Academic Progress at Their Pace

There is freedom in homeschooling.  We choose curriculum, or opt to use outside resources like classes, tutors, or co-ops for some subjects.  When needed, we can alter lesson plans to suit our families, or change directions when something isn't working.

In any given school year, many choices and decisions are made, but probably one of the most daunting responsibilities is determining the pace a child progresses through their academics.  As a homeschool teacher, you can allow a child to progress at their ideal pace for them, but what if this is far outside the norm? 

Typically, a child finishes the school year and they are promoted to the next grade.  They have completed satisfactory work and progress to a harder level.  However, not all children do. 

A child who struggles greatly may need remedial work or increased tutoring time over the summer break.  Perhaps, they need a different academic approach or some specific interventions throughout the coming year.  Lightening their academic load by concentrating only on core subjects may help.  Sometimes, they may even need to repeat a grade level in one or more subjects.

On the other hand, a child may excel quickly through their academic work.  This child sails through all your lesson plans, completing near perfect pages with very little evidence of effort.  Perhaps, they need a more challenging approach or a few extra courses in the coming year.  Sometimes, they may even skip a year to reach a more challenging level.

No matter what the situation, both children need their academic progress paced in some fashion. 

Regardless of what curriculum or method you use, the pace you employ is vital. 

A child who struggles should not be expected to complete as many lessons in as short of time as a child who excels academically.  We all understand this innately.  However, what about when your child only struggles with one aspect?  Maybe multiplication or sentence diagramming presents difficulty for your otherwise good student.  Do you progress at the child's pace, slowing down for their understanding, or do you press forward, trying to complete the curriculum on someone else's schedule?

Recently, I was reading through a book which cited the literal meaning of curriculum as 'to run a course.'  Wanting to determine the validity of that statement, I checked out the definition from Oxford Dictionaries on line.   This is what I found.

Curriculum - noun (plural curricula or curriculums): the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college; origin - early 19th century: from Latin (see curricle)

Curricle - noun historical: a light, open, two-wheeled carriage pulled by two horses side by side; mid 18th century: from Latin curriculum 'course, racing chariot', from currere 'to run'

{definitions from Oxford Dictionaries}

Curriculum is the course set before the student.  There is an end in sight, but there doesn't have to be a standard speed.  Children walk it at their own pace, finishing as they are able.  As parents, who happen to be teachers, may we continue to encourage and lead them along the way to progress at their own pace. 

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Dorie enjoys being outside, photography, art, writing, a strong cup of coffee, and good conversations seasoned with much laughter. She and her drummer husband, Jerry, share a life built on faith in Jesus, love, and grace. They have been blessed with four active children. Each day, whether easy or trying, is a wondrous part of this grace filled journey, and Dorie blogs about them all at These Grace Filled Days. Their homeschooling adventures can be found at Homeschooling Just Next Door.

Summer School

"What?  School over the summer?"  Perhaps this is your child's response.  Maybe it is even your response.  I understand.  It is exactly what my children and I said the first time we pondered schooling over the summer months. 

Our summer vacation is a time of rest from the hectic school year, and we envisioned summer school as enslavement to a hectic school schedule.  But, schooling over the summer doesn't have to be like that.  It can be fun, low-key, relaxing, and quite beneficial.

Though we do not do school year round, for the past five years we have done school over the summer.  Some summers we work through a unit study about a particular country or time in history.  Other summers, we do minimal work strictly to maintain the children's abilities in math and language arts.  One time, we tried a different approach to homeschooling.  And, during one summer break, we did some remedial work.  

Summer school may not be the choice for all families.  If you hold near and dear to your summer break, then schooling through the summer may not be an option for you.  However, there are some good reasons to consider using those warm vacation months for school. 

Reasons to consider schooling over the summer months:

• Your child needs tutoring in a specific subject.  The summer months can be a great time for concentrated tutoring in one subject while not teaching other subjects. 
• You want your child to retain a working knowledge of what they learned during the school year.  (i.e.  you don't want their brains to go to mush while they soak in the sun rays and play in the pool)  If this is your motivation for summer school, then about half hour or so of math and reading a few days a week are probably enough to maintain the learning over summer vacation. 
• You want to maintain some type of organized schedule or organization to your week days.  Schooling throughout the summer months will help you stay organized and in your school routine.
• You want to finish the curriculum, or books, you started during the school year.
• You want to do some special activities or projects, that you weren't able to squeeze into the past school year.
• You want to experiment with a new teaching or learning style.  The summer months can be a great time to explore different homeschooling methods and approaches.
• You want to teach one or two subjects over the summer instead of during the school year.  This can work well for subjects like typing, art, music, and creative writing.

 

  

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Dorie enjoys being outside, photography, art, writing, a strong cup of coffee, and good conversations seasoned with much laughter. She and her drummer husband, Jerry, share a life built on faith in Jesus, love, and grace. They have been blessed with four active children. Each day, whether easy or trying, is a wondrous part of this grace filled journey, and Dorie blogs about them all at These Grace Filled Days. Their homeschooling adventures can be found at Homeschooling Just Next Door.

