Are you set up for success this fall?

 While some home-school families teach year-round, many restart in September.  Our Co-op resumes right after Labor Day.  What can you do to set yourself up for success?

1.  Have you ordered all of your course materials?  If you are a member of an online school, such as BJU or Kolbe you should have your syllabi.  Have you shopped for the textbooks and solutions guides?  Do you have the contact information for the advisors?  

2.  Do you have enough supplies?  The back to school sales are over.  Walmart has some fabulous clearance items.  Buy lined paper, composition notebooks, binders, crayons, pencils, markers, etc—any consumable.  How do you plan to organize supplies?  I like giant yogurt cups and bins.  Just be sure your kiddos can assess and return supplies.  We use our pantry more for supplies than food.  Yes, this isn’t practical for a large family.  However, you might keep shelves in the dining room dedicated to supplies.

3.  How are you recording grades?  I use Google Classroom.  When I home-schooled Lacie and Paul, I kept a separate class for each subject.  Additionally, we kept work samples, tests, etc sorted in a slide deck to submit to Kolbe each quarter, for Paul, and each semester for Lacie.  Now, I am teaching Co-op classes.  All the kiddos are recorded into one Classroom.  How do you plan to maintain records?  I recommend posting work samples, graded tests, writing samples weekly.  You can always edit submissions.  Get your kiddo in the habit of taking and recording pix.  Make it a chore.  

4.  What is your schedule?  With Lacie we tackled every subject every day.  With Paul, things were different.  For example, he did a week’s work of Geography on Mondays.  We used Sadlier’s Vocabulary Workshop exercises twice a week.  Fridays, we did labs.  Paul did core classes, such as math, history, and science daily.  Paul’s fifth grade course from Kolbe had so many different books we attacked each one once or twice a week.  He did read after lunch every day.  Lacie bunkered in the basement and just did her work.

5. Are you planning to join a Co-op.  If so, you’ll need to adjust your weekly schedule.  Your kiddos may need to work all morning, four days a week, in order to attend Co-op, too, especially if Co-op is largely field trips and fun.  If Co-op is academic, you may not have long mornings the rest of the week.  Co-op might cover math or science.  

6.  Have you planned your daily schedule?  What time are you going to get started?  We liked to start right after breakfast and chores, at about 08:30.  We had a brief break mid-morning.  After lunch and a long walk, there was reading.  How are you going to maintain a schedule?  What about bed times?  Kiddos thrive with a little discipline.

7.  What about extras?  Will they join youth group?  Play soccer?  Run?  Shadow a veterinarian?  Join Civil Air Patrol?  Play an instrument?  Act in theatre?  Learn to debate? Take art classes?   Be sure to document extracurricular activities as electives.  Keep photos, dates, number of lessons, etc in a slide deck, as part of a digital portfolio.

Now is the time to set up your schedule, order supplies, and figure out a plan which works for your family!  Get on it!

A little more heresy!

Mainly I teach science classes for the local Co-op.  However, long, long ago I taught an English class at a private school.  It went fine. It’s one of those Co-op classes families like to delegate.  I teach a few literature or composition classes.  Now for a little heresy! When I teach a composition class, it’s not traditional.  Usually, these classes are all five paragraph essays.  Instead, I think a Comp class should be literal.  I view any form of writing as composition.  My teens write letters.  We wrote thank-you letters to the military police at the AFB in Columbus and Kadena, where my son was assigned. We sent a care package along with letters thanking them for their service.  

What else do we do? We met once a week and did enormous amount of writing.  The class wrote emails, lab reports, and stories.  I taught the kiddos how to write grants.  They created lessons for religious education.  Sure, we read books and wrote essays.  However, the essays often compared the book to the movie.  We did some grammar.  The kids edited with Editor in Chief exercises. (We spent a great deal of time editing all submissions—even letters.)  We made it a game to see who can find all of the errors.  The teens learned how to diagram sentences.  I use Picture Writing exercises and grab and go activities.  Essentially, Comp included any form of writing I could imagine. My teens wrote their own college  recommendation letters.  I explained that high-schoolers should ‘ghost’ these letters for teachers.  Teachers are busy.  Draft a recommendation letter the teacher can edit. BTW teachers seldom do.  I wrote many ‘ghost’ letters when I wrote grants.  

