Year Round Homeschooling and How We Organize It

I have shared my system for organizing our year-round school schedule before here, but today I wanted to touch on it again, this time with a visual I created to help simplify my explanation:

   

It really is simple, but with all the different jargon out there to describe portions of academic calendars, I thought this little chart would help to put into perspective what I mean when I am talking about the way I organize our year. I use four keywords to describe different portions of the year - the school year, the semester, the unit, and the gap. 

School Year - Our "school years" begin in the summer, followed by "graduation" the next spring. I intentionally coincide this part of our calendar with traditional schools, mainly to give other people a point of reference (when they ask Hunter the ever-famous question, "What grade are you in?") I consider Hunter in whatever grade he would be if he were in school (currently, 1st grade) but that doesn't dictate what level of work he does (he is above grade level in almost all subjects)

Semesters - The second level of organization is "semesters". I keep it really simple and just have one semester per season. The summer semester goes from June through August, fall semester from September through November, winter semester is December through February, and spring semester covers March through May, in general. Since the beginning of each week doesn't always coincide with the beginning of each month (obviously), the semesters will sometimes slightly overlap into other months (for instance, this year the "summer semester" runs from May 27 - August 25).

Units - The third level of organization is units. I make lesson plans for two-week periods, also known by me as units. Each semester has six units. 

Gaps - Also within the third level of organization is what I refer to as "gap" weeks. There are fifty two weeks per year, and if you divide fifty two by four (semesters) you will end up with thirteen weeks in each semester. Since units are two weeks each, that leaves you with six units per semester (twelve weeks) and one week left over. That extra week is what I call a "gap", and I leave it free of lesson plans, allowing us to use that week to catchup, review, or take a break.  

Why This Planning System Works Well For Us

1. Schooling Year Round Gives Us LOTS of Flexibility - A traditional school calendar goes for 36 weeks, or 180 days. With planning flexible lessons 48 weeks per year (and using the 180 days as a "guide"), that gives us 20 days per semester - 80 days per year - to take off for an impromptu day at the beach, visitors, sickness, no-motivation days, holidays, or vacation, if we need to.

2. I Plan More Fun Things - Just because "Winter Unit 3" overlaps December 25, doesn't mean we'll be doing math worksheets at 8:00 am on Christmas morning.

Throughout the year, I plan based on the season, holidays, and known events. For example, in the unit that goes through Christmas, I might plan only a bit of math review to do a few days during the unit, while using Christmas books for our literature and poetry, and postponing our normal history studies to talk about Christmas traditions around the world or to learn about the birth of Christ.

 Summer involves a much lighter work load, and many more fun activities and field trips are planned into our units. Planning lessons year round allows me to take a "school as life" approach to education and to lighten up all around. Knowing that I have flexibility makes it easier to incoporate the fun things.

3. The Flexibility and Fun Means We Don't Need Large Breaks - The rigors of traditional schooling make a good case for giving kids a much-needed summer break to relax, rejuvenate, and just enjoy being a kid. But homeschooling, particularly in this way (with flexibility for days off whenever needed, impromptu vacations, and incorporation of joyous activities and varying workloads throughout the year) makes such a break unnecessary.

In addition, being able to skip the summer vacation also means being able to skip all the downfalls of this giant break in learning, too. In the spring, time ends up being wasted because the end-of-year testing takes place a couple weeks before the end of school, making the last couple of weeks before school lets out somewhat of a "dead zone" where not too many new skills are being learned. When school resumes in the fall, it is well-known that the first several weeks are spent on reviewing forgotten material from the previous grade, as well as getting back into the old routine and readjusting behavioral standards. I would estimate that this equates to at least 3-6 weeks of school completely wasted due to summer break.  

How This Organizational System Helps Me Plan 

The School Year - As mentioned, the "school year" is more for other peoples' point of reference, but it does help to have a definite beginning and end to describe the goals I want to accomplish each year.

Semesters - Dividing up the year by the seasons (or semesters) helps in terms of goal simplicity, too. I am better able to define what I want to accomplish during each season, to see how much I have actually accomplished each season, and to plan our topics of study based on the seasons (for instance, lighter workloads in the summer, or holiday and seasonal lessons).

