How we Homeschool

Hi! This a post on our personal experience with homeschooling. This is not a sponsored post. It is also not an all inclusive guide to homeschooling. You will have to contact your local school to see your requirements as well as research a homeschool program and how it works. There are links to my Amazon favorites lists where if you make a purchase I will receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting my blog! It means a lot! Now let’s get started!

I’ve always been really curious about the world of homeschool! It seemed to me like it was for super moms who had a natural knack for being teachers. Mothers who were completely selfless and much more naturally inclined nurturers than me! While there is truth to this, after decoding what is “homeschool,” I can confidently say that I think it can be for anyone. A homeschooling parent, to me, is someone who can follow a system, stay organized and keep to a schedule. That’s it!

Last spring, our public school went to distance learning. It was really important to me to get on the zoom calls for our then Kindergartener so he could see his beloved teacher and friends. There were assignments each week and I was grateful to see the areas where I felt he needed extra work.

When we were told that this school year would begin with distance learning, I decided to research homeschool to see if it would be a better option for our particular season of life. We love our school and hope to return one day soon! We have a 4 month old baby, a 4 year old and a six year old. Both Chris and I work from home and both older kids need schooling. Our school has a form for us to fill out that states the subjects we promise to teach our kids. Each state/school may vary slightly but all will most likely contain language arts, math, science etc.

I researched a few different programs online and it took me about a week in mom time (maybe 6 hours) to research, select, print/order materials and to figure out how the pace/curriculum went.

What I like about our homeschooling program (we chose The Good and the Beautiful based on recomendations from friends) is that it is organized in a way that is digestible for us. What I mean is, each lesson is short and all inclusive in a page or two. There are supplemental items like little books or learning games (as simple as an included cardstock sheet “board” with cardstock cards) that all coordinate with the lesson. It incorporates aspects of faith and character elements as well.

You start out by giving your child an assessment so you know which “grade”/level to start them in. Their homeschool grades/levels sometimes do not match school grades exactly. I’m going to go through our process briefly but you can find exactly how to use their program on there site here: goodandthebeautiful.com.

Our first grader placed in Level 1 math and Kindergarten Language Arts. We’ve seen that we can do a couple language arts lessons a day and it looks like we will begin the “first grade” homeschool language arts somewhere before this school year is out. This is a lot of review for him but also good fundamentals that I don’t think he mastered enough before starting Kindergarten last year.

Now that you know your levels for each subject, you can order your materials. Your program will tell you what materials you need. So this year a lot of the items were sold out but you always have the option of purchasing the download and printing it yourself at home or at a printer (Staples, Kinkos, Local print shop, online print shop). We got a quote from a local printer that was $500 so I looked into other options. The best option was to use our own printer! It’s an Espon ET 3760. We got it at COSTCO a few months ago when our printer broke. It cost $250 and the ink goes in by squeezing a big ink bottle into each color well. The ink lasts a LONG time. I printed a full 3″ three ring binder full and still there is a ton of ink left. I hear any “eco-jet” type printer works great. There are also online printing companies that specialize in printing homeschool materials but at the time I needed these print outs, one particular company was 12 weeks behind on orders.

Some people like to print themselves anyhow so they can reprint for the next child later or because you can put them in a binder and pull them out as you use them. Some people like to spiral bind each book. Anyhow, you have options to make it work best for you. We chose to do a 3″ binder for Language arts/writing and Math. A separate binder for history and we were able to purchase the hard copy of the science book we wanted. To improve writing skills, consider seeking assistance from professionals. Instead of solely printing materials, explore options like having experts write a paper for me. This approach not only ensures quality but also provides valuable insights to do it better in the future.

The math activity box was sold out. We purchased all the downloads and printed on cardstock. I’ve been cutting with a paper cutter I have linked in my Amazon faves school category HERE. For the physical items of the box, I ordered similar items on Amazon favorites “school” category HERE. Pictured above are some of the items and the rest are linked in that school category on my Amazon store.

As for time management each day, this is the part that was most fascinating to me! I have read that for a first grader, homeschool total time a day is 1-2 hours. I’ve read their attention span at this age is 15-20 minutes. You know your own child, and I have found what works best for our kids’ success. I’d love to block schedule school in one chunk for convenience but 2 smaller sessions work best for us. Three short segments can even work some days. Our kids stay engaged and positive in these smaller segments. This part really depends on you and your children.

