Set up a Schedule

After selecting a program and ordering textbooks, it’s time to set up a schedule.  Be flexible.  Be consistent and start early!  The first priority is to start classes by 9:00 am.  Morning hours are the most productive time of day.  Right now, we are walking, bike riding, and playing basketball an hour after breakfast because of the heat.  Normally, we work for 9:00 am to 12:30, break for lunch, and spend an hour after lunch biking and walking.  

With the heat, we return around 10:00 am and read for 30 minutes to recover from the heat outside.  We break at 12:30 and resume studies after lunch.  During the summer, classes are about 3 1/2 hours each day.  We maintain a schedule after formal studies conclude, too.  After lunch, we usually have a science lab or project.  Each day, Paul, 10, has 30 minutes of guitar, 10 minutes of typing, and thirty minutes programming.  We try to add 20 minutes of art, too.  Paul is making Christmas projects, largely photos and custom art.  This schedule allows plenty of time to play board games, shoot nerf guns in the basement, or text his uncle, Fr. Josh.  

It is going to be a shock stetting a schedule.  Start now!  Begin with class from 9-noon.  Add a reading block after lunch or extended recess.  Plan a few hands-on projects for the afternoon.  I’ll post a few ideas for projects in the next post.  Don’t wait.  Get your household back on track with a schedule.

Read the classics!

Did you know many private schools assign summer reading? (Here is an example.). I don’t want to knock summer library programs.  Many kids enjoy the challenges and earning prizes.  Instead, I propose reading a list of classics.    Paul, just 10, has read Hatchet, A Wrinkle in Time, and The Great Brain Series.  Here, here, and here are lists with classics.  Do a search of free Kindle classics: Tom Sawyer, The Jungle Book, Treasure Island, Little Women, The Secret Garden, Little House Series, The Box-Car Children, Robin Hood, Five Little Peppers, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan.  The list goes on!  Start by reading The Great Brain series.  They are hard to put down!  Read one of your childhood favorites together, such as A Little Princess.  Many of these are available digitally from your library.  Get going!

How to study!

I did not learn how to study until college.  My kids learned in elementary school.  We are teaching Paul how to study.  The means vary with each subject.  Right now, Paul is memorizing 50 elements from the Periodic Table.  How?  First he wrote ten elements several times and I quizzed him.  We add five more elements each day.  If he misses any, we pause and learn those before continuing.  In History, Paul uses Sea to Shining Sea.  He reads the textbook and works through the study guide.  At the end of the chapter, he answers the review questions, and quizzes.  Then he prepares a study guide: key persons, important events, discoveries, etc, using the textbook, workbook, and quizzes.  Then we test.  Our goal is to develop study skills.  Writing out material helps make connections.  It’s a process.

Wait! Which books are,good? Why can’t I find one Reading book? How do I teach grammar?

One solution to home-schooling is to enroll in an accredited online program, such as Kolbe.  What if your budget is tight?  Jobs are uncertain.  One parent may be furloughed.  I can understand why you want to try to go it alone.  In elementary school, stick with the basics: Math, English, History, and Science.  You can always add subjects. I am going to recommend textbooks that are widely used.  Why?  There are many used copies available, making them cheaper.   Let’s start with Math.  Saxon Math is the gold standard.  You need both the textbook and solution manual.   Get the same edition.  The math content has NOT changed significantly.  Buy the cheapest set you can find. 

 The best elementary science science series I have used is the Young Explorers Exploring Creation.  Try to buy the textbook and journal.  You may want to buy a lot of textbooks to save if you have two or three elementary aged children.  The notebooking journals have a syllabus, vocabulary crosswords, and review questions.  They are nice to use—but pricy.  

In History, I use textbooks from the Catholic Textbook Project.  Even used copies are expensive and difficult to find.  However, Bob Jones Heritage Studies are fine and widely available used.  You will need the textbook, teacher’s manual, and student workbook for either series.  

I find English to be challenging.  I want literature, grammar, vocabulary, and composition—not a piecemeal set of exercises.  I like a basal reader.  I finally decided to use Houghton Mifflin Anthology Reading books and practice books from 2004.  Here and here are examples.  Supplement with Classics and have your child write book reports.  We use Zane-Bloser handwriting, Sadlier Workshop, and Easy Grammar—with lessons on how to diagram sentences.  

You may want to add Geography, Latin, Art , and Music.  Fine.  Be sure you have the core.  How do you teach it?  Do a page or story each day until you finish.  Planning sorted.

Still refining our homeschool program.

We are working on the homeschool program for Paul, ten.  He is a rising fifth grader.  Here is the link with our current program.  We just added English Anthology and are adding Warriner’s English and composition.  Why?  We do not have enough composition in our curriculum.  Our focus is on the basics: Math, Science, English, and History.  English includes reading, grammar, vocabulary, grammar, handwriting, and composition.  We have some sort of reading and handwriting everyday.  We will start staggering grammar, vocabulary, and composition.  Sound rigorous?  Look at he curricular for private and online academic schools.  

Want more science? Grow a garden!

Are you stuck for summer ideas?  Have you considered a container garden?  Our little household is under strict quarantine.  We have been growing loads of vegetable and flower plants from seed.  Nope, it’s not too late.  We are trying all sorts of containers: plant pots, shopping bags, and a felt grow bag.  You can, too! Here is a link showing how to use IKEA shopping bags.  If you want your experiment to be scientific, use the same amount of soil, water, and number of seeds in each bag.  So, how does your garden grow?  Here is a pix of ours.  Yes, the shopping bags are from Aldi.

Start used book shopping now!

It looks as though many people are home-schooling this fall.  Don’t hesitate!  Prices are rising on eBay and Amazon.  Competition is increasing, too.  I have had two recent purchases canceled because the order was double-booked, someone else placed the order for the same textbook almost at the same time.  This is especially true of books priced well at Abebooks.  Apologia has a 25% discount on their books now.  Finalize your plans and start ordering!