll also be joining Amelia and Hannah with the main study of animals and plants. I'm not sure if Tabitha is excited about these literature guides, but they are something she gets to work on by herself. Hannah was excited about the science and the new Bible study on James. Not surprisingly, Amelia is excited that we will be learning about American history. 

Yes, I let them take a "silly" picture. Amelia wasn't really into that part.

So, what is our curriculum?

We will be using My Father's World Exploration to 1850.

We have books that focus on American history.

Plus books to help us look at the rest of the world during this time period.

As usual we have some great read alouds to enhance our learning. I have actually never heard of any of these books, so I am really looking forward to reading them.

I'm also looking forward to adding in these books that we received from Library and Educational Services (which I posted my review for last week). I think they will also enhance our study of American History.

At the end of the year we will be working on a state report. Which will be great for getting that state requirement in for PA homeschool law.

We will also use the materials from Crafty Classroom that we reviewed several weeks ago.

Harold (and maybe Hannah) will be using these books that were from our Adventures in US History year.

I also found the following resources for the younger two.

For Bible we will learn hymns and the stories behind them, study the book of James in depth, and read about stories of Christians from the past. And, of course, the older girls will be participating in Bible Quizzing again.

For science we will be learning about animals. . . 

. . . and plants.

Tabitha is in 7th grade this year, so she will have her own science curriculum.

As I mentioned above, Tabitha will also be doing her own literature study guides.

Also in the Language Arts category, Tabitha and Amelia will continue using Grammar Planet, plus we are now reviewing Easy Grammar Plus, so that may continue through the year. I'm not quite sure what they are going to do for spelling yet. I've got a couple of weeks to figure it out.

Hannah will continue through Simply Classical Writing which we reviewed several weeks ago.

Harold also has his level of Simply Classical Writing to use.

Plus we are going to work through Lightning Literature & Composition Grade 2.

For math we will still be using CTCMath as our main math curriculum. However, Harold is also using Matific Galaxy. For right now Harold and Hannah are also using Reading Eggspress and Mathseeds, but our trial will be over around the time our 2019-2020 school year officially starts.

For art we will try to use God & the History of Art II, which is scheduled in the teacher manual.

For part of the year we will also have access to HiGASFY which we are currently reviewing. This is an art history program. I think the children would also like to use ArtAchieve again, which is available through SchoolhouseTeachers.com.

For music appreciation we will learn about Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Chopin.

Plus we will continue the piano lessons from Simply Music.

For Physical Education the children will have gym once a week at co-op (once it starts up in October). Additionally, Tabitha, Amelia, and Hannah come to the Y with me.

Of course, who knows what we will have to switch up or add in due to being on the Homeschool Review Crew.

Thank you so much for stopping by to learn a bit more about our family and homeschool. Tomorrow I plan to share a look at how our schedule works. You may be wondering how we fit all these things into our day. Believe me, sometimes I wonder that myself.

Here are some of the participants. CREW @ Homeschool Review Crew - 2019 Annual Not Back to School Homeschool Blog Hop 
Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses - ABC of Homeschooling
Dawn @ Schoolin' Swag - Adding Fun to Your Homeschool Day
Erin @ For Him and My Family - Large Family Homeschooling
Lori @ At Home Where Life Happens - Learning Life Skills
Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling - Homeschooling the High School Years
Monique D. @ Early Learning Mom - Homeschooling With Autism
Yvie @ Homeschool On the Range - 5 Days of Upper Grades Homeschooling
Abby @ Making Room 4 One More - Time Management for Homeschool Moms
Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool - 5 Days of Homeschool Questions
Amy @ the WRITE Balance - Year-Round Schooling
Annette @ A Net in Time - Homeschooling.
Betty @ Lets Get Real - Homeschooling High School
Cassandra @ My Blessed Mess - Eclectic Homeschooling
Don't forget to check out the other posts linked up below!

