Gatherings

Yesterday, on February 1rst, it immediately occurred to me that I had survived homeschooling in January!! It can really be the hardest month in the homeschool year.

Before I even realized it, I was already getting back in the groove and accelerating our days. I have a little method I use:

September-October: Get the cobwebs out of everyone’s mind from summer and get everybody working up to grade level. Review where needed and get everyone where they need to be.

November-January: Set the speed on cruise and try to maintain and not lose ground. Focus on keeping everyone on a schedule that completes our school year on time. Try to maintain a balance between enjoying the holidays and keeping our eye on our goals.

February-May: Start pulling everyone up to the next level so that by May they are technically functioning on the next grade level. This is the time of the year the kids are going to feel like I am pushing them because I am!! I am requiring more independence and harder work at this time of the year.

Here are some little tips I have learned over the years:

~Be a team in every way. The kids have to help me maintain the house. They have chores every day. At 16, 13 and 11 years old they could run this house if they had to. We could not do the things we do without them. They are a valuable part of this family and without each of them we could not function nearly as well. The blessing is, they will know how to maintain their own homes someday.

~Keep short accounts, correcting work daily and do not let them practice doing things wrong. I have learned this the hard way. If you go awhile not correcting, they can easily set up bad habits especially in subjects like Math and Foreign Language. There are times where I sit with them while they work. They do one problem, give me the answer, I verify if it is right or help if it is wrong and they go to the next problem. This helps them get on track and also gives confidence that they know what they are doing. Independence is good, but good habits are better. Success breeds success, failure breeds failure. Try to set them up for success.

~I actually stay at the table or close to it while homeschooling is happening. Even if they are independent in areas I am available to them and provide a very high level of accountability. Basically from 7:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. I do little else.

~Keep to a schedule. There are less arguments this way! If they know when they start and what is expected they work much better. If I fly by the seat of my pants they don’t know when the work will end. I have struggled in this area this year. I start at the same time every day but have been struggling to give them their list of work ahead of time.

~They are allowed to get ahead in their studies, but they are not allowed to get behind! By working ahead, they can earn time off.

~Having said that, discern when the brain needs a break. Sometimes we just need to chuck the books and do something fun or at least different! Also a well timed break gives the brain a chance to process.

~Make the curriculum your slave. Do not be a slave to curriculum, no matter how good it is. Use it, don’t let it use you. Change it where you need to, ditch it if you have to!

~Keep your eyes on the prize. I want my kids to go to Heaven. The rest is gravy. Bible and prayer come first, in life and in our homeschool day! Then, they need to know how to think, how to learn, and how to research. This is way more important than memorizing facts.

Yes, it is February!! We DID it!! =)