Units - The units are the key players in my lesson planning grand scheme, and were the beginning of this whole schedule in the first place.

I used to plan in one-week increments, but ended up spending most of my time feeling behind, discouraged, and guilty because we were never able to accomplish everything I wanted to get done. 

Making my plans last for two weeks has brought beautiful benefits to my family. I don't feel so rushed, there is room for error and "life", and even more importantly, we can cover topics in much greater depth than we were able to before.

Gaps - The gap weeks don't always happen the week following unit 6 (in fact, they rarely do). If we take a week-long family vacation during what would normally be in unit 2, the gap week just gets switched around and all the other units get bumped down a week. Guilt-free flexibility!


I hope that this post has been informative and useful to some of you. Perhaps if only to get a glimpse at how life works around here, or maybe as some inspiration if you are considering adopting a year-round school schedule in your own home.

I should also mention, that even though I have only talked about Hunter's schooling so far in this post, I plan Damien's (10 months old) activities and lessons on the same schedule - in two-week units, with no-plan gap weeks, and goals divided by year and season.

I would love to hear your comments!  

"All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern." 1 Chronicles 28:19

Hunter is 7 years, 1 month old (1st grade)
Damien is 10 months, 2 weeks old (grade "KB")

(Bible) Reading and Mealtime - Our New Technique

There was a time in my life where I used to read Hunter three chapters out of the Bible at (close to) every single meal.

The idea of trying to pull that off now seems comical.

To say the least, we haven't been getting much Bible reading in for a while. That is, until I discovered this neat little trick, and its simplicity is leaving me to question why I never thought of it before now. 

Rather than trying to keep everybody at the table after we're all done eating (very difficult with a 10-month-old), we have started listening biblegateway.com's free audio bible while we eat.

Laptop on table, audio rolling, listen away while we chew.

And what is even more, we can get a good 3-5 chapters in during a typical meal, and it only takes the time that we were already spending eating.

I am trying to be intentional about our listening, to make sure that it doesn't become "background noise". Keeping our conversation to what is being read helps too. I try to comment here and there about what is being said, and after mealtime is over and we're cleaning up, to really discuss more about what we listened to.

This has been wonderful for my goal of quantitive Bible reading. That is, reading scripture, over and over, in large quantities. Exposure. Immersion. Long-term repetition. At the rate of 9-15 chapters a day, that is getting us through the Bible three to five times per year. That's approximately 50-90 times of reading through the Bible in 18 years, and all in the time we were already spending on eating. Talk about productive multitasking.

I still am making it a point to do other types of Bible reading, too. For instance, even though we are loving the audio, I still believe it is important for my boys to actually hear me reading the scriptures, and in Hunter's case, to actually read them. So our bedtime routine is currently involving reading of the Psalms and Proverbs.

The Bible is also incorporated into regular school hours, through memory verses, history, character studies, and stories. Not that all of this stuff happens every day. But we try.

 And believe me, I am no roll model. Our family and personal Bible reading has fallen by the wayside lately, in a way I would describe as dismal. But we are picking up and moving forward. And I'm hoping our little laptop companion will get the ball rolling again.

 Because I know how important it is.

 P.S. How does your family like to read the Bible (ideally)? Do you find audio recordings of all sorts to be useful in other ways for multitasking and teaching kids? I would love to hear your comments.

"And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:15

Hunter is 7 years, 1 month old
Damien is 10 months, 3 weeks old

Doman Running Program Update (Physical Excellence Friday)

I know it's cliche.

Treadmills in January.

But whatever the matter of cultural trends may be, we are back at running this week. However, this time in the slightly-less-than-ideal location of our garage.

I know, I know. The Doman running program is ideally conducted outside. More interesting, fresh air, the works.

But lately the I have had to give up the "all or nothing" mindset and settle for "pretty good".

See, I have been working a lot lately. Eighteen hours a day, to be exact.

And when I have a house full of daycare kids, all day, every day, the idea of going out for a run is a little bit more trouble than it should be. And we just simply haven't been doing it, the majority of the time.

But we did a little rearranging in the garage this past weekend, plugged in the nine-year-old treadmill that someone gave us recently, and ran.

