Zephyr Hill

A Family Blog

Our First Day of Homeschooling – With Photos!

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We started school a little early this year since our newborn is due right after Christmas break. Hopefully, by beginning in August we’ll have a bit of a head start.

Here’s Joseph:

Catherine:

Benjamin:

Thing One and Thing Two!

Our day went *almost* like I had carefully planned….

We started at 9:15 instead of 9 o’clock sharp. Everyone’s bed was made except Benjamin’s (being just 4 he needs my help and I plum forgot). Most of the breakfast dishes got washed before school began (the rest I tended to after lunch).

Joseph, Catherine and Benjamin sat down at the school table eager to open their new books and start learning. Everything except for Spelling and Religion was done by lunchtime. We finished those up in the afternoon. The “Principle” (my husband) gave us a call to see how things were going and got a glowing report.

And I was MORE than impressed with our new software program, Homeschool Tracker Plus. Last week, I entered in the lessons plans for the entire year. It’s ALL done. Then it took me 60 seconds to print off the children’s assignments for the first week. This is what they look like:

Joseph and Catherine must check off each assignment as it’s completed. At the end of the week, if everything is done, they get to pull a treat out of a grab bag (it’s full of candy and tiny toys like bouncy balls and plastic bugs). It didn’t escape my notice today that they were VERY motivated to complete all their work. This is a big difference from last year, when I told them what they were supposed to do based on my handwritten plans, and then had to keep reminding them. Now they have their own lists and it’s up to them!

I am so thankful to have found this great software program and indebted to my homeschooling neighbor who shared it with me, gave me a demo at her home and even answered my nosy questions last week via Facebook!

Have you started school yet? If so, how are things going?

Home Schooling with Limited Space

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Last week I answered the question “How do you home school?” and shared with you our typical school day. Today, I thought you might like to see just where we home school. Like many families with limited space, the dining room table is our classroom.

On the opposite wall, we hang artwork, graded papers and study helps like multiplication tables. Because this is our dining room, and because it also happens to flow into our kitchen, there’s a microwave and food cabinet in our “school room!” The top drawer of that little white cabinet holds our small school supplies – pencils, pens, crayons, scissors and glue. I have a little Tupperware container in my bedroom closet that holds other supplies that we don’t use daily.

We only have room for a few bookcases in our home. I wish we had a separate space just for our school books, but we don’t. So last year I bought a plastic crate at Wal-Mart for each child and dropped hanging file folders inside with tabs to mark each subject. Most Seton materials consist of paperback text/workbooks so they drop easily into the slots.

We can fit an entire year’s worth of books into each crate.

When you use the family dining table for school you always run into one potential problem. How do you serve meals and snacks with books and papers all over the place? Well, breakfast comes before school, so that’s not an issue. We are thankful to have a small “bar” in our kitchen, so the children sit there for lunch. By dinnertime, school things are all cleared away. As for snacks, those are a nice little pick-me-up while you’re busy with school.

I know that every mother with a large family dreams of having more space. I would love to have a little schoolroom with a nice big table and benches, lots of shelves and plenty of wall space for decorating and displaying. This might never be a reality with 5 children and 1 on the way, but it’s nice to dream!

Where do your children do their school work? How do you make do when space is limited?

 

So You Think You Can’t Homeschool?

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Wishing you could pull your child out of public school this year? There are plenty of good reasons for parents to be fed up with system!

  • Mask mandates
  • Vaccine mandates
  • Progressive/politically radical curricula
  • Violence, and/or bullying and and/or other safety concerns
  • Failing schools

And the list goes on.

But while the spirit may be willing, many parents feel defeated from the get-go. I’ve heard this a lot over the years: ‘I’d love to homeschool, but…” (insert reason that the parent thinks it’s impossible here).

You probably already know that I have good news for you, or I wouldn’t have written this post! The barriers to homeschooling are not as insurmountable as you think. Let’s go through them, driving home the point that homeschooling is not a privilege, it’s a right, and its within your grasp.

 

I’m Not a Teacher

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“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” William Butler Yeats

It Will Cost Too Much

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Both Parents Work

My response to this off the bat is: “Can mama stay at home?” It’s the most obvious and ideal solution.

Yes, really.

If I’m getting a virtual eye roll from you right now, let me just point out that I have ten children and we live on one income, and everyone is well-fed and happy. Please email me if you need real-life tips on making it work.

That aside, it’s a fact that many parents who homeschool also have jobs. They share teaching with a spouse, teach in the evenings, switch to part time, work from home, and come up with all kinds of creative ways to fit school it. One of the main reason you can work and homeschool is that it doesn’t require as many hours per days as public school. On average, I can finish a young child’s teaching in 1 or 2 hours; older children may need 3 to 4 hours.

The question is, are you determined to make a beneficial change in your child’s life? Are you willing to get creative and make some sacrifices? GREAT! Check out these ideas for starters:

  • Share teaching duties with your spouse.
  • Cut back on your hours; change your hours.
  • Change jobs.
  • Hire a tutor.
  • Use virtual school and free video lessons/tutorials.
  • Ask a friend or family member to help.
  • Get older siblings to help.

“Success waits patiently for for anyone who has the determination and strength to seize it.”
– Booker T. Washington

I’m a Single Parent

It’s too bad that so many people think that being single makes the homeschool option a non-starter, when what’s needed is simply some creativity and a little bit of support.

