The Schedule and How Our Day is Organized

On a typical day of school, after attending 8:30am Mass at our parish, we begin our day with prayer (Morning Offering and Ave Maria), songs (Good Morning Jesus and You're a Grand Ol' Flag), the Pledge of Allegiance and then the Saint of the day.

The children then work in their calendar binders followed by phonics, handwriting and reading.

 I generally work with Luke first and use the HWT blocks and chalk board to teach him a letter (then send him off to play) while William and Miriam work on their writing and phonics, coming to me for help as necessary.  I then listen to each child read a short story to me from our reading books and we have a short recess.

Our morning is extremely flexible and prone to interruptions from our toddler who on a good day just wanders around the classroom emptying crates and baskets and knocking down pencil cases.  On a bad day, well, at times there are multiple children in tears for various reasons.

  After everyone is refreshed from our recess and snack, we tackle math

 

and then proceed to Exercise (P.E.) Spanish/Latin, Religion, History/Science, Music, Story time, Nap time for Luke and Phonograms/Spelling for William and Miriam. Lunch and another recess are also inserted at some point before naptime but it varies depending on when we started school and how efficiently we have worked through the various subjects.

 Normally we wrap up our day before 2pm and have our afternoon free for a trip to the library or family project, errands or free playtime, walks or bike rides and chores.Once a week we may also spend the morning with friends on a field trip for some hands on learning in which case, I'll apply this to whichever subject area it fulfills and we'll have school before and after.

To help the kids know what to expect for the day and to help the older children work as independently as possible, I love the idea of Workboxes or at least the many adaptations I've read about on the blogosphere. Since my kids are all so young and we have a destructive toddler who likes to pull out things from bins, I had to come up with my own adaptation.

We used these nice little pictures on our schedule in past years but I was ready to give each of my children their own schedule and thought that it would be too much work to print out the little tabs times three, cut them out and laminate them so I made a schedule book for each of my kids.

 I found the mini photo albums at JoAnne's Fabric store (I also got some at the Dollar store around Mother's Day for our Holy Cards) - they are hard to find! I then just typed the name of each subject (4 subjects to a page in Word) and added a picture to help the kids know what to do during our school day. I then slipped the papers into the photo sleeve and it is easy for me to adjust their schedules as necessary for the next day without too much effort.

For subjects that alternate like Science and History, I just keep them in the same photo sleeve and extra activities that are weekly, like Library and Religious Education(CREDO), are kept in the back of the photo book until their appropriate day. The kids really like their schedule books and enjoy knowing what to do "next."

To keep things clear in my own mind, I have a block schedule and lesson plan sheet where I plan and keep track of what we've completed.  At the beginning of the year I made a year plan and planned out our four quarters and divided the subject material up that we need to complete this year so I can stay on track and to help me with my weekly plans.  I try to lesson plan ahead during the week as we complete work in class and make sure to finish my plans on Saturday or Sunday so our week goes smoothly.   I only plan 1 week in advance so that my plans are accurate since you never know what may come up :-)

Thomas turned 1 Today!

Happy Birthday to my little Thomas!  This little guy is eager to keep up with his siblings and like William and Miriam was walking  by 10 1/2 months old! (He's sporting a band-aid he earned today as a result of this hard-earned skill.)  He really enjoyed the balloons Grandma sent him and loved celebrating his special day with all his siblings and Aunt Jenny!

To celebrate Thomas' birthday we went to the Oneida Nation's big Apple Festival where he enjoyed the festivities.  We even got to see Rhia the Trick Horse perform.  It was fun to watch all of her tricks including praying, giving hugs, fetching a ball and water from a cooler, teaching the kids to dance and painting a picture!  The kids loved it.

We made two special cakes for Thomas' birthday both Gluten-free :-)  A smash cake for Thomas with no sugar added (not even in the frosting). 

And a flour-less chocolate cake for everyone else.  Which the kids helped decorate :-)  It had plenty of sugar.

Thomas really enjoyed his special day!

Our Basic Educational Philosophy/ Approach (The Why)

After deciding to home school, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the many, many options there are out there.  I found that Cathy Duffy's book 101 Top picks for Homeschooling Curriculum helpful because it describes the many styles of homeschooling, helps you identify what would best fit your family and then offers curriculum options.  The book was available at my library and I've checked it out each year as I plan curriculum best suits my children's needs.

In looking at all of the homeschooling options, I've found it helpful to be clear on the goals we have for the education of our children.  My desire for them, in a nutshell, is that they grow up to be well-formed, Catholic adults who love God, desire above all to embrace God's will for their lives(Vocation), are able to think for themselves, are able to discern and choose the Truth, love learning and ultimately desire to become saints. 