We start the day with breakfast and then get the kids outside for a walk or bike ride. Chris and I get some exercise as well and then we start the first school session. This could me me holding baby or baby in a seat while teaching and Chris working. It could be Chris teaching while I put baby down for nap or do house chores. This part depends on the day. This is what we did for distance learning as well.

We do a couple lessons and then they boys can play or do some ABC mouse iPad time. As I having been typing this post, the boys have put away clean silverware and played a card matching game together.

Then it’s time for lunch and then another school session followed by independent play. During the independent play, Chris and I are working, keeping up the house and caring for baby. In the afternoon we swim with the kids and then it’s time for dinner.

This is a general rhythm but not always how the day goes! We plan to do 5 days a week to spread out the work and allow for flexibility. Mondays are busier work days so we want to be able to do a shorter school day then other days are lighter with our work so we have more time to share in school and caring for the kids! Eventually we would want to add in playdates and field trips.

Keep in mind, some days we might take a day off to recharge or go out. Sometimes one kiddo will be watching TV so I can focus on school with the other kiddo. It can look like a lot of different things to get school work done in a way that works for everyone.

I ordered a bunch of cute stickers as rewards for completing a lesson. The big variety pack I linked and have (Amazon favorite school category) is so cute. They are slightly puffy if that’s a consideration for you. We love them! They choose a sticker to put on that page they completed well. I LOVED stickers and rewards in school. Some kids might be into recognition like awards. I keep trying to remember what got me excited in school and I loved prizes too. So that’s something I want to add soon too.

We are very new to this and I hope to update here as we go through the year. I received so many questions about our decision to do homeschool so I thought a blog post would be best.

Lots to consider to see if it’s right for you! Contact your district/school for info on things like what requirements would be needed if you chose to send them to that school. Distance learning can be a great fit for you for many reasons as well!

As for how you school, that’s totally up to you! That is my favorite part. You can choose a program/school that you like, you can work with your children in a way that sets them up for success. I am feeling a huge sense of connection and gratitude for this opportunity. The responsibility felt too big for me at first and now I am so honored to have this in our lives. It can feel so empowering when you get involved with whatever schooling you are doing! I will also add that there are times of frustration and I find the best solution for us has been to take a break, get some activity or a snack and return later.

Wishing you the best in your journey, however you choose to create it, friend!

UPDATE: Three weeks in!

We are LOVING homeschool! Last year there were tears and frustration (for both of us). Now as I start up a lesson, I hear our kids saying things like, “Oh this is going to be easy. I already know how to do this!” They are super proud of their work and run to show their dad when they are done!

I’m able to see quickly which lessons are ones our oldest can do on his own while I either hold and feed baby or teach little brother. The lessons are taking less time now because we have a flow. It is extremely helpful to have everything in one spot. We have it all on one big table in the office now with our art cart shown above. Also, our kids now know what to expect in terms of how much instruction is involved so they kind of pace themselves and their attention span.

We have now had many days where school is done in one session of about 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. If the baby is fussy or something comes up, since we have been doing many of the lessons 5 days a week (instead of the 4 day a week pace that it’s set for) we are able to easily skip a day or catch up on the weekend with a lesson.

Our state requires a citizenship subject. I found this Our flow is:

5 days a week: Language Arts, Handwriting, Math

1 day a week: Science (on weekends) done by dad!

Sprinkled in: Social Studies (a couple of the worksheets a week), History of Texas (reading from a kids Texas history book), additional science (in the form of reading to them from kids books on different topics like the human body, dinosaurs etc).

Although we totally miss the school experience for the kids, this has really fit well with our current situation. It is definitely work but it is extremely gratifying and I feel really lucky to be able to have this opportunity. 6 months ago I would have NEVER felt I was qualified to formally educate our kids and now I feel so good about it. I hope your schooling is going great!

Update: 6 months in!

We have completed the Kindergarten Language Arts Program and on are on track to complete first grade by the end of the school year. I’ll most likely spread it out into summer a bit to keep it fresh so he is ready in the fall.

We continued with the first grade math but I added some higher level Kumon books because he was up for the challenge! I also have the kids watch some science shows on Youtube to add more opportunities for learning. They LOVE that of course!

I have been doing days of “intensive” study when I find areas that need more work. We will focus on that one area and then do more varied days after a segment. It’s been so powerful! Speaking of powerful, I have been feeling so empowered by the flexibility and confidence that comes with doing this over the past 6 months. The kids are thriving! Even with a rocky language arts start, I can see huge progress and it is so rewarding.

XO

Christina