Planning for the Disorganized Slack

Posted August 10th, 2007 by Jen in education, family life, religion

How are you? Have you been busy? Of course. Me, too. The long hot days are winding down, and the last of my summer guests is leaving tomorrow. My thoughts are turning toward fall, which for many of us with children, means school.

I spent the day pencil in hand, scratching out a schedule in my Teacher Plan Book. I have four little pupils - currently 2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate? Okay, I just had to say that because after next week, I can’t say it anymore, as the two year old will turn three. I do little planning for the 2 and 4 year olds, but the two older kids need a schedule.

This is the first time, outside of teaching in a classroom of 30-some elementary students, that I’ve sat down and felt the need to fairly rigidly schedule our homeschool day. It’s sort of like do or die. I have that business to manage, and it’s not going away, and I have the rest of life to manage as well, such as house and husband. I was feeling so incredibly overwhelmed and unable to do anything just a week ago, but once I started planning our days, I slowly regained my sanity and my sense of I can do this.

First, my husband gave me a kick in the pants when I said last week, “I don’t think I can do this. I need help.” His decidedly non-sympathetic response was, “Please, you have a Master’s in Teaching and you can’t figure out how to teach just four kids?” I shot back, “Well, it’d be a little easier without your business to run.” He corrected me, “Our business.” Oh, yeah. So, I don’t get to have a perfect little life where I just homeschool and run the kids around to fun activities all day. C’est la vie, right?

Next, I ran to God. A good place to run. “Help!” I cried. You have to know, and I’ve said before, organization does not come naturally to me. I feel like I need serious help in getting control of the mess around me. There are solutions. Like getting up earlier. Scheduling. Making Lists. Taking baby steps to do even the little things. Constant prayer has been my companion on this issue lately. Do I trust God to provide for my needs, even helping me to be more organized? You bet. I can’t explain how insurmountable this appears to be at the moment - it’s like I’ve been tangled up in a web and I’m too weak to begin fighting my way out. Where does my help come from? Oh, that’s right, from the Lord, Maker of Heaven and Earth. Ding, light comes on! Have I been spending time with the Creator? Not really, been too busy. Have I been studying His life-giving Word? Not really, been too busy. Okay, there’s the real problem. Somehow, I forget, until I’m at the bottom of the pit, that I truly can’t do anything apart from Him. But with Him, all things are possible!

Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
For the sake of Your name, O Lord, revive me.
In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
Psalm 143: 10-11

Now I’m ready for the Teacher Plan Book! I bought it at Barnes & Noble the other day, and as I cracked it open this morning and penciled in a weekly schedule, my anxiety began to melt away. Here’s the rough schedule so far, for the older two, and it’s a very simple schedule. Half-hour increments, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. [My four year old will be mainly working her way through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, also she and the soon-to-be three year old will be playing with lumps of playdough or puzzles or reading with Grandma, who lives with us.]

Monday through Thursday: [for my 1st and 2nd Grade Kids]

9:00 Math: Ray’s New Arithmetics

pssst, I have to brag about this great find, less than half of what I would pay anywhere else - I just found it (same day I hit Barnes & Noble) at a little store in Bend that sells used curriculum - got the complete set! So, it’s from the 1800s, but come on, how much has math changed? It’s all I need for all my children for the next 8 years or so, can’t beat that deal. If it was good enough for Edison, it’s good enough for me. Hey, he’s a famous home-schooled wizard! Just need paper and pencil and some jelly beans or rocks or whatever for counting. No consumable workbooks, yeah!

9:30 Spelling: Spelling Workout, Modern Curriculum Press.

The kids are continuing their books from this past year, finishing up Levels A & B this month, moving on to Levels B & C, respectively. I like the spelling/phonics connection, the little stories, the writing pieces. Overall, a strong program.

10:00 Language Arts: First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind, by Jessie Wise.

Finishing from last year, about half way through the book. Cool, another book that’s not a consumable workbook and can be used for all four of my kids. This is a complete grammar and writing text, using copywork, narration, dictation, picture study, and other classical techniques. Can you tell I have a strong classical leaning in my curriculum choices?

10:30 History: The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, by Susan Wise Bauer.

Also picking up where we left off, mid-way through Volume 1: Ancient Times. World history in a story book format with a Christian perspective. Hopefully we’ll be ready for Vol. 2: Middle Ages right after Christmas. Because of my multiple children, I ordered the spiral bound edition along with the reproducible activity pages. I really like this series. Consider ordering from Peace Hill Press, as I did, to directly support the author, who has done some outstanding work for the homeschooling community.