NOT Back to School: A Peek into Our Homeschool ~ Day 1: Meet the Family

Welcome to this year's NOT Back to School Blog Hop. This year I am giving you A Peek into Our Homeschool. 

Day 1: Meet the Family

Welcome to our home.

Stop by and meet the family. 

Here are the children.

Okay guys, off the tablets and say hello!

That's better.

Of course, if you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you should know them a bit already. Today I am going to share some interviews I had with the children.

First, I would like to "introduce" you to Tabitha.

When I started this blog, Tabitha was only 2 1/2 years old and I was sharing the fun things we were doing while learning such things as the alphabet. Now, she is 12 1/2, constantly reminding me that she is as tall as I am, and very much looking forward to her 13th birthday. Let's see what she thinks of our homeschool.

 What do you like about homeschooling?

I like that it gives me the flexibility to work on things on my own time and that there are no bullies. I also like that you can take breaks when you need to. I like doing activities, and sitting around in a classroom like public schoolers sounds boring and I wouldn’t be able to do that. I learn by doing.

What don’t you like about homeschooling?

You force me to do review stuff and I don’t really appreciate that. I feel that it adds to my stress and my work that needs done. I don’t like that you are sitting in front of the computer doing review stuff all the time.

What is your favorite subject, the one you would love to focus on all year if you could?

Either art or math. I love to do math. I think I get it from dad. I like to work things out. I want my art to improve. I already think it is pretty good, but I want it to be better.

What is your least favorite subject, the one you wish we could just get rid of?

Grammar (she states before I ask the question). I feel that it is useless.

If you were the teacher, what would you do differently?

I don’t know. I kinda self teach myself. I don’t really need to change things.

What is your favorite thing to do that isn’t school?

Watch YouTube and play on my tablet. I especially love Reacticorns, Maxmellow, Wengie, Moriah Elizabeth, Merrel Twins, and gaming channels like Dennis Daily and DanTDM.

I like to play Roblox on my tablet.

(I was surprised she didn't mention art, but she explained that she felt art was a part of school.)

 Next, I would like to "introduce" you to Amelia.

When I started this blog, Amelia was only 1 year old and tagging along with her big sister as we did Letter of the Week and Montessori activities. She is now 11 years old. Let's see what she thinks of our homeschool.

 What do you like about homeschooling?

You take off for your birthday. At public school you have to go to school still.

What don’t you like about homeschooling?

Everything. I don’t like school.

What is your favorite subject, the one you would love to focus on all year if you could?

History. American history.

What is your least favorite subject, the one you wish we could just get rid of?

Grammar

If you were the teacher, what would you do differently?

I would let people sleep in a little longer.

What is your favorite thing to do that isn’t school?

Read  

(Very surprised she didn't mention baking and coming up with recipes)

And here's Hannah. 

She joined our family the year after I started blogging. Once she was old enough to sit up I was giving her fun activities to play with. Now, she is 9 years old and getting ready to start 4th grade!

 What do you like about homeschooling?

We can make our own lunch. We get to use our tablets.

What don’t you like about homeschooling?

I don’t like that we have to do school.

What is your favorite subject, the one you would love to focus on all year if you could?

Reading and math

What is your least favorite subject, the one you wish we could just get rid of?

Spelling. Anything that has to do with writing.

If you were the teacher, what would you do differently?

Make them have less school, like math and reading, that’s all.

What is your favorite thing to do that isn’t school?

Play on my tablet. I like to play Roblox.

And now for Harold. 

The baby of the family, who is no longer a baby. He is now 7 years old and getting ready to start 2nd grade. Though, he was joining in with our family cycle last year as he'd already done the 1st grade curriculum from My Father's World. Let's see what he has to say.

What do you like about homeschooling?

I like that sometimes we get review things. I like to use Mathseeds, Reading Eggs, CTCMath and Matific Galaxy. I like that Mathseeds has a workbook. And I liked ArtAchieve. I like that I can do my school work with mama.