Because of my background and my desire for them, I prefer to use a classical education model since this has withstood the test of time and seems to me best suited to giving them a solid education.

The guides I have chosen for this education are "The Well Trained Mind" by Susan Wise Bauer and Laura Berquists' "Design your own Classical Curriculum."  I also insert Montessori and Charlotte Mason aspects often and use our own version of Sue Patrick's Workboxes to organize our day.

 

We love homeschooling because in the heart of our Domestic Church our children are free to encounter Christ, to be themselves, to have good friendships free of negative peer pressure and learn about the many good, true and beautiful aspects of God's creation and so find joy in learning. 

They have the freedom to blossom surrounded by love and encouragement. 

We have always been blessed with many friends who also desire this for their children and it is a beautiful gift for our children to have friends who also love and live their faith

Our family has felt called to embrace this beautiful lifestyle and we know the blessings and joys outweigh the struggles and daily trials of homeschooling.  I always try to keep our end goal and the many tangible fruits in mind when encountering the daily struggles of balancing the roles of wife, mother and teacher and the difficulties of little ones in a classroom or a child who struggles to master a skill or grasp a concept. It is a great gift to be able to witness my children's growth and those moments when the joy of learning shines through and I wouldn't change this for the world!
   
  

Our Homeschooling Adventure - The What, How and Why

Are you ready for an Adventure? Let's go, what are you waiting for?

Ever since my first post on our Homeschooling Adventure, I intended to give updates about our homeschool days. 

Many drafts have been begun, only to be left incomplete in the "to post" file until they were out-dated as things became busy.  Well, this time, I've planned and begun to write a whole series of posts on what we're studying, how our homeschooling is going and how we've organized our days.  I'll be posting them each week with pictures.

As each family prepares their "Homeschool" they put a lot of time and thought into choosing the education and curriculum that best fits their family's particular dynamics from the many options out there.  I think it's helpful to see what has worked for other families and so I hope my posts are helpful for you though every Homeschool will be a bit different . There are, of course, many wonderful blogs out there.  If you've stumbled across mine, hopefully it'll help you to see what it's like to step into a homeschooling family's day :-)

I'll be posting on the following topics on the dates listed below in parenthesis and linking them back to this post as I publish them.

Our Basic Educational Philosophy/ Approach (The Why)

The Schedule and How our Day is Organized

Helpful Organization in Our Classroom



Our Curriculum this year(Grade 2 and Kindergarten):

Calendar Activities

Language Arts

 Math (10-23-13)

 Science(10-30-13)

History(11-6-13)

Religion (11-13-13)

Spanish and Latin(11-20-13)

P.E., Music, and Art (11-27-13)

A Lifestyle of Learning  - Learning throughout the day, Field trips, and Friends (12-1-13)

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Birthday Blessed Mother!

Today, September 8th, is Mary's Birthday (9 months after her Immaculate Conception) and we celebrated with some Apple pie :-)

We added 10 candles and a star for the 10 Hail Mary's in a decade and 1 Our Father and Glory Be.  I got the idea from Catholic Icing where Lacy has lot of great ideas to Celebrate Mary's Birthday :-)

The kids really enjoyed blowing out the Candles!

Happy Birthday Dear Blessed Mother, please watch over and guide our family!

1st Day of School!

Yesterday was our first day of school at Sancta Familia Academy!
This year we have four students in our homeschool and we are beginning our third year.  

William is in 2nd Grade

Miriam is beginning Kindergarten (but thinks she's in 1st Grade.)

Luke our Preschooler

Thomas who's in "play school"

The children were excited for our first day!

Here is a quick video of our first day as we got started in our classroom.

We'll be moving in October (If, God-willing, all goes smoothly with our home purchase) so I did not spend a lot of time preparing the classroom space but spent more time organizing our day. It is a bit tricky to make the day go smoothly with four students at such varying levels of maturity.  The kids enjoyed the day and we got through most of what I had planned so I think the day was a success.

Our format is very similar to what we've been doing the past two years.  I plan what we will do for the day and the order we'll do it in but the time is very flexible.  I also have planned some quiet time activities for each child to work on while I work with them individually in Language Arts and Math but we still do the bulk of our learning together for Calendar Activities, Religion, Science, History, Latin/Spanish, Music and Physical Education.  Since William is in 2nd grade now he'll be able to do more work independently so he can do extra activities for the subjects as needed in our "quiet work times".  We'll see how it goes!   

August Family Update

As I was looking back, I realized that our last family update was in December for our Christmas letter and it's been a while since I've posted on the blog.  Well, not too much has happened since then  ;-) ...the kids are a bit older, we moved for the third time in 12 months, and Phil began work for the Diocese of Green Bay.  Here's a pictorial summary of  the past few months:

Miriam turned five on April 19. 

