Today I will be printing off new material for three of my kiddos 🙂 Here’s the rundown on how this occurred…
This past week my kiddos admitted they overheard conversations of other adults saying they need to get back into public school. So two of them decided they wanted to return to school. Not because they really wanted to, but because they thought other people’s opinions mattered. They thought longer hours of education would help them catch up and close the gap at where they’re supposed to be at. Instead of taking the time to master the material at their pace and understanding.
So we’ve been discussing this all week and not just with the two that thought this. I have also discovered that another kiddo along with the other two would like to move up a level because it was becoming too easy. I don’t have a problem with it at all. That’s the whole point of homeschooling! To meet the kiddos where they’re at and encourage them to learn more and set them up for their career and life.
I’m so glad my kiddos can come to me and express their opinions and open discussions. So thanks for giving my kiddos the initiative to approach me with the conversation so we can level up and continue to move forward with our homeschool journey and life.
Progress is progress no matter what form it takes or how they get there. That’s all I want for these boys. Did I learn a few things today after our family discussion? Sure did! Do I think they are prepared? No… Not because I didn’t do my job, but simply the system failed them and their mother constantly changing schools and not wanting to send them to school didn’t help matters.
Before we pulled the kiddos from public school they were already at a disadvantage. My 13 year old was already a year behind(with needing speech class and separate help in math) and due to the accident which has caused some severe memory issues (which we are still working on) has pushed him even further behind. My 12 year old on the other hand was behind from teachers not wanting to take the time to offer help and only wanting to dish out repeat work so they didn’t have to deal with him. He also needed speech classes and extra help in math and reading.
While it was all good that the public school was offering help it took forever to get and yet didn’t put any effort into it. With the exception of the Special Ed math teacher actually trying, the Special Ed reading teacher and speech teacher were either bored with or almost threatening in their tone when talking to them. I have nothing against public schools. I myself went to catholic school and public schools plus nearly homeschooled for all of last year of highschool. I even went to college!
Regardless, these kiddos are making progress! My 13 year old, when we started had just barely completed 5th grade and just starting 6th grade. Yet when handed 6th grade work, he couldn’t master it above a 3rd grade level. It has taken nearly 3 years to get him to be able to now do 6th grade level language arts and soon to be 5th grade level math. My 12 year old, when we started just completed 3rd grade and starting 4th grade. Though he was only performing on a kindergarten to 1st grade level. He is able to now complete on his own language arts and math material at a 3rd grade level. My 10 and 9 year olds are the only ones that are on level with the exception of still having difficulty reading, but they are getting better.
Anyways, the 13 and 12 year olds would like more advanced work now. So starting next week, I will be giving them more of their supposed grade level material. Just to give them a taste. I can only hope this doesn’t dampen their progress or spirit when they discover how difficult it will be.
Lawd, I’ve been dragging my feet in getting ready for this coming homeschool year. I’m fully ready now! I’ve made lots of switches trying to find things that will enrich and brighten these kiddos minds and encourage their curiosity of learning.
Our main curriculum we will be using BYL(Build Your Library) for literature, geography, science, poetry, music, art and writing. For language arts we will be using Grammar Galaxy. Also I will be combining TL(Torchlight) with BYL to expand on their writing, spelling and vocabulary. Math we will be using TGTB(The Good and The Beautiful) and alternate with WM(Wild Math) which is an outdoor based curriculum. Now for history we will continue with History Quest. We also have Fun-Schooling Journals for extra language arts, math, life skills and cooking to help break up the monotony of school. Which I believe played a part last homeschool year as to why it was so bad. Thankfully we can put that behind us and learn from it.
Super excited to dive into this year’s curriculum! To start out we are going to be learning about the world around us which has such amazing books. I can’t wait for them to arrive 😁 Anyways this will give us a good start with BYL before dive further in to different levels of BYL with a combination of TL in a few months. So I will post more as books arrive 😃 Unfortunately I need to get my butt in gear and start printing the rest 🤣
I’ve been debating on how to approach this topic… It can be a touchy subject for some. This is our full scoop on a few various learning methods we have gone through.
We have tried virtual learning through the school the first few months after schools were reopened during the pandemic that they were attending at the time. I have to say that I was completely disappointed with the program and the teachers.