Embracing Homeschool Freedoms

Are you afraid to embrace the freedom homeschool offers?

Do you fear what others think?

If you do something different than school at home,
do you worry that your family and friends just won't understand?

Does doing something different, or being considered odd,
make you cringe?


What holds you back from embracing all the freedom
homeschooling offers?

Are you trying to homeschool like your friend
and it just isn't working for your family?

Do you think you've chosen the less than path
in homeschooling because of these choices?

There is diversity in homeschooling! 
Embrace your family's unique path.

There is opportunity to make changes,
and to do things differently.

Sure, you will make mistakes.  We all do.
{I know I have made plenty.}
Learn from your mistakes, and make the necessary changes.
Learn from others' mistakes as well.
{Sometimes, I think those that have messed up a lot,
have more to teach us than those who did it all correctly the first time.}

As we close out one school year,
and begin planning for another,
it is a fabulous time to embrace your family's freedom,
making the changes you need to for your family.

Homeschooling does work. 
It works for each family in a unique way.
Find your family's homeschooling path, don't try to walk another's.

And, please, don't let fear stop you from trying something different next year.
Embrace all the freedoms homeschooling has for you!

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Dorie enjoys being outside, photography, art, writing, a strong cup of coffee, and good conversations seasoned with much laughter. She and her drummer husband, Jerry, share a life built on faith in Jesus, love, and grace. They have been blessed with four active children. Each day, whether easy or trying, is a wondrous part of this grace filled journey, and Dorie blogs about them all at These Grace Filled Days. Their homeschooling adventures can be found at Homeschooling Just Next Door. 

The One Room School House Approach

In the very beginning of our homeschooling journey, I had one incredibly bright little boy who loved to read.  We breezed through his lessons covering every subject, every day.  The next year, I had two sweet children to teach.  Our days still progressed easily as I 'ping-ponged' between the two.  Fast forward a few years, and, now, this year, there are four. 

Ranging in age from a preschooler to a seventh grader, I knew I needed a more structured routine for our days.  We had tried adapting other homeschoolers schedules to our days, but it never worked as well for us. 

Last summer, I decided to look outside of the typical homeschooling mainstream ideas.  I began to ask just who else has been successful at teaching children with large age and academic differences. 

That's when inspiration was found.  Well, technically I saw and bought the book in a gift shop at an amusement park.  It was a book that documented one room school houses.

Reading through the experiences of the teachers and students, I found a plethora of information on how the classes were taught.  There was even a few sample schedules to view. 

It was a gold mine!

After each chapter, I wrote down a few notes on what I could use or alter to fit our family situation and homeschooling style.  By the end of the book, I had devised a lose plan of action for our days.


Our Plan:
start the day as a group with Bible reading and prayer
work on the harder subjects first (for us: math, reading, grammar)
start individual instruction with the youngest first while the others do independent work
proceed through the ages, instructing the oldest last
have a mid-morning break (outdoor play, snack away from the school work)
begin the next section of classes as a group (we do history and aesthetics together)
work on the other subjects (for us: Bible, spelling, logic, Latin)
again, use the youngest to oldest approach
break for lunch
afternoon session of classes for nature walks, science observations, extra projects, co-op homework, etc


That first morning in August, as we began a new school year, we started using our new routine.  Though I have tweaked it over the ensuing months, it has served us well, and we will continue using it for as long as it works for us.

Beginning Again After a Holiday Break

Eight o'clock at night rang on the chimes, but I was still finishing up the day.  To describe the day as hectic would have been an understatement.  However, the day was not without some positive aspects.  We did finish a day of school.  It was sporadic and patched together, but a day of learning took place and progress was made.  There were very few complaints, and even some laughter. 

It was our first day back to our school routine after a ten day holiday break, and I declared this would not happen again. 

How do you begin again?  After taking some much needed time off for travel, family visits, holiday celebrations, rest, and relaxation, just how do you get back into the smooth homeschool routine you had already established before your break?

At our home, we have tried everything to make it an easy transition.  Some techniques and tips work well for us, other things, not so much.

Three successful suggestions I try to follow in our home are:

1. Let the children know when the first day back to school lessons / homeschool routine will occur.  Our children like to know ahead of time, when their vacation is over.  Sounds simple, I know, but honestly some breaks I have inadvertently surprised the children with a day of school.  Though it was an honest mistake, it did not go over well. 
2. Allow the first day back (or the first few) to progress at a slower pace.  There is always a few hiccups in our routine, especially after a long break.  We may not finish every lesson the first day back.  There may even be some lessons we won't get to do that first day as we ease back into the routine.
3. Be prepared to review some lessons.  It doesn't work for us to jump back into our lessons without some review.  Instead, I allow for some discussion and review of what they have already learned and then proceed to the new lesson. 