Her favorite gift was the flowers from Daddy and she requested a butterfly cake that she decorated herself.

Five days after her birthday we moved to Green Bay, WI bidding goodbye to the many friends we came to know in our 10 month stay in Gaylord, MI.  We feel so blessed to have been part of the Gaylord community and though sad to bid farewell so soon we were excited to begin anew in Green Bay where Phil was given the opportunity to serve the Diocese as the Coordinator of Young Adults Ministry and Discipleship in the Office of the New Evangelization.  So with the help of many friends we again packed all of our belongings on a moving truck to another temporary home (hopefully we'll have a permanent address in time for Christmas cards) in Allouez, Green Bay 5 minutes from Phil's new job.  Green Bay is great and the summer has flown by!   We have been welcomed by the great Homeschooling Community and our new Parish - St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. 

One of our first priorities was to visit the Great Grandparents and introduce them to our (not so) little Thomas.

Phil and William walked for part of the "Walk to Mary" Pilgrimage they had in Green Bay.

We were able attend Phil's goddaughter's 1st Communion in Stevens Point

We celebrated St. Joseph the Worker Day (May 1st) at the Shrine of St. Joseph!

We've been enjoying a lot of Bike Rides and walks as a family.

Phil and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary!

Luke turned three and decorated his own "L" cake.

We've made a couple trips to Bay beach with Friends.

We spent time with Grandma which included a trip to the Zoo.

We've made many trips to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help.

We got to go watch Packer Training camp as a family.

We were able to attend Cousin Claire's 4th Birthday!

 All three kids had their first swimming lessons and did great!

We also went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Days at Heritage Hill with friends.  

The summer days have been passing quickly.  We are enjoying our time in town and have visited many of the parks, the Museum, the Botanical Gardens and attended many great city events and made frequent use of the Library and its wonderful Summer Reading Program.  We're in the process of buying a home in the country and hope to be happily settled by September so we can begin our homeschool year in a more permanent home.  Prayers for the process to go smoothly are appreciated :-)  We hope you are enjoying your summer! 

Photo editing fun

For Mothers Day Phil took us all out for dinner and found a place that was offering a free family portrait.  It was very sweet of him :-)

They took several shots and gave us two pictures - both pictures were ok but not everyone was looking their best in either picture.

So I decided to apply my amateur photo editing skills (in gimp) and to the best of both pictures to create this one.  I know I'm not going to win any awards for my efforts since I began with a scanned image anyways but it was fun and now everyone is smiling.

Happy Pentecost Sunday!

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Pentecost Sunday is the "Birthday of the Church" when we're sent out to proclaim the Gospel to all nations. 

This Feast Day is the third most important feast in the Church (after Easter and Christmas) and has special significance to our family as the Holy Spirit has been guiding us in our journey of Faith.  Today in Pope Francis's homily  he spoke of the surprises of the Holy Spirit and that He calls us to strike out on new paths.  Truly this has been our family's experience especially the past few years and my own throughout my adult life:

"Newness always makes us a bit fearful, because we feel more secure if we have everything under control, if we are the ones who build, programme and plan our lives in accordance with our own ideas, our own comfort, our own preferences. This is also the case when it comes to God. Often we follow him, we accept him, but only up to a certain point. It is hard to abandon ourselves to him with complete trust, allowing the Holy Spirit to be the soul and guide of our lives in our every decision. We fear that God may force us to strike out on new paths and leave behind our all too narrow, closed and selfish horizons in order to become open to his own. Yet throughout the history of salvation, whenever God reveals himself, he brings newness and change, and demands our complete trust: Noah, mocked by all, builds an ark and is saved; Abram leaves his land with only a promise in hand; Moses stands up to the might of Pharaoh and leads his people to freedom; the apostles, huddled fearfully in the Upper Room, go forth with courage to proclaim the Gospel. This is not a question of novelty for noveltys sake, the search for something new to relieve our boredom, as is so often the case in our own day. The newness which God brings into our life is something that actually brings fulfilment, that gives true joy, true serenity, because God loves us and desires only our good. Let us ask ourselves: Are we open to Gods surprises? Or are we closed and fearful before the newness of the Holy Spirit? Do we have the courage to strike out along the new paths which Gods newness sets before us, or do we resist, barricaded in transient structures which have lost their capacity for openness to what is new?" (Pope Francis' Pentecost Sunday Homily- emphasis my own:-)

Praise God for the gift of the Holy Spirit!

Come Holy Spirit, fill the Hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy Love, Send forth Thy Spirit and we shall be created and Thou shalt renew the faith of the Earth.  

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.