The program they used was Schoology and it was either glitching or not loading work once the kids completed. The teachers were a completely different matter. The teachers wanted no distractions and siblings to be quiet. Distractions I understand… Siblings not so much since they all attended the same school they also had work to complete. Not to mention they were 11, 10, 7 and 5 plus they had never used a computer before so I had to be there. The zoom class was a joke, especially when they schedule multiple grades in the same hour. So I would have to chose which child got to zoom with their teacher so the other zoom meetings wouldn’t over talk the others. Not to mention there was a teacher or two that wouldn’t post work until the day of or forget all together to even post it. Then the teachers would email and complain that the work is not being finished. I wonder why?
The final straw to say the least was when I overheard the second oldest’s special education teacher for reading tell him, “that you know this and you wouldn’t be acting like this if you were here.” Now if you know this child, you know he hates cameras, videos and anything that puts him in the spotlight because it sends his anxiety through the roof. What the heck do I know?! I just raise them and live with them. So that was the end of their public schooling via virtual learning or brick and mortar learning experience.
When we finally switched over to homeschooling. I initially started after deschooling for a few months… We did school, but it was literally just the core subjects and nothing to heavy to ease them into the homeschooling process. Then I began to try different methods. Worksheets, unit studies, researching any topic one of them wanted for the week, read alouds and so on. Things were going great, but I thought they were getting enough and falling further behind than what public school had already put a few of them.
So what did I do… I tried to recreate school and teach them traditionally. Boy, after six months of it the kiddos and I were completely burnt out. It was a complete failure that taught me so much. Change my style of teaching and got new curriculum. Since then there has been little to no complaints and hardly any struggles to get through daily lessons.
You got to be flexible! I can’t stress that enough. If it doesn’t work take it out and try something else. Add games, movies, YouTube videos, field trips and so on to cut the mundane out of lessons. I can say without a doubt I wouldn’t change the way we school now.
Curriculum nightmare! Have you ever looked at how much curriculum is out there? It’s even harder to sift through to find a secular curriculum.
Thought I had everything figured out 😂 Wrong! Have to make a few changes since certain curriculum doesn’t coincide with the main curriculum I will be teaching 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ Certain curriculum picks were either to advanced or I had already covered it this year. So it’s been back to the drawing board 😩
I’m still sticking with BYL(Build Your Library) and some Fun-schooling Journals (some additional outdoor and extra curricular curriculum). I’m not going to do the TGTB(The Good and The Beautiful) for math or language arts (at least not right now) 😩 What I will be doing is adding TL(Torchlight) and Beowulf Grammar (not completely sure on the Beowulf Grammar or use something else) to expand on their language arts for spelling and grammar. So far I’m excited with my picks and so are the kiddos!
As for math, I’m still planning on getting WM(Wild Math) for their outdoor curriculum. Then the kiddos told me they would like to continue with EP Math(Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool) 🙄 I on the other hand, is thinking of using IXL Math for when the weather is not cooperating. So I’m undecided there so far 🤷🏻♀️😅
Scooter, step-mom asked is if my teacher brain ever stops for a moment 🤣 Apparently it’s a side effect of homeschooling that my brain doesn’t shut down so.
Got the main curriculum for the boys bought, which is BYL for Reading, History (History Quest), and Science (R.E.A.L. Science), plus downloaded PDFs of TGTB for Language Arts and Math( which I’m still not sure if I will keep if doesn’t work with everything else), finally a few Fun-schooling Journals extra curricular subjects for the next school year!
Still need to get WM for outdoor math curriculum. Need to get some books, regular school supplies, might see about getting a projector 🤔
It’s a life long process that doesn’t end just because schooling does. Knowledge is found everywhere and it is your choice to learn or remain ignorant. Hopefully with luck, I can instill the love of learning for these kiddos, so they will continue to grasp and choose to expand their learning capabilities long after their schooling years are complete.
As I sit here and write this I’m nervous/excited to get started. I’m hoping with new curriculum we can fill in the gaps that they so desperately need and move on. Wish me luck…
Not only do I gain precious moments teaching my four rambunctious nephews. I also encourage their growth and progress as they learn. Praise their triumphs and get to spend one on one quality time working with whatever their struggling with.
Homeschool Aunt Chaos 