These are some of the tips and techniques that work for us, and help ease us back into our homeschool routine.  How about you?  What do you do to ease back into your homeschool routine after an extended break?

Next week:

Join us for A Homeschool Holiday Open House

with encouraging discussions and fun giveaways!

Altering Lesson Plans

During the second time I made apple bread this autumn season, I altered the recipe. I was confident in the recipe and my ability to follow it successfully. I was also equipped with the knowledge that I could alter the recipe by decreasing the amount of sugar. With the sweetness of the apples and the other ingredients, I knew a little sugar would never be missed. So, I altered the amount and made the bread. NO ONE noticed. It still tasted great.

Lesson plans are a lot like recipes. They tell you what you need (ingredients) and how to put them all together (method). But just like the apple bread recipe, you can alter lesson plans to suit your family.

I confess, initially, I would never alter a lesson plan, ever. Even if it was not working, we still trudged through it. However, once I gave myself permission to change the lesson plans, I felt a little more free to try changing some of the elements to suit our needs.

After tweaking a few lesson plans, I still felt shy about making large changes.
Until I was reminded by others that:

"Lesson plans are a fabulous tool, but not a wise master."

For you see, I was using the lesson plans incorrectly. They were dictating our lessons, not serving as guides. Today, after years of tweaking, changing, and adding to lesson plans, it has become second nature. I am no longer afraid to not do every single step outlined in the lesson plan.

Lesson plans sometimes call for too much of one thing and not enough of another for your child or your family. Don't be afraid, like I was, to alter them here and there to make them better for your situation.

Room for Improvement

Our start to homeschooling last year began with a rocky start, a long break for re-evaluation, and then a much more successful second attempt.

And this year—well, it hasn't been without it's own adjustments. It seems that everyday, I'm tweaking our schedule, our system, and our material. And everyday, I'm closer to where I'd like to be. Of course, there are those days when success comes to a screeching halt and triumph throws a tantrum in my school room floor. But then, I call it a day, re-evalutate (again), and tweak a little bit more.

It's been in the midst of all that tweaking that I've come to appreciate a few of the opportunities that come from the fine-tuning:

1. Involving others in the solution. Sometimes a situation is more than I can handle on my own. That's a tough reality to accept. But I can't educate my children by myself. And yet that humbling reality leads to a much richer discovery in the help I receive from others.

My husband has been one of those heros, coming in to save my day. Discussing the school day with my husband and including any frustrations or challenges I've faced allows him to stay connected with the family. And his objective advice on those situations has, on many occasions, been exactly what we all needed.

My mom has also been a huge contributor. Having homeschooled me and my two siblings, she has the perspective and retrospection that I often lack. From her, I get to hear what she found helpful and what she would have done differently.

Other homeschoolers also offer a wealth of wisdom. I interact with internet homeschool groups and even occasionally send questions to my favorite bloggers. Their perspectives and advice have often been revolutionary for me. And the beauty of the internet is that it doesn't matter that they are homeschooling all the way across the country; they can instantly become my cyber-neighbors.

2. Realizing my own short-comings. I'm not perfect. And facing that fact, that I could be the one at fault and not my student, is extremely helpful in a couple of ways. First, it allows me to be more patient with my children's short-comings (especially when I see that they've inherited those faults from me). Second, it forces me to depend on a Strength outside of myself. For when I am weak, then is God's strength most evident. Both my children and myself are able to see the Lord answer prayer and become a vital part of our homeschooling day.

3. Learning and understanding more than ever before. I've heard many times that you learn a subject best when you begin to teach it. Whether that subject is phonics and reading or modern art and poetry, teaching forces you to learn. Like the mother bird digesting the food for her chicks, I must digest every fact before I present it. And that is one thing I want my children to see: that you never outgrow learning.

4. Discovering who my children really are. I've learned more about my children and their personalities in the last several months of schooling them than ever before, in spite of hours of playing blocks and capturing imaginary bad guys. I see how they react to challenges. I see their response to success. I see what does and does not motivate them. And I see every time their eyes light up with understanding. I'm a part of nearly every moment of discovery, and that does more than just create a special bond. It also prepares me for my role as a parent.

Taking my lessons from the school room, I better understand what will provoke my child to wrath and frustration. I have keener understanding of what motivates and inspires my child. And with that knowledge comes a higher accountability to make the most of the opportunities I have with each child to nurture and admonish in the Lord.

5. Recognizing that homeschooling is not a place or state of being but a process and a journey. It's not about where we are educating; it's about how we are educating. It's about having the opportunity to make those adjustments rather than to helplessly look on while a child stumbles through learning. It's about the privilege of taking a breather together and facing the challenge once more, united rather than at odds. It's about having the means to administer the changes that are necessary.

Heading into our second year now, I'm certain we will constantly be making adjustments. But I want to see those adjustments as more than just rescheduling recess or pulling out a new activity. The changes do help my child to learn better, but they also provide an opportunity for me to learn as well.