Record Keeping and Keeping Kids On Track

Every school year is different. I am not doing things this year like I was doing things two years ago or even like last year. I am a big fan of trying something out and changing the process until it works for you. Every child is different, every school year is different and so flexibility is a requirement for homeschooling. You must be able to adapt to current ages and needs (yours too).

We use the A.C.E. program and it has a lot of great qualities that I really like. The program was designed with goal cards. It really is a card, about the size of a large index card, with a colorful table on it and the teacher fills in goals for each day for each subject (in later grades the student writes the goals). I have been using those crazy cards for 5 years. I'll be honest, I'm not a fan. They are easily misplaced by overly active young children and we seemed to use way to many! So this school year I changed things up. I used one of my many one cent folders and created a goal folder for each, Sam and Makiah. I created my own table for each week that was designed with the child in mind; easy to read and with their specific subjects. In the folder they also have their reading list table to be filled out whenever they complete a book. It's big, so it's not easily lost. They can both easily see what their goals are and when they are done they check it off. I should have done this years ago! Then at the end of the week, I can make comments at the bottom about their week and all the extra activities they completed. (Hold on, in the next section you'll see why) I will put the new week's goal sheet in right on top of the previous week. Then at the end of the quarter they can look back and see how much they got accomplished! New quarter, new goal sheets and I'll file the old ones. This system is great. We all love it and its keeping them on track! It's also a great way for dad to come in and see how much they got done that day if he wants too. (Hubs usually just asks, but if he wants to see he can)

While homeschooling is NOT illegal, homeschool families tend to draw a lot of unwanted and unwarrented attention so record keeping is key. Even though I am not keeping transcripts (HALLELUJAH!) I still have a lot of record keeping to, well, keep. Every state is very different in their homeschooling laws and as responsible parents it is a very good idea to know those laws. Being prepared to defend your rights to homeschool is part of making the choice to homeschool. In Missouri, we have to complete one thousand hours of schooling per school year. There are a lot of ways to keep track of your activities, including programs you can purchase. But since we are not keeping transcripts, purchasing a program didn't seem like a solid financial decision since more than half of the program wouldn't get used. Being handy dandy with Word (this took no talent really, but you gotta give me something) I created my own spreadsheets for logging in our hours daily and what those hours were spent doing. Every afternoon, or at midnight when things have slowed down, I sit down and log in what we did that day for both Makiah and Sam. This log is for the core subjects, as well as art, P.E., music, field trips, etc. This particular record keeping is also something new I am doing this year. In the past I have just printed a form offline and manually marked absent, sick, holiday or field trip in an attendance sheet. Not good enough, but I wasn't aware of all the new crazy laws Missouri has in place (I'll say this for Indiana, their laws are MUCH less involved). Again at the end of the quarter those monthly logs will be printed and filed. As with almost everything else in homeschooling, find what works for you in keeping track and do it. And I wouldn't suggest getting behind because catching up is not enjoyable. I mean, I can't remember what I ate yesterday for breakfast so going back and trying to remember what things we did on specific days. . . not going to happen. ~Smile~

Tomorrow is Friday and we have an exciting day planned! I can't wait! I'll be taking pictures and posting our Fabulously Fun Friday on Monday!!

Have a great weekend!!

Homeschooling 101

I have had several parents ask me recently about homeschooling. They ask questions like:

What program do you use?

Do you keep their permanent records?

How do you occupy the younger child/kids while teaching the older kids?

Are you apart of a homeschool group? Do you suggest it?

Do you have a schedule you follow?

How do you incorporate art, physical education and music into the learning experience?

Most important question of all~~how do you keep your sanity?

Since I have had many questions asked to me and one friend even suggested I blog about homeschooling (little did he know that I already had a blog for homeschooling that I was seriously neglecting) I decided that I would post about the basics of homeschooling. I also decided that I would make sure to maintain this blog so that everyone can get a look into our little academy at home.

What program do you use?

We use the A.C.E. curriculum. We have had great success with this curriculum. There are 12 PACES for each subject for each grade, 3 PACES each quarter for each subject. Each PACE has a scripture and character attribute that is taught throughout the book. There are many, many curriculum's out there. It is my suggestion that you find one that completely suits your family. That may mean a combination of materials. While we use A.C.E. I also incorporate science experiments for extra fun and lapbooking (this a great blog post that explains it so well) as well.

