As homeschoolers, we can really struggle with how much book school to do. Sometimes we can fall into the textbook trap and lose the whole reason we are homeschooling.
Homeschooling is more about relationships than it is academic.
- Relationships with family
- Relationships with others
- Relationships with people of a widely various ages
- Relationships with God
- Relationships with circumstance
- Relationships with learning
- and so much more.
When you homeschool you open a a door wide for numerous learning opportunities that do not come from a book. From field trips to things right in your home.
This year as I planned our curriculum purchases and then actually started my first week of lesson plans for all six children, I realized I had messed up BIG time…Not sure what I was thinking, other than, I now officially have a middle schooler and felt like I really had to push him, which really would result in our lives being miserable. In all honesty, he would learn very little if I keep on the track I was headed, but, God chose to show me ahead of time.
I also have one who is skipping two grade levels this year, so I added a bit to her plate to help offset what she might miss. She has not been challenged the last year and a half and well, in order to help her keep her desire to learn, we believed that I needed to test to see where she should be placed.
When I tested her at the fourth grade level, where she should be going into, she missed 1 question on the placement test…Fifth grade she missed 3, and then I said well, we just put her in sixth as at this time, I am not comfortable enough to move her three grade levels above her age. I can add in some extra stuff to help challenge her that she is interested in. She will also be helping with her younger siblings some too, as there is a lot to learn in working with others.
Now about lesson planning…
We want to cover everything and help our children become the best that they can be, however, if we over plan we will overwhelm ourselves and our children, and they will be the ones who lose out the most. Too many subjects covered individually is going to shut down the learning process.
To help overcome this problem, I try to tie in subjects as much as possible. Our copywork, which I do believe is a HUGE benefit for spelling, grammar, and writing, comes from our history, geography and science studies. Many of our writing assignments come from those subjects too. Our history and Geography tie together too. Even a bit of our science is going to complement our history and geography studies.
I never assign a reading textbook. We use a living books approach and all reading assignments are from books that go with our science or history…typically history. Some may think all my children read are non-fiction books, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
I pull spelling words from our studies also, rather than using a spelling curriculum. I have a list of spelling rules for them to get acquainted with that help them learn to spell better.
By tying subjects together, your children are better able to see how all things work together. Once we are out of school, every aspect of our lives are not boxed up individually, why when we are raising our children and educating them, do we think everything must be in it’s own box?
If when planning your homeschool year, you become very overwhelmed, likely when your children start back to school, they will be overwhelmed also.
So, remember this as you plan.
Keep God at the center of you homeschool, especially when working on your lesson plans. Your year will be better, your school happier, and your children life long learners.
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mother, christian, wife, woman, child of God. It is about my life as a farmer’s wife, as a cook, a baker, a nurse, a teacher, a woodworker, a housekeeper, a farmer (yep, I drive tractors, pick up hay bales, and other farm duties), a gardener. So, what you read here, is me, as a transparent sometimes hot headed, passionate, and opinionated person.
Great advice, Betty. I, too, learned to combine learning areas. That’s what it’s like in real life, after all. And scheduling too much just frustrates mother and children alike. It’s tempting to do this in the high school years, especially, so I’m glad you’re counseling other moms not to fall into that trap.
Jeanne (Author of Homeschooling High School)
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