11:00 French: Miscellaneous.

I have such a variety of resources here. Games, stories, songs, videos. But, on a consistent basis, I will be using French Learnables and Le Francais Facile, along with the French conservation group. Again, picking up with those curricula where we left off last season. Le Francais Facile is designed for homeschool, Christian families - it’s very well-organized and phonetically based. There’s a Spanish version as well. The only possible drawback is that the CDs have a Canadian speaker doing much of the talking, so if you’re looking for that Parisian accent, there’s not a whole lot of it. The French Learnables, however, have authentic French (as in from France) speakers, so this makes up for the other program.

11:30 Science: Teaching Science to Children: An Inquiry Approach, by Alfred Friedl

This is a text I’ve had since my college days; it’s an older edition. I like the very hands-on approach, and this book has over 300 science-teaching activites included. I also have many other science books on hand that we’ve collected over the years, like Dorling Kindersley books and others. A Nature Journal (Charlotte Mason style) and nature hikes will be a regular part of our school as well.

12:00 Art/Music: Miscellaneous.

I will alternative activities here. Introductory piano (Alfred’s Basic Piano Library) which I will teach myself, even though I’m a beginner - any of you out there not musical? There’s still a lot you can teach your very young children. Art- painting, drawing, sculpting; Theater - remember my puppet theater?. This will be a very fun time, and a great way to end our formal studies for the day. Yes, it’s only 12:30 now, and we’re ready to eat lunch and be done!

People often ask me, “What curriculum do you use?” Or “What is your homeschool style?” As you can see, I mix and match. I use what I have, what I can get cheaply, or occasionally, I will pay full price for something I really like. I lean toward the Classical Method of homeschooling, as you can see from some curriculum choices that are laid out in The Well Trained Mind. I also love and employ many of Charlotte Mason’s methods, and I’m a little bit Principled as well, and very unschooled on certain days. I’m certainly not definable.

What is important to me are ideas like this: the knowledge of God is primary, discovering how we fit into God’s amazing universe is critical, living books should be predominant, history should be chronological, science should be practical and observable, free time and outside time should be ample, all subjects should be a series of relationships, and curiosity and wonder should be nurtured.

update:It’ funny, after I first posted this, I realized I left out two things that are such a part of what we live and breathe, that I did not put them in the schedule. I mean, who schedules in the need to have a drink of water? First, Bible, and second, living books. Neither is on the above schedule, because both are just integrated into our lives. We do not have a formal Bible curriculum at this point. We just talk about God and our Christian walk all throughout the day, in a very natural way, not as a separate “study.” Especially for young children, I think this type of integration is essential. Reading Bible stories is a part of our evening ritual, and is prayer. And the living books - again, not scheduled in, but we are a book loving family and my two older kids read on their own and I read to all of them several books a day, and we always have a longer book in progress that we typically do as a “Family Read Aloud” in the evenings, such as the “Little House” series or our current “Treasure Island.”

And just a few extracurricular activities I’ve scheduled in:

Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday afternoon, my 6 year old has Girl Scouts.
Every 2nd and 4th Friday afternoon, my 8 year old has Cub Scouts.
Every Thursday afternoon, all the kids have Gymnastics.

Other than that, afternoons will be for Quiet Times, Chores, and preparing for Dinner. For the younger kids, Quiet Time will usually be nap time. For the older kids, Quiet Time will be a time to spend with books of their choice for fun reading. And did you notice that I did not schedule anything for FRIDAYS? That day will typically be our Day Out. We’re members of the High Desert Museum, and we spend quite a few days of the year out there. And there are dairies to be toured, farms to be visited, trails to be hiked, and sights to be seen.

So, when does Mom work on her other jobs? 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. will be devoted to God first, then TeamMASCOT. The kids’ Quiet Time (typically 2 hours in the afternoon, about 1-3 p.m.) will be for the multitude household chores, like laundry and cleaning and some other jobs which the kids can’t easily help with, and any remaining TeamMASCOT work left from the early morning.

Can this disorganized slack of late step up to the task? Deep breath. I can do it. I’ve asked my husband to roll me off the bed at 5 IN THE MORNING - that’s the only way this will all happen. I do realize this schedule is subject to change, and I’m okay with that. I just really, really needed to get a handle on this. And above all, I’m trusting God to be my Helper.

photo credits: www.logosoftwear.com

**********************************************

Some current carnivals I forgot to mention:

Carnival of Family Life
Carnival of Homeschooling
Christian Carnival
Carnival of Principled Government