We are starting small. Easy. This is what it looks like right now:

l I run first (for 20 minutes) while he watches and does other exercises (aka plays around)  

l He then runs. Two minutes of walking (3 miles per hour), two minutes of running (5 miles per hour), repeat (for 20 minutes). 

l At this rate he gets about 2.7 miles in within twenty minutes.  

l I monitor him very closely. Like within arms length. Kids + treadmills can invariably spell disaster, so this is something to be careful about. As you can see he also has the emergency stop pull-string on, which shuts down the whole machine the moment anything goes wrong (and also the moment anything doesn't go wrong - it's pretty sensitive).  

l We have fun with it. He loves "working out", especially since it's something dad does. He also is pretty keen on getting to use adult equipment.

I am going to go ahead and make a 10-mile nonstop goal for the end of the year, for both Hunter and I. We will see how it goes.

"When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble." 

Proverbs 4:12

Hunter is 6 years, 9 months old 

Educational (and other) Goals for 2012

What a big year next year is going to be.

Hunter is going to turn seven. Seven.

Wasn't he just, y'know, like two?

By the end of next year, this little crawling monster of mine is going to be an eighteen month old, talking-running-hopefully reading, full-fledge toddler.

Oy.

There are also a lot of other changes coming up for our family next year, although I can't really discuss all of them on this blog. They will be big, though.

So here are a few little thoughts on things that I want to do and accomplish in this next year. (I might add to this more, later).


1. Start our running program as a family again

2. Build a new brachiation ladder (monkey bars) for Hunter's room

3. Blog regularly and increase readership with good, useful content

4. Read at least 10 "high level" novels aloud with the boys

5. Work with Hunter on improving his penmanship and composition

6. Teach Damien how to swim independently

7. Have Damien reading simple sentences and home-made books

8. Teach Damien (and Hunter) at least 1000 bits of intelligence (flash cards), (in: art, biology, general science, geography, history, human anatomy, languages, literature, mathematics, music, and scripture)

9. Potty train Damien

10. Build own website

11. Learn how to develop apps

12. Start online business - thousands of free downloads and a few material things to sell

13. Learn more about Montessori activities, specifically for infants and toddlers

14. Touch up on my Spanish - be able to hold a simple conversation again

15. Help Damien understand simple mathematics and numbers

16. Complete our studies of ancient history and move onto the middle ages

17. Read through the Bible with the boys at least once 

18. Read through Proverbs with boys at least 10 times

19. Visit all museums in local city

20. Have Hunter ready to begin algebra and geometry by end of year (Math 8)

21. Have Hunter working at at least a fourth to fifth grade level in most subjects

22. Inventory, declutter, and simplify school supplies

23. Teach Hunter to play piano beyond beginners level

24. Take the boys to Yosmite

25. See the Grand Canyon with the boys

26. Resume "Word of the Day"

27. Go to bed every night with a clean kitchen

28. Keep a simple homeschooling journal for each boy

29. Touch up on Hunter's geography skills

30. Eat homemade dinners 6x a week - limit processed food and eating out

31. Wean Damien from pacifier (by 12 months)

32. Limit sugar to once a day - less regularly for the boys

33. Learn at least 200 words in American Sign Language and use regularly with Damien

34. Take pictures every day

35. Have Hunter baptized (he voluntarily asked if he could be last December)

36. Smile. Be patient. Enjoy each moment.

"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." 

Proverbs 16:9

Hunter is 6 years, 9 months old
Damien is 6 months, 3 weeks old

The Year Where I Accidentally Discovered the Secret to a Stress-Free Christmas

It's Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas!

But this picture wasn't taken today. Or even this weekend. It was actually taken in the beginning of December.

Originally, the idea of choosing to celebrate Christmas several weeks early due to Daddy's military obligations was kind of a bummer.

I mean, it would have been "better" to have Christmas on, y'know, Christmas, right?

But this Christmas season turned out to have a million little hidden benefits accidentally twisted in. And I wouldn't trade the lessons I learned for the world.

You see, knowing that we were going to celebrate Christmas early, meant that everything else had to be done ahead, too.