Do you keep their permanent records?

No, I do not keep my kids permanent records. You have that option, like if you just choose to order books from the website then you would be responsible for all records. I choose to go through a Christian school. I give the work, grade the work and tests and then I mail in the completed tests to the school. They keep their records until we decide to change schools or graduation. I love it! While I am the one watching over her education I feel a certain level of security knowing that when their permanent records are reviewed by colleges no accusation of fraud can be made. Whether or not to keep your child's permanent records is totally a matter of preference. We have gone through the same school for five years now and we have no intention of changing anytime soon. If you find yourself interested in homeschooling, using the A.C.E. curriculum and want someone else to keep the records I highly recommend Heartland Christian Academy.

How do you occupy the younger child/kids while teaching the older kids?

This is a question that I often ask myself. ~Smile~ Because of the ages of my children I have always had at least one child that needs to be occupied. I have to admit that at times it can make things very interesting but you just have to get creative. In years past, I would set up the boys (who were to young for school) with stations such as; play doh, blocks, cars, number puzzles that were age appropriate and etc. I would have them in sitting within eye shot the whole time and they would have a learning type play time. Then when Sam got old enough to do preschool with, I only had to keep Daniel occupied. Now that Makiah and Sam are both doing PACES, Daniel is now old enough to do preschool, we all sit at the table together. Each child does work independently, I sit there too to help each child as they need it. Makiah needs less help, Sam is learning to read, so he gets very specific instruction and Daniel listens in. Things can get crazy at times and probably will. The key is knowing when you or they or all of you are overwhelmed. If you are overwhelmed, that is a good time to have story time or take a small break.

Are you apart of a homeschool group? Do you suggest it?

We have been involved in homeschool groups off and on. If you are a one vehicle family, it can make transportation interesting but I do suggest being involved in a group. It's nice to be able to get out and about with other moms and kids and do something besides book work. We will be joining a new group this year and we are all excited about it. As much as everyone talks about kids needing socialization, we moms (and dads if that's the case) need some adult interaction. It is a good thing for everyone.

Do you have a schedule you follow?

I have done several different styles or schedules over the years. For us, I had to be flexible with the routines from year to year (and sometimes day to day) because each year brought new challenges with it. This is the first year that everyone is doing structured work; 5th grade, Kindergarten/1st grade and preschool. That combo will bring it's own unique challenges with it, so being flexible to change is good. Having said that, we do have a basic schedule that we follow for school time. Set the schedule to fit your family, if you have early bird kiddos then work that. If your kids are like mine, they are a bit slow in the morning. The important thing about a schedule is being consistent. If school is going to start at 8 o'clock, then start at 8 o'clock. If everyone is a little crabby, still start at 8, but maybe start with a song or a story. The contents of your schedule can change up and be flexible, but the time schedule itself needs to stay consistent. My pastor has a saying that I have adopted because I love it, "Blessed are the flexible, for they will never be bent out of shape."

How do you incorporate art, physical education and music into the learning experience?

It is very easy to incorporate these fun and yet very important classes into your homeschool experience. Let's start with art.

Art: Crafts, coloring, painting and drawing are things your child probably already loves to do. Art doesn't have to be something that is elaborate and expensive, you can get some cheap supplies at a local Dollar store and your kids will be thrilled. Get craft ideas online to match what your kiddos are learning or what holiday is coming up next. I'll be putting ideas up on the blog each week for arts and crafts.

Physical Ed: Kids love to be active and it doesn't take much to have them having a good time and being active. Let them go outside for awhile, but make it a structured time and event. Have them run races, play leap frog, play tug-o-war or other various games. If the weather is bad, then use your living room and get them doing exercises such as; toe touches, jumping jacks, high kicks and stretches. Twenty to thirty minutes a day, they get a break to get their sillies out and they are moving. You may even want to go to a park when your school work is done or go to an area that has a trail (and going on a nature hike incorporates science into the activity).

