Tips for Using My Fathers World Part 2

Tips for using My Fathers World Curriculum- Video

Seven Days of Homeschooling Seven: Why a School Room?

In the beginning of our homeschool journey I wanted my house to be a home and our school to be at the kitchen table. I kept a small shelf or cabnet with our supplies and we just cleaned up each day. Over the years the bins of books for each student, teachers manuels, supplies, maps, computers, printers, CD players, co-op materials and so forth took over. The kids needed space to spread out.

We tried using the couch and floor but I found productivity went way down for us. And I didnt want little TV Trays all over the house. Then the Lord blessed us with a larger Parsonage with a basement large enough and brightly lit enough to have a real  school room! Then I located some school desks for $2.50! So now our school room has a large Mom Meeting table, computer desk and seven little desks and everyone is happy!
Inside the kids desks they have pencils, their weekly binders and some textbooks. They also keep drawings and projects. On top we've taped some number and letter strips for those who need them still. On the wall we have our whiteboard and maps. We have shelves for the numerous books we have accumulated over time. And a large sofa for spreading out with a good book or watching your Math DVD. We love the space and Mom loves to leave "work" when she clocks out for the day.

Seven Days of Homeschooling Seven: Have a Plan and Stick to the Plan

When we first began homeschooling 8 years ago I had only 3 children and used a traditional textbook/workbook style where planning was very simple. My curriculum company sent me homeschool lesson plans and nice little work books that were simply do the next page.  I just did a number of pages in each workbook and read a number of pages in each "spine". I picked this curriculum because it was what was reccomended to me by my daughters preschool. It seemed solid and simple enough. But it was extremely boring!

The second year of homeschooling I played around with different types of homeschooling. The textbook model was boring and I wanted to have FUN with my daughter, so we experimented with Charlotte Mason ideas (for
those of you who dont know, its all about short lessons and great books mostly) using Ambleside Online, Five in a Row, Sonlight, Simply Charlotte Mason and eventually just free styled using "good books" and reading a lot. While this was nice and a great bonding time in our homeschool it often left me lazy not getting much done, making excuses for not "having
school" on any given day for any given reason and The Husband was seriously doubting our decision. Not that these curricula had anything to do with that. It was more me finding myself as a teacher.

By our third year of homeschooling I added in a second student and a philosophy that went beyond the textbook model. After much prayer I  felt that just reading "good books" with no plan of action wasnt going to help me keep consistent in our homeschooling or have any type of order. How would I be sure everything was covered? How would the younger kids get what they needed? After much research I felt drawn to the 4 year history cycle and decided that I needed a curriculum that would guide my way and offer some consistency. I also needed something that combined students and was developed by someone who knew more about education than me. I bought Adventures in My Fathers world for my then 3rd grade daughter and 1st grade son. That was the year we started with Math U See as well. It was great! I had direction and a plan! The Husband was very pleased because he began to see consistency in our homeschool.

In our 4th year I added another student to the mix and began to get very overwhelmed. I learned that the look say way of teaching reading didnt produce the best spellers so I choose to use My Fathers World Kindergarten along side Exploring Countries and Cultures, and I cried! These two hefty manuels, boxes of books, homeschool laws and thr
ee little futures were looming over my head! How was I going to do this crazy homeschool thing? Was I nuts?

So I made an excel spreadsheet. It sounds hilarious now, spreadsheet? What? But no really. I made a "plan". I started to map out each student and each subject and what our next year would look like. This was great because I could see what was working, what wasnt and how much I was projected to spend the following school year. I could also see what I needed for each student coming along. Now 5 years later Im using that same file changing it as I go.

I've learned to change how I teach the same book to each child instead of buying a new thing for each one. My oldest two children got tailored curriculum for them because I just bought something new each year. My youngest 5 will get tailored curriculum for them because I just change the way I teach them till I find a way that works for them. No more buying the latest and greatest item out there, unless something truly isnt working for us and so far the only thing thats gotten any change has been our spelling and Im very happy with what we are using now.

I've also learned how to tweak My Fathers World to work for us and how to combine the different programs. I've never used every single part of a My Fathers World year in one year. I've used it all but in different ways each year. My Fathers World is just a skeleton for our school. 

Having a good solid plan helps me see where Im going and where I've been. It simplifies things for me. I have a good list and no question as to what I need for the upcoming year. I know what I will need to spend and therefor how much to save and Im not wasting money trying new things just to go back to the old. I know my curriculum well, so I know what to expect and its easier to teach the younger kids and then Im only learning new things for my oldest. Having a plan also makes homeschooling cheaper for us as we reuse curriculum and teachers guides for future students. 