Throughout the fall, we purchased the boys' Christmas gifts here and there. A little something one day and a little something another, as we were doing our regular day-to-day shopping. In the end, all of their gifts were all bought and wrapped by mid November.

No rush, no stress, and coincidentally, no big hit on our budget since it was spread out and gradual.

After Thanksgiving, when the actual Christmas celebrations started rolling out, we kept it simple.

No stressing out about perfection. Just enjoying our family, together.

And then, "our family Christmas" was over. But that's when the magic started happening.

For the rest of the world, they chaos called December began. Stressing. Worrying. About the lines at the stores. The crazy drivers. The money. The late night gift-wrapping marathons. The question of what to get who. Forgetting something followed by hectic last-minute store runs. So much to do in so little time.

And do you know what we did? We watched.

We watched everyone worrying and hurrying and stressing and fretting and... We drank hot chocolate and watched Christmas movies.

We played board games under the Christmas tree.

We built graham cracker houses and painted ornaments and took pictures with Santa.

We read books, and sang songs, and really thought about the reason for the season.

And it was incredible.

It wasn't perfect, of course. We missed Daddy, and that was hard.

But the accidental gift of having to have every obligation done early, was priceless.

Christmas was peaceful. Christmas was stress-free. Christmas was everything it was supposed to be.

The secret, one that I already knew, was one simple thing. Early. Ahead.

I've known that little trick for a long time. But never got to experience its magic until now.

So next year, when we will hopefully be exchanging sweet gifts and commencing festivities on the 25th, and maybe even enjoying it with extended family, I hope that I will always remember the magic that was this year.

And have everything ready before December rolls around. So I can once again enjoy the peacefulness that Christmas is supposed to be.

Merry Christmas!

May your celebrations be filled with peace, whenever and wherever they occur!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." 

Isaiah 9:6

Thank you for your comments!

Hunter is 6 years, 9 months old

Damien is 6 months, 3 weeks old

Chess Match

Merry Christmas everyone!

Hunter is 6 years, 8 months old

Damien's First Anatomy Lesson: "This is Your Foot!"

"Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:" 

Psalm 8:6

Hunter is 6 years, 4 months old
Damien is 7 weeks, 6 days old

Wii's and Reflection

I know Hunter hasn't had much of a spotlight on here lately, but he said something the other day that made me laugh.

We were watching Netflix with the Wii and he suddenly commented,

"Mom, wouldn't it be cool if the Wii remote could reflect off of me and then bounce back to the sensor?"

Haha, I need to write down this kid's random antics more often. :)

"The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:" 

Numbers 6:25

Hunter is 6 years, 3 months old

Homeschooling After Baby

My expectations for after the baby was born - for Hunter's schoolwork, household upkeep, and other non-essential tasks - have been low. 

I didn't quite remember what it was like to have a newborn, or how long it would take to be back to myself after birth, so I didn't want to overload myself with unrealistic expectations and be disappointed or frustrated.

Hunter, Damien and I have spent a lot of time in bed the last twelve days since we've been home. Damien and I, nursing and napping, but Hunter joins us every now and then to read aloud to Damien (this has been his favorite activity with his new brother), listen to me read aloud, or play a board game together.

There has been a lot of chess, and one of Hunter's new favorites, Minotaurus by Lego.

We have been reading a lot of stories and poems from The Book of Virtues, reading from the KJV Bible, and this week started a new chapter book, Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott.

Since the baby was born, I have told Hunter that he only has to do three independent subjects - Bible, reading, and a little bit of math. I figured this would be good for him and it takes him less than an hour a day - the rest of the day he has been getting to play with his uncle who is in town, his friends who are out of school, or occupy himself with a dozen other things he likes to do around the house.

He has started the Encyclopedia Brown books and really enjoys them (currently, Encyclopedia Brown Carries On), is reading a chapter a day from the book of Leviticus (KJV), and a few drill sheets from Math Three.

Next week we'll add a few more subjects back into our load, but we'll continue to keep things light for most of the summer as we adjust to this new lifestyle and enjoy the warm (ok, hot) weather.

"And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." 

Deuteronomy 11:19

Hunter is 6 years, 2 months old
Damien is 1 week, 6 days old