Do the same thing! Label anything related to writing as a separate subject, Composition. You might want to maintain a notebook marked ‘Composition’.  Read a newspaper article and review it.  Give it 0-5.  Write thank-you letters, use Picture Prompts, and create a resume. Would your family like to start a blog?  What about the Christmas letter?  Create posts.   Make the lab report for science part of Comp; it’s technical writing. Change a text message into a paragraph.  Read a book, watch the movie, and use a template to make the comparison.  Teens should have a  Warriner’s, a MLA handbook, and a thesaurus available.  Be sure, your children understand how to write a Five Paragraph Essay. Be sure to practice for a college application essay with writing prompts.  I just think any writing, editing, formatting, etc should be part of Comp. 

British Museum

 My husband and I are visiting family in England and Wales.  We ducked down to London for a few days and visited the British Museum.  Guess what?  They have a host of videos on their YouTube Channel for children and on this British Museum YouTube Channel.  The museum has virtual tours and Museum Activity Trails, or guides to use with the virtual tours.  The Natural History Museum in London has Learning Resources, Discover Natural History, Museum Stories, and News.  Victoria and Albert has a link, Young V&A, with resources.  You do have to sift!  As always so many resources are all doom and gloom, Climate Change, or some activist’s position. Booo!  Browse museums in London here for more ideas and resources.  Use the list for names of museums and then Google their website to evaluate their resources. 

How much time per day should you home-school? How is it possible when formal school runs for seven hours a day, five days a week?

 Are you a new home-schooler?  Often newbies try to replicate a seven-hour school day!  They are operating under the premise that a standard school day requires seven full hours of instruction.  In another life I taught professionally—mainly at the high school level.  Now I teach high school subjects for the local Co-op twice a week.  How much time do you need? Very young children might only work for an hour and a half. Younger children, 9-12, can complete their lessons in two to three hours, especially if they work five days a week.  Teens may need three or four hours.  Families often have a reading hour after lunch.  (Yes, listening to a fun audio book counts!)  Families feel they must somehow be short-changing their children.  After all instruction doesn’t take all day.

Not all the class time in public or private schools is well spent.  It’s better in private schools with small classes.  Usually, there are fewer disruptions.  In a public school, there are many, many sources of lost instructional time.  The first week, teachers seldom teach much.  

The first few days are spent with homeroom for hours to allow time for all of the kids to complete forms. Teachers were expected to show these students their lockers and complete a host of forms.  Hours.  The first day, all of the teachers literally took each class outside to show them where their line was for a fire drill.  Teachers show students where their lockers are. I can’t make this up.  

Another huge loss of instruction is the review period.  I can’t tell you how many teachers persist in weeks and weeks of review of previously taught material before they begin teaching their core subject.  For example, students have learned metrics and conversions repeatedly.  Still, chem teachers spend weeks in review.  

 Another time loss is home-room or the announcement period, which can cut short the first class of the day.  At the high school level, there is five minutes of passing time between classes.  Teachers must take attendance for each class—which must be recorded into the computer, along with grades.  Many teachers use ‘bell-ringers’ to allow time to post attendance.  

Every month there is at least one fire drill.  There can be more!  There can be tornado and shooter drills, too.  Every drill means twenty to thirty minutes lost.  Additionally, there are field trips, assemblies, and pep rallies.  If a team goes to a championship, the entire school might go outside to cheer them on to the bus.  There are special announcements during the day and final announcements at the end of the day.  Time is spent on periodic homeroom meetings or clubs.  Don’t ask about Fridays or holidays.  Movie madness reigns the week or so before any break.  

What happens when there is a substitute teacher?  The teacher might leave an assignment.  However, it is much more likely the instructor left a movie to watch—preferably from his or her discipline.  I taught at a school where the televisions had been donated.  Students watched a mandatory program daily at lunch time.  During the first week of school, the science department broadcast the same safety film to watch every year.

Did I mention testing?  I don’t mean tests teachers assign; there are federal tests and state tests.  If the state requires a standardized test in May, teachers in that subject need to complete their regular instruction by April in order to review the year’s material for the May test.  After the test?  There is little instruction. Teens play games, chat, and watch films.  Few teachers continue instruction after the exams.  

When I taught professionally, I did everything possible to combat the loss of instructional time.  It was still significant.  Whenever a teen is disruptive in class, there is time lost.  Be aware that not every class in any school setting is academic.  There are art, music, library, band, gym, cooking, computer, marketing,  and language classes.  Yes, you can confine formal instruction to the morning when you home-school and still give your child an excellent education—free from many common interruptions.

 High school students may need more time for math and science, especially labs. Teens tend to take courses remotely, which require more time.  Often Co-ops meet once a week, from 9 AM to 2 PM with classes.  Our math and science Co-op classes meet form 90 minutes twice a week and have reading, homework, and tests outside of class.  Literature and History classes meets once a week for 90 minutes with outside work.  Home-school teens seldom require seven hours every day to complete their work because there are many, many fewer disruptions. 