Music: This is another one that is easily accomplished with younger children. We have music time almost daily in my house. We sing songs, some learning some silly, we have contests like a silly dance contest or a name that song contest. Also for more of a learning experience you can learn about different types of music and all the instruments you hear. When they are older you can look into music lessons of some sort. By making musical instruments you combine art and music together!

The bottom line with these three important areas of learning is to get creative. Use online resources for more ideas, read blogs and articles. There is a plethera of ideas out there to make your school excellent in all areas.

Most important question of all~~how do you keep your sanity?

For those who know me, they might say that I haven't kept my sanity! ~Smile~ I think they key to happy homeschooling with minimal stress is to know your limits. If you wake up one day and you are tired and stressed, the kids are tired and grumpy, it might be a good day to have a story day, complete with a living room picnic. Or a day to get out and go somewhere, even if its just the library. The parent that is homeschooling needs to keep themselves connected to other adults even if it is via the phone for a happy conversation with a friend during lunch. Also, know in advance that your homeschool will never be perfect and learn to be okay with that. Perfection is not required, striving toward excellence should be the goal. Some days you just need a break and that's okay. Some days are a struggle to get through but you press on and do and that makes "after school" all the more special. Some days everything will go without a hitch and other days won't. It's a fact, rolling with the punches and dancing during the good days will help to keep you sane.

I hope this has been helpful. I will be making this blog a priority this school year, to not only document Principle Things, but also to share with all of you ideas and helpful hints.

Homeschooling is always an adventure, sometimes a good one and other times it's rather stressful. But in the end, it's always worth it!

Blessings,

Valerie

One Week Down

We have completed our first week of school, successfully I might add! Here's a recap of our week:

~Sam is learning to sit and be schooled. This is a foreign concept to him. He is doing excellent. This has been a week of discovery for me. I have discovered that he knows so much more than we give him credit for (don't all parents). He is flying through what I thought would take us a semester. Sam also successfully memorized this weeks Bible verse. Hubs and I are kicking around the idea of going ahead and starting Kindergarten now.

~Makiah is doing review. After only being off for about five weeks we are revisiting multiplication tables and letter writing. She completed her 35th chapter book since the beginning of June. So proud of her. We hit on a series (American Girl Series) that she enjoys reading and it has just catapulted her into a love for reading! Thankfully! She is memorizing the books of the Bible and doing excellent on her Bible memory passages.

~Daniel has done better than I expected. He sits at the table with us and looks at his flash cards, colors, draws and plays with play doh. Occasionally he is a distraction, but he is two. It's practically his job to distract!! I also work with him on colors, shapes and counting.

~Science: our science experiment this week uses eggs. It is a seven day experiment and so we'll know our conclusion on Tuesday next week. They are loving looking at the eggs in the jar everyday and journaling the changes.

~Me: I still have all my hair and I can say what a great week!! I have already started my lesson plans for next week. I have also planned out our snacks and lunches on the calendar to help with grocery shopping tomorrow. Our theme this week was Rules, Rules, Rules. I did that to lay a good foundation of whats expected. The next two weeks will be Fruit of the Spirit. I am already getting the fruit ready to go.

I told Makiah a few weeks ago that this was going to be our best year yet of homeschooling and I intend on making that a reality! I am thankful for God's goodness and grace as we attempt to train up good, Godly, well educated children.

Up to My Ears In Paperwork

Records, records, records. . . I am swimming in paperwork. Let's just say that I got behind in my paperwork and so today I am catching up. I also *ahem* got behind on my blogging over here. I am going to to better with this blogging, oh and the paperwork!

Our school year is going fine. I always think it could be going better, but I'm probably over thinking it. Our first quarter is over and Makiah is doing great. She is rocking third grade. Her test scores are really high and her reading is going very well. Only thing is MATH. The dreaded Math. We aren't progressing as fast in Math as I would like. We are doing multiplication and the process is proving difficult. She doesn't like math so she goes into it dreading it and therefore kind of zones out on me. Any ideas for making multiplication more fun?? I have ideas, but I would love to hear from you all.

We are going to be doing several fall crafts next week and I finally got a new camera, so brace yourselves for pics!! What crafts are you doing for fall?

Have a happy and blessed weekend!