Large family schooling….how our first month is going

 

IMG_20140924_115009It has been one month that we started on our new school year.  I will have to admit that this year has been by far the easiest that I have had as far as homeschooling goes.  Normally I have a nursing baby, a busy toddler, and preschoolers that will not stay occupied.  This year it is just working out that the little ones play nicely together while I do school with the older ones, makes for an easy day.IMG_20140930_101145We typically have breakfast and then the children follow their charts for personal care.

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We then do the chores checklist chart and when it is finished, we start school.

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IMG_20141003_104756We then meet at the dining room table and I sit on the end and help the 1st and 2nd grader do the papers they need help with.IMG_20140930_101103

My middle aged boy sometimes does part of his school in the living room, while I am helping the little girls.  He will join us when we do our group part.

We finished up our devotion book of Leading Little Ones to God.   We started it last year and did not finish it. My goal was to begin the year with that and go onto our Miller story books.  The first book we are doing is  Prudence and the Millers.  I bought the workbooks to go with it and we enjoy having that extra part to add to each story.  We typically read one chapter per day and then discuss the topic.

We have about 5-7 print offs for each child that we do along with their writing journals. The print off pages include a page for math, spelling, grammar, reading, and 3 misc pages.  All that I have taken from the internet, it didn’t cost me a thing.   Then we take the time to do reading.  The girls are doing the Hooked on Phonics 1st grade program.  I got it from our library.  IMG_20140924_115016The little girls are also doing a lapbook each month.  We are reading the Little House on the Prairie series.  We finished book 1 Little House in the Big Woods and this is the lapbook we made from it.

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This was a great lap book because for each chapter that we read the girls could do a piece that was about that chapter.  It helped reinforce what we read.

Our middle aged boy did 2 lap books this past month. His were on ducks and chickens.

IMG_20140930_120738We were able to get books from our library that went with this study.  Very easy to read and simple but filled with lots of information.

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We have chickens and ducks, but were still very informed with what we learned.IMG_20140930_120752

We found this great site that lists tons of lapbooks.  I went through and picked out enough for my son to complete for the year.  My girls are doing the little house ones.  I have bookmarked this site for future reference as we love it.

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About the only interruptions that we have are little ones that come up and want to color a picture.  I have a bucket of crayons and some coloring pages left out for when they want to join us during school time.  IMG_20141003_104744

We have had many activities, appointments, and things that have filled our calendar this past month.  I am thankful that when I set up my schedule, I scheduled at least one day a week light so that when I was extra busy, I allowed myself that one day to catch up.

We typically read our Miller story book and Little house on the Prairie each day but on Fridays I do not. This allows me to make up any reading we missed earlier in the week.  Also I make our daily reading light.  Only 1 chapter per day and 1 story from the Millers.  This has allowed an easy school day.

The children’s work is mainly worksheets and their writing journal.  This allows them to work on their own to some extent if I can’t get to the table due to other obligations.

I also order lots of books from our library each week.  The girls have beginning chapter books that they can choose to read each day.  I also sit with all the little ones and read books that I ordered.  I typically will go through 5-10 books each day.

I like to choose books that go with the season.  Right now we have ordered fall books.  Click here for a list of ones we have borrowed.

After we finish up our schooling, it is usually lunch time.  The afternoon is left for finishing up any pages not done and our reading and video learning time.  Makes for an easy day.

My high schooler is doing all of her own school during this time.  She will come and take some breaks during the day.  Right now she is doing our Advanced Home Economics course.  This month she is in charge of making lunch each day, that is a nice help for me as that is a busy time.  Her schooling takes longer as she is focusing on being finished this year and has packed her schedule.

The afternoon is filled with making dinner and doing whatever tasks I have to complete that day.  After the children are in bed, I do some work on my blog.  Then it is lights out for me.

Wake up and do it again.

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