Why we homeschool

During my last seven years of homeschooling I have been fortunate enough not to encounter any major discouragement from non-homeschoolers. Most people are interested when they find out, and many ask questions out of genuine curiosity. I always enjoy talking about homeschooling, and it doesn't at all offend me when people want to know why or how we do it.

Ninjaschool homeschool

Preparing for another school year

We're all geared up to begin our 7th year of homeschool next week! I know it's early by most public school standards, but we like to start early in order to have more flexibility to take time off throughout the school year without falling behind in our schedule. It's important to me that we completely finish our grade level by the time we take a summer break.

So I've finished my planning and organizing in preparation for school on Monday. We will again employ a 6 week on/ 1 week off schedule this year after having great success with it last year. So, the first thing I did before I even started my subject planning was print out a 2015-2016 school calendar and figure out, roughly, when we would take our breaks over the course of the next 10 months.

The rhythm, the rhythm, the rhythm of my day*

We have a daily routine and stick to it. Asher thrives on routine and planning, and he absolutely must know exactly what's to come. In fact, he often asks me, "What's the plan?"

I have a schedule made up, printed, and posted on our kindergarten wall. It goes like this:

Morning Exercises: On our first day of school, I told Asher it was time to begin with our morning exercises. He, of course, automatically thought this meant physical exercises. So, we begin with a few jumping jacks and stretches, then make our way into the hallway where I keep all the kindergarten display boards. Asher says the Pledge of Allegiance. Then we investigate the weather outside and move the dial on our weather board so that it's pointing to the weather we're having that day.

He then marks the weather graph. (So far the partly cloudy days are "winning".)

We look at our monthly calendar and Asher tells me the date, the day of the week, and then places the correct days on the daily board (This includes: "Today is... Tomorrow will be... Yesterday was...")

We go over the week and days around us to talk about various occasions that are coming up.

He also recites his memory verse for the week.

Bible: We read and discuss a Bible story.

Phonics & Reading: We go through a phonics book of word blends that Asher must sound out. Then we either learn a new concept or review what we've already gone over. Asher also completes 2 or 3 worksheet pages in the Letters and Sounds book from Abeka. Once he's reading well, he'll be required to read age-appropriate books on his own. Included as a language arts skill, we learn skills such as memorizing our address and phone number, using the telephone, knowing the names of his parents, etc. We're using a book called Language and Thinking for Young Children as a guide. We also use a vocabulary book in the Vocabulary Power series each day. It stands up on its own, and we keep it on our kitchen table. I picked this up on a whim, knowing nothing about it, and now it's one of Asher's favorite parts of our school day. He loves it! We often go through several pages a day simply because he asks to.

Writing: We're using Handwriting Without Tears for penmanship practice. I also have incorporated journal writing to help Asher hone his writing skills as well as get his creative juices flowing. He writes on the lines I provide and then illustrates it in an allotted space.

-----SNACK BREAK-----

Math: We're using Horizons this year.

Science: We either do a lesson from a science book or Usborne Children's Encyclopedia, and on Fridays complete a science experiment.

History:  We read a historical story or from Usborne Children's Encyclopedia. I include whatever activity I come up with. We also fill in our timeline when covering important dates and people.

-----BREAK------

Read-Alouds: Asher listens as I read aloud a chapter from a chapter book (right now we're reading through the first book in The Boxcar Children series), a poem from a poetry book, and a Mother Goose nursery rhyme.

I also assign homework every day, which for now is simply that Asher must read aloud from material I have pre-selected to an adult other than me. Usually he reads to his daddy. 

*The title of this post was quoted from The Rhythm of My Day by Angela R. Yates