Seven Days of Homeschooling Seven: Creating a Rhythm to Your Homeschool

 Its been such a wonderful blessing to have our years planned out for us with such a strong biblical foundation with My Fathers World curriculum. When we first began this curriculum I scoured the internet for other M.O.M.Y.S.(Mothers of Many Young Siblings aka Moms with Kids close in age) using My Fathers World. And while there are quite a few of us out there we tend to be too busy to blog about it. The one thing I love about My Fathers World is that it combines all of my children in 2nd through 8th grade in one nice package! But when I first looked at the Exploring Countries and Cultures grid I cried! It just felt like so "much" and I still had to teach each of the children individually in Math, Spelling, and English not to mention little ones on down the line in Phonics!  Often times I felt overwhelmed and behind, like a chicken with its head cut off running from desk to desk trying to meet everyone's needs. The more I asked around and searched the web I began to find some really great scheduling tips to make the homeschool year have a nice rhythm and the longer I homeschooled them the more natural it came to add one or two students each year. Its never been EASY just became natural over time. I'll save you the time and searching by listing some of the tips and ideas for giving your homeschool some rhythm.

This is a shot of my "schedule" made with Post-its so it can easily be changed when something doesnt work for us

1. Use your current routine as a guide. Most families by the time they begin homeschooling have some regular flow to their day, for us that would be breakfast at 8, lunch at 12, with nap immediately following, Dinner at 6, bed and bath at 8. A wise lady on a forum for Mothers of Many shared that she scheduled her school around these type of time posts and we latched on to that idea. Every school day we read our Bible and have Breakfast. At lunch we read our History and Science. At naptime we have Art, Music and Read Alouds. Between breakfast and Lunch we have our individual studies and between lunch and dinner we have chores and play time. Pretty simple! But remember as your children grow and change so can your routine.

2. Keep small idle hands busy! Small people who are not occupied with school work will get into a ton of mischief. Like the time a 4 year old let the 2 year old out of the house because "he wanted to play outside" in the cold winter and he was only wearing a DIAPER!. Things get broken, written on and strewn all over the house when Mom is occupied teaching the older ones. So keep them busy. Schedule their day by rotating activities. In our home that means little ones watch a preschool show after breakfast then come down stairs to play with some Laurie Puzzles or color quietly. Then just before lunch they can play in their rooms quietly. I just keep them rotated and a timer set to remind me to check in with them every 30 min or so. This is not a rigid schedule for them, just a natural flow from one activity to another. The timer is there for me so that I dont get wrapped up in what Im doing and forget to check in. Just teach them to stay quiet while you are having school.

3. Naptime or Reading Hour. Never ever give up naptime! Everyone needs a break from the 1 year old to the Mama! So if your not sleeping your in your designated spot reading or staring at the ceiling. :) Its just a time to relax and kick up your feet. We begin Reading hour after our Lunch and Read Aloud session,  clean up and Music, Art, Science time.  

4. Mom Meetings! Every day I meet with each of the children for a Mom meeting. For my oldest its pretty short, just enough time for her to turn in assignments for me to grade and get her assignments for that day. Mostly a check in and Q and A time. Then I move on to each of the younger 4 in school spending 15-30 minutes with each one as they need help and instruction. My Kindie and 1st grader get a bit more time as they are still in the need-mom-next-to-me stage. My 3rd grade son still likes to show me each assignment as he finishes it. I usually briefly glance but do not "grade" it till our next Mom Meeting. I even have a Mom Meeting for each of the littlest ones. For the 1 year old who still takes morning naps thats a song and rocking before his nap. Then the 3 year old gets a preschool workpage and some letter/color/shape review.

5. Student assignment books. Each of my oldest three have a student planner where we write out their assignments for that day (during Mom Meeting). These are priceless as they KNOW what is expected and I REMEMBER to check what they have done the day before. We also write in when Co-op, birthdays or planned school breaks hit as they like to be kept up to date. 

6. Bells and Whistles! I have an alarm on my phone that reminds me of important times through out the day. It rings at 6:33 a.m. when I need to get up and Matthew 6:33. It rings at 8:00 a.m. for Bible and Breakfast. It rings again at 11:30 a.m. when I need to come upstairs, wake the baby, check on the littlest guys and start our lunch. It rings one more time at 3:00 when everyone needs to get up from naptime and begin our afternoon chores. I also have an alarm preset for 20 min before Wednesday and Sunday Night church so I remember to begin to round up the troops and get out the door.