History of Science Unit Study!

The History of Science is one way to combine two seemingly disparate subjects.  They aren’t!  History frequently influences science and vice versa.  My Chem students create Atomic Theory Timelines to add a little scientific history to Chemistry.  Here is a project guide. But I do want to add more history of science and famous scientists next year, when I teach General Science.  Grades 6-8 seem like the perfect time for some old-school research and biographies.

 Apologia’s General Science Module 1 has an introduction to the history of science.  Here and here are samples of module 1.  Both samples have study guide questions.  Use them with this study guide sample, which has a timeline to complete.  Module 1 is already a good unit study—especially with the questions and timeline.

Online are children’s books: Children’s Stories of The Great Scientists, Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Scientists, Stories of Great Inventors,   Stories of Great Scientists, and Famous Scientists. The next stop is the library.  Good Reads Picture Books Biographies of Scientists is a good place to start.  Be selective: Audubon, Mendel, or da Vinci.  

How can you turn stories into a unit study?  You can summarize biographies of three or four scientists with this Famous Scientist Project Worksheet or this simple flap book.   Famous Scientist ‘Wanted’ Poster looks fun.  Go old school and write a report.  Who was the scientist? When did he live?   What were his contributions to science?  What are some interesting facts about the scientist?  You can select one period of time and create timelines.  Let’s go deeper in science and add a bit of history.

Join a Co-op!

 Do you have a Co-op locally?  They vary widely.  Some groups just to field trips together.  Others are dedicated to science labs.  Parents might band together, meet in a church’s religious ed classrooms, and offer a variety of classes for kiddos K-8.  Families pay for insurance or rent the space.  Moms usually do the instruction according to their background or interests.  Our Co-op offers classes to the Middle School and High School students.  Classes vary.  This fall we’re offering Young Explorers Chemistry and Physics and Apologetics to the Middle School.  The high school classes include British Literature, Chemistry, and Personal Finance.  (Brit Lit meets Wednesdays.)  Our Co-op determines classes based on student need.  The greatest need is in math and science; however, we’ve offered composition and literature classes regularly, based on need.

Why should you join a Co-op?  Moms can answer your questions, especially about their experiences with different programs.  You’ll be amazed at the variety of curricula families use.  Some enroll in online schools and others don’t.  Your family will form friendships.  Most of all, Co-op can keep you accountable.  Seeing a family with eleven children manage to arrive at Co-op on time is pretty motivating. (This family’s children finish all of their work on time, too!  Moreover, when they need help, mom packs lunches and drops them off.  Rob and I support them however we can.  The children elevate any class we teach.) Trust me, you’ll up your game when you see the quality of work other families produce. (Alternatively, you might join another, less demanding  Co-op.  I’ve been told I require a lot of work.)  

If you are going it alone, consider a Co-op—even just for field trips or visits to the playground.  Yes, families with Littles meet to play and chat.  You need encouragement.  You need resources.  You need support!  Join a Co-op!

Here’s a little heresy.

 I don’t mean theological heresy—but, educational heresy.  I mainly teach science classes to Co-op.  However, I don’t mind teaching literature or composition classes, too. For the past three years, the Composition and Lit classes have had teens with learning differences.  Here’s the heresy; we read abridged books.  I even assigned four abridged books as summer reading: Frankenstein, Romeo and Juliet, A Tale of Two Cities, and Pride and Prejudice. I use Longman simplified books and Illustrated Classics books.

I let one student with dyslexia use Grammarly to write papers. She had so much trouble spelling, Grammarly was a life saver.  Fine.  Usually, my students use Google Docs and we edit.  If a kiddo struggles with reading and writing, he or she watches the movie before reading the book to get the gist of the plot.  One of my favorite assignments is to compare a book and the film.  Does the Lion King capture Hamlet?  Does West Side Story retell Romeo and Juliet?  A few years ago, I had two young women in Brit Lit.  Anna’s favorite novel was Pride and Prejudice.  Angel couldn’t stomach the novel; she read the version with zombies.  (We all agreed that the film version with zombies didn’t resemble Pride and Prejudice at all.). 

BTW I love classics.  I do enjoy teaching a traditional, literature curriculum.  But, sometimes the teens have learning differences.  I want them exposed to literature, too, as part of their overall education.  Sometimes, the slang in Huckleberry Finn or Old English in Shakespeare deters kiddos from reading classics.  I don’t hesitate to pull out an abridged copy of the novel.