Here are examples of how single mothers and fathers are making it work!

  • Work out a different time schedule with your boss.
  • Work out a remote working scenario with your boss.
  • Bring your child (and his books) to work with you.
  • Find a different job that allows for the above-mentioned options.
  • Work school time into your free time (early morning, evening, weekends, etx)
  • Do school only 3 or 4 days a week.
  • Ask a friend or family member to help while you’re gone.
  • Search for a homeschool “co-op” or group in your area.
  • Utilize virtual school options.
  • Remember that school can happen anywhere (audiobooks in the car, math at the park, reading at a restaurant)
  • Stick to the essentials and let go of extras like crafts, labs and unit studies.
  • Teach your child to help and be more independent, relieving you of some of your burdens.
  • Plan simple meals (soup, crock pot, sandwiches, continental, breakfast for dinner, etc.)
  • It’s important to have resolve and to stand up for your decision because there will be plenty of naysayers in your life.

“The most important work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home.”
Harold B. Lee

 

I Have a Special Needs Child

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Friday is a free day. We keep it open for errands, outings, appointments and anything else that might come up. I love knowing that we have this day to take a breather at the end of the week. It’s been a life-saver, and doing school 4 days a week instead of 5 has not gotten us behind at all. We also participate in homeschool field trips once a month on 3rd Fridays. Some of our free Fridays end up being play dates with other families, when no appointments or errands are needed. As a homeschooling family, you have the freedom and flexibility to do fun “extras” like field trips, community service, charity work or even just visit and socializing with other families.

Dealing with Younger Children: Benjamin (4), Samuel (2) and Susanna (1) are this year’s floaters. How do we keep them occupied in the morning when I need to be at the school table with Joseph and Catherine? First of all, I get them started with toys or a game right before school begins. This buys us 30 minutes, or sometimes an hour. Benjamin and Samuel are great playmates and love all the same toys – Legos, Playmobil, Hot Wheels, etc. – so it’s not that hard to keep them occupied. Susanna just wants to crawl around and explore, and doesn’t get into much trouble. After a while, I’ll offer everyone a mid-morning snack. And then Susanna takes a long nap at 11 am. If Ben and Sam are tired of playing at this point, I’ll let them sit at or near our school table if they are quiet. Benjamin will occasionally do a few pages in his “pre K” workbook and Sam might doodle on paper, or just play with his Lego guys some more. I don’t ever turn on a video or movie because TV viewing is a treat around here (we have 2 days a week set aside for it), and it wouldn’t be fair to the older children, plus it would be a big distraction.

Our Principal: This is my husband, Jeremiah! He does a roundup review at the end of the week with Joseph and Catherine, to see what they are learning and to quiz them on the most important concepts. I read a very interesting study recently where homeschoolers were asked “Which of your school subjects is the most important?” It turned out that the subject most children said was important was the one their father emphasized and took the most interest in. Fascinating! Jeremiah has always focused on their catechism and spiritual formation above all since these are truly the “First Things.”

I would love to hear how YOU homeschool. Share your ideas and experience in a comment below!

 

Parts of Speech & Popsicle Sticks: A Fun School Game!

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If you have grade schoolers who are learning the parts of speech, here’s a fun and easy way to reinforce the lesson that I spotted on Pinterest:

Using a permanent marker, write about 10 nouns, 10 adjectives and 10 verbs on the ends of recycled or purchased popsicle sticks. Label three paper cups as follows: Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs. Hold the sticks in your hand and have your child (or children) pick one, read it aloud and place it in the right cup.

Variations for older learners: Have them also use the word they pick in a sentence. Or better yet, can they spell it without looking? Add additional categories for adverbs, and divide the nouns into common and proper.

Variation for young learners: Use three different colors of permanent marker to label the sticks and turn this into a teaching game rather than a testing game.

Note: I found a package of 100 colored popsicle sticks on Ebay for $4.49, shipping included. Or, if your family is going through a lot of popsicles this summer like we are, think ahead and start washing and saving them (and ask your friends to do the same)!

Have fun with this, and feel free to share your own ideas in a comment below!

 

 

Time to Get Ready for Home Schooling!

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This Fall marks our 5th year with home schooling! Joseph will be a big 4th grader and Catherine is moving up to 3rd. Benjamin is still only 4 years old, so he’s not an official student yet since we don’t see the need for “pre K.” This year, I’m just buying two $4 workbooks from Rod & Staff to get out for him to work on occasionally.

My little pupils, way back in 2008!

Our curriculum consists mainly of Seton materials. The Seton Home Study school is 30 years strong and known for academic excellence (especially in the language arts) and solidly reinforces our Catholic faith. To save money, we don’t enroll officially with Seton. Instead, I’ve always written the lesson plans myself by hand each week.

But this year, to save LOTS of time and hassle, I’m trying something new! It’s a software program called Homeschool Tracker Plus and allows you to input lesson plans, activities and events for your children and then print them out as needed whenever you want.

I love the idea that I can create the lesson plans before school begins and not have to fool with it again for the entire year. What a blessing! Even better, once I put the lesson plans into Homeschool Tracker, they are saved for good. That means no re-do’s when a younger child reaches that grade level! Each week in the school year, I’ll be able to print lesson plans for Joseph and Catherine and they can check off items as they complete them each day.

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Later in the year, after we’ve used the software program for a while, I’ll post a review and link to it here.

Does your family home school? If so, are you doing anything new or different this Fall?