7. Light and easy Fridays! Usually we have school 4 days a week using Friday as an unscheduled light and easy day. On Friday we will do our Mom meetings only using the rest of the day for our Homeschool Co-op, Grocery Shopping, or play days. Sometimes we have school on Friday because another day needed to be light and easy for a doctor appointment that couldnt wait or other event that couldnt wait till friday and thats fine as well. Our schedule is set up in such a way that we accomplish a full weeks worth of work in 4 days and those 3 day weekends are awesome!

8. Be Consistent. The hardest lesson I had to learn was about consistency in homeschool. My first years I would base weather or not we had school that day based on how much I was up with the baby the night before or how pretty the weather was outside. And while that was a nice, laid back approach to homeschool it didnt equal much curriculum being covered or offer much confidence on the part of The Husband. When we did have a full school day it was often met with groaning. One day I just woke up to the fact that much like eating and sleeping, school was a necessary evil and in order for us to succeed we were going to have to be consistent. Homeschooling is my job and I clock in every day Monday through Thursday at 8 a.m. and clock out at 2 p.m.  Once we began to look at school this way the groaning went away and I find less excuses to "not have school today". 

Seven Days of Homeschool Seven: What?

           For the past 5 years we've been using My Fathers World for our home school curriculum. We really love how simple it is to use, very open and go. We also enjoy that it makes lessons easier for me as all my students 2nd - 8th grade are grouped together for History, Science, Art, Music, and Bible. The elements of Charlotte Mason that we find important are also included: short lessons, copy work, and great books. As well as the elements of Classical that we find important: care for the stages of learning (logic, rhetoric, ect), a 4 year history cycle (MFW included a 1 year geography making the program 5 year), latin/greek, and great books!  Cant say enough about My Fathers World. :)

History, Science, Music, Art and Bible (aka "Together Studies"):
This year we are journeying through Explorers to 1850 in our together studies.

 

We have added a new student this year, Lily is doing My Fathers World Kindergarten this year.

And 

 

And Jadon is using My Fathers World First Grade.

 

Math:

All of the children use Math U See for Math. We will be using Pre-Algebra, Epsilon, Gamma, Alpha and Primer this school year.

 

Grammar:
We use a workbook form of Primary Language Lessons for grades 2-3 and Intermediate Language Lessons for grades 4-6. In 7th grade My Fathers World recommends All in One English so that is what we chose for this year.

Writing:
We use a program called Writing Strands, also recommended by My Fathers World. We start with book 2 in third grade and work our way through the series. Its a great program, mostly independent and fun. 

Handwriting:
For handwriting we like  A Reason for Handwriting. Handwriting is not recommended by My Fathers World but we add it for practice. Natalie is not using any handwriting for the first time this year in 7th grade!

Spelling:
We are trying the Sequential Spelling DVD  this year for spelling.

Reading:
We use the Book Basket list for readers as well as 1000 Good Books reading list, Sonlight Reading List and McGuffys Readers. I tend to do a hodge podge based on the children's needs at the time. Natalie is using  Progeny Press Study guides as well for her literature.

I hope you will continue to join me for this series: Seven Days of Homeschooling Seven. Where I will share:

-Who we are homschooling?

-What curriculum we are using?

-When do we homeschool?

-Why do we homeschool?

-Where do we homeschool?

-How we do we homeschool?

-Our favorite  homeschool helpers.

Seven Days of Homeschooling Seven: Who?

Most of our school years are well under way. The dust has settled, routines are becoming comfortable and some of the kinks are beginning to need some working out. This is the time of year that I begin to re-evaluate and look to other blogs and pintrest for inspiration to revive my homeschool year. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for a good old homeschooling series! Being that this blog is new I thought I'd introduce my school! We have seven children, five of which I am formally homeschooling.

Rainbow Dash

age 12

7th Grade

Favorite Subject: Reading and Art

Batman

Age 10

grade 5

Favorite Subject: Math and Science

Robin

Age 8

Grade 3

Favorite Subject: Handwriting

Super Man

Age 6

Grade 1

Favorite Subject:  Science

Pinky Pie

Age 4

Grade K

Favorite Subject: School!

Iron Man

Age 3

Spiderman

Age 1

Teacher and Principle

Exploration to 1850 Weeks 3-12

I had every intention of adding to this blog weekly about our school adventures. The last 10 weeks have been a whirlwind....

We went to Pioneer Days and learned about Indians, the Civil War and life 100 years ago.

We had Holy Spirit Week with a Mustache Day..

 Lily and Jadon went to a Dairy Farm..

 We found the Perfect Spelling Curriculum..

We learned to work Independently a little bit more. :)

We started Kindergarten

We made apple pie, moon cake and had a restaurant. We also played colonial games in our yard.

We started a Preschool Binder.

We had our principle come to read us his favorite story!

We took some "class" photo's.

Whew! This year has been more of a challenge than I thought!