What don’t you like about homeschooling?

All the reading we do. I don’t like the history reading I have to listen to because I don’t like history.

What is your favorite subject, the one you would love to focus on all year if you could?

Mathseeds

What is your least favorite subject, the one you wish we could just get rid of?

History reading

If you were the teacher, what would you do differently?

I would only teach the children math, reading, drawing, writing, and story writing (he means creative writing).

What is your favorite thing to do that isn’t school?

Field trips. My favorite field trip was going to the Erie Zoo.

And here's the mom. That's me.

I'm the supervisor and teacher of Waide Academy. Also, the author of Tots and Me...Growing Up Together for the past ten years. As I was listening to the children answer the questions I posed to them, I realized I may have to try to change things up a bit.

I did explain to Tabitha that she would still have to do some of the subjects that we get review materials for, so she would still have to do school work in those subjects. However, perhaps I will have to cut back on review materials that she would need to work with if it would mean doing extra. Though, one of the things we are currently reviewing is Easy Grammar, which isn't her favorite subject, but is something she needs to work on. Though, she really doesn't see the need to be working on grammar. 

I also explained to Amelia and Hannah, that if they weren't homeschooled they would still be doing schoolwork, just at public school. So, it's not like they can get out of doing school work. I am glad we are going to be learning about American history again this year, so maybe she will enjoy this year.

I do know that Hannah isn't a fan of writing, and she struggles with spelling a lot. So, I really need to find a way to make that more fun for her. 

I was happy to realize that Harold still enjoys getting review materials. I know he really enjoys the different online math programs we use. However, I also need to figure out a way to make history more interesting for him. I realize I did a lot more hands-on activities with the older girls when they were his age. But, it is so hard to try to find the time to even think of things to do with him, with trying to school the older girls who I have to file papers to the school district for. 

I definitely need to find ways to not spend so much time on the computer and come up with ways to make school more fun again. 

And, last but not least, here's the hubby. Would he be considered our principal?

My wonderfully supportive, incredible hubby is exhausted most days lately as he works 12 hour night shifts in a nursing home. In fact, lately he's been called in to work extra days or asked to stay late, so he is working even longer hours. He will be sharing his take on our homeschool later this week. When he isn't so exhausted. Love my hubby.

Oh, I almost forgot, we sort of have a pet now. We started feeding this stray cat that the children had named Swiftpaw. We've seen him around for a while, months I believe, but several weeks ago Amelia insisted on feeding him breakfast. He's been our porch cat ever since. Sadly, he has to stay on the porch because I am VERY allergic to cats.

He wanted to take a "peek" into our homeschool too. Sorry kitty, you aren't allowed in. Though he does try. He's made it as far as the doorway to our dining room before!

Thank you so much for stopping by to learn a bit more about our family. Tomorrow I plan to share what our homeschool curriculum will be this year, and probably a look at our schedule. 

Here are some of the participants. CREW @ Homeschool Review Crew - 2019 Annual Not Back to School Homeschool Blog Hop 
Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses - ABC of Homeschooling
Dawn @ Schoolin' Swag - Adding Fun to Your Homeschool Day
Erin @ For Him and My Family - Large Family Homeschooling
Lori @ At Home Where Life Happens - Learning Life Skills
Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling - Homeschooling the High School Years
Monique D. @ Early Learning Mom - Homeschooling With Autism
Yvie @ Homeschool On the Range - 5 Days of Upper Grades Homeschooling
Abby @ Making Room 4 One More - Time Management for Homeschool Moms
Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool - 5 Days of Homeschool Questions
Amy @ the WRITE Balance - Year-Round Schooling
Annette @ A Net in Time - Homeschooling.
Betty @ Lets Get Real - Homeschooling High School
Cassandra @ My Blessed Mess - Eclectic Homeschooling Don't forget to check